From the Archives-Nagpur's 26/11-Indians massacred twice over

Vidharba has been demanding a separate state for quite some time. We better go one step ahead and give them sovereign status. This would mean that there will be one possible explanation to Team India’s ruinous performance at the Vidharba Cricket Association ground, “overseas conditions”.  On a more serious note, SA reduced the science behind ICC test rankings to a mere travesty.

The ramp up thus happened. While the Indians were bashing a bunch of High School boys in the name of Bangladesh National Team, SA were engaging a combatant English side. Intriguingly SA have stood to gain on both fronts. They got Dravid dismissed even before the series began and came to India battle hardened. Our selectors needed the services seniors and juniors alike to meet Bangladesh. Badrinath was not worth a try then and was almost the lone bulwark in the first innings now.

On an innocuous pitch it was an appalling display of batsmanship. Seniors played like lords and debutants trying to be graceful even before they got themselves anchored. For a change the protagonist was not the strip of 22 yards. Over 550 runs in the first two days and just 6 wickets will stand testimony. No doubt it was another dead duck of a pitch. After all VCA does not belie it’s standards!!!

For once Indian bowlers complemented the batsmen, by being equally listless if not more and absolutely sordid.

 Let us take the anatomy a little deeper.

Ishant needs a sabbatical big time. First lesson to the lad, long hairs don’t intimidate batsmen but nagging line and length bowling does, even if you are not tear away.

Gambhir got 2 very good deliveries and his reaction after dismissal will saymore than what I intend.

Sehwag has gone too far playing the “natural game”. Let’s laud him for his century and also crucify for throwing away the wicket. For Christ’s sake, he is the vice captain!!!! Whoever said playing the natural game means slashing till veins rip apart. SA would have known his wicket is just a matter of time.

Nobody told him that Rome was not built in a day and 556 runs were not scored in a day either. His shot to get out in the second innings when India was following on is something yours truly would not hazard even in the nets, neither front foot nor back foot and trying to carve away on the off side. That is what happens when you are back after belting school kids from across the border

No point in flashing the sword at Vijay when “India’s best ever opener after Gavaskar” (please point your guns at Sehwag for this comment) Gambhir shoulders arms. But he unquestionably lacked application and thought test cricket means flicking around the pads to glory. He would do well to serve Jacques Kallis in a few net sessions.

Sachin retains the same curly hair as when he was 16 but the reflexes are certainly not the same. Agreed Steyn produced an outstanding delivery in the first innings to him, it was full, there for the drive and shaping away to the slips. Add to this it was real quick, nicking to the slips was only inevitable.

He showed in the second innings why he has been sculpted to be a cricketer and not just born to be one. Well cricket showed a few things too. It’s a team game and even if you have the world’s most accomplished batsman in your side victory cannot be taken for granted unless the team performs in entirety. Brian Lara would be the first person to put up his hand and concur.

And yes we had captain marvel who had not seen anything close to the quality of bowling that was on offer. Had he known this he would have chosen to do a few ads and claim a couple of injuries too. One must say Saha was a case of fait accompli to Dhoni (with all the injuries around) and being true to his sub continental grooming he did what should not be done to quality fast bowlers, planting the leg across. But these are flaws that are picked up playing Ranji matches on dead surfaces.

Badrinath went about his job the employee way, grinded into a half century and a century stand while the team was in shambles. He will quietly feel at ease in his mind. What will also keep haunting him is that he did not hold fort in the second innings, the very reason of him being in the team. Let’s spare the knife for the moment

Zaheer Khan did show promise upfront but did not get the kind of support needed to dislodge Amla and Kallis who seemed to be in a trance.

Harbhajan seems to have taken things for granted after Kumble. Today all he needs is to loiter around in the ground to be picked up for the next series. From his deadly combination with Jumbo to an ineffectual performance on an undeniably friendly track, he gives a message that he has been spared the rod way too long and spoilt as a result.

Mishra needs to be given some awakening pills before he is brought on the field. No second thoughts that he went past the bat several times and on another day he would have had a few scalps, but his awesome slowness through the air is his undoing. Amla defends him in the ugliest way ever, but does that each time without having to give a thought. Gets into a defensive stance and waits for the ball, finally when the ball has landed places the bat on it. I thought he was blessing the ball:-)

The writing is clear; Jumbo is being missed hard and sore. If better sense prevails Pragyan Ojha would step in for Mishra at the Eden Gardens. No prizes for guessing what prevails normally.

