A stellar campaign for Shahbaz Nadeem in this season’s IPL

Indian cricket has always been associated with flashiness. Batsmen with booming cover drives, spinners with mythical abilities to turn the ball – the list goes on.

Which is why the humble left-arm spinner has largely been a stock option in Indian cricket. Be it Sourav Ganguly‘s dominance over the form or Giles’ stifling of Tendulkar, slow left-arm has always been taken with a pinch of salt. It could be because it is perceived as a negative run-stopping approach instead of a wicket taking one.

The off-spinner flights the ball up enticing the right hander to go for the expansive drive while the leg-spinner is a purveyor of the magical arts making the ball turn away from the batsman using his wrist or sharply turn back into him or even deceiving him with some extra bounce. In comparison to that, left arm orthodox is seen as a collection of darts thrown into the pads of the batsman to prevent him from scoring.

Statistics tell us otherwise. Since the eighties, only five right arm spinners (including both offies and leggies) have taken more than 100 wickets across all formats. This list includes Tendulkar and Sehwag so effectively we are down to Kumble, Harbhajan and Ashwin. During the same period, seven left arm spinners achieved the same feat with Dilip Doshi missing out by four wickets. Admittedly, this list includes Shastri, Ravindra Jadeja and Yuvraj but anyone would accept that the former two are better bowlers compared to Sachin and Viru.

Which brings us to the focal point of this article – Shahbaz Nadeem. A couple of decades ago, someone like Nadeem wouldn’t have passed muster with the national selectors. He plays for Jharkhand, is an unassuming left-arm spinner who lets the ball do the talking and is very often not in the news. From Padmakar Shivalkar to Rajinder Goel to Utpal Chatterjee, the country has produced many such doyens of the Ranji Trophy who would spend their entire cricketing life in whites on sub-standard pitches across the country while parochialism pushed the boys from the big cities to the brink of national selection.

Now the times they are a-changing. Since M.S.Dhoni, two other cricketers from Jharkhand – Saurabh Tiwary and Varun Aaron – have donned national colours. An off-spinning all-rounder from Kashmir has played for the richest team of the IPL. The best young batsmen these days come from Uttar Pradesh and Saurashtra. And two left-arm spinners have played together for India in Test match cricket recently.

Till 2011, Nadeem was a non-entity. Yes he had made his way up from the Under-19 squad and had played in the Challenger Trophy as a teenager but then so many had before him. What differentiated Nadeem from the scores around him was his intent and bravado in tossing the ball up to bait batsmen across the country. Ironically though, he was in a team which paid scant respect to tweakers and preferred the faster men in their place.

In his first season, Nadeem deputised to another left-arm spinner – Roelof Van der Merwe. Van der Merwe played five matches to Nadeem’s four as Delhi went in more often than not with a pace battery that included the likes of Morne Morkel, Irfan Pathan and James Hopes amongst others. For most of the tournament, Nadeem watched his team crash to the bottom of the points table from the sidelines.

2012 was going to be different though.Van der Merwe played only three games as Nadeem and another left-arm spinner Pawan Negi made the XI on a frequent basis and shared 15 wickets amongst them. Both went for around seven an over but Negi had a much better strike rate of 18.8 to Nadeem’s 33.7. Negi could bat too as compared to Nadeem who was a certified tailender.

But the selectors chose to stick to Nadeem as the main spinner based on his match-winning performances against Mumbai and the Deccan Chargers. The gamble paid off as Nadeem went for less than six runs an over in his 12 matches. He was ably supported by Johan Botha this time around who went for 6.54 in his six matches. He was one of the few stars of Delhi’s aborted campaign this year as he bowled with heart and spirit extending his fantastic domestic form – he was the most successful spinner in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy with 42 wickets – to the IPL. Only one bowler who has played more than ten matches for the Delhi Daredevils has a better economy rate than Nadeem and that bowler is Glenn McGrath who had played 14 matches to Nadeem’s 29.

Clearly, Nadeem has been a wise pick for Delhi and there is no doubt that if uncapped players are eligible for auction next time round, he would get one of the highest bids. He could take an easier route by breaking into the Indian national item although it would be difficult to knock out Ravindra Jadeja and Pragyan Ojha from their perch. But for someone who has gone from an economy rate of 7.47 to 5.88 in three years in the IPL, this would be a challenge he would accept at any cost.

In my opinion, it should. While the idea behind “resetting” the IPL franchises once every three years is a good exercise in avoiding monotony, certain players endear themselves to the local crowds with their gameplay and showmanship. And a strong identity in their fans’ minds is what every IPL team sets out to achieve at the start of the season. Keeping that in mind, this article takes a look at the players who made most of the right moves this season to be in reckoning for a more permanent place in their IPL side.

Chennai Super Kings

As in the 2011 auctions, Chennai would want to retain a core leadership unit around which the rest of the team would be built. The only problem for them would possibly be the limit of four retentions when they probably would have liked to retain as many as six players.

Michael Hussey‘s Purple Cap winning effort proved that he has enough fire in his belly for at least another season after retirement. Complement that with the (comparatively) youthful exuberance of Suresh Raina and you have one of the most potent top orders in the IPL universe – a combination no one would want to tamper with.

Five IPL finals should guarantee MS Dhoni a retainer contract at the bare minimum if not the keys to the city. His long time protege and Twitter target Ravindra Jadeja too has made the yellow Chennai cap his own with a few crucial performances with the bat and a fine show with the ball. After the top order heroics of Hussey and Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja provide ballast to the lower middle order and allow them to tinker with the rest of the line-up.

Among the bowlers, local boy Ravichandran Ashwin has used the IPL as a springboard to greater pursuits and the Super Kings would want him to continue plying his trade for his home city. In a bowling attack consisting of the likes of Dirk Nannes, Albie Morkel, Dwayne Bravo, Chris Morris, Ashwin and Jadeja among others, Haryana boy Mohit Sharma finished with the best economy rate and the second highest tally of wickets. His McGrath-like ability to land the ball in the channel outside off-stump on demand made him one of the best Powerplay bowlers of the tournament. Chennai has produced the likes of Manpreet Gony and Sudeep Tyagi in the past but Mohit is a special find and one they would not like to part with.

Delhi Daredevils

After five seasons with the franchise, it is time that the Daredevils placed more faith in David Warner. Mahela Jayawardene is not in the best form of his life and the Nawab of Najafgarh is slowly losing all the powers (read: impeccable hand-eye coordination, ability to find the sweet spot of the bat, etc.). Warner could be the best man to lead the team out of the rut next season and claim a full-time middle order slot at the same time.

It may be a surprise call but Ben Rohrer deserves more than eight games to establish his place in the side. He has done his bit though with scores of 64*, 32 and 49 during this period at home and away. Rohrer has been a brutal finisher for the Blues down the order and can be looked upon as a long term asset in the shortest format of the game.

Kings XI Punjab

No doubts about it. David Miller has to stay. With Gilchrist out of the reckoning next season, the Kings need someone to beef up the batting line-up with Shaun Marsh and the exciting Indian talent in the form of Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra. Miller is just finding his zone; no team in its right mind would want to lose him right now.

Kolkata Knight Riders

This may be the most controversial call in the whole article, but I would put my money on Yusuf Pathan. He has been given a long leash but he has perked up right at the end of it. All his three highest scores for the KKR came at the fag end of this year’s campaign – 49*, 72 and 49* in his last three innings. Ravindra Jadeja’s recent popularity would have him smarting too considering the long tussles he has shared with him for the spinning all-rounder’s slot in the limited overs formats in recent years.

One would do well to discount his recent failings with the bat but Eoin Morgan is right up there with the likes of A.B. de Villiers and Kieron Pollard when it comes to game-changing talent. He has batted too low on more than one occasion but given the chance, he has scored more often than not – at one stage he had scores of 47, 2, 31, 42 and 32* in five games. This Irish lad is only 26 and should be seen as an investment.

Sunil Narine. If you ask me why, clearly you have been sleeping for the last fifteen months or so. The other spinner Sachithra Senanayake too has to stay. The two spinner combo was a step in the right direction – what failed was the team’s ability to put up big scores for the duo to defend. Apart from one bad game against the Mumbai Indians, Senanayake has been consistent in the rest of the seven games he has played in.

It is a decision he has to take for himself but should he be up for it, Jacques Kallis deserves another stint in office. While his batting has been falling away, at least in the shorter formats, Kallis was the fastest of the KKR bowlers and bowled more than one crucial spell with plenty of hostility and aggression. With his batting, Kallis lends balance to the team and should be used as an opener or a finisher to get the best out of him.

Mumbai Indians

Like Chennai, Mumbai have a problem of plenty. Sachin Tendulkar‘s retirement would have not only freed up Mumbai’s cash reserves somewhat but also give them a chance to build a team for the future, much on the lines of Chennai Super Kings. At the heart of this long term strategy lie two young Indian batsmen who have dazzled and frustrated in equal measure and are slowly beginning to make their presence felt more significantly.

For all his failings otherwise, Rohit Sharma has turned into somewhat of an IPL legend with his consistent performances over the last six years. He has proved to be a fine captain too and someone Mumbai would like to groom for the future. On the other hand, Dinesh Karthik provided the team a key factor which had been missing in earlier seasons – a wicket-keeper who could bat rather than the other way round. Sachin’s retirement makes it all the more critical for Mumbai to retain these two players as ‘seniors’ who would take the team forward in the coming years.

Kieron Pollard has been a handy bowler for the Indians but he came into his own as a batsman in this year’s edition of the IPL. While batting first or chasing, Pollard brought Mumbai back from the dead on more than one occasion including the IPL final itself. A retainer would be just rewards for his improved performance this season.

Lasith Malinga walks into the side without too many questions being asked. His new ball partner Mitchell Johnson finished the season as the joint highest wicket taker for Mumbai alongside Harbhajan Singh. Both of them are national team discards and this season would have done them a world of good to their confidence. They will be hungry to repeat their success next season to strengthen their cases for a permanent place in their respective national sides and Mumbai would do well to retain their services during the same period.

The same applies for Pragyan Ojha who completes the bowling quartet for Mumbai which took them to the trophy. Ojha has 16 wickets in as many matches and has proved to be an able partner for Harbhajan to hunt in a pair. Both of them have fallen behind the likes of Ashwin, Jadeja and now Amit Mishra in national reckoning and the IPL is a good place to make your presence felt.

Pune Warriors

The first question is whether the Warriors will participate in the next IPL. If the answer to the question is in the affirmative, the next question would be – should they go for a complete overhaul?

While that seems the most logical option for now, it would be mighty unfair on Aaron Finch. He was one half of the (statistically) best opening partnerships of this IPL and his 456 runs came at a strike rate of over 135. It came as a shock to many when he was given the captaincy of the side but he did a fair job with the limited resources he had. Finch could be the fulcrum that Pune had earlier searched for in Yuvraj Singh and Uthappa.

Rajasthan Royals

In Shane Watson, the Royals had the most complete player of the tournament. When he is at full fitness and devoid of any vice-captaincy woes, Watson is as good as two players rolled into one and Rajasthan would need him to play this dual role in the future with greater responsibility now that Dravid is on his way out.

The other two Australians Brad Hodge and James Faulkner would also count their chances of retention pretty high. Barring a fluffed catch in the second eliminator, Hodge has looked the part he was supposed to play – lower middle order aggressor who can bring all his wealth of experience into play under pressure. Faulkner on the other hand, swung the ball with panache to trade the Purple Cap a few times in the tournament. He has a good chance of featuring in the Ashes later this year and that experience would only add onto his undoubted talent for the next IPL.

Last, but definitely not the least, the young guns Stuart Binny and Sanju Samson. Binny represents the quintessential Rajasthan player – inconspicuous yet always involved in the game, be with a heavy bat or a heavy ball. Complementing Binny’s unabashed derring-do is the poetry in motion by Samson. The richer franchises would have their eyes on him but for his own sake and for the sake of Indian cricket, Samson needs to stay with the Royals for at least three more years to perfect his trade. The fact that he is also a wicket-keeper will not be lost on the owners.

Royal Challengers Bangalore

The holy triumvirate of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers is a must-retain for the Royal Challengers as they have taken the team on their mighty shoulders to the IPL play-offs twice and once to the brink of it. All are mighty fine T20 players in their own right but together they become the Masters of the T20 universe.

Moises Henriques should also be considered because he provides Bangalore the option of a batting all-rounder, which is important when you consider Ravi Rampaul, who bats at number ten for his national team, coming in to bat at number seven.

