Tweet Post

Through fellow tweeters, found out about loudtwitter and the service it offers. So trying it out.

• 13:35 And so RSA falter in the first match itself. Barring Dale Steyn, everyone seemed to have just got out of bed for the match. Not so SLA #
• 14:00 RT: @i_become: On the i-blog:- Company Visibility: BASF “We are manufacturers for manufacturers” bit.ly/lUxxJ #
• 14:34 You can get your passport in 3 days flat – that’s the promise. India Passports to Go Digital Next Year – BusinessWeek bit.ly/jJ42c #
• 19:29 Massacre at Wanderers. Afridi’s out to finish the slaughter. This is the end of the West Indies as we knew them. Let’s call them Zimbabwe #
• 19:35 Darren Sammy is one player I recognise from before. Though the way he is playing now, seems a different player. What use experience? #
• 19:38 Just some fun, anyone tried Boxer beer? Had in Pilani once. RT @prempanicker: Okay… time to go find the beer with my name on it. *poof #
• 19:41 Pak taking it easy now. It’s more the ineptitude and low morale of the WI bats that is making it a Himalayan effort to play 50 overs. #
• 19:49 Finally, a quality over all round – two peaches of seam bowling from Rana, one blast through covers by Sammy. It’s lifting up. #
• 20:01 Batting powerplay with WI 88/8. Wonder what Nikita and Tino are planning to do about it. Nikita BTW is a guy. Least they should just hv fun #
• 20:03 First powerplay over 12 runs – Nikita hits 3 boundaries. WI touch 100 which is an achievment. From 47/7 to 100/8 – added 53 in 12 overs #
• 20:07 Shaun Pollock in commentary. This should be a pleasure. Especially with the boring Manjrekar with him. Pollock & Warne together will be fun #
• 20:21 Innings of great pride by Nikita Miller. Fighting it out ol’ fashioned hard way. 33 in 5 batting powerplay overs. Apparent chance for WI #
• 20:31 Half century by Nikita Miller. Celebrates with an Usain Bolt like arrow pose. Has certainly revived the Caribbean boys. #
• 20:48 First over of the chase – one clean shot for four, three mistimed shots. WI need to be more penetrative. Like what Tonge just did to Nazir. #
• 20:53 Excellent over from Tonge. After the first ball wicket, had Malik in much bother. Wicket maiden. Sammy has to respond #
• 21:04 Dylan for Peace Prz RT @amitvarma: Ladbrokes odds for the lit Nobel – Alice Munro & Bob Dylan are equal at 26 to 1. WTF? bit.ly/z53HZ #
• 21:10 ICL-return Tino Best bowled at 144kph. Tonge gets Akmal forward. These guys making Pak work it out hard. Revising my rating of the WI team. #
• 22:03 With $1.2 b, India one of the biggest investors in Afghan reconstruction. Strategic value underplayed but quite apparent bit.ly/oIdMB #
• 22:22 Now WI are up against class – Shoaib Malik and Md Yousuf. Guess its the end of the road for them in this match. #
• 22:36 RT: @i_become: LinkedIn Answers: Submitting the perfect CV / Resume from the i-blog. bit.ly/ZhXRh #
• 22:59 Introducing the i-blog from The i-become Initiative wp.me/phdLM-8v #
• 23:18 had switched off the match. Now cricinfo tells me Pak 76/5. Windies putting Pak on the mat. Well done #

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Ravi Shastri’s Commentary Class – Live Blog

If Navjot Singh Sidhu had his book of proverbs and sayings, Ravi Shastri has his book of cliches. As I sit through Ravi Shastri commentating, let me list out some of his choicest ones. (The Ref is to help you learn how to use these cliches)