If all this was not deplorable enough, add another. MOM Mr. Amla for a double hundred on a pitch that was laid for exactly that. In the truest sense there was only one champion, Dale Willem Steyn for bowling all the chambers of his heart out on a dusty track. Weird are the ways, the panel works.

From the Archives-Testing the Time Tested

It’s the familiar story of supplement trying to supplant the edifice, all over again. Barely on own foot and T20 already has the momentum of torrents to be the new visage of the game. The “remotely” positioned viewers and those devoid of telecast of baseball matches have rested assured of more theatre shows coming by and put the game to Rest In Peace. A repeat of the 1882 satirical obituary on cricket may well be around the corner.

Few wise (if I might say that) men still feel otherwise. Michael Simkin (author of Fatty Batter: How Cricket Saved My Life) contends “Soon it’ll be 10/10, 5/5, then one ball to hit a six or you’re hanged. Include me out.” Talks from ICC circles about the future of Test Cricket, making it a four day affair and more have perturbed the avid followers of the game. Peter Roebuck has already expressed his displeasure in his columns and found fellowship in some of the elite of the cricket fraternity, Arjuna Ranatunga, Richie Benaud and Tony Grieg to name only a few. Neither their fears about the future of the game nor the protagonist’s conviction about Test Cricket is built on sand dunes.

Cricket, since its birth 300 odd years ago in the grasslands of England, was always meant to be a contest between the bat and the ball and never for playing to the gallery. Driven by taste, viewers may decide upon the choice of the game they would swear by and not vice versa. A saying in Hindi goes, the well will not go unto the thirsty but the thirsty will have to go thereto. Our cash rich cricket bodies are doing just what would take to tear apart the very fabric of the game. Pecuniary insatiability has seldom been resisted successfully in the history of mankind and no wonder tradition has been made to battle fiscal forces, with one leg already on the throat. ODIs, being referred to, hoping that World Cup would be the elixir. While being sportive in commerce has always been advocated for, being commercial in sports can only be catastrophic.

Beginning with the days of Industrial revolution and till the present moment we have learned to live fast and die faster. There may be numerous instances in the past to learn from but as Steve Waugh puts in his autobiography “we learn from history that we don’t learn from history”. Any art or sport form that quells quality and is blindfolded by the lure of crisp notes is knee deep into its grave already. T20 with no intensity and pure “slappy” dramatism may be 2 nails together on the coffin while the final ones are being molded. Expecting anything else out of T20 format will be dwelling in a utopian world.

With cricket now a contest of distance that each willow can fetch, bowlers may do well to send their proxies in the form of bowling machines. If no budget is left, after sponsoring valuable or worthless players (whichever way you see), for bowling machines, umpires can step in and run immediately to the boundary with a measuring tape to scale the distanceJ. Younis Khan’s comment was not the least bemusing when he said “In this form it is better to take it easy and have fun. It is like WWF”.

Test cricket has always been the perfect pedestal to show case the myriad skills involved in a game of cricket, discovered by the English and mastered by everyone other than themJ The format is embedded with equal justice for both the bat and the ball to leave their mark and for the “one in a generation” like Mitchell Johnson (quoting Thomson, curse him, if you have to for his performance in the Ashes 2009) to leave a mark with the ball or the bat. The only version of the game where an athlete’s acumen or the lack of it is exposed to the core. Call it the Acid Test.

A quintessential test match is an equal opportunity entertainer where the quickies and the technically accomplished batsmen can have Day 1 to their names if they are potent enough (and the curator has done his part). Day 2 can belong to the old ball stalwarts and the more flamboyant batsmen. The spinners and fleet footed batsmen can make Day 3 and the climax unfolds on Day4 and 5. The spectators both on and off the stadium would have received wholesome entertainment and would have admired the players of their choice, not inevitably a batsman. Much in contrast to narrow your liking to Yusuf PathanJ, nolens volens, if T20 were to have sway.

On a more jocular note, drawing from a little conversation that yours truly had with former Sri Lankan skipper Roshan Mahanama, there is at least a 2nd chance (innings) to resurrect from past failure and stand in contention for selection. No, this is not a tongue in cheek comment at VVS.

