Who's your Daddy?

All the hype, hoopla, Bollywood star tantrums, cleavage oh and cricket too from the IPL almost distracted me and made me miss the start of the Frank Worrell trophy in Kingston. I said almost. I am glad my cricket intuition didn't desert me: like a homing bird I switched to the start of the match in the Caribbean, saw Katich struggle, rolled my eyes at impending doom for the Windies when that street fighter walked in at No. 3 and left at the end asking the question "who's your daddy....?"

RT Ponting got his 100 of 127 balls and went to get 158 as Australia pounded 301 runs on Day 1. He is now at 35 hundreds...4 behind many people's all time great. No prizes for guessing who that is. For one reason or another which I have to date not been able to articulate I have been fascinated by successive Australian players: Damien Martyn, the Waugh twins, Allan Border, Mark Taylor and more recently RT Ponting. The common touch has been their ability to always deliver when the chips are down. Out of all these that I mentioned, none could however match RTP for his ability to completely dominate and crush the opposition. Only one other man continues to do that in world cricket today and he wears a blue jersey with no. 10.

If this is the trend, I think RTP will soon overtake no. 10 for test 100's...having said that I have eaten humble pie too many times before so I'll just sit back and enjoy the cricket.

Next Change

Now that the water has flowed and the dust settled, Ricky Ponting's words before the CB series finals glow a rich crimson and stand testimony to the age old but oft forgotten truth that those whom the Gods would destroy they first make proud: "I think 2 finals will be enough ..." indeed.

The men in blue have shown the power of youth. Now it remains to be seen if the Rohit Sharmas and Uthappas and Ishants go the same way as so many other youngsters (think Kaif, Raina, Balaji and so on...) or whether they carry on to forge a truly world beating side. As for Australia, no replacement will come for Gilchrist and there doesn't seem to be a single spinner anywhere in sight who can play a role, especially in slow conditions. Haddin may be competent as a batsman but to go from having the world's best 'keeper-batsman to arguably no. 4 (after Sangakarra, Dhoni & Boucher) leaves a big hole not easily filled and the absence of a competent slow bowler only adds to the woes. To have 4 of your strike bowlers as pacers is a clear lack of variety and not every pitch would be a WACA...oh but hang on that didn't help either! :-)

On to South Africa now. It will be interesting to see how resurgent RD, SCG and VVS are, especially considering the doors to the ODI team have more or less been permanently shut for all 3 of them. What will also be interesting is who will partner Wasim Jaffer now? And will Yuvraj find a place in the team? More than anything else however, I am looking forward to the return of RP Singh who I've always felt has the pace, swing and seam to trouble anybody. Zaheer's form too will be interesting to watch out for.

And April 18th, Bangalore will witness its first IPL T20: Bangalore Vs Kolkata... rest assured there'll be many of us there with beers, banners and much banter too!

Champs again

For all the talk of Indian cricket being in the dumps (if one were to believe certain comments left on this blog) and only a money spinning machine, India has cornered the second among what I believe are the 5 crowns of Cricket globally (the other 3 being 50/50, Test cricket and the Champions Trophy). The Under 19 team played some glorious cricket to nudge out South Africa in winning the junior world cup. This is another big step in India's march toward becoming the top cricket team in the world. Of course there's a long way to go yet but yesterday offered some glimpses into the future.

The combination of a cricketing master class by SRT left the Australians floundering, misfielding, over throwing and finally folding in the face of the SRT - RS combo. If SRT displayed why he is still SRT, then Rohit Sharma was not far behind, playing some audacious strokes on the way to a match winning innings. The big disappointment was Uthappa again but one hopes he will be persisted with and will come good eventually.