1. “knocking him around for singles” – Ref: “Wonder how they plan to tackle Harbhajan Singh?”
2. “it’s the doosra that’s done the trick” – Ref: Harbhajan just got Freddie caught and bowled
3. “New player at the crease… will take his time to get his eye in” – Ref: Dhoni coming in for Freddie
4. “It’s funny how in 20-20 cricket, one over can change the game” – Ref: end of the over
   1. Alternative “One over can make a difference” – Ref: General analysis
5. “Good atmosphere as the crowd builds up” – Ref: Camera shows Shilpa Shetty and one more chick having a smile
6. “This is excellent bowling” – Ref: Harbhajan bowling
7. “It’s into the stands in a flash” – Ref: Haydos hitting Harbhajan for a six
8. “It’s not easy to ball ball-after-ball” – Ref: Harbhajan bowling a full toss which goes for a six
9. “Used the pace of the bowler” – Ref: Haydos sweeps Jayasuriya for a four
10. “This match in the balance now” – Ref: Haydos dismissed by a brilliant Zak catch
11. “He goes for the big one” – Ref: General
12. “Terrific crowd, great atmosphere” – Ref: General
13. “I sense something’s gonna give” – Ref: General, in between deliveries, waiting for something to happen
14. “He’s got a good arm” – Ref: fielding in the deep and throw back to the keeper
15. “Another big over” – Ref: note cliche no. 4

And now from the presentation ceremony after the first game

1. “Tough luck and better luck next time” – Ref: Interview with MSD, losing captain of CSK

Then we move to the next game – RCB v RR

1. “good opportunity to come back into the thick of things” – Ref: Robin Uthappa and his being out of the reckoning for some time
2. “he’ll learn so much batting with Kevin Pietersen” – Ref: Uthappa again when he was briefly batting with KP
3. “makes good use of his height” – Ref: On KP playing his shots on the front foot
4. “he will look to bowl wicket to wicket” – Ref: On Munaf Patel
5. “Lands the ball on the seam more often than not” – Ref: On Dimitri’s bowling
6. “getting the odd one to nip back” – Ref: On Tyron Henderson
7. “Once Dravid got some bat on it, it raced along to the boundary” – Ref: Dravid flicking Kamran Khan for a four
8. “Mixing it up nicely”

He also made on howler. As Dimitri Mascarenhas was bowling his 4th over, Ravi contemplated “I wouldn’t be surprised if Warne gets him to bowl his entire quota in one go”. Mark Nicholas politely said, “Indeed you are right, he is in fact bowling his fourth over”

Royals innings chasing 134 v RCB

1. “Interesting to see”
2. “Playing the natural game”
3. “Likes dealing in boundaries” – Ref: What kind of player Yusuf Pathan is
4. “Living dangerously the two batsmen” – Ref: Yusuf lofted to long-on and ball went one bounce to Steyn
5. “Jesse Ryder is over the moon” – Ref: Ryder knocks Henderson’s stumps
6. “Dravid safe as a house” “Made it look easy” – Ref: Highlights showing Dravid taking Smith’s catch
7. “Under lights the ball will move around, zip around” – Ref: general comment on Day and Night matches
8. “A period of 5-6 overs without losing a wicket” – Ref: general (mind you 5-6 overs is 1/4th the innings)
9. “This is turning out to be a good over” – Re3f: end of 11th over when 13 runs were scored

Note: This is a blog post in progress – so more cliches shall be added during the course of the tournament.

Update: 24th April 2009, 11:48 PM (IST)

Okay, since the first day of matches last week, Ravi Shastri has been on air on every other match and the list of his stock phrases have been updated. Here’s a new list (from KKR v RR match yesterday)

1. Experience will be invaluable – Ref: Younglings Anureet Singh bowling for KKR; later repeated when Kamran Khan was bowling
2. Good toss to lose – Ref:  Shane Warne losing the toss and fielding
3. If its greasy, it won’t help the bowlers – Ref: The ball and the dampness on the grass due to the rain
4. He knew exactly where the boundary line is – Ref: Ishant Sharma taking the catch at third man
5. He finishes it off with a good yorker – Ref: Anureet Singh finishing his over
6. I get the feeling this match going all the way down to the wire  – Ref: When KKR are batting, a few wickets have fallen, the strategic time-outs have just been done.
   1. Note: Later he applies this cliche to describe the entire tournament
7. As a captain you believe you can control the game now – Ref: Shane Warne waving his arms and positioning his fielders
8. He’s got two overs up his sleeve – Ref: Shane Warne on whom he will bowl
9. He’ll wait and watch – Ref: Shane Warne on what he will do as a captain
10. You didn’t know till the last week – Ref: Check no. 6, he is now talking of how competitive the tournament is
11. Bowling change that does the trick (Munaf Patel, Kamran Khan) – Ref: Two wickets for the two bowlers who have just come in to bowl
12. Can’t ask for anything better (Munaf’s delivery that got Brad Hodge)
13. Next two three overs are so important – Ref: We are in the 16th over