Talking about Ravi Rampaul, he too deserves more chances after finishing this IPL with the best economy rate and second highest tally of wickets for RCB despite playing only 10 games. The more obvious choice would have been Vinay Kumar but he is leakier than a cannonball-battered cauldron.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

A batting line-up which failed more often than not requires the services of the moustache twirling Shikhar Dhawan and Darren Sammy. Both of them played only nine games this season for various reasons but performed two very important roles – of a launchpad and a finisher respectively. Both have been low-on-show but high-on-intensity performers for the greater duration of their cricketing career and this gels in with the team profile of the Sunrisers.

The bowling was Hyderabad’s strength and should continue to be their forte in the years to come. Dale Steyn is the best fast bowler I have seen since a young Shane Bond and I do not see why any team would want to leave him out of their team on current form. Complementing his mastery of pace would be the two-pronged leg spin strategy of Amit Mishra and Karan Sharma which has worked so well for SRH this season. Mishra is the master and Sharma the apprentice – both can bat better than any other spinner (barring Harbhajan) in the national reckoning. Mishra has come back to the Indian team; Sharma should make the jump soon enough. Their lethal weaponry as a duo deserves an encore.

An example of a bad nightmare for a fast bowler is when a batsman steps out and tonks you for a straight six over your head. It’s worse when he does it to you in your first over of the day. It’s worst when it’s your debut. And it’s unimaginable if it happens on a fast bowler’s paradise like Perth.

Not too many survive the same. Most thought Ranganath Vinay Kumar would go the same way. In any case, he belonged to a breed of fast bowlers who are on the decline internationally – the ones who rely on outswingers and legcutters over fast inswinging yorkers. After Venkatesh Prasad and before Vinay Kumar, there were two others from the same state of Karnataka – Dodda Ganesh and David Johnson. Both flitted on the international circuit briefly before fading away into obscurity.

By the end of that fateful season, Vinay Kumar was out of the Indian team. Luck handed him a second chance though as he bagged a million dollar contract on his comeback to the Royal Challengers Bangalore after a couple of seasons with the ill-fated Kochi Tuskers. He ended the 2012 IPL as the best bowler for Bangalore with 19 wickets in 15 matches, ahead of Zaheer Khan who had played one match more.

But more bad luck was on its way. A hamstring injury saw him getting replaced by Irfan Pathan for the Sri Lanka series at the start of the new season. As Vinay dealt with injury and frustration, Irfan grabbed this opportunity with both hands as he put in crucial performances with both bat and ball to secure a place in the World T20 squad. In any case, the whole nation wants Irfan Pathan to do well and nobody is bothered about Vinay Kumar.

While the Indian team struggled to get its campaign in place in Sri Lanka, Vinay travelled down south to New Zealand with the A team. A couple of impressive performances later, he was captaining Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. After four winless games which includes an upset by a team like Odisha, you do not expect to reach the quarter finals of India’s premier first class competition.

Yet Vinay Kumar was quietly confident of doing so – a trait which he has mastered over his career. A country which dreams of producing an express pace bowler and a fast bowling allrounder has no respect for the numerous workmanlike medium pacers who toil day in and day out on its unresponsive batsman-friendly pitches. Most give up; some like Vinay keep on trying. He battled injury, form and luck at times to take Karnataka to the quarter finals where, in his absence, they lost to a resurgent Saurashtra side at home.

He was overlooked for the T20 series against England for a bowler of his ilk who has found success of late – Lakshmipathy Balaji. A stress injury to Balaji’s toe provided him a backdoor entry as a replacement, only for the door to be shut rudely on his face in the form of a calf strain.

He got his next opportunity more than four months later as the IPL came calling again. Zaheer was out with injury and suddenly Vinay found himself leading the Royal Challengers bowling attack. He led by example, finishing the season as the highest wicket taker second time in a row. Vinay took 23 wickets in all; no one else managed more than 13.

But what was more important was the way he shepherded the RCB bowling lineup. Back in 2011 when he was about 10 ODIs old, Vinay had made a statement that he saw himself as the leader of India’s ODI bowling attack. On the surface, it was more than audacious; below, it showed the confidence of a man who had realized what his role in the team was. The Indian attack at that time consisted of Vinay, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron. The latter two were the fastest and, arguably, the most promising fast bowlers to come out of the country for a while. But they were greener than a blade of grass and, more so, in front of the number of years that Vinay had spent in plying his trades on the domestic circuit. He lived up to his word by taking a four wicket haul in his next innings, but no one noticed.

Apart from this, he has mentored the likes of Abhimanyu Mithun and Sreenath Aravind for quite some time now, pushing both to the brink of national selection. Hence, when he was given charge of Jaydev Unadkat for this year’s IPL, Vinay had years of experience to fall back on and Unadkat prospered, taking 13 wickets to finish as the joint second highest wicket-taker for the Royal Challengers.

His performances over the last two seasons warrant a retainer from Bangalore for 2014 but there are greater duties at hand. He heads next month for the Champions Trophy in England, where he will be involved in a three-way tussle with Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma to take over the third medium pacer’s slot behind Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Umesh Yadav. Irfan’s batting skills or Ishant’s reputation may prolong his wait to add to his number of ODI caps, but rest assured, Vinay will give it his all when he gets his chance.

Jaydev Unadkat picked up 13 wickets in 13 matches in this seasons IPL for Royal Challengers Bangalore. (IANS Photos)

The last thing you would expect from Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace is a fast bowler. More so if he looks like a gangly preteen, who at best can get a medium weight tennis ball to bounce up to the chin of the batsman.

Keeping this in perspective, Jaydev Unadkat’s year in review of 2010 would have read like a superhero comic. The start of the year saw him getting selected for the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand and by the end of it he was playing Test cricket for India in South Africa. Between these two events, he impressed Wasim Akram with his ability to land the ball on its seam, came close to bagging an IPL contract with the Kolkata Knight Riders and was selected to the India ‘A’ squad without having played a first class match. He picked up 13 for 103 on debut and a month later he was headed for Sri Lanka as a net bowler for the national team.

His international debut in Centurion, though, was more sobering as he sent down 26 wicket-less overs as India crashed to an innings defeat. A month later though, he landed a $250,000 contract with KKR. Akram had marked him out as “one for the future” and very few could go against his cricketing acumen.

Since then and till early this year, it has all been downhill for Unadkat. He got seven games in 2011 edition where he picked up six wickets but went at 8.33 runs an over. 2012 was worse as he failed to find a spot in the settled Kolkata bowling line-up and played only one game where he gave away 32 runs in three overs without a wicket. By the end of the year he had lost his India contract and was on the way out from his IPL franchise as well.

Since then it seems as if he has gone back to the drawing board and worked on the basics. The year started with him playing an able supporting role to the pace-spin combo of Siddharth Trivedi and Vishal Joshi in the Ranji trophy. He was no longer seen as the spearhead of the bowling attack but that seemed to help him regain his accuracy and focus.

This year’s IPL though has been the turning point. Having been offloaded from the Knight Riders, Unadkat was signed up by the Royal Challengers Bangalore as a replacement for the injured Zaheer Khan. Co-incidentally he had replaced Zaheer Khan on debut as well back in 2010. More often than not, RCB used their quota of foreigners to bolster their top order with the likes of Chris Gayle, Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villers and Moises Henriques. As a result, they required one of their Indian bowlers to rise up to the occasion and defend the totals set by their fearsome batting quartet.

Unadkat played 13 matches as Bangalore juggled him around the likes of Ravi Rampaul, Murali Kartik and R.P. Singh, alongside the now dependable Vinay Kumar. He picked up 13 wickets and ended up with the best economy rate for any Royal Challengers bowler, who has played more than 10 matches. This included a fiver against Delhi, in a match which his team won by a sum total of four runs.

What has worked for Unadkat in this year’s IPL has been his increase in pace. Which is quite ironic by itself as his present bowling coach at Bangalore is a man known for his innocuous yet effective leg-cutters – Venkatesh Prasad. Nevertheless, the good thing is that his bowling action has not undergone any significant change, which means his control has improved. So has his maturity – he no longer sprays it around all over the place like an 18-year-old gawky greenhorn expecting the batsman to make the mistake. The head has clearly grown heavier on the shoulders.

The Indian fast bowling cupboard is not overflowing with riches at present. Hence Ray Jennings, the Royal Challengers coach who has worked with the Proteas in the past, feels that Unadkat has everything to make a comeback to the Indian team as early as the South African tour. Till that actually happens, he has to continue doing what he has done so well recently – keeping the ball and his mind in the right place.

This article talks about five players who came into the IPL with a big ticket billing – some as captains, others off a good last year. So far, most of them have managed to come up chumps and, in the process, have raised questions as to whether the money splashed on a player is directly proportional to one’s chances of figuring in the starting XI.

Adam Gilchrist – If Twenty20 cricket had been discovered five years earlier than it was, Adam Gilchrist would have been one of its founding fathers. Despite being a late starter, he managed to hold his own pretty well, winning the second edition of the IPL with the Deccan Chargers and then shepherding a bunch of raw youngsters like Mandeep Singh and Parvinder Awana in a low-profile Punjab team.

But much water has flowed through the stream. After the first half of this year’s IPL, Gilchrist was averaging 11.75 at a strike rate of 106.81. He had entered double figures only twice and, on most occasions, was nothing more than a walking wicket. His keeping is still as good as it was always, but then we are talking about the player who redefined the role of a wicket-keeper batsman and raised the bar for those who followed.

It is also difficult to summon the body to perform miracles after a year in the cold. It is hard to believe that Gilly is playing for money – he was one of the first to walk during his playing days when he was out. Maybe he wants to repeat the Chargers miracle once again with the Kings XI. However, man proposes but God disposes. The magic has gone out of our lives.

Kumar Sangakkara – Another wicket-keeper, another captain. Another player who had to drop himself for fear of becoming a liability for his team. Clearly the IPL does not care a lot for reputations.

After the first four matches, Sangakkara found himself in a difficult situation – he had not scored less than 15 in each of those innings but then he hadn’t scored more than 28 either. After he scored 2 in the next match, he was prompt enough to realize that the likes of Quinton de Kock should be given a chance to grow into the role where he had not been able to establish himself.

But then Sangakkara, a lawyer by qualification, has always been a thinking cricketer. Not your slam bang everyday Joe, it is a pleasure to watch Sangakkara in full flow. Otherwise, it is a pain to see him go against his natural game and struggle to score against mediocre bowling attacks in the Twenty20 format.

He took up the gloves for the first time in his comeback match against the Royals, but that did not help him get over his tussle with his batting woes. The Sunrisers have a couple of keeping options in de Kock and Parthiv Patel, and now they have also got their run machine Shikhar Dhawan back. Their superlative performance so far has been largely thanks to their bowling attack – the batting needs to shore up and Sangakkara, on current form, might not be the best go-to man.

Cameron White – What’s it with the Sunrisers batsmen? Almost everyone with the exception of Hanuma Vihari has been a failure this season. And the worst part of it is that their foreign players have failed to get going.

Cameron White’s tournament so far can be represented on a bell curve – he had a slow start against the Warriors and the Royal Challengers before he turned it on in the Super Over to send Bangalore packing. He followed that up with an explosive 52 in the next match, again against Bangalore; but since then, his tournament has once again tapered off after a combative 31 against the Knight Riders.

The worst part about White is his unpredictability – when he’s bad, he’s very bad; but when he is good, he can be mindbogglingly good. The problem is that he turns out of the other side of the bed more often. Last season, he was one of the Chargers’ greatest flops till he decided to turn things around and help his team avoid the wooden spoon. This season has been the exact opposite.

If White’s slide does not abate soon enough, chances are that he will find himself walking out of the team. As many have found out, no one is indispensable in Twenty20 cricket.

Piyush Chawla – To be fair to Chawla, for all his indiscretions at the national level, he has been as steady, if somewhat limited, as a spinner in the shortest format. He had his moments of shame – most clearly etched in his mind would be Robin Peterson’s 27 runs in a single over last season. But he has managed to carry out his duties as the lead spinner over the last five years or so quite effectively, with 73 wickets in 71 matches.

This season has been his worst so far. He hasn’t given away a bucketful of runs, but has been, more often than not, reduced to a significant degree of impotence. The low and slow bowler-friendly pitches haven’t helped him or, in all probability, he hasn’t helped himself. 4 wickets in 9 matches is not what you expect from your most experienced bowler – more importantly when the batting is tinged with the rawest tinge of green.

So far, the Kings’ strategy of a four-pronged pace attack has taken the limelight off him. The likes of Bhargav Bhatt and Bipul Sharma are waiting in the wings though, and all it takes is one opportunity and a good showing to rest one’s case further. Chawla’s days are numbered unless he manages to improve his own numbers.

