Interesting IPL observations..

1) Its weird to see the extra passion & cheering & shouting & celebrations among some traditionally calmer players like say Sachin & Kumble. Is it the format or the captaincy? No clue. Love MSD- come whatever, the reactions are always so so calm & brilliant.
2) Nehra yet to play is bad news for Team India. Some decent new "fast" bowling talent I picked-
#i) Umesh Yadav from DD
#ii) Abu Nechim from MI- bowled between 140-145 km/h
Sadly neither of these guys seemed to swing it or have actions which suggest they can swing it. But enough good things to work with for Eric Simmons.
3) I somehow am not sharing the optimism around Yusuf Pathan- he has got 75%+ of his runs against spinners plus Sathish (Mumbai Indians dibbly dobbler). Yusuf clearly has a weakness against short-pitched bowling (a weakness far greater than Raina or any of the other Indian players) and hence, I cant see how he can even be a moderate success consistently for India. Will still keep him in the T20 team only (& just about ahead of Uthappa)
4) I am not sure about this but I dont think there too much of a difference between average scores of teams in the first 6 & last 4 overs. Wonder if the larger & hence critical difference (incremental) between the teams is the performance between Over No. 7 & 16. I dont have a starting hypothesis. Maybe 12th man can analyse this one !:)

Interesting..

IPL is getting to be really a mass product.
I for example have no real team I support or cheer for with great passion and I know several pals who are in a similar position. Of course I'd back the Mumbai Indians marginally more due to Sachin's presence (only) but only marginally more than say a Delhi team with Sehwag.
This despite the fact that I have over the years supported really weird "things" ranging from Boris Becker to Roger Milla !
Would be interesting to do a survey on region based support etc

Dravid..from cricinfo.com

Nice piece from Siddartha Vaidyanathan on cricinfo on Dravid's super knock at Jamaica on a minefield. I remember watching it..http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/450892.html

IPL3

IPL has this weird addictive feel about it. A combination of slick marketing and very evenly matched teams , i guess. Every game gets so close.
Team owners though need to think hard about the manner in which they incentivize some of the bigger names & the foreign players. For some of the foreign names, this kind of monies is so high that even 2-3 years is good enough. I got that feeling when I saw AB De Villiers get run out with his bat in the air. I doubt he will ever get out that way when playing for SA.
Its critical that owners put in place a meaty variable pay plan - doesnt help when the IPL takes out some of the player compensation. But anyways..

Sachin Sachin..

Sachin just dedicated his 200 to me ..people like me .."Who have stood by him for the past 20 years through ups and down".. & that I have done...
I was at the Chepauk clapping that masterpiece when he got out vs Pak for 136 on a humid dirty day@ Chennai
Unlike all those timepass watchers who kept bothering about him getting out so close to a win as opposed to blaming the other 5 jokers who got out for 15-odd runs. He has played in all conditions and against all attacks unlike that dog Ponting who plays most of his big knocks at home and has never played well in India. Lara's hit & miss approach helped him play the odd blockbuster but Sachin has easily caught up now on that count with many many matchwinning knocks.
Even if he didnt, I dont care ...He's the best that is , that was & that ever will be.
"Sachin Sachin Sachin !
Salute Salute Salute!
Sach is life !"

Battle Royale @ the Eden

Exactly why I luv test cricket. It was amazing to see how, on Day 1 the South Africans crumbled from 200-odd for 3 , so so similar to 2001-Aus. Bhajji's chutzpah and not great technique from the South Africans helped him more than his skills. What was awesome to see VVS flow, Sachin play steadily , Dhoni ugly yet vv effective & Viru sublime.
On Day 3 when India came out 5-down, VVS started the day with some silkly flicks off Steyn & Harris. Made my day. Kya hoga when these guys all retire??

Awesome SA & Steyn..but..

We are 1-0 down. But as usual, too much fuss around our loss. I mean we did play with a 2nd string batting line-up and they did reasonably well (Africans bowled beautifully). The bowling has problems and has always had them:
1. The pace bowlers rely on seam and swing , not pace. We won our last series in England. When we went to Australia, we won at Perth (on the fastest track) and lost at Melbourne (on a slow pitch). We won in Jo'burg when Sreesanth took a 5-for. My theory is that our pacers do very well on helpful tracks and our hi-quality batters do a decent job & hence, better results. On tracks like Nagpur, our pacers cant break through due to lack of speed and the spinners...
2. .......well, they suck ! Maybe Mishra can get better with experience but I dont know. I am a fan of Bhajji for his chutzpah, not his skills. Hes a great one day or T20 bowler, but his flat, fast deliveries are no good on most pitches. Am not even bothering checking his test figures, but I am sure they are not flattering outside India. He has rarely bowled us to a win (barring the odd game in NZ & WI) and off late, accuracy is a big issue with him. And no flight or guile from a spinner is sad to see. Methinks Ramesh Powar would still today be a much much better choice. Alas..
Otherwise, its great to see nice, aggressive test cricket. Winning-losing is part of any game, but hope for a better battle at the Eden !