Still four weeks to go, so I’ll just split this into a part 2 and make a new blog post

The Afghan Dream

I had blogged about Afghanistan’s dream run in cricket over the last one year and how they are now in the Super Eights of the ICC World Cricket League (The top four teams qualify for the 2011 World Cup).

A good friend from Boston, Sanjeev Naik and me, have been tracking Afghanistan over the course of the tournament. We have been shameless, publicly rooting for them. However, their dream of making it to the World Cup may be over has they have virtually no chance of making it to the top four (they might just end up fifth or sixth in the Super 8).

We have uncovered a few links and some fascinating stories about the Afghan journey.

Out of the Ashes

Leslie Knott, Tim Albone and Lucy Martens are producing a documentary on the entire Afghanistan journey. The film is called “Out of the Ashes”. It started in May 2008 at the Division 5 tournament in Jersey (one of the Channel Islands). Afghanistan won that tournament receiving the prize from Geoffrey Boycott himself. Then they won Division 4 in Tanzania, Division 3 in Argentina and qualified for the ICC World Cricket League (in effect Division 2).

From the story written by Leslie on Cricinfo (link courtesy Sanjeev), a few quotes

One Briton, a Canadian, a girl from Germany, and 11 Afghanistan cricketers: it’s an odd mix, but that is what it took to make Out of the Ashes, a documentary following the Afghanistan team on their quest for World Cup qualification.

…

“Not only are we going to bring the cup back from Jersey in Division Five,” declared Taj Malik, the first coach of the team, in May 2008, “but we are also going to the World Cup.” It was a far-fetched statement. Afghanistan have no pitch and only a handful of ramshackle batting cages. There is a bowling machine, but power is intermittent at best in Kabul.

…

The players are all gentlemen. Ahmad Shah, the former left-arm spinner and now assistant coach, makes sure we have been served lunch before he eats. They also have an eye for beauty, and covet flowers, especially roses.

The website of the production team has a trailer of the documentary but in Apple Quicktime format. I didn’t have the patience to download the plug-in and watch it. However, I went through the photographs and this photo gives you an idea of how even with the worst facilities they have had their success just on the basis of their spirit. (Even smallest cricket grounds in Mumbai have much better turf conditions)

(Courtesy: Outoftheashes.tv)

Hamid Hassan

Hamid Hassan is their star bowler. He learnt his reverse swing from Freddie Flintoff, smashed Monty Panesar’s helmet with a 152kph ball and writes a blog on Cricinfo. Will Luke goes almost teary eyed as he writes about him in an article in Cricinfo:

For a young man, he has already achieved the sort of dreams that many of his peers in Afghanistan might dismiss as outlandishly ambitious. Even foolish. Not only has he visited Europe and stayed in “lovely, lovely” Britain, he has reached cricketing nirvana by playing at Lord’s. His aspirations jut as high as the rocky peaks of Bati’Kot in the eastern province of Nangarhar, near Jalalabad, where he grew up.

…

Like all parents, Hamid’s only want what is best for their son. They may not know or care that he learned reverse swing from one of his heroes. And his mother would certainly be more alarmed than proud that one of her sons nearly broke toes of several opposing batsmen a couple of years ago.

…

“I want to be a future big international cricketer. I want the world to know me, to be famous. ‘Look, it’s Hamid,’ they might say.”

Great ambitions, this is one team I don’t mind having them play official international cricket. Cricket needs such teams that play with passion and pride.