Only an eye with zeal for details will appreciate the idiosyncrasies of the marvelous game, which can never be unfurled in a T20 version played for the so called “15 minutes of fame”. The legendary EAS Prasanna makes a remarkable comment in his biography “One More Over” about the aerodynamics behind spin bowling. The revolutions created on the ball create a vacuum around it and as the initial velocity is consumed there is a sudden dip invariably foxing the batsmen, especially those who are stuck at the crease. More the flight and revolutions, sharper will be the dip. In sharp contrast, with 24 balls to outplay a batsman such an art is certain to become folklore soon. Compound this with field restrictions & short boundaries (past the infield into the boundary), it would take Christ to stand this crucification.Not another youngster would aspire to be a bowler. Sri Lanka will be a subject matter of interest not just to the media covering IDPs but also for factories that can produce “slingers” (Malingas)J.

T20s being played at the drop of a hat, we have champions who last till the time companies hold their Annual General MeetingsJ. The results and performances are marked as vividly as wind over water. Believing that such soap operas can sustain the interests of the viewers for ever will be expecting hope to triumph over experience. The glory of the game has come from artful exponents and why on earth do we need cheerleaders and mega screen performers to be involved.

Few years down the line and I wonder if any of the performances can be singled out from memory. Decades later Prasanna’s epic battle with Ian Chappel, an extremely good player of spin, with “net handed” Eknath Solkar (Ekkie) at forward short leg is still etched in memory. Sunny’s tryst with Malcom Marshall and his short pitched missiles brought out an awe inspiring game of batsmanship at the Kotla ground in the form of a resounding century and the hook shot back into his repertoire during the 1983 series. A piece of history that will be as eternal as carved on stone. Frozen over time is the battle of belligerence between Sir Gary Sobers and Dennis Lillee where the former warned the then Aussie captain Ian Chappel, “inform Lillee that I too can bowl short ones and I can be quick too”. Lillee had a taste of his own medicine when he was dished brutish short pitched deliveries by none other than the calypso legend in return for what he received from him. Not just monumental performances, there has been no dearth of humor too. Sunny going at a rare no.4 position and India in a hapless situation made an amused “smoking joe” Viv say in his typical style “whathever number you come maaan, the score is sthill 0″. The much celebrated calypso spirit on display.

Having stood the onslaught of Kerry Packer’s antics, there is still hope around. Looking to vindicate this, the recently concluded Ashes Series has been a capacity crowd puller.

On the flipside Freddie Flintoff has announced his retirement from Test cricket. His knee has become a cushion for needles, but that doesn’t pain for T20s, IPL melodrama and sporadic ODIs. It is difficult to believe that players like Hayden and Freddie are past their best looking at performances in IPL, etc. A very condemnable trend, players retiring even during their prime to make them available for more lucrative games. Caps being traded for cash.

The shortest version of the game is a well identified cash cow and if the obsession continues unabated it can very well consume all the other formats. By the time we are out of the deliquium, we will be left with club wielders instead of batsmen and bowling machines would have replaced bowlers. Bookies and match fixers couldn’t have expected a better windfall (it takes a child’s knowledge to exposit further).While the trenchermen would have changed their interests the gourmets will be left starving for the game they relished for aeons.

The Dravids, Sachins, Laras and Pontings would be the last of their genre as the species heads to extinction. The stalwarts of the yore have all been from and through the grind of Test Cricket. The reader is only too knowledgeable for me to name them.

If good sense or just sense prevails we would be looking into preparing sportive pitches for test cricket not just featherbeds allowing 600 runs per innings and the wicket keeper bowling at the end to finish formalities. 4 day test matches would be remedy turning worse than the disease. There will only be more draws as any team can impulsively decide to bat through than offering a fight. Every wicket cannot be made into a WACA and the pitiable bowlers cannot dream of dream spells every time the ball is thrown to them.

T20 is the variety that is the spice of life. Let’s not commit the faux pas of replacing our staple diet with spice. A place for everything and everything in its place will keep mayhem at bay.

From the archives-Ji Mantri Ji!!

The nation bid a tearful adieu to the late CM of Andhra Pradesh and having watched it from close quarters (as close as being in neighbourhood), must confess that the scenes were heart rending. The public outpour was no less in number and intensity to farewell marches witnessed for Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, MGR or NTR .While the scaling of political vacuum that has befallen is about to unfold, the loss to the family is understandably colossal. The CM in Mr. YSR may be succeeded but his deserted family will never be the same again.