Om namaha

I am reproducing a short news story that appeared in the Times of India today:

Indian cricketers turn to bhajans

Melbourne: Indian cricketers are turning to devotional songs to calm their nerves in the ongoing tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka here. ‘Bhajans’ of popular singers such as Lata Mangeshkar, Hari Om Sharan and Anup Jalota are much in vogue among cricketers, who are finding this as an useful exercise to deal with the stress of media and opponents on the field. The trend, which started after losing the Sydney Test, has gained wider acceptance among cricketers since they have withstood the test of last few weeks remarkably well. Cricketers are being offered CDs which range from devotional to patriotic songs and even holy chants or Vedanta shlokas. Once they have selected the song of their choice, they have been told by experts to sit cross-legged on the floor and then concentrate on the middle of a chart which has several rounded layers in various colours. Cricketers are being asked to concentrate on the centre of the chart to the best of their ability and as they do so, the song of their choice is played in the background. AGENCIES

Teams around the world get the best sports psychologists, bio mechanical experts et al and we hand out CDs of bhajans. I love it. However, not discounting our ancient and learned culture if this turns out to be the secret weapon which propels our spoilt, pampered men in blue to conquer test series and world cups, then so be it! But something tells me the players must be cracking obscene jokes about this scheme in the change room. Viru & Yuvi listening to shlokas over a big tandoori chicken? Ha! I love my India.

tiddly winks

And in a predictable outburst, many of Australia's past players are blaming their resounding defeat and public "chaddi uttaar-ing" to the fact that the Australians were too "nice" and did not use their strength which is to be "aggressive" and "play hard"

Whatever the hell that means. You lost because you were outplayed by a team which was better consistently over 4 days. By not being "aggressive" I think the ex players are saying that the "pack of wild dogs" (not my line, call Peter Roebuck!), didn't resort to their usual tactics of abuse, sledging and that ridiculous term "mental disintegration".

India might well be brushed aside at Adelaide and Ponting's Pack could resume their strutting, but the reactions one has seen after this loss go to show how fragile the psyche is of many sections of the Australian media and players. No one likes being rattled but even the best are challenged and then finally cast aside...something they have to be cognizant of.

Oh and if Australia resume their "aggressive" tactics at Adelaide they must also realise that "motherfuc*er" is the same as "big mo*key" and not go crying to Uncle Mike again. You think I am being inflammatory? No. I am only being "aggressive".

Deviation or Curve

I messaged a friend late last night saying that I was at an inflection point. For the first time it seemed that I finally had begun to truly understand and internalize the fact that our cricket team and Indian cricketers in general are among the most poorly equipped to compete outside the country or under pressure. This may not be news and many may scoff but somewhere, somehow I always felt that a "new generation" would eventually spring from the reeds; a generation that would walk out to bat, display technique on bouncy & seaming wickets, handle pressure with the aplomb of a Hussey or Pup Clarke, bowl with the control required at international levels and pick teams based on a system of meritocracy, captaincy that was ruthless, fearless and imaginative....and many other things. Of course time and time again, these hopes were left empty but somewhere there was always a little flame that burned bright...our boys were as talented as anyone else, it was just a matter of time.

However, after much reflection I realize too much is wrong with our cricket & cricketers. I will not dissect that now as I am sure the following weeks will be full of ex players preaching. What I will say is all that is wrong cannot be righted in 2 weeks, 2 months or even 2 years. It will be a long slow process. They say once you hit rock bottom the only way left is back up; I don't think team India has hit the bottom yet. This is not about bitterness but the fact that I reached an inflection point with Indian cricket last night and I took the curve. I will still watch cricket as always...anyone who's spent time with me will know my adulation and love for the Australian team. That will not go soon nor will my love for good cricket. But as for the men in blue....there will be a long hiatus until the next time I write about them here or pay too much attention to their deeds in coming years. Its been a great ride but it had to end some time.

What's he doing here?

After recent discussions, it seems unanimous that as good a bowler as Munaf Patel may be (is he really?), he is simply not good enough as a cricketer to be playing at this level. He cannot field. He cannot bat. And especially in today's one day game you need to be good in at least 2 departments or exceptional in one and ok in one or two of the others. Drawing a zero next to your name in 2 aspects simply doesn't cut it. Pick Agarkar, Sree & Zak. That's our pace trio. And after seeing the first game against the Dutch, I doubt if the wickets this WC will encourage any team to pick more than three quicks.

Oh and if you saw IKP bowling in the warm up game you'd feel a little embarrassed that he may open the bowling for India in a WC.....I know I am.

Prince

So India gave the Lankans a sound thrashing in the remaining 2 games to go into WC 07 on a high. SCG & RD seem to be in the best form of their lives, not to mention SRT. Viru & Uthappa can be relied on for the quick runs at the top. With MSD coming in at the death with his err...unique style of play the batting looks solid...or one would think. For many months, despite this line up something seemed missing...something very big. A kind of super glue to bind all these players together. And that super glue seems to have returned and how!