From the Rubble

Afghanistan and Iraq are two countries reduced to rubble. Life is lived in ruins. Civil amenities and basic supplies are hard to get. This is besides the violence and unrest prevalent in those parts. Yet three  stories of hope.

The Afghanistan Cricket Team

The Afghanistan cricket team is currently participating in the ICC World Cup Qualifiers in South Africa. Four teams will qualify for the 2011 World Cup scheduled in the sub-continent (however, that is up for debate given the current security scenario). Wherefrom have they come? Afghanistan is not known for cricket. Of course the British, Indian and Pakistani influence may be there but for local Afghanis to give up their football and buzkhasi is quite a thing to be amazed at.

What is even more amazing is their abilities in the game. Till last year, they were in the ICC Division 5. Today they have crossed three Divisions to play in the Qualifiers in effect Division 2, one level lower than the regular nations.

Hameed Hasan, fast bowler for the Afghans writes in his blog for Cricinfo:

It is our dream to play in the World Cup and we are hoping to do the best we can in this tournament.

The tournament is in South Africa in parallel to the RSA v AUS contest and Hameed writes about sharing rooms in the same hotel as the Australians:

We had spent the weekend in Johannesburg, where we were staying in the same hotel complex as the Australian and South African teams, which was amazing. I managed to see quite a few famous players including Ricky Ponting, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin.

As of today, they have two wins against Denmark and Bermuda. There are 12 teams in two groups of six. The top four from each group head into the Super Eights. The top four qualify for the World Cup. The favourites, on virtue of their relative pedigree, are Kenya, Netherlands, Ireland and Scotland. However, as Will Luke on Cricinfo, reporting on the Afghanistan v Bermuda match earlier today, says

Afghanistan’s unquenchable confidence drove them unerringly to a convincing 60-run win over Bermuda, who were condemned to their second loss in as many days. Afghanistan batted aggressively, fielded with agility and bowled with impressive discipline throughout.

[...]

There was little question which team was the hungrier, and Afghanistan’s second win on the trot ought to serve as an acute reminder of their fearlessness and ability.

Afghanistan wins a medal in the Olympics

Another major sporting jewel was last year at the Beijing Olympics when Afghanistan won its first ever medal with Rohullah Nikpai in Taekwondo.  This archived article in Yahoo writes about the struggle

When Gayezabi met Nikpai, they were both living at a refugee camp in Iran during the years of war that embroiled Afghanistan in the 1980s and 1990s. The two competed together on a refugee taekwondo team.
Nikpai came to Kabul four years ago, Gayezabi said. In the mornings he lifted weights and in the evenings he practiced martial arts. In between he earned money cutting hair as a barber.
With success came better training conditions. After being selected for the national team six months ago, he was able to use a special gymnasium.
But in a country where sports take a distant place behind the realities of war, few resources are dedicated to training athletes.
“My training situation is a lot like the situation in my country,” Nikpai said. “It’s not good.”

The Iraqi Football Team

During the days of Saddam Hussein, his son Uday was the chief of Iraqi football. He had a simple reward system for his players. According to wikipedia and this article in The Age, this was the Dark Generation

Motivational speeches: “Players’ legs will be cut off”
Missing practice: Prison terms
Own goals / Missed Penalties: Flogging with thorns
Losses: Flogging with electric cables; baths in raw sewage

In 1996, Iraq was ranked 139 in the world, compared to a ranking of 39 in 2004. It was one of the top teams in Asia in the Eighties.

Saddam Hussein and the war that followed played havoc. Local leagues were disrupted, Iraqi players were busy protecting themselves. Inspite of all this, the game continued. The successes of the struggle came.

1. In 2004 Athens Olympics, they came fourth
2. In 2006 Asian Games, they took the silver
3. In 2007 AFC Asian Cup, they took the trophy

This made them the Team of the Year across various fora.

Afghanistan and Iraq doing well in sports – Can it sustainably raise the spirits of the two nations?

The Natural Game

What is “The Natural Game”?