Lakshmipathy Balaji – One of the greatest enigmas of modern day cricket, Balaji could hit Shoaib Akhtar out of the ground for a sublime straight six and wobble the ball around on its seam to take a nine-for in a Test match against Pakistan.

His pace might be more dibbly-dobbly than express, but Balaji was one of the unsung performers last season as he lent ample support to Narine and Shakib in decimating the opposition batsmen. His performances were so good that he found himself in the World T20 squad and even managed to play a few games.

This year, though, he has gone completely off the boil. Balaji has picked up 5 wickets in 8 matches at an brow-raising economy rate of 8.34. He has conceded 89 runs the last two times he bowled and, if you add another spell against the Kings XI where he gave away 39, you would figure that clearly something is wrong.

With Brett Lee‘s exit, Balaji finds himself as the leader of an extremely one-dimensional pace attack, with Rajat Bhatia and Jacques Kallis not differing too much in terms of speed. He has failed to handle the mantle so far and, at 31, not too many doors are open for him.

Let’s face it – we all know that Chris Gayle and Lasith Malinga are going to be among the top five contenders for the Orange and Purple Caps respectively. But for every Gayle there is an Ajinkya Rahane and for every Malinga there is a Harmeet Singh lurking around somewhere in the wings. Despite its mercenary nature, the IPL has managed to throw up quite a few players over the years who have often gone from total obscurity to national fame. We take a look at five players who have managed to surprise the pundits this year so far.

Mandeep Singh – Not many people would have believed it if you told them that a young Turk would be topping the Kings XI batting averages ahead of the likes of Adam Gilchrist, David Hussey and David Miller. But Mandeep Singh has done that and – wait for it – this is the second year in a row when he is topping the charts for his IPL team. IPL has thrown up a lot of one season wonders but Mandeep is slowly but surely proving that he is not joining their ranks.

The fact that he has got so many runs is not surprising but the way he has done it is – with a level of maturity far beyond his age. You don’t expect a 21-year-old opener chasing 9 runs an over to hold up one end and let a middle order batsman take a larger share of the strike. You definitely do not expect the same 21-year-old to bring a sense of calm and serenity to the proceedings after your captain has failed for the umpteenth time in the tournament.

Yet, Mandeep has done that and more. Apart from that innings against Pune Warriors, his 41 against KKR in a second wicket partnership with Manan Vohra ensured a turnaround after the early dismissal of Gilchrist. There might not be too many slots open in the Indian batting order currently but it shouldn’t be long before Mandeep forces the selectors to create one for himself.

Manvinder Bisla – You are not supposed to walk out to bat and thump the ball to all corners of the ground in a match-winning knock of 89 after the two time champions have set a target of 190 plus in their own backyard. But that’s what Manvinder Bisla did in last year’s IPL final. You are definitely not supposed to do an encore. But Bisla almost did one – chasing 201 against the same team at the same venue (albeit in a league match), he thwacked the ball to all parts of the stadium and brought the equation down to 25 off 11 before his run-out changed the course of the match.

Last year’s heroics did not afford him a fairytale start this season. After five matches, Bisla was averaging 6.80 with four innings of 4 or less. He was dropped and when that did not change the team’s fortunes, he made a comeback. He responded with an unbeaten 51 against the Kings XI followed by his highest Twenty20 score against Chennai.

Coming from someone who has played for the Plate Group teams, Himachal Pradesh and Goa, for the greater part of his career, you can say it is no mean feat to be counted upon as a batting bulwark by the defending champions. At one moment, you are facing the weakest of the Indian domestic bowling attacks on benign surfaces; the other, you are facing the likes of Dirk Nannes and Dwayne Bravo in front of hostile crowds egging them on. A place in the national team looks bleak but Bisla has earned more than his spot in his sun for the Knight Riders.

KB Arun Karthik – It is a tough age for wicket-keepers. If you keep well and can’t bat, you are a liability; if you can bat well and keep for a bit, it is considered to be an asset. Yet, Arun Karthik has managed to hold his own in a team which has the wicket-keeper from the numero uno Test team of the world along with another player who has kept wickets for his national team.

Karthik played a total of 4 matches for the Royal Challengers over the last two seasons but it was his last ball six which took Bangalore to the semifinals of the Champions League and brought him to the limelight. For that effort or otherwise, he was awarded a full time spot in the RCB starting XI.

So far, he has paid his just dues by topping the list of dismissals made by a wicketkeeper in this season so far. He shares the highest rate of dismissals per innings for anyone who has kept in more than 5 matches with Adam Gilchrist so far. Along with MS Dhoni, he is the only keeper to have 2 stumpings in the tournament so far. Unfortunately, wicket-keeping performances do not cause a lot of eyelids to bat, so Karthik will have to be content with the satisfaction of playing more or less a behind-the-scenes role.

Kevon Cooper – The usual suspects from the Caribbean (Gayle and Narine) have already lit up the IPL so far but their lesser known comrades are not far behind. Some like Kevon Cooper have slowly but surely made their presence felt for the “small fry” – the supposedly second tier teams of the IPL.

Cooper played 6 matches last season and was good enough to pick up 10 wickets. An encore was definitely not on the cards as he is not the most threatening of bowlers even in a Rajasthan bowling attack which does not have too many big names. But Cooper had other ideas in mind.

First he stifled an on-the-cards Delhi chase with three crucial wickets in their own den as they ended up five runs short of what Rajasthan had managed in the first innings. Then at the Royals’ fortress, he and Trivedi ripped the heart out of a Kolkata chase on a responsive surface, defending a low score of 144 in the attempt. After 2 matches, Cooper had 6 wickets but no Man of the Match Awards to show for it.

Since then his tournament has tapered off a bit – he conceded over 40 in both his last attempts against the Super Kings and the Sunrisers. Nevertheless, the IPL is far from over and teams wouldn’t want to underestimate Kevon Cooper. He is at his most dangerous when taken for granted.

Mohit Sharma – Apart from their long list of acknowledged laurels, Chennai Super Kings have thrown up a couple of fast/medium-fast bowling talents over the years in the form of Manpreet Gony, Sudeep Tyagi and Yo Mahesh amongst others. The latest to join the list is Mohit Sharma from Haryana.

Admittedly, Mohit was coming off a good domestic season – 37 wickets in 8 matches – but he had no prior experience of Twenty20 at the domestic level. He bowled 2 overs for 13 runs in his debut match but it was in his second match when he sparkled. After the Super Kings had posted 169, Mohit knocked the stuffing out of the Delhi batting line-up by accounting for Warner, Sehwag and Juneja in a spell of 3 for 10.

The best part of his bowling is that even if he does not pick up wickets, he does not go for runs in the process. Mohit is joint fourth (along with Shahbaz Nadeem) in the list of most economical bowlers who have picked up 6 wickets or more. It is a proud achievement, for the list is headed by the likes of Dale Steyn, Sunil Narine and James Faulkner. An India spot is a bit far off in the reckoning, but at least Mohit has made the right noises so far.

Which is why it makes sense to infuse “new” blood into the game at this point of time. By “new”, I mean high profile players who are yet to make the starting line-up in this year’s IPL. Many of the teams are carrying players who are on the wrong side of 35, and two months of playing, travelling and doing everything else required to keep the franchise in the news takes a lot out at that age. Also, for teams who have got off to a slow start, it makes sense to try new combinations and see what clicks. This articles takes a look at the potential game-changers of the second month of the IPL.

Shaun Marsh

Success in the IPL often leads to an India cap. And sometimes it works for foreign players too. Marsh was one of the major reasons why the Kings XI made it to the final four in the first seasons and despite the team’s flailing performances over the next few seasons, Marsh has always been one of the major contributors. Given the talent he has, it’s surprising that he hasn’t been able to nail down a full-time place in the Australian top four, given the scarcity of choices.

But Marsh has been in form recently – he was the top scorer of the Big Bash League. Add to that the misfortunes of Gilchrist, who is as out of touch as a cellphone from the nineties. Marsh’s injury probably would have reduced the selection headaches for the team but word is in the air that he is fit and raring to go. The Punjab batting has been bolstered so far by their local talent and the youthful exuberance of David Miller. If you include Marsh in the mix, it just starts to get that little bit more intimidating.

Brendon McCullum

He has the highest number of Twenty20 centuries after Chris Gayle, including two in international matches. He used to hold the record for the highest score in a Twenty20 innings till not very long ago. He is the captain of his national and a more-than-adept wicket-keeper. So why hasn’t Brendon McCullum played so far this year?

It is a question KKR has failed to answer as they slip further out of reach of the crown they had held for the past one year. Kallis has lost his golden touch with the bat and Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary have been misfiring more frequently than an Indian constable’s rifle. Gambhir has lacked support most of the time – when he falls, KKR goes into decline. Morgan has done reasonably well to hold onto his place but it’s time KKR got in McCullum for Kallis or even Senanayake. Neither has performed extraordinarily and both have been pretty much one-dimensional – Kallis has cut down a lot on his bowling. Hence, it makes sense for KKR to place their money on the big-hitting prowess of the Kiwi skipper.

Jean Paul Duminy

In their initial years when Mumbai was not as starry as they are now, Jean Paul Duminy used to be a key player in the mix – he bats in the middle order, is electric in the field and can bowl more than quite a bit. But then came along Pollard and it was clear that Mumbai didn’t require his services any more.

Since then, Duminy has been a good yet inconspicuous performer for the Deccan Chargers – he has scored at a strike of over 120 in his 19 games for the side. His steady off-spin has on, more than one occasion, supplemented the spin bowling duties of Amit Mishra.

In the revamped Sunrisers side though, Duminy is yet to get an opportunity. Which is odd considering that neither of the trio of Sangakkara or White or de Kock have got a substantial amount of runs yet. They started off the season hitting above the mark they were expected to but their campaign is slowly flagging. It could just require an injection of Duminy’s undiminishing energy to bring it back to life.

Zaheer Khan

Less than two quarters of a year ago, Zaheer Khan was leading the Indian pace bowling attack. Now, he does not even merit a place in the Royal Challengers line-up ahead of the likes of Vinay Kumar and R.P. Singh. The closest he got to something related to cricket in recent times was when he opened his new lounge named TOSS. Of course, you have to see who his replacement was – none other than the Rajinikanth of the cricketing world.

Before we get into any more Sir Ravindra Jadeja jokes, let us address the issue on hand. Zaheer is approaching 35 and his body is showing the signs of the toil he has put in on the dry dead Indian pitches over the years. It is to his credit that he has transformed from an out-and-out speedster to someone who uses brains – a rarity in most fast bowlers.

While the longer formats of the game might be too expending for Zak, I believe he can still work wonders in the shortest format. Death bowlers are as common as one-horned rhinos in India and not many would disagree that Zaheer is the one of the crème de la crème practitioners of the art in recent times. Bangalore have had issues with their bowling at the end – two ties are a testimony to this fact. Although this fact has been papered over by the awesomeness of Chris Gayle and the brilliance of Virat Kohli on home surfaces, it is bound to crop up in away matches which would support the opposition’s team balance. Unadkat has been steady but expensive and the wily guiles of Zaheer would make the Challengers pace battery even more challenging on the pace friendly pitches up north.

Shadab Jakati

Back in 2008, nobody would have told you that Shadab Jakati would one day be a permanent fixture in the Super Kings team. In 2013, people who follow the IPL find it hard to comprehend that Jakati hasn’t played for Chennai so far.

Jakati was one of the bits-and-pieces all-rounders who are strewed all across the Indian domestic teams when he was signed up by Chennai for the inaugural IPL. Playing for Goa probably helped him get a greater chance to perform and prove his credentials. Nevertheless, Jakati held his own that season and was one of the key performers on the bowler friendly South African pitches the next year. In 2010, when most would agree that the Super Kings had their weakest attack on the park, Jakati and Doug Bollinger formed an effective yet inconspicuous spin-pace duo that would dismantle sides in tandem.

Ravindra Jadeja’s entry into the team in 2012 put Jakati’s place in the team under serious threat. Jadeja was as good a bowler and a much better batsman. Besides, he was Indian and had cost 2 million dollars. But for Dhoni, who had other plans in mind. Ashwin, Jadeja and Jakati formed a potent three pronged spin trio, bolstering the weaker pace attack of Morkel and Bravo as Chennai turned their campaign around on its head.

So far, the Super Kings have had a smoother start to their campaign but their bowling attack has been tested in the death overs. The pitches will become slower as the season progresses and the likes of Mohit Sharma and Ankit Rajpoot may be found wanting in their efforts to adopt to surfaces across the country. Ashwin and Jadeja have taken 16 wickets in 8 wickets so far but they might just need that extra support in the form of Jakati, in matches to come.