Being an absolute novice at modern Indian Politics, I am in no position to gauge the merits or demerits of the minister who is now history. Nonetheless will be grateful to him for being a high (highest profile of the State) profile occupant of almost the same locality and never having made me to wait endlessly for his entourage to pass by.

To enact the scene just across the state borders in my own homeland’s capital (Chennai) would take the effort needed for a half marathon, the privilege being that it can be accomplished by merely sitting with arms folded on your bikeJ

Amidst all this milieu, few others were also laid to rest and among them was an officer on deputation from the Indian Air Force, Group Captain SK Bhatia .In sharp contrast it was an almost unnoticed affair, neither preceded nor succeeded by any frenzy of the same proportion.

Ostensibly the chopper’s machinery was akin to the “state machinery” for the “inspection of delivery mechanism in Chitoor” to end in calamity. Time for introspection misplaced with inspection?? Dubbing the cause as technical snag would be brushing the dirt under the carpet and fixing the censure on the pilot would be baseless and unfathomable.

For, this person was no neophyte when it came to skies and skiers. He had as many as 5400 hours of flying in his kitty and was the same person who landed his chopper on inaccessible terrains when the Greyhounds (elite anti naxal force) were being rescued not very long ago.

Now let us not commit the gaffe of viewing this in isolation to the topical tragedy. The picture doesn’t skew one bit, across the nation. Make no mistake that these Defence personnel who accompany our “esteemed” Ministers or provide security cover (Z, Z+ and how many more pluses depends upon the power you yield at the highest levelJ) are the best among the best. Public can be guarded less but public servants are guarded the best!!!A case in the point would be the atrocious utilization of the nations’ elite National Security Guards (NSG). If there is any pride left in India after repeated bullying by Pakistan, pinching by BDR (Bangladesh Rifles) and pumping of fake currency under the Lordship of our own little brother Nepal’s ex-prince, it has to be these crack commandos.

Well, not very long ago, when the pride of the largest democracy in the world and ancient most civilization was brought to its knees by a bunch of misguided mercenaries from across the borders, it was this unit that redeemed it. It would take a dozen blogs to bring out completely what goes into creating one NSG commando. Believe me it would sound more fictional than anywhere close to factual if and when discussed. These are dare devils that would chew a toffee and give up their life in the same breadth. The Lord of death would do well to fix an appointment before meeting them. 7 years down the line, recollecting the sight of a Rashtriya Rifles jawan alighting out of a moving a passenger train still sends shivers down the spine. What would one say about the heroics executed in Mumbai (26//11)??

The world has to see to believe what our strike forces accomplished in Mumbai was an alternative employment. The main being, hanging by the window of ministerial vehicles as part of VIP security. The list is not that simple, they roam around in dozens escorting our “priceless politicians” or politicians with “priceless lives”, whichever way you like.

In service of whom many attain martyrdom, as they know not how to hold back.

Beyond the 15 minutes of fame after each operation, their service to the nation never draws any attention in this great country. How many of us still remember the first name of Major Unnikrishnan who was killed in Operation Black Tornado at the Taj Hotel in Mumbai?? We have our own conscience as the judge. And repeat this question few years later; the numbers are sure to dwindle.

In most cases when a politician leaves, a successor from one of his kin has already closed in on the position. No, not a reference to the present situation in Andhra Pradesh and yes, not to that alone too. Quite another way, the struggle for the kith and kin of the deceased Olive Green bearers has just intensified.

The debris of the helicopter may nor may not be picked up, what we sure can pick up is the lesson to delineate red tape from where it should never reach. A respect paid in this way is sure to appease the souls that were lost in the Nallamalla forests as now, they are a lot wiser.

From the archives-Praise be to thee Jammy!!

“It was Gavaskar
De real master
Just like a wall
We couldn’t out Gavaskar at all, not at all
You know the West Indies couldn’t out Gavaskar at all”

Lord Realtor perhaps had a premonition of the arrival of another of the ilk of the Little Master when he penned the above lines. The Little Master would have for sure given a tongue in the cheek smile on hearing his glory in tunes .Had he written these lines on Dravid, who would have squarely merited the laurels, all he would have fetched would have been a stoic response

For, all that made sense to this man was the performance in the middle and the consistency about it. Bet, he will be ready to trade all the limelight showered on him for one more exquisite cover drive.