In a press conference last evening, Rahul Dravid was extremely put out by questions asked by journalists on whether “he plays his natural game” or not. In response he said (and I paraphrase) that the best players always play in response to the situation. And he too plays in response to the situation. His tone suggested he was irritated.

The media circus over the last 24 hours triggered by Bobbili Vijay Kumar’s conspiracy theory in the Times of India was quite unnecessary. It also meant that most Indians had a very uninformed morning about what actually did Rahul Dravid say. So  one hunted for the press conference report – found one in the Calcutta Telegraph.  I quote the relevant question and answer here

Did Indian batsmen curb their natural instincts?
I don’t know what it means to play your natural game all the time. You’ve got to play according to the situation. That’s what great players have done over the years. They read the situation, the wicket, the conditions and play accordingly. There cannot be only one way of playing the game. The great ones are those who can adapt and play according to the needs of the team.

So is Rahul Dravid saying anything about any team mate? I think we can judge for ourselves.

But the question of this article is, what is “the Natural Game”? Is it simply the way Sehwag plays that is the “Natural Game”? If Dravid’s instincts is to defend, is that not his Natural Instincts?

The meaning of “the natural game” is a great mystery to me.

The Ashes 2009 – The First Words

Gideon Haig of the Guardian gets off the block with the first words on the 2009 Ashes series with a look at two teams who seem to be at odds with themselves than with any opponent.

He says, about the current mess in which English cricket lies in (For those who came in late, KP has resigned as captain as has their coach Peter Moores)

For years English cricketers have obsessed over that mysterious dark art of their Australian rivals defined by Steve Waugh as “mental disintegration”. At last they seem to have mastered it – except in one crucial respect. They have forgotten you are meant to apply it to your opponents rather than yourselves.

On the Australians, he says, very wittily,

At the moment Ricky Ponting’s Australians are a little like the world economy: nobody seems quite sure whether to expect a short, sharp recession or a long, enervating depression.

Overall, it’s another six months before the first ball. Australia have a three test match away series against South Africa, England a test series in the West Indies. Australia needs to get their aggressive dominating cricket back on track while England, for starters, needs a steady and confident captain in place.

Ricky Ponting has already lost one Ashes series, the last one played in England. It could be the end of his captaincy if he were to lose another (assuming he remains the captain till the Ashes – most likely he will be the captain).

Ganguly quits all forms of cricket

Ganguly played one final time for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy helping them get promoted into the Elite Division. Vijay Lokapally of The Hindu does an interview with Ganguly. The usual stuff about how he changed captaincy, cricket, backing players, etc.

Lokapally writes that while the Ranji match was on at Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, Ganguly was more interested in what was happening in Mohali.

When Rahul Dravid reached his fifty, Ganguly was relieved; and mighty delighted when Dravid scaled the century mark. A captain was reliving his past, only this time he was not around to pat his “dear friend” in the dressing room.

As the article continues, various questions on many things from the past.

On Virender Sehwag,

I backed Viru for that South Africa tour (2001). There were important people who actually said Sehwag had no clue about fast bowling. They (fast bowlers) would clean him up. The selectors said Viru should be sent to Hong Kong Sixes. Look where Sehwag is today.

On captains having a say in team selection,

It was said he had a clout that no India captain ever had. “That’s a fallacy,” he asserts. “Complete fallacy. I stood firm with certain players because I was the one to see them the closest — at nets, ground, dressing room, hotel room. I did put my foot down. Like taking Anil (Kumble) to Australia (2003-04) when the selectors preferred a left-arm spinner (Murali Kartik). A captain may not have a vote in selection but he certainly should have a say.”

On India’s increased success, especially overseas -

“Well, we won when I wasn’t the captain. The difference was we started winning overseas more consistently and that was because of the quality of players we had. We had players like Sachin (Tendulkar), Dravid, Kumble, Sehwag, Laxman, myself playing at their peak. We were almost the same age and keen to change the impression that India was soft when playing overseas. We played with aggression and it came with the foreign coach (John Wright). He played a big role, a very big role.”