Games like Chris Gayle versus the Pune Warriors prove it to a certain extent. On the other hand, bowlers like Malinga and Amit Mishra have tried their best to prove the converse. The jury is still out on this.

But there are a certain breed of T20 bowlers who, despite their day job, seem to put their heart and soul behind this philosophy. They are otherwise respectable statesmen for their country’s bowling line-ups and have done stellar duty on more than one occasion. But somehow, T20 and the IPL specifically has been a bowl of scalding water for them rather than their cup of tea. The second part of this series takes a look at the bowlers who have made most of the howlers in the IPL.

Murali Kartik – Murali Kartik has been a loyal servant of Indian cricket for long. Unfortunately, the batsmen seem to have taken the sobriquet “servant” too seriously for him in recent times.

For a long time, Kartik served as India’s number 3 spinner after Kumble and Harbhajan. He too had a special liking for Australia and especially in Mumbai. The first time, he took seven wickets on a dustbowl to keep Australia to a fourth innings score of 93 chasing a score just above 100. The next time, he took a six-for in an ODI on another dustbowl and then played a crucial knock to take India home in a low-scoring encounter. An interesting fact to note is that India had already lost the series in both cases.

Nobody could fault him for trying though, and when success eluded him at home, Kartik made a name for himself as a purveyor of thrift in the English county circuit. So much so that he became the first Indian to represent an overseas team in the Champions League Twenty20.

In the IPL, Kartik was, at best, parsimonious for KKR. His friendly, devoid-of-guile left-arm spin was not going to get too many wickets and this did not help in a side of misfiring guns for hire. When the side underwent a makeover, Kartik was bought by the Warriors to add some local stability to a youthful line-up and, in 17 appearances in the last two editions, he has managed a grand total of 5 wickets. While he hasn’t been too expensive, his impotency of striking has cost his team quite a few matches.

So far this season, Kartik has taken 4 wickets in 6 matches for his new team Royal Challengers Bangalore. But one gets a feeling that Kartik is playing only because Daniel Vettori hasn’t done enough as a foreign player, and it is a matter of time before the likes of Syed Mohammad and Appanna take over the mantle from him.

Brett Lee – Most of us knew where things were heading when Lee was named as the bowling mentor of the Knight Riders ahead of this year’s IPL. I, for one, was not overtly surprised when they dropped him for Senanayake – it was a time bomb ticking for a long time.

Lee turned out for the Kings XI Punjab in the first part of his IPL career and managed 9 wickets in 12 games over a 3-year period where he fought a multitude of injuries to keep his place in the Australian team. His transfer to Kolkata coincided with the final breakdown – his body had suffered too much to go through the rigours of international cricket again.

It showed in the IPL too, as Lee went 22 games over 2 years for the Knight Riders taking 12 wickets with a best of 2 for 26. The lack of penetration was masked by the efforts of the other bowlers as KKR slowly but surely built a potent line-up. In effect, Lee was doing nothing more than mentoring the young Turks to make full use of their potential.

It might sound too critical for a bowler who had been a cornerstone of the mighty Australian bowling line-up, but Lee has done nothing to warrant one of the four crucial slots for foreign players in an IPL team. Next year, we should see him slowly easing into the role which Wasim Akram had held so far – and being comfortable at that.

Daniel Vettori – Think of Murali Kartik wearing glasses, keeping a bit of stubble and looking infinitely more handsome, and you get Daniel Vettori in the IPL. 28 wickets in 34 matches at an economy rate of 6.77 does sound decent, but definitely not for a foreign player.

This could possibly be the reason why Vettori has not featured in this year’s IPL so far. His international career is already nearing its natural end – he hasn’t played in any of the formats since last year’s World T20. Neither has he shown any signs of the all-round skills which were necessitated by a largely inept New Zealand middle order during the latter part of his career.

The game is a great leveller – Vettori could play the next match and pick up a fiver and make me eat humble pie. I wouldn’t mind that, having admired the way he has led a below-par side by example for a significant part of his career; but Bangalore’s strong recent performances have more or less put paid to a fairytale comeback – at least in the IPL.

Ajit Agarkar – If social media had existed in the early 2000s, Ajit Agarkar would have been Sir Ajit Agarkar. Becoming the  fastest bowler ever to reach 50 wickets in ODIs, he was also one of the architects of a jaw-dropping victory in Adelaide 2003. Otherwise, Agarkar getting thrashed by opening batsmen across the world was a common sight of the times. He has a Test century at Lords – something which Sachin Tendulkar doesn’t – and once held the record for the fastest fifty by an Indian in ODIs. Add to that 5 consecutive ducks in Australia.

Clearly this man is made to baffle. He has taken 11 wickets in 11 games for Delhi over the last two seasons, but at an economy rate close to 9. He had touched his nadir earlier with Kolkata – 17 wickets in 27 games at a slightly better economy rate. We were always used to Agarkar going for runs, but at least he used to pick up wickets in the process.

Agarkar has been a beneficiary of Delhi’s all-out pace strategy, but his profligacy with the ball has kept his IPL appearances to the bare minimum. For someone who was touted to be the next Kapil Dev, this is probably the bottom of the Mariana Trench. At 35 and with a host of young speedsters (including a couple from the Daredevils itself), Agarkar has clearly seen better days.

Praveen Kumar – To be fair to him, he has had a good start this season with 9 wickets in 7 games. But 34 wickets in 38 games is not what you expect from your lead medium-pacer, and so, Praveen was sold at quite a modest price in the 2011 auctions to Punjab after a three-year stint with the Royal Challengers.

He did not repose the faith, picking up 19 wickets in 29 matches. During this period, he missed the World Cup through injury but then came back to pick up a fiver at Lord’s as India began their downhill slide in Test cricket. He managed to scrape through the rest of the season, but that was about it.

For a frontline bowler in the IPL, his returns are the worst for anyone who has played 70 matches or more. Unlike the likes of Irfan Pathan, he hasn’t also scored substantially with the bat to at least warrant his place in the side.

What worked for Praveen is the lack of experience and quality in the Punjab bowling line-up. For one of the bigger names, he might have been warming the benches. This season has been very so far so good for him; but then his bowling is very much like his mood swings – you never know what to expect.

Footnote: One might say that Jacques Kallis too has under-performed as a bowler – 52 wickets in 81 games does not suit the calibre of a player like him. However, it would be literally cruel to suggest something on these lines. In any case, the debate crops up only because of what he has achieved so far – for a lesser player, we wouldn’t have had the need to even discuss.

Check out the first part here: The White Elephants of the IPL – Part 1

And as a first time employee, the greatest motivation for you is probably the number of fantasy league points which a player can give you. After all, this is the only place you can go one up over your boss.

Mere mortals as we are, we often go for an impulsive decision while choosing somebody in our fantasy league team – he has scored runs in the past/he has not scored runs in the past, so the law of averages should catch up with him/he has a hot girlfriend. Keeping this in mind and based on my own mostly bitter experiences, I have come up with my team of prospective bench-warmers for the IPL. Part 1 deals with the batsmen who have come up as turkey more often than not in the IPL so far.

Parthiv Patel

The IPL antithesis of Chris Gayle. It is hard to believe that Parthiv Patel has been around for over a decade now. It is even harder to believe that he is still playing the IPL. He’s played for four teams (if you count the Deccan Chargers and the Sunrisers Hyderabad as two different teams) and in six editions has a highest score of 57. His 14 sixes are the lowest for a batsman who has crossed 1000 runs in the IPL. Add to that a batting average below 20, a strike rate just above 100 and seven ducks. His dismissals per innings rate for a wicket-keeper is the lowest for anyone who has kept more than 30 times.

Yet, he continues to open the batting and keep for his franchise. He has yet to cross 100 runs in this year’s edition so far, despite having played six innings. Bad habits die hard. More so in the IPL.

Naman Ojha

He was expected to be MS Dhoni‘s understudy – at least for the shortest version of the game. Instead, Naman Ojha now finds himself out of the Delhi Daredevils team and rightly so. It may be noted that he lost his place to another India prospect (Kedar Jadhav), so the writing is slowly starting to form on the wall for Ojha.

Three seasons back, things were far more different. A swashbuckling 94 in his second IPL game in a high-scoring defeat for Rajasthan against Chennai had catapulted him straight into the Indian team. A couple of insipid performances later, he was still hot property in the next IPL auctions, where he was snapped up by Delhi. He was the only full-time keeper Delhi had and would go on to play most of the matches for the franchise over the next two seasons.

He was competent behind the stumps most of the time, but awkward in front of them. Barring a couple of innings, his tenure had all the symbols of the malaise which often accompanies promise – inconsistency. As a result, he has gone straight from national reckoning to domestic second lead.

Venugopal Rao

A product of the Greg Chappell school of learning, Yalaka Venugopal Rao had everything most young Hyderabadi batsmen do, but lacked two things – those magical wrists and a power of resolve. The fact that he and Suresh Raina started their international careers together puts the above statement into perspective.

Nevertheless, Venu was an integral part of the blow-hot-blow-cold campaign of the Deccan Chargers for the first three years of the IPL. He was bought by the Daredevils in the 2011 auction, who seem to have either an eye for local talents going inept, or a mechanism for doing so. He played about half of their matches last season and was shunted out for the likes of Manprit Juneja this season. He did not get a chance to bat in the only game he got – against the Mumbai Indians – and was promptly dropped for the next match. The closest he can get to a permanent slot in the team is as a mascot – after all, the only game he played was the only one Delhi has won this season.

Manish Pandey

A criminal loss of talent. When Manish Pandey hit the first century by an Indian batsman in the IPL and that too in South African conditions, many wondered why he wasn’t fast-tracked into the Indian side for the 2009 World T20. Four years later, most of them are wondering how he makes the Pune first XI as often as he does.

Pandey had everything going for him – a fat IPL contract, a guaranteed place in the Karnataka Ranji team and a bright future ahead. Probably everything was going too fast, as since that century he has made just a couple of fifties along with 8 ducks in 41 innings. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara have gone past him in the race to the Indian team and Pandey is on the verge of being an also-ran.

Neither the middle order nor the top order has worked for him so far this year, as a grand total of 31 runs in 4 innings would testify. With great talent comes responsibility – at 23, it is not a bad time for Pandey to start realizing the same.

Saurabh Tiwary

Let’s face it – Saurabh Tiwary was never meant to play Test cricket and more talented individuals (including his erstwhile Mumbai Indians comrade Ambati Rayudu) have not had a chance to lay their hands on a India cap. But you cannot fault him for this – 2010 was the year when he and Rayudu almost took Mumbai to the trophy. The India cap did not last too long on his head, as it was the World Cup year and there were already too many contenders for the number 6 slot.

His performances hadn’t gone unnoticed and Bangalore splashed out quite a bit of money to get their hands on him. Since then, it has all gone downhill. Tiwary had 3 half-centuries in his first 15 appearances in the IPL – since then he has turned out 31 times for Bangalore for a best of 42. As of now, injury and bad forms means he is not even guaranteed of a starting place.

All this is a far cry for someone who was hailed to be the left-handed Dhoni. Unlike his statemate, Tiwary lacks the tenacity to hold on to his chances. As a result, he has slipped far away from national reckoning, and with his lack of natural talent as compared to the likes of Rahane or Chand or even Manish Pandey, it seems highly improbable that he would make a comeback any time soon.

Footnote:- The fact that statistics are not always meant to make sense is clearly highlighted in the case of Kieron Pollard. With a batting average of 22.81 and only a fifty per 15 innings, one cannot say that he has provided enough bang for the bucks Mumbai have paid him. But I have exempted him for the sole reason that it is not his fault in this case – I doubt Chris Gayle would have been able to do much to Bangalore’s fortunes had he been forced to come in at number 5 or lower every time.

Clearly, there is a link somewhere. In fact, quite a few of the so-called match-winners from the days of yore could have easily walked into an IPL franchise for a price he quoted. We take a look at the all-time best XI who should have played the newest version of the game. To avoid statistical anomalies, I have taken a look at all the international matches across Tests and ODIs till 31st December 1990 and kept a cap of 1000 runs for batsmen and that of 100 wickets for the bowlers.

The openers

Victor Trumper

Before Don Bradman, there was Victor Trumper. Many would argue that Trumper was a better bat in the middle order but in Twenty20 cricket, you need to make a statement, and right up front, no one could do better at that than the Thumper. Conditions did not challenge him; his hand-eye coordination and sweet timing were independent of any external influence. He could play percentage cricket at will; what made him special was his ability to notch up the big hundreds with his unorthodox hitting. Virender Sehwag would have been impressed. For me, Trumper would be the best man to take strike against the likes of Lasith Malinga.