The Indian line up is undeniably a ship sans its anchor without the maestro. Hamilton January 1999. Breezy conditions, fielders with piled up sweaters, green top and a tall and strong kiwi bowler (Chris Cairns) menacingly takes his strides for the run up. Dravid sways, ducks, puts a few pine trees to shame while doing so and sees off the new ball. Goes on to construct a grandiose and flawless 190!!

Will test cricket ever be the same again without its doyen!!!!!!

His golden run coincided with the captaincy of, arguably, India’s best captain Sourav Ganguly, with a searing test average of 105 during that time. Yours truly would have fancied his chances with such a weapon in his arsenal!!Not to say of Dada!!!

For the previous generation who were in awe of the dissimilar prowess of Sunil Gavaskar and Gundappa Vishwanath, Rahul Dravid was the best of both worlds.

The rock of Gibraltar in defense also had powerful wristy strokes and a splendid hook shot. For all that we know, this shot might also walk into oblivion after Dravid. It is such a sore to the eye to watch the new breed of cricketers play the hook shot right in front of their eyes with the vision almost blocked.!!!!!!

True to the words of Sir Donald Bradman, “two extra runs are not worth risking the wicket’’, Rahul has  just 21 sixes in a test career spanning 16 years but has penetrated  almost every gap on the field with some special treatment for the extra cover position.

Rahul will perhaps be the last in the elite list of puritans who have adorned this great game such as Len Hutton, Geoff Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, Jacques Kallis, Don Bradman, Jack Hobbs, Barry Richards, Colin Cowdrey, Hanif Mohhamed, Greg Chappel, Glen Turner and Vijay Merchant. An ambassador to this, soon becoming extinct, school of cricket!!!

Well, his change of willow to SG might not have turned the tables of fortune but as an ardent admirer hope that this decision will open up new vistas such as taking up the mantle of coaching the Indian team

Rahul Sharad Dravid may not have received his share of acclaim to the fullest level like his comrade of a 1000 battles Anil Kumble, but his name will certainly be taken with a sense of astonishment when accompanied by such statistics!!

Trial by fire-Not Yet

Just when avid test cricket watchers in India were thinking of shifting loyalties to wrestling (thanks to Indian Olympians) after the exit of Dravid and Laxman a ray of hope befell them at the city of Nawabs.

Cheteshwar Pujara did not disappoint his selectors and scored a diligent century. To be fair to the young man, the strip of 22 yards was not an emblematic sub-continental track. There certainly was carry which an English or South African bowling attack would have put to devastating use against the side-on Indian players.

It might have been part of a farewell gift for a very special man from Hyderabad who relishes true bounce. Well, the man himself chose to forego it for reasons best known to him

The curator must have won a few hearts for preparing a lively track. Of what use it was to the Indian speedsters is a question that is better unasked.

Pujara seemed to belong to, a long thought as extinct, tribe of technicians the earlier practitioners of which have been deified by now. The hope of the tribe growing having vanished into the spheres of time

By no strange co-incidence, he has been touted to replace the legendary Dravid and the solution to India’s No. 3 woes. A perfect recipe for disaster.

The No.3 spot has been the most revered position for India ever since Sunny Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan took guard together for the last time. Such has been India’s tryst with openers. Any person descending therein is expected to be a redeemer of sorts

Hence the euphoria over a little glitz and heralding of a new hero. Well, many such have walked into oblivion in history. Suresh Raina was seen by some to take over the mantle from Sachin not so long ago. The same was then said of Rohit Sharma, both of whom do not deserve a place in backyard cricket at the moment

Pujara’s back foot play was definitely a few drops to the parched connoisseur’s eyes. More so accentuated by the presence of Dhoni on the other end.

But the rookie has lots of kingdom to be covered before he takes on his trial by fire in South Africa next year.

The foremost of them, the dab shot to the third man should be dumped for eternity. Unpardonable for a No.3 to play that. This can make a difference between 0/1 and 0/2 in South African conditions with Dale Steyn and Mornie Morkel inviting themselves to the party. The 0 being a given anyway if a certain prince of Najafgarh continues opening till then.

On occasions the front foot defense too was side-on, much like Dada who is not the best example when we talk about sound technique. The bat, pad and body in the same order is more likely to save the day.

The all so important back and across trigger movement that Dravid exhibited with so much elan during his purple times was not very pristine all the time either

It was a start, nonetheless, in the right direction and the kid would do well to idolize the right seniors and prefer effort over effervescence if he has to stay in contention in the times to come