On captaining India and Dhoni,

I had decided early not to worry about what people say. I had to do what I thought and not what others thought. To be a good captain in India, you have to be thick-skinned. That is why (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni is a good captain.”

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The tour that may be

To tour or not to tour, that is the question. Well, there’s nothing creative about this. I was reading David Hopps of the Guardian write his India-England tour diary.

He says,

If England don’t make it to Chennai because of security fears then they might like to know that I’ve played the game twice already since arriving here. I don’t often tell people about my dreams but these have been so surreal that I thought I’d share them.

Poor fellow, in an effort to make up his tour diary, he dreams of a surreal match with Lord MacLaurin as wicketkeeper and Dominic Cork bowling. David himself has been “banished to the checkouts to keep the score.”

In the end, he writes

When Mike Brearely arrives in Chennai – if, indeed, anyone ever arrives – I will show him this nonsense and ask him for a psychologist’s view. His conclusions will (well, actually “may”) be revealed in the next instalment of a tour diary that now desperately needs a tour to write about.

KP on the other hand seems to be Churchill himself – talking about being with the Indian people at this time. “We are coming back for the Indians” he says – source DNA. Thanks mate

Imran on the other hand has warned England from touring saying that terrorists were targeting westerners – source DNA. Well Imran, how come KP (or anyone else) doesn’t seem inclined to say “We are coming back for Pakistanis“?

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Thank you, Anilbhai

“He does not know what ‘give up’ means” – Rahul Dravid

On his “turning the ball skills”, he once said to Prem Panicker, “The difference between the middle of the bat and the edge is one inch.” Only an engineer, and a good one at that, would know the significance of one inch.

But the great injustice to this gentleman is summed up by the Great Bong

It is said that people recognize the worth of their teeth after they are gone.

Maybe we as a nation will do the same with respect to Kumble.

Over the 18 years, I have many memories, I will mention one

Antigua, May 2002 – Those were the days when I would be attached to the TV start to finish, even if it was a boring test match draw. Tea time on Day 3 of the 4th test in the series. India time, it was way past the Cinderella Hour. One was groggy with sleep while trying to find some hint of excitement in a dead match. I don’t remember the cricket commentary, so I am using Cricinfo’s archived ball-by-ball to recreate the moment.

 

There is some bad news for the Indians, Anil Kumble’s West Indies tour is over. The X-rays have confirmed the fracture to his lower jaw, he will need a surgery to fix it, this is going to keep him out of cricket for a while.

…

End of over 45 (2 runs) West Indies 123/2 (trail by 390 runs)
J Srinath 15-4-35-0 (2nb) – Pavilion End
BC Lara 1* (4b) RR Sarwan 21* (64b 2×4)

…

This is amazing – Anil Kumble braving a fractured jaw has come out to bowl. Straight away – Kumble to bowl.

45.1 Kumble to Lara, no run, pushes it through, beats the bat first up – outside the off.
45.2 Kumble to Lara, no run, gives the ball a little more air, defended.
45.3 Kumble to Lara, one run, driven down the ground to deep mid-off. Kumble has his jaw all strapped up – doesn’t look good.
45.4 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, forward in defence.
45.5 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, quicker through the air, forward in defence.
45.6 Kumble to Sarwan, FOUR, long hop, outside the off, Sarwan shows no mercy, powerful square cut for four.

…

 

Here is a man who is to fly home and go on the surgeon’s table to fix the broken jaw. Is he really being brave?
…

51.3 Kumble to Lara, OUT: Kumble strikes! Lara shuffles across, rapped on the pads, loud shout for lbw, Shepherd nods and then puts up his finger!
…
61.5 Kumble to Hooper, no run, straighter delivery pitched in line with the stumps, Hooper moves forward to play, the ball hits the pads in line with the off stump, huge appeal for LBW turned down!
…
63.4 Kumble to Hooper, (noball) no run, great delivery, on the middle, Hooper leans forward to defend, the ball hits the golves and goes straight into the hands of Das at forward short leg
…
The final over of the day.
71.1 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, outside the off, defended.
71.2 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, forward in defence.
71.3 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, bowling around the stumps, well tossed up, defended.
71.4 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, slow turn from outside the leg, played down easily.
71.5 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, angling in from outside the leg, defended.
71.6 Kumble to Sarwan, no run, well tossed up, played back down the track.
…

Kumble’s figures read: 14-5-29-1

Harsha Bhogle was the TV commentator and the only thing I still remember is him talking about how bizarre it was and that it was simply difficult to commentate because everyone’s throat simply choked up.