Partnering him at the non striker’s end would probably be the most baffling selection of this XI – an Englishman from the sixties. Bob Barber was a feisty left hander who had a thumping drive and a fierce pull. The Australians got a taste of this in Sydney in 1966 when he laid them to the sword with an innings of 185 which included strokes to all corners of the ground. Barber however was too ahead of his times, at least for England. He was replaced in the England side by a stodgy Yorkshireman who would go on to play 108 Tests for England and develop the gift of the gab. Barber could bowl too and his big spinning leg-breaks were a rarity for an English spinner. The ideal bits-and-pieces cricketer you would want in your side.

One down

Not too many people can keep Viv Richards out of a number 3 position in a Twenty20 match. In my opinion, the only man who could do it is Clem Hill. On his day, Hill was as potent as Trumper if not more and the reason he makes it to my team is because of his exceptional play on the leg side. While he had a solid drive and good wrists to cut, Hill scored most of his runs on the onside with his exceptional sense of timing and placement. His fielding in the deep would have also been an asset in this era of big-hitting.

Second drop

Viv Richards

There are not too many options seriously. At number four, you need to have the gum chewing broad shouldered West Indian wind-milling his arms and swaggering out to the middle. The very sight of Viv Richards would send a shiver down the spine of any opposition worth or not his salt. Bowl outside off stump and he would drive you over covers. Bowl short and he would hook you in front of square. Bowl straight and stand the chance of losing your head. How, just how, could this man not have played Twenty20 cricket if he played in the current time? Two five wicket hauls in ODIs would just be an added incentive.

Number five

Another West Indian, although this one might raise a few eyebrows. Gus Logie is generally not considered amongst the greatest of West Indian batsmen but given a chance, he could produce many a chanceless innings. If not for his inconsistency, Logie could have staked a claim to the Hall of Greats for West Indian batsmanship. But then, inconsistency is never an issue in Twenty20. At number 5, Logie would provide the perfect foil for the flashing blade of Richards as well as for the quick scoring all-rounders to follow.

Number six

Kapil Dev

Of all batsmen who have batted at number six across all formats before the cut-off date, Arjuna Ranatunga has the second highest strike rate of around 63. The batsman who tops the chart at number six has a strike rate of 97 plus. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting to you the inimitable Kapil Dev. Kapil could walk into any side – Test, ODI, Twenty20 – on the dint of his bowling alone. In my team, he would be the third pacer but, more importantly, the batsman who would take it to the opposition bowlers in the death overs. And, in doing so, he would lead the side by example. The expectations are high but then you cannot expect less from India’s Cricketer of the Century.

Number seven

If Kapil bats at six, Ian Botham cannot be left far behind. Although one might argue that it is in the better interests of the team if Botham bats at number five, I disagree. After all, he would be my first change bowler and batting so high would take a lot out of him. Number seven is just fine for his phenomenal power hitting and the outswing would make him a more than effective change bowler.

The ‘keeper

Finally we have our wicketkeeper. Number eight is too low a position for a modern day wicketkeeper batsman but, in such a star studded lineup, the incredulously difficult named Ian Smith would find it difficult to bat higher. A one-day strike rate of 99 plus in that era and that mind numbing assault on Atul Wassan en route to 173 off 136 balls in a Test match quells all doubts about his abilities though. Compact and efficient behind the stumps, Smith was good enough to claim seven catches in an innings against Sri Lanka and lasted an entire decade as the Black Caps ‘keeper.

The new ball bowlers

Michael Holding

The fastest bowler of all time on the basis of consistency. They called him the ‘Whispering Death’. For ignorants and ignoramuses, Michael Holding will hold the new ball for my side. Ask Geoffrey Boycott about Barbados 1981 and that over, and he will tell you why. I can guarantee that few opening batsmen from the opponents will be impressed. And six Test half centuries suggest a handy lower order option in case my fancied top order undergoes an unlikely collapse.

Choosing his partner is a more difficult option. On a greentop, it has to be Joel Garner. Big Bird could crank up the pace by more than a bit and his height would help him to deliver short balls from just short of length. The smartest weapon in his repertoire though is the yorker – the nemesis of an Twenty20 batsmen. Garner could produce this rarity on demand and he would be my slog overs specialist. He has a big match temperament too – remember the 5 for 38 in the 1979 World Cup final?

On any other pitch, it has to be the most enigmatic bowler of all-time. Think of the bag of tricks of Ajantha Mendis and multiply it with the pace and metronomic skills of Glenn McGrath and you have Sydney Barnes. He could swing the ball in and out very late, pitch it outside off and hit leg stump and vice-versa. He could combine swing with spin with the new ball and carry it on throughout the day in the times when a second new ball was an unheard concept. He was a mercenary too putting a tag to his skills – you need one such player in your Twenty20 team. Nevertheless, 7 wickets per match in 27 Test matches gives him the right to quote his price.

The spinner

Bhagwat Chandrasekhar

For this spot, there has to be no compromise. I want the best Indian spinner of all time – in my opinion the best spinner of all time, the best of the famed spin quartet, the best bowler for India overseas. At his worst, he was a somewhat erratic leggie who confused batsmen; at his best Bhagwat Chandrasekhar was unplayable. A withered arm due to polio would add to the tour de force element. Think of it – you have played out Holding and Garner/Barnes and even Botham and Kapil and you are looking to cash in on the second change and part-time bowlers. And then you have to face Chandra. Simply priceless.

The twelfth man

The mind says Bobby Simpson. The heart says Eknath Solkar. There are times when you just have to listen to your heart.

Dear Sir,

Although I am a staunch follower of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s aggressor tactics, I believe in one very popular adage of your fellow Gujaratis – “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight at you, then you win.” And you seem to have taken it to heart, quite literally.

I never ignored you, though. I remember your Under-19 days when Piyush Chawla and Rohit Sharma used to be more famous. Ironically, all three of you ended up as Internet memes – it must have been a really bad year. I guess losing to Pakistan in a World Cup final didn’t help.

The next time I came across you, Shane Warne referred to you as a “rockstar” during the inaugural IPL. I actually liked the Royals – I have a thing for the underdogs. And I had identified two future Indian players in that team – you and Yusuf Pathan. Of course, I had not imagined that both of you would be fighting for the same place in the team.

I remember your debut ODI. It was a dead rubber – I guess that’s why you were playing in the first place. It was one of those meaningless India-Sri Lanka matches, which were organised for Ravi Shastri to showcase his oratory skills. You scored a fine unbeaten 60 on debut, and at that time, it seemed like an embarrassment of riches – everyone was performing, the ODI and Test teams were on their way to number one in the rankings, and it seemed that the defence of the World T20 would be a mere formality.

That was where it all started to change for you. I have documented that here earlier, and I am sorry to say it will not make for pleasant reading for you. But it was not always your fault. I remember that ill-fated tri-series in Zimbabwe in 2010 – you had topped the bowling charts for India and were 3rd in the batting charts. That was also the last time I remember Rohit playing really well – for India that is.

You came back with a bang in England in 2011. I still remember that 78 not out – you had just flown in from England into a crisis situation and then walked straight in to bat. It was probably the best innings I have seen from you. And I guess you took a couple of wickets in that match as well.

You had a pretty decent 2011 ending up with a batting average of 31 plus and 24 wickets in 13 matches. Now, in any other country, that would have been an all-rounder material performance but you were already on your way to becoming a meme. Of course, you played your part with all that IPL brouhaha.

2012 didn’t work out for you but we didn’t play a lot of ODI cricket in the year. The selectors thankfully kept you away from the World T20 this time. And then you had to go and hit those triple centuries on that dodo of a wicket in Rajkot to all but establish your knighthood.

It wasn’t your fault entirely. The fact that we play our entire domestic cricket on such wickets and batsmen with limited potential like you make triple hundreds on demand is actually a fault of the system. But there has to be a scapegoat somewhere.

But do pray let me know your new year resolution – I really need to figure out what you are smoking these days. A batting average of 42 and 13 wickets in 7 ODIs. A match-winning half century for the first time in six tries. And you hit six sixes in the month of January – it took you four years to hit nine before that. And we haven’t yet come to Test cricket.

Let’s face it – you came into the team because of those triple centuries; and because Yuvraj Singh was not in the groove; and because Ajinkya Rahane cannot bowl spin and/or is not in the Chennai Super Kings team. So technically, you got into the team as a replacement for VVS Laxman.

Ah! So that’s were you get the Australia fetish. I mean 24 wickets in 4 Tests against any team is no joke. For all I know, even Kumble might not have ever taken so many wickets in a Test series against Australia. Just to add to that, you have taken 10 three wicket hauls the last 16 times you have bowled. That’s a mind boggling 62.5%.

And all this under the immense pressure of life as a meme at the tender age of 23. If Facebook existed when Tendulkar started off, he would have quit at 19. How do you do it? Is it Musli Power Xtra or something else?

Are you the next Ravi Shastri? No, I am not talking about his lack of laconism but his all-round abilities which won him an Audi and an audience with the fairer sex in the 80′s. He was a better batsman, but you are more devastating on under-prepared pitches with the ball. It pretty much evens up.

We need you as a player. It is probably the first time my generation has witnessed a “brownwash”. It is the first time in a very long time that the Aussies are being subjected to the same humiliation they are used to meting out over the years. And you played a major role in the same. Heck, you got the best batsman of last year out five times out of six. Not too many bowlers have bunnies. And very few have one of the stature of the Australian captain.

The truth however is slightly different. We need you – but as a sounding board for our own failures. Somewhere, deep down, it gives us great satisfaction to blame someone for a failure. Never mind even if it is in cricket, which is supposed to be a team sport.

I wish you luck. And it comes from someone who genuinely feels for Indian cricket.

Respectfully yours,

A convertee

However, this is not the time to crib. Each match in the series has thrown up a new hero who has stood his guard at a difficult time or rescued the game from the probability of a boring draw. The Delhi Test was the hardest India had to fight as Australia, under Shane Watson, returned to their tried and tested tactics of getting under the skin of their opponents on a pitch that responded to each and every bowler. Honours were even till the end of Day 2 as the Australians found an unlikely batting hero and an unlikelier bowling saviour. Day 3 however belonged to a much maligned Indian player who finally found his place in the sun. We take a look at the men who made all the difference in the last Test of the series.

Peter Siddle

Siddle is built like an ox with the arms of a woodcutter. Those arms are meant to deliver the ball on length for hours on end in hostile conditions and hold up one end for the more naturally talented but injury prone younger fast bowlers. In a limited-overs match, they might swing the occasional one over the fence but that’s about it. You would not expect Siddle of all people to counter the Indian spin bowling menace, coming in at 136 for 7 on a snorter of a Delhi pitch. But that’s exactly what he did in the first innings to ensure that Australia reach a score that was a par score with what could be expected on the pitch. Earlier in the series, Siddle had held fort with a 91 ball 19 but, for the better part of this innings, he was forced to play the role of a senior partner to James Pattinson as the duo tried to inch Australia one step closer to safety. The Aussies had lost Starc to injury before the start of this match but Siddle made sure that his batting exploits were not missed too much, scoring a well made 51.

If this was not enough, he came in at Australia effectively 84 for 7 in the 2nd innings and looking down the end of a long dark barrel. Ravindra Jadeja was on fire and on a hat-trick at the same time. Siddle’s calm and collected response was to slash away the ball outside the off for a couple of runs. If the first innings was about attrition, the second was all about quick scoring as Siddle combined with Wade initially and then again with Pattinson, to help Australia set India a tricky target of 155. In the process, he became the first number 9 batsman in the history of Test cricket to have hit two half-centuries in the same match, as well as being the highest scorer of his team both times around. Oh, and by the way, the two fifties were his personal best scores too. Australia might not have taken too much out of this series but Siddle, for the sheer weight of his efforts, will return with his head held high.

Nathan Lyon

Bollywood generally lacks good scripts but it can take a leaf out of Nathan Lyon’s memoirs to make a blockbuster. Plucked out of complete obscurity following a brief career as a groundsman, Lyon shot to fame with a fiver on debut against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka. His career graph then etched out many a crest and a trough over the last couple of years as Cricket Australia struggled to find a replacement for his skills despite acknowledging his limitations. The nadir was yet to come though – Lyon was left behind the limited overs spinner, Doherty and the part time offie, Maxwell as Australia made an early bid to come back into the series at Hyderabad. The failed bid cost them an innings defeat and Lyon was back at Mohali. While he was better than Doherty, that was not saying much. Delhi was his last attempt before the likes of Beer and Holland started tugging at his trousers for a spot in the Ashes team.