Welcome back Prince. The importance of being Yuvraj Singh can never, ever be overestimated. The sheer joy & exhiliration of those delectable flicks, quick singles, majestic cover drives and lightening reflexes on the field are the equivalent of a dazzling million candlepower of light.

There were the naysayers, the doubters. Whispers abounded about Yuvi's fitness, his knee, his form, his ability to last WC 07. Anyone who saw him bat in the last game against the Lankans will now just want to sit back, pop open a cold one and enjoy the fun each time he's on the TV screen.

10 K

He reaches 10,000 runs in One Day International cricket

Take a bow you legend

Multi tasking

So how does one such as I, unfortunate to not receive Neo Sports (the channel that has bought all telecast rights for all domestic and international matches in India) do? You watch it on freely available national television, albeit with a 7 minute telecast delay. So essentially you are 2 overs behind those watching the game on Neo Sports. So as not to fall behind the action, I'm following the game on Cricinfo and watching it on national TV. The lengths we go to for this team...

Tut tut

Mukul Kesavan writes a blog for Cricinfo. Like my previous comments on Cricinfo's blogs (that of Kamran something in particular) this one too is caustic. So yes Mukul Kesavan amongst other things, writes in this particular post:

[The Indian team logo] consists of the company’s name spelt out in letters so large they were clearly designed to do duty on a billboard, with a tri-colour wing attached to the last ‘A’ just so we know that the company’s heart beats for India. It makes sense for the Sahara Group to want its name to be visible from a mile away, but shouldn’t the BCCI be trying to protect the ‘look and feel’ of the game that it’s meant to promote? Shouldn’t there be a maxiumum size specified for corporate logos?

I'm not sure whether I should simply laugh at this display of naivete on the part of this gent or whether I should simply pat him on the back and gently lead him to a museum. Now while I am all for maintaining what is sacrosanct to the game I am also aware of changes that are forced upon sport over time. No one likes change, a friend I admire a lot told me recently and there never was a truer word. This post grates on me because it comes across like one of those old, fuddy duddy MCC club members with their bloody suits and hats nodding their heads in dismay over a cup of tea at Lords. If we want the game to survive, evolve and continue to thrill, we have to accept changes. And changes as small as what Mr. Kesavan cries over are too insignificant to matter.

But the biggest reason why I said the post was naive...I mean c'mon. We have a Gujarati board apparatchik, a shrewd & greedy Marwari businessman and a dont-mess-with politician running Indian cricket. You tell me now if what we are seeing is anything but expected.

Hopes & Dreams

This is it. Or almost it. The team has been selected. These 15 will carry the hopes, dreams & fanaticism of millions around the world. Bangalore, Brussels, London, New York, Sydney, Singapore, Shanghai, Rotterdam, Bombay, Delhi and a hundred other cities around the world...Indian cricket lovers will suffer late nights, early mornings and low productivity at whatever else they do to watch 11 of these 15 take the field in cricket's most charismatic contest.

Rahul Dravid (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, R Uthappa, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Karthik, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Virender Sehwag, Sreesanth

My eleven (in batting order) will be: 1.Ganguly 2. Uthappa 3. Dravid 4. Tendulkar 5. Sehwag 6. Yuvraj 7. Dhoni 8. Harbhajan/Pathan 9. Agarkar 10. Zaheer 11. Kumble

Of course, this is based on current form. Sehwag's is still suspect. Otherwise it would be unthinkable for him not to come at the top of the order. Uthappa's intent and approach is a delight (more on him separately). Ganguly looks assured opening. Sehwag and Yuvi coming in at 5 & 6 might seem too low down the order but remember, both are struggling and both haven't made runs at this level for more months than we would care to remember. Dhoni's presence at 7 followed by Pathan makes me more assured. If IKP is in decent rythm, I'm afraid Bhajji will be left free to sample the Carribean's many attractions with abandon.

Of course, if Sehwag fails miserably in the next 4 games and IKP is all over the place, that changes the equation. However, I will always back Viru to get back amongst the runs. (provided those 3rd man slashes are temporarily abandoned)

C'mon India Dikhado!!!