Moving On

The present team really came into place in 2000-01 after the match fixing scandal ripped apart the Indian cricket establishment. Since then, we have won test matches in all the test playing countries, except New Zealand. We have won series in England, West Indies and Pakistan, we have leveled series in England and Australia. There are frontiers yet to be won – winning a series in Australia, in Sri Lanka, in South Africa. 

From the way it is going, these frontiers will have to be breached by the next generation under Dhoni. Maybe Sachin will be there, but looks like he will be a lonely man. And I hope the young guns like Rohit Sharma and S Badrinath grow up to their potential and help him out. If not, we will be going back to the ’90s when the Indian cricket team seemed to revolve around Sachin. 

So thank you Anil Bhai. Thank you Dada (see my earlier post).

Dada to drive home

After 16 years of fighting everyone – from Australians to Indian cricket pundits, Dada has finally decided to drive away from the test cricket pitch. It is a sad day indeed and would be obviously sadder when the actual day finally lands – possibly the fifth day of the Nagpur test in November.

His esteemed rival, Steve Waugh brought the entire SCG crowd to tears overshadowing what had been an engrossing series in 2003-4. What would be the farewell for Dada? Usha Uthup singing an elegy? Sachin saying a few words? Harbhajan Singh doing a bhangra? Flintoff taking his shirt out and swirling it around? We have to simply wait and see?

India’s loss is Shahrukh’s gain – he now gets Dada to completely focus on the Kolkata Knight Riders and justifying his multi-crore salary.

For me, Dada can be remembered for five things (both positive and negative)

Note: This is a random order

1. Dropping out of the Nagpur test match in 2004 – on getting a green top, Ganguly claimed back injury and dropped out, apparently peeved with the nature of the pitch and the lack of response from the groundsmen. As a captain (and given his immense stature), this was not done.

2. Fostering a new generation – Taking over the captaincy from Sachin Tendulkar in 2000, his tenure began with the match fixing bomb – senior players banned, many Ranji Trophy regulars under doubt, general credibility of Indian cricket shattered. Investing in new, untested players and backing them to the hilt required a boldness and belief of a different order – Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Virender Sehwag gave him and India great ROI (and continue to do so). Like all investors, there were some which did not sustain – Mohammad Kaif, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Mongia, S Ramesh, Shiv Sunder Das to name a few. 

3. His off side play – Enough has been said about his off side. One still remembers the look on Jacques Kallis’ face (South Africa series 2001-2 in South Africa – the Mark Denness series) as he peppered a 7-2 off side field with square cuts and square drives

4. Intentionality –  There are many things he does / did / does not / did not that will anger or annoy the cricket coach, purists and the pundits – be it his work rate, fitness regimen, attitude, etc. However, whenever he pulled himself and focused on something, it just magically would work for him – the century at Lord’s (after being written off by Sunil Gavaskar as a quota selection and not fit to be in the team; he got in at the expense of Sanjay Manjrekar or Vinod Kambli if I remember right, a Mumbai player anyway); the 144 in Brisbane (2003-4); the 87* against Kings XI Punjab; the comeback into team after the Greg Chappell enforced vacation in 2005-2006; 

5. Straight lofted six off Muralitharan – He may been dismissed by Murali many times but when he hits Murali for six, it is a sight to behold – Jumping down the pitch and timing to perfection. Even in the recent lousy series against Sri Lanka, one got to see one such six. A pity, he could not do more of them.

Anyway, as far as Indian cricket is concerned, it’s one down, five to go. Any guesses when is Tendulkar’s turn?