Lyon went back to the basics on a cracking pitch and that helped him regain his nous. He used all the weapons of flight, dip and turn to remind the Indians after what seemed a very long time, of the deeds of Swann and Panesar. In the process, he restricted India to a lead of 10 with his returns of 7 for 94 and should have caused more damage in the second innings but for the calculated attack of Pujara and Kohli and the ineffectiveness of the rest of the bowlers. For all we know, Lyon might go the Krejza way but he has done enough to warrant another opportunity at the very least.

Ravindra Jadeja

This might sound very ludicrous but India have not had a spinning all-rounder for a very long time, at least in Test cricket. Of course, one of the reasons for the same is that India haven’t had an all-rounder for a very long time and the few we had were the likes of the bat-a-bit pace bowlers Irfan Pathan and Ajit Agarkar (five ducks, yes but a century in Lord’s is no mean feat). Yusuf Pathan was primarily a batsman who could bowl a little bit better than the likes of Sehwag and Tendulkar while Ashwin has shown promise but not consistently enough to stake his claim.

Jadeja, though, is different. After two Under-19 World Cups, he was earmarked for something special by his Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne. The first four years of his career brought him more ignominy than fame – the few times he scored runs, India lost; the times he bowled well, someone else bowled better. Three triple centuries (including two in a season) was scoffed at and so was his selection to the Test team. After the tours of England and Australia, India badly needed a whipping boy and Jadeja provided them the fodder although, by no means, was he the worst player during this period.

How the tables have turned. A maiden five-wicket haul later, Jadeja had gone from six sixes in six consecutive balls to comparison with Derek Underwood. Admittedly, the pitch helped him but so did it help all the other spinners from both sides. And 24 wickets in a series against Australia is no joke.

But then, one had no doubt about his bowling credentials – at least not after the first 3 matches. What the selectors would have been more interested in was how would Jadeja bat when the team was five down a small way behind (or in front) of the opposition’s first innings score. He had failed in Chennai and Hyderabad but then a couple of decisive hits had helped India clinch the series in Mohali. Here though, the situation was completely different.

And Jadeja did adapt. He mixed caution with aggression to take India within touching distance of the Australian first innings score. And one feels he was not done – falling as he did to a dubious decision. It might be too early to say but he just might have done enough to book the second spinner’s slot ahead of the likes of Pragyan Ojha, Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla. In due course of time, India will revert to a seven batsman strategy, but knowing the propensity of the Indian batting to collapse, everyone will want Jadeja to bat and bowl in the same vein for a very long time to come.

1973 – Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes”.

1979 – Ann Meyers joins the NBA team Indiana Pacers.

2003 – Annika Sorenstam plays a tournament on the men’s US tour.

2008 – Danica Patrick (of Go Daddy fame) wins the Indy Japan 300.

2011 – Arran Brindle scores a century for the semi-professional men’s team Louth against Market Deeping.

2012 – Charlotte Dujardin wins gold in an equestrian event in the Olympics.

Women have come a long way in sport since the Baron (Pierre de Coubertin) barred them from playing in his version of the Olympics. Nevertheless, it will still be a momentous occasion when (and if) Sarah Taylor and Holly Colvin take the field for the Sussex 2nd XI this summer.

Sarah Taylor and Holly Colvin

This, of course, is a far cry from the overtly chauvinistic approach the Marylebone Cricket Club has portrayed over the years. After all, it was only in 1999 that women were allowed to enter the hallowed Lord’s pavilion for the first time. Much water, it seems, has flown through the Thames in these last fifteen odd years.

Now the question which arises is – is this a serious initiative to bring equality to sport or just a shot in the arm for the PR machinery of a struggling English cricket county? There is no doubt that it is an interesting thought – in any case, the women’s World Cup started two years before that of their male counterparts. Better coverage and improved performances by the cricketing heavyweights such as England, Australia and India has automatically led to more women and girls taking up cricket seriously. Boundaries are cleared more frequently and the speed guns have gone up a few notches higher.

There are hurdles though. Women’s cricket is played with balls which are significantly smaller and lighter and the fastest bowler in the world Jhulan Goswami would be classified as military medium in men’s cricket. Top players are at best semi-professional and there is no domestic first class structure in most countries. For every ten Brendan Taylors, there is one Sarah Taylor.

But if someone were to cross over to the other side, the wicketkeeper-batswoman would be an ideal choice to do so. Fast as lightning behind the stumps, she had kept out Brighton College’s male keeper from the starting eleven. Those who have seen her behind the stumps and in front of them as a limited overs opener will vouch for the fact that she is cut out for greater things.

Add to that the fact that a number of women play for semi-professional men’s clubs across the counties of England and the exploits of the likes of Arran Brindle are like candles at the end of the tunnel for them. For those with classically correct techniques, the extra pace offered by male speedsters often acts as a boon with respect to timing. Physically too, the women cricketers are fitter and stronger and undergo regular endurance training exercises. And first class cricket, as we and wiser men have harped over the ages, is more about skill and “percentage cricket” as opposed to the power play in the shorter versions. The pressure in most cases is just the stigma attached to being an “outsider”.

Another sport where skill is of significance and hence offers some semblance of equality to the fairer sex, is golf. Although long, powerful hits and holes-in-one might elude the softer touch-and-play dexterity of women (not to say that the former is impossible to do for women), this is one sport where women have been making significant progress over the last 60 years. Sustained success is still an illusion and non-cooperation from their male colleagues often make it a hard day at work as Annika Sorenstam found with Vijay Singh for a tournament 10 years ago.

Annika Sorenstam

For the first time in its history and as opposed to its founder’s vision, the Olympics last year had at least one female representative from each of its participating members. This does not reflect the true picture – the only truly mixed event is equestrianism which admittedly has thrown up the likes of Charlotte Dujardin since 1952. But that’s about it.

It is hard to imagine a Bend It Like Beckham with the Red Devils in tow or even a reprise of Billie Jean’s feats with the slam bang style of Rafael Nadal and company. It is hard to imagine women doing anything apart from cheerleading or leading teams off the field in the IPL. But for every ten Kieron Pollards, there is one Deandra Dottin as I found out one balmy afternoon in February. Even if Taylor and her compatriot Colvin fail to make a dent, they and we should not lose heart. Hope is just around the corner.

After two successive 4-0 drubbings overseas, India were expected to return the favour to England, if not Australia. The quest began brightly with Che Pujara’s double century in Ahmedabad, but thereafter took a swift turn downhill as the English spinners tamed a new-look Indian middle order in their own background. In between, the next door neighbours came and defeated us comprehensively in an ODI series for the first time in recent memory. India entered the series against Australia with one of their famed openers out of the team and the other battling a severe lack of form. Australia, on the other hand, were coming off a series victory against the West Indies at home and everything seemed settled as Lyon was expected to bear the lion’s share of spin bowling, with Doherty expected to be a doughty backup.

How the tables have turned. At the end of three Tests, Australia are fighting a series whitewash for the first time in a very long time. Nothing has worked for them – with or without homework. On the other hand, the Indian side seems to have shrugged off its dead skin and metamorphosed into a brave new world.

The match in Mohali, though, was closer than one expected it to be. Bhuvnesh Kumar swung it like a spitting cobra at the end of Day 4 and Xavier Doherty pressed his claim to the most enterprising number 11 batsman on Day 5, but the match was set up by three players for whom this was a make-or-break opportunity.

Steve Smith – He is referred to as the Ravindra Jadeja of Australia. The ludicrously named Steve Smith started his cricketing life as a limited overs all-rounder before making it to the Test team as the lead spinner. Does anyone remember Cameron White? He scored a muscular 77 in one of his earliest innings but sucked at his day job – taking all his 3 wickets in a single innings in a total of 5 Test matches.

Strong performances for the weakest team of the IPL (Pune Warriors) was to be his calling card as the team for India was to be picked. Smith was the 17th player out of 17 to be chosen and many criticised his selection ahead of a second wicketkeeper for a lengthy overseas tour.

Mohali would have remained another spot on his tourist itinerary had Homework-gate not happened. He grasped the opportunity with both hands and both legs as he put on a Steve Waugh style recovery with Mitchell Starc to take them to their first 400 plus score of the series. If that was not enough, he took a single delivery to settle Sachin Tendulkar‘s account in the first innings – the man who, 15 years earlier, had caused a severe bout of insomnia to another peroxide haired chubby leggie. He was unlucky to get a “jaffa” from Bhuvaneshwar in the second innings or else Australia just might have saved a Test in this series.

Mitchell Starc – Starc was supposed to be the next big hope for Australian fast bowling – so much so that he was pulled out of the IPL auction and an entire rotation policy was designed around him.

A lot of water has flown in the five rivers of Punjab since. Pattinson has taken on the mantle of the “promising young fast bowler”, Siddle has rediscovered his mojo and Starc was yet another benefactor of an Arthuritarian disciplinary action. He delivered, but in stark contrast to what was expected.

Number 9 is not the favoured spot to score a century but Starc came close, falling just one short in an innings which added runs, ate up time in a Test match starved of it and all but saved Australia from a potential defeat – all but. He did it again in the second innings with Xavier Doherty for company, but Phil Hughes early morning slowdown meant that not too many runs were on the board by the time Starc exhausted his levels of endurance.

He has demonstrated similar prowess earlier in ODIs, and it is too early to say, but if he were to maintain his fitness levels, Australia have a potential Wasim Akram on their hands. With the ball though, Starc has a bit of catching up to do in subcontinental conditions, although his first over with the second new ball in the first innings and the late burst round the wicket in the second innings betrayed his much heralded promise.

Shikhar Dhawan – This one deserves a full story. 7 years ago, an India A team visited Abu Dhabi for a one-of-its-kind EurAsia series which included the full teams of Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Arab Emirates besides the A teams of Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Nearly all those in that team who played at least 4 matches in that tournament went on to represent India at the national level. Most of them, with the exception of a few (Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja in particular), are more or less done with their international careers at this point of time.

There was one who had to wait – the highest scorer of the series. 2 years earlier, he was the highest scorer of the U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh with 505 runs – the next best in the Indian team was Raina with 247. Yet, he watched the likes of Raina, Karthik, Sharma, Pujara, Kohli and Jadeja make their way into the national team as he struggled to match up to his earlier exploits over the next few years. What must have hurt more is Uthappa – his opening partner in the U-19 World Cup and then the Eurasia series – was hailed as the next big opening batsman after Virender Sehwag, despite everyone in the domestic circuit being aware of who was more talented.

Dhawan bid his time but luck was not on his side. A duck on debut against the visiting Australians was the only opportunity he got to push for a World Cup squad place, which, expectantly, did not come. He got a second chance in the West Indies series after the World Cup when most of the seniors chose to take a rest but, barring a scratchy half-century in one of the matches, failed to total even 20 in the other 4 matches. With Sehwag and Gambhir to come back into the team and the likes of the younger Rahane on the horizon, Dhawan’s days were numbered. He was not getting any younger at 25.

He went back and forced his way back into the Indian team through some consistent performances at the first class level. When Virender Sehwag was finally dropped, everyone expected Rahane to take his place. Although by trade he was a middle order batsman, Rahane had opened with a considerable degree of success in the shorter versions of the game. Besides, Sehwag himself had followed the same route to success 10 years ago. There was no reason why Rahane could not replicate it. Not too many reasons why he should not get a chance to do so.

Except for one reason – there was a specialist opener already in the squad. And he opened up the Australian bowling attack with his flashing blade like a cheap soda water bottle. By the time he was done, not much fizz or fight was left in the tank.

It was an innings that bore the stamp of the Nawab of Najafgarh. Indeed, if someone had been watching Dhawan bat in a mirror, he could be pardoned for thinking that it was Sehwag. Not just for the stroke play of the innings, but sometimes for the audacity of its execution. And the twirling moustache went well with the swirling sixes off the spinners.

An injury to his batting hand meant that we will not see an encore on his home ground in Delhi. Indeed, Rahane might come in and seal his spot with a double century on debut. But no one, not even Sachin Tendulkar or God or a string of single figure scores, can take anything away from Dhawan. After years of trying, Shikhar has finally summitted.

We will have to travel some years back in time to demystify this legend. Just like the Sagar Manthan of Hindu mythology, the inaugural edition of the Indian IPL churned up some priceless gems from the bottomless pit that is Indian domestic cricket. Many of these gems like Manpreet Singh Gony were found to be American diamonds on greater scrutiny and soon fell by the wayside. Not Sir Ravindra Jadeja. Of course his journey to knighthood had not begun yet.

Ravi, or single-pasli, as he was known back then was your friendly neighbourhood Gujju all-rounder. Of course you had Yusuf Pathan too but his demeanour does not allow him to be put down as friendly. He started off with a lot of promise scoring a half-century on debut albeit in a dead rubber and a losing cause in one of those cyclical India-Sri Lanka matches of the late noughties. Soon he was travelling to New Zealand and, one ugly stumping later, he was in the squad for the second World T20.

This is where the boy started metamorphosing into the man. In what was an effective quarter final against England, Ravi shrugged off his IPL flamboyance and put on the guise of a middle-order Test match bat to play a calm and composed innings of 25 off 35 balls. So calm that no one could have composed it better.

This would have been enough to end a career – people have scored triple centuries in their last innings and not played again. Not for Sir Ravindra Jadeja. He still had not become a legend. More was to come.

The same year India was playing Australia at home in an ODI series. India had almost chased down a daunting total of 350 set by the Australians in Hyderabad thanks to the efforts of Sachin Tendulkar (who else?) and when he departed on 175 India needed 17 in 3 overs. Time for Jadeja to remind the world that it was the 10th anniversary year of the Indo-Pak Chepauk Test. The sprint he made for a non-existent run would not be too unlike that of a headless chicken making its way inside a microwave oven.

Enough, one feels. More was to come – this time in the Caribbean a year later. The third World T20 was more like a rushed college festival, which had to be done because it was scheduled. The actual reason was to give Jadeja a chance to display his bowling talent, something which had been lacking in the previous edition. So much so that crowds in the Caribbean found themselves making their way to the ground for a 10 o’clock start for a T20 match so that Indian TV audiences back home could watch Jadeja in action.

And he provided so much of it that you could be pardoned for thinking that he was wearing Action shoes. Drilled for three sixes off the last three balls of his first over against Australia, he came back for a second over – only to be drilled for three sixes on the first three balls of the over. A perfect six, but like the unassuming gentleman he is, he let the limelight be hogged by the likes of Daan van Bunge and Stuart Board. Not a man for records, our Sir Ravindra Jadeja.

The World Cup came and went and our man found himself on the sidelines – and in a new IPL team. Having found out that dhokla and thepla does not taste as good when they are dunked in Chettinad curry, Jadeja put his all behind a covert operation that included the uprooting of the Tuskers, Lalit Modi’s ouster, Shashi Tharoor and Sunanda Pushkar’s marriage and his subsequent ban for trying to negotiate his night rates (because big boys play at night) with Nita Ambani.

It was a strategy which even Machiavelli would have been proud of as a year later Jaddu cemented his position in the alternate Indian team under his mentor – the Chennai Super Kings. The icing on the cake was a price tag that would pay for the entire salaries of a graduating batch of a middling B-School – a whopping $2 mn.

He justified his price by taking his first fiver in the tournament and ensuring the Super Kings lost their first final in three years against a team that, for most of its tenure, was supposed to serve as the laughing-stock of the IPL. In fact, this has been a stand-out feature of his career so far – all his fifties (barring the most recent against England) have come in losing causes. Neither of his centuries or five-wicket hauls though have contributed to an Indian defeat. A small matter of fact remains that they haven’t contributed to Indian wins also since he is yet to score a century or take a fiver.

If we are done with the icing, the cherry can’t be far behind. And Jadeja was quick to pop it when he hit his third first class triple century to join an exalted group which includes the likes of Sir Donald Bradman. It was also his second triple of the season on the Rajkot airport tarmac which is often mistaken to be a cricket pitch.

We can go on and on about the man but he has earned his honour – something which even the other great Rohit Sharma could not achieve. To talk about his social work would require reams of pages – something which the environment friendly Jadeja would look at in consternation. So much so that he had actually built a bird’s nest on his head to accomodate all those poor souls who migrate from other continents in times of hardship for greener pastures. And, no, we are not talking about Jackson Bird – he has already flown back home.

The dark glasses is to serve as a tribute to his namesake Ravindra Jain whom Jaddu tries to blindly emulate on the cricketing field when he is batting or bowling. And we aren’t even talking about his commitment of giving away his wicket after scoring an occasional boundary or so such that the sentiments of the bowler isn’t hurt. In the age and times of buccaneers like Chris Gayle, such a magnanimous expression of concern is truly praiseworthy.

The grapevine says that Sir will officially be cast in wax in his right place beside Bradman at Madame Tussauds’ when he makes the trip to Buckingham Palace sometime later this year. Till then, his memory remains enshrined in this scorecard where he ends up as one of the highest scorers for Pakistan against India in the recently concluded series which includes a highest score of 58 for India with an overall series total of 40 runs. If you are confused, you might want to check out the latest weapon he is planning to launch on the rest of the cricketing world.

Let’s take a cricket match for example. We talk about stratagems. We talk about game plans. We talk about captaincy. And we often fail to realize that a captain or a coach is only as good as his players. If Mike Brearley were to captain Canada against the Australian team of 1981, ten out of ten times they would have been drubbed by an innings inside two days. We also saw what happened with super coach John Buchanan and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a look at the five players who made a difference in Chennai earlier this week in the 1st Test of Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Ravichandran Ashwin

He was the main weapon before the England series began. Having spun India home at home against the West Indies in his debut series and then New Zealand a season later, England was seen only as a formality, a side to be brushed aside comfortably.

What happened next was purely anti-climatic. After a sound drubbing in the first Test, England woke up to the two spinner policy and over the next three Tests, Swann and Panesar had the Indian batsmen on their knees in their own backyard. In contrast, Ashwin was left fumbling with his bag of tricks as the more classical Ojha reaped the rewards of sticking to a good line and length.

India vs Australia was always expected to be the return of the prodigal Harbhajan and despite his batting skills, not many would have been surprised if the Turbanator and Ojha had made it to the starting line-up ahead of Ashwin. He evidently bounced back with a spell of classical off spin bowling that would warm the cockles of the heart of any Test match purist. Ashwin extracted turn out of a dry first day pitch and then bounce on a crumbling fourth day one as he sent the Australians back to the drawing board with his second match haul of 12 wickets.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni – Criticize the man all you want for his captaincy but you can never fault him for his commitment. In the late 90s and early 2000s while Gilchrist was square-cutting his way in glory, India were in search of a Test match keeper who could average in the mid 20s. Dhoni’s batting average is nudging 40 and most of the runs he has made has come at number 7, shepherding the tail along with him.

What could have been a potentially tricky lead of 30 turned into a gargantuan 192 which on a fourth day Indian wicket is never too bright a prospect to chase down. Sachin had departed at 196 and one more wicket at that stage could have opened the floodgates for the relatively inexperienced lower middle order and the tail. Instead, Dhoni came in and batted the way he does – scoring a double century in less than three sessions and effectively putting a large question mark inside the heads of Michael Clarke and Nathan Lyon.

Moises Henriques

Not everyone expected Moises Henriques to play in Chennai ahead of Glenn Maxwell or Xavier Doherty. Indeed, if Watson had been fit to bowl, he would not have played.

It’s a good thing he did, for apart from Michael Clarke and David Warner to some extent, Henriques looked like the only player who was comfortable playing spin and playing it aggressively. He was one of the reasons Australia reached 380 in the first place and then, after taking a hammering from Dhoni and Co, came back to prise out Harbhajan before he could do too much damage. He continued his rearguard action in the second innings and combined with Nathan Lyon to save Australia from the shame of an innings defeat. It might be too early to pronounce this statement but Australia might just have found themselves a built-to-last Number 7.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar – New age tailenders like Tino Best and Abul Hasan have hogged the limelight with stellar batting performances. What differentiates Bhuvneshwar Kumar from them is that he is a proper batsman who can hold his own when required.

It is refreshing to see an Indian number 10 put his head down and apply himself to his job i.e. turning the strike over to the well-set senior batsman on the other hand and playing his shots with the number 11 at the crease. More so, after the number 9 (Harbhajan) had departed to a loose shot with the scoreline not too far ahead of that of the opposition.

With the ball, Kumar had little to do in conditions which offered negligible assistance but no one could discount him for not trying in his debut Test. If he continues to show the same assuredness with the bat, Dhoni might just be inclined to give the five bowler strategy the longer run it deserves.

Ravindra Jadeja – Probably the most shocking entry on this list but an important one nevertheless. Sri Sri Ravindra Jadeja may have made it to the hallowed portals of Facebook for his art of leaving, but his golden arm (and fielding) were crucial in a game where the designated second spinner left a lot to be desired.

The thing about Jadeja is that not too many people take him seriously. Which is why he walked away with five wickets in the match (the highest after Ashwin and Pattinson) and not too many people noticed.

In the first innings, he got Clarke on 130 who, along with Peter Siddle, was just about to take the match away from India. In the second innings, he got the determined Siddle and then broke the crucial last wicket partnership by accounting for Lyon. Add to that the runs he saved in the field and he would be on any sensible man’s starting XI for India in Hyderabad.

A match between Sri Lanka and West Indies played before the inaugural edition of the IPL should not warrant too much of attention. More so if the likes of Muttiah Muralitharan and Sanath Jayasuriya are not playing and Chris Gayle scores a fifty at a strike rate of 64.19. But then, cricket, being the charming seductress she is, always has something new in store for one to rejoice.

It started off being yet another plain vanilla One Day International. Both teams were building up for the World Cup in the subcontinent and had picked a debutant spinner each in the form of Ajantha Mendis for Sri Lanka and Suleimann Benn for West Indies. In addition, Sri Lanka had replaced Jayasuriya with the younger Mahela Udawatte.

He did not make too much of an impact though, falling for a five ball duck as Sri Lanka crumbled to 49 for 5 within the first fifteen overs against the variations of Dwayne Bravo and pace of Jerome Taylor and Fidel Edwards. As the then middle order batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan departed, both the teams were probably preparing for an early finish.

It took the two Chamaras – Silva and Kapugedera – who had been on the fringes for a long time, to bail Sri Lanka out with a couple of contrasting performances. While Kapugedera showed everyone present the complete repertoire of his natural style, the senior partner Silva matched him with his combative running and inventive strokeplay. By the time the latter departed for a 96 ball 67, the duo had played close to 32 overs together to help Sri Lanka cross the 200-run mark.

Kapugedera had timed his pursuit of three figures pretty well but fell just short on 95 off the penultimate ball of the innings. Still, he had lifted his team up to 235 – not a dominating total but a challenging one.

The biggest issue though was the lack of experience in the Sri Lankan bowling attack. Admittedly, they had the 392 wicket experience of Vaas but taking that out, the next best you had was Dilshan’s 45. The three Muskeeters – Muralitharan, Malinga and Maharoof – were missing in action and the likes of Kulasekara, Amerasinghe and Mendis had to step up to ensure a good fight.

The first half of the innings though was one-way traffic. While Vaas and Kulasekara stepped up to the task, they could only dislodge Devon Smith as Gayle and Sarwan chugged along past the 100 figure mark, taking a special liking to Amerasinghe along the way. And then the magic began.

Showing all the poise and verve of Muralitharan, Mendis trapped Gayle with his then hitherto unknown bag of tricks. Kulasekara used the older ball to his advantage by picking up the wickets of Sarwan and Samuels in the next over. West Indies had slipped to 110 for 4 in 28 overs and suddenly the thought of scoring 126 at nearly a run-a-ball with the last two specialist batsmen at the crease did not seem so un-daunting.

Bravo counter-attacked, as only he can, exploiting the weak link of Amerasinghe. He made up for Chanderpaul’s initial struggles with the bat as the duo added 59 in the next 10 overs, leaving 67 to get in the last twelve.

And then something happened yet again against the run of play. A bit of careless running ensured that both batsmen ended up at the same end and soon Bravo was heading to the pavilion. Patrick Browne struggled against Mendis but opened up against the part-time spin of Dilshan to strike him for a clean six. One ball later though, he was making his way back after a failed bid to repeat the shot.

Sammy was left confounded by Mendis and, one slogged six later, Taylor fell to the same man, leaving Chanderpaul and the new man Benn with 17 to get off 2 overs.

Benn struggled against the wiles of Kulasekara, slogging and missing for four deliveries before running himself out in an attempt to change the strike. He had achieved his objective though and Chanderpaul carted a boundary off the last ball to reach his half century. 13 to get off the last over with one wicket in hand.

The experienced Vaas was given the last over of the day and two-thirds into the over, it seemed that he had sealed a remarkable turnaround which had started with Silva’s and Kapugedera’s rearguard action. The last man Edwards and Chanderpaul could score only three runs in this period as they were left with the daunting task of getting 10 runs off the last two balls.

The next ball he faced, Chanderpaul slammed a straight drive past mid-off. 6 to get off 1 ball. Surely, this was too romantic an expectation from the crabby accumulator who did not sell for much in the first IPL auction.

Vaas’ response was to try and bowl a yorker. It ended up as a low full-toss on Chanderpaul’s legs which he neatly clipped to the leg-side boundary. The ball sailed over the deep mid-wicket boundary with Mahela Jayawardene left raising his hands under it.

West Indies had won the match and, surprisingly, Dwayne Bravo got the nod ahead of Chanderpaul for the Man of the Match award for his all-round exploits. The talking point of the day was Ajantha Mendis though and he led to hits for “Jack Iverson” and “Johnny Gleeson” multiplying manifold on Google. He continued to befuddle batsmen for about a year before the likes of Tendulkar and Dhoni got to him.

The series would soon be forgotten in the wake of the IPL. Chanderpaul’s struggles in the same would be better documented than this effort. Sri Lanka-West Indies is no India-Pakistan and Chanderpaul would never be considered in the same breath as Javed Miandad. Yet, no one can take anything away from his spot in the Trinidadian sun.

So what qualifies a sport to be a part of the Olympics? The charter on the website of the International Olympic Committee website says that “only sports widely practiced by men in at least 75 countries and on four continents, and by women in at least 40 countries and on three continents may be included in the Summer Games. Sports widely practiced in at least 25 countries and three continents may be included in the Olympic Winter Games.”

Is that really so? I would seriously be interested to know how many people outside Eastern Europe “widely practise” the modern pentathlon. Or how that elitist sport called golf made an entry into the 2016 Olympics. If we were to stretch the argument further, how could most of these sports have ever been played at the Olympics?

And they decided to remove wrestling, of all sports. It would be difficult to find seven countries, leave aside 75, where wrestling is not “widely practised”. It is one of the earliest forms of combat, and hence one of the most primal forms of sport. The key lies in something else.

Wrestling is not one of the most “widely watched” sports, in terms of TRP and TAM ratings. Even the IOC’s programme commission has admitted to this by going on record to say that any decision with respect to the removal and/or entry/re-entry of a sport is assessed by looking at factors such as TV ratings, ticket sales, anti-doping and global popularity.

And you would probably have to give it to them here. What is the fun in watching two half-nude males tussling it out with each other on a multi-coloured floor? Of course, the same cannot be said of the female version of the sport, but then again, Playboy models do not compete in the Olympics. And it isn’t even an intellectual sport like chess which provides orgasmic pleasure to its viewers as they contemplate the long drawn-out moves of man vs man (sometimes machine) on the silver screen. Chess might fit into the IOC’s reconstructed agenda provided it crosses the 75/50 penetration barrier which I am sure it must have – after all, what does it take to play chess? But wrestling is considered to be too passe.

This is sad, considering the fact that wrestling had been a blue riband event of the Olympics since the times of Pierre de Coubertin and much before. In ancient Greece, the masses, the elite and the intelligentsia were attracted to the sport, and its fan following included the likes of Plato. In fact, the name “Plato” comes from the Greek adjective for “broad”, so one never knows what his priorities were at one point of time.

And for all the modernists sniggering at the puritanical aspects of the sport, let me bring to your notice the sport of ‘professional’ wrestling. Long before T20 upped the glamour quotient and “watchability” of a supposedly draconian game, we had the likes of the WWE (for the old-timers, it’s still the WWF and the TNA). In twenty-odd years, pro wrestling has knowingly or unknowingly done that for the sport which the IOC could not do in over 100 years – it has sexed up the game. As an adult, two men strutting around in spandex tights provoking each other would seem cartoonish, but it is THE thing for a twelve-year old. And even if this did not grab your attention, then the mention of Trish Stratus and Stacy Kiebler would.

So what’s so wrong about this game that it has to be removed from the Olympics? If anyone were to tell me that golf brings in more advertising revenue than wrestling, I would pay for his or her psychiatrist’s fees. The reason is something far more simple.

The only four sports which have been a part of the modern Olympics since its inception are athletics, cycling, fencing and gymnastics – all predominantly European or Western sports. The next sport on the IOC’s waitlist for elimination – taekwondo, which originated in Korea and is practised predominantly by the Oriental countries.

As for wrestling, it is one of the sports where India has been finding its feet in recent years with a silver and two bronzes in the last two Olympics. Not just India, but wrestling is currently dominated by the likes of Russia, Japan, Iran, Azerbaijan (who, between them, secured thirteen of the fifteen golds in wrestling in the last Olympics), Uzbekistan and China. Good reason then to nip it in the bud.

As for those who consider me to be a conspiracy theorist, I would ask for one good reason why cricket, especially in the T20 format, has never been considered for the Olympics (since that one-off farce in Paris 1900) despite having 10 full, 30 and 60 affiliate member countries – or has it got something to do with “widely practised”? If that is the case, then pray why is not paintball even in the frame despite being one of the most popular sports across the globe? The answers lie with the IOC Executive Board.

I’m not sure if we can do anything about this. What we can do is take a moment out from our busy lives and think about the fates of those who have spent most of their youth training for an elusive Olympic medal and will now have to reconcile to the fact that they are not even eligible to participate.

There are two kinds of champions – ones who never give up and ones who never have to give up. Bob Taylor signifies the former – starting a wicket-keeping career at the young age of 30, then sitting out for almost a decade before making a rousing comeback to finish a stellar career at the age of 43. And Alan Knott embodies the latter.

Admittedly, it is hard to give Knott his due for our generation – keeping is not the most glamorous job on the cricket field and the wrong notion that Gilchrist was the first proper keeper-batsman has often made us belittle the contributions of those who came before him. The fact that our preferred choice of game – T20 – does not take keeping seriously, often handing out the gloves to a player who might have last kept in his backyard, only exacerbates this issue. England is the main culprit here, what with the likes of Kieswetter, Morgan, Bairstow and Buttler being preferred to a Matt Prior – who, in my opinion, is currently the best wicket-keeper-batsman in the longer version of the game and one of the key reasons for England’s success in the same.

Having said that, Knott would have walked into any team in any format today. Knott was the original keeper-batsman back in the 70s, when the most a team could expect from its keeper was rearguard action. And he would have been the first keeper to 100 Tests (and much more) had World Series Cricket not left him stranded at 95. Three years after he retired, his record of 95 Tests as a wicket-keeper was broken by Rod Marsh (many say this was the sole reason he prolonged his career). Marsh’s record stood for nearly 15 years till it was broken by Ian Healy in the late 90s, and subsequently by Mark Boucher.

Those who have seen Marsh keep say he was the best. Those who have seen both him and Knott say Knott was better. Knott came into the English side when, even after eight years of trying, the selectors had failed to find an adequate replacement for their post-war hero Godrey Evans. In the next ten years, Knott would miss only 4 of the 93 Tests England played during that period. Ask any English old-timer and he will tell you he has seen a lot during his lifetime but not an Alan Knott drop.

What makes Knott’s place in history even more relevant is the partnership he formed with Derek Underwood at Kent and then in the England team. Underwood was no less than an undertaker when it came to damp, uncovered pitches in varying stages of breakdown. His stock delivery was a couple of miles slower than Afridi’s faster delivery; add uneven bounce to that and you have a wicket-keeper’s nightmare.

Not for Knott. Or even if he did feel that way, he did not show it. The pair formed a lethal combo in 72 of Knott’s 95 Tests way before the likes of Gilchrist-Warne were to materialize. Within three years of his debut, Knott had made it to the Wisden Cricketers of the Year list – a rarity by English standards.

Five Test centuries and a career average of over 30 from numbers seven and eight suggest that he was no flash in the pan when it came to batting. The keen eyes and nimble footwork perfected by hours behind the stumps helped him in front of them too, what with his unorthodox sweeps, cuts and pulls showcasing his attacking skills and quick scoring. Not that he could not defend – in his fourth Test at Georgetown, he battled against the West Indian pace battery to score an unbeaten 73 in four hours to save the match and the series.

When Knott was at the prime of his powers, Kerry Packer came calling and Knott found himself in World Series Cricket. It effectively ended his limited overs international career as he gave Bob Taylor a foot in the door and the latter pushed his way in to see England through to the finals of the second edition of the World Cup. Knott would make a comeback to the Test team in 1980 against the West Indies, but the light had gone out of our lives. Knott snapped up six catches in the first Test but struggled thereafter, failing to get into double figures each time he batted and taking only five catches in the next three matches. He was dropped for David Bairstow in the final match of the series, and when the Australians came calling the next year in what would be “Botham’s Ashes”, Taylor was the first choice wicket-keeper – something which those who had seen Knott at his peak in the early 70s would fail to understand. Knott came back in the side for the 5th match of the series and took five catches and scored a crucial 59 in a partnership with John Emburey to help England take a series winning 3-0 lead. He followed it up with knocks of 36 and an unbeaten 70 to help England avert a defeat in the last match, but dropped Rod Marsh twice on the way to suggest that his wicket-keeping days were coming to an end. Nevertheless, he bowed out on a high, along with Mike Brearley for company.

After a brief stint of commentary and coaching, Knott quit the game to take up a quiet retired life. His son James was good enough to take up the gloves a few times for Surrey, but like many others before and after him, could never live up to his father’s legend.

As of now, Knott walks along the beaches of Cyprus, unrecognized by most and revered by those who recognize him. Which befits his quiet and unassuming nature behind the stumps.

To check the rest of the list of the greatest wicketkeepers of all time, click here.

Which is what I realized when one late Saturday night in an extended session of channel-surfing, I saw a man huffing and puffing with two female legs entwining his head. Before you start getting agitated (or excited), let me clarify – through sheer good fortune, I had managed to stumble upon the North American Wife Carrying Championships.

I saw a respectable gentleman wearing a number on his chest and carrying a female passenger upside-down with her legs around his head and her hands clinging on for dear life to his chest through his armpits. Presumably she did not have the best view in the house, but her greater concerns were obviously the obstacles in the way and fifty other “teams”, as the commentator informed us.

As I watched enthralled, the commentator rambled on about the legend of the “Estonian carry”. The most popular method of carrying your “weight”, which has been used by all winners till date, the Estonian carry was used by Estonians (who else?) to steal wives (!) from Finnish villages and run back to Estonia as fast as they could.

And in the middle of all this, we were informed that we had a winner – a pair of winners to be politically correct. A Finnish couple from Helsinki – Taisto Miettinen and Kristina Haapanen – had (aptly) crossed the finish line first. And, in a classic case of revenge being best served cold (which it must have been, given the drenching the poor wife got in the pond), they had done it the Estonian way. Apparently they were the best in the business – they had won the World Championships of the event (yes, you read that right) four years in a row starting from 2009.

I Fin(n)ished First

The highlights gave me more breathing space to take in the turn of events. I realized that this was no mean feat – navigating close to 300 yards with a hundred pounds on your shoulders (apologies to Ms. Haapanen for putting this fact across so bluntly) through hurdles, which had interesting names such as the Widow Maker (a small water hole) and the Sand Mountain (a not-so-deadly sand trap) in 50 seconds or so. In a post-event conference, the runners-up told the audience that they had trained all year long for those 50 seconds of fame.

The best part of the whole event was probably the prize money. As the winners ascended the podium, they were given a cheque of $530 (five times the weight of the “wife”) and a promise of a 106 pounds of beer. Some wives are worth their weight in gold; some in liquor.

So the journey from the water hole to the watering hole ended here as the winner, in a conservative bid to protect his liver, took a pledge to share his liquid earnings with the second and third place finishers. Before signing off, the commentator reminded us not to forget the first Saturday of July – that is when the World Championships of the sport are held in the Market Square of the exotic-sounding Sonkajarvi town in Finland. But my curiosity had been piqued and I needed to know more.

A little bit of research told me that a “wife” need not necessarily be a wife, and the sport is often played as a part of group blind dates in Finland, Estonia and Sweden! People train for this sport by carrying big and heavy sacks on their backs – an extremely symbolic exercise – and this is considered as good a way to strengthen your muscles as any other endurance sport. There is even a relay version of this sport where the wife is the baton, but at the exchange point, the carrier has to drink the “official wife-carrying drink” which is, as you guessed it, strongly alcoholic in nature. And after you have lugged your load (male chauvinism alert!) about till you are exhausted, you always have the option of relaxing in a sauna – there are more saunas than Finns in Finland, apparently.

Winner takes all – Babe, beer and booty!

And that is not all. A Trivandrum-based society for environmental awareness called Ecorun India organizes a wife-carrying race Bhaaryasametham (Malayalam for “carry your wife”) on the first of January each year in God’s own country. They plan to conduct more such events in other parts of India and they should find success. Dunking your wife into a pond of ice-cold water or a pile of sand and getting away with it is every married man’s fantasy.

As I changed the channel once again, I realized that the burden of love is heavy. And often back-breaking too.