Why I dont like the IPL..

Professional sport is one of those (last few) things left, which is like a guy thing . Watching a good game with the right company, critiquing the commentary and game strategy, debating hazaar statistics and of course, consuming beer, adds up to make it that kind of an event.
What the IPL has done (though good for its coffers) is to make cricket a complete entertainment package with no respect for any of the nuances . So, you have people who have never seen cricket before decide to support the Rajasthan Royals- Why? Coz Shilpa Shetty owns the team and a smoking tubby Shane Warne is charismatic. All the right reasons, as you can see. Plus of course, Mandira Bedi for commentary. This year, the ads suggest there is something special being planned for kids during the coverage. Oh my God!!
I am not v sure, but I think the EPL isnt some kind of a family mela. That may be because soccer is a contact sport..who knows ! Also, it hasnt been marketed in this kind of a manner with movie stars & the type being team owners etc etc. Tragedy is that every year, the IPL only gets more and more away from the clutches and understanding of a hardcore cricket or sports geek.
All the above are part of the reason why you wouldnt know who has been the top scorer in the 2 IPL editions, which batter has been the game changer, which bowler has best eco rates, whats the key strategy element in a T20 and so on.....
I may still watch it coz it is telecast at a time when I may otherwise be watching some meaningless news program on CNN or CNBC..But surely not enjoying it too much ...

The insignificant No.11 or wat?

10 players of the Indian test squad more or less pick themselves . These 10 players are the Top 5 batsmen+Yuvraj (:) ) + MSD+ Zak+ Ishant + Bhajji. (just for the moment, leave the fact that Ishant was dropped for Sreesanth in the home series v SL)
That leaves us with 1 slot. This goes to a seamer in overseas games and typically a 2nd spinner in sub-continental conditions. And this is the slot we ping-pong with. Sreesanth's ok-ok form off late means he is probably the 3rd seamer (to be used overseas). But in the subcontinent games, its (as of now) between Mishra & Ojha (&how). Check the below trail of our last few series:
Ind v Aus (in India in Oct08)- Mishra made debut & was awesome
Ind v Eng (in India in late08)- Mishra continued & was good , if not spectacular
Ind v NZ (in NZ in early 09)- No spinner needed
Ind v SL (in Ind in late 09)- Suddenly, Mishra is dropped after an ordinary 1st test on a batting beauty & Ojha is in. Ojha does a good job
Ind v Bangla (in Bangla in 2010)-
1st test- Mishra is in & Ojha is out. Mishra doesnt bowl too well, but takes a 7-for in the match & we win the match (apparently, captain Sehwag's call)
2nd test- Ojha is in & Mishra is out !!! (back to captain MSD & his call)
I cant fathom why we play around with that marginal 4th bowler instead of giving 1 person a good run and loads of confidence. It usually shows also when we struggle to pick up the last 3-4 wickets.

Sunny Gavaskar

Taking off from one of the comments on the blog on Sunny Gavaskar, thought i will put down my thoughts on the man.
Lemme start off by saying that he is an absolute icon- be it the 774 runs in a debut series vs. WI or staging a walkout on a wrong umpiring decision in Australia- he has in many ways been a pioneer. Awesome batting technique against spin and pace, I dont think concerns around his selfishness, conservative captaincy, blah blah are too much to bother about.
On his commentary though, there are 2 standard features, which are well, worth laughing about as well as things he should maybe avoid:
1. Tendulkar Worship - He can say no wrong about Sachin. Forget wrong, he can only praise him. In one of the recent ODIs vs. Sri Lanka , Sachin took a dolly of a catch in the final overs of a close chase. Gavaskar went on & on praising Sachin whereas the position of the game at the time may have merited a tad more mention ! :) Again- this is not blame but just an observation. I am no one to criticize Sachin worshippers- being the biggest one myself.
2. Aussie/Eng/SA bashing- We all love a bit of bashing of the firang cricketers and administrators. But Sunny does it almost blindly each and every time. I think I agree with the points he makes , but putting it more mildly and discreetly may drive home the point better. e.g. the Ponting fracas ! But then he is Sunny Gavaskar & probably is right :)
As Lord Relator said in the great calypso:
"It was Gavaskar
The 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."

Pakistan ..oh oh !

Nothing much to say on their batting collapse, is there? I just hope people in Pakistan dont come up with some match fixing theory which will hide the inadequacies of their team.

Just 2 points:
1. Winning in professional sport is so much about the confidence & knowing "how to win" as opposed to skills. This Aussie team proves that.
2. I wanna also pay tribute to the heavweights in the Indian Test Team who have enabled us to learn "how to win". In this, I include Sachin, Saurav, VVS & Dravid- Dravid being the best example, methinks. Remember the Adelaide test we won in 2004- we had around 225 to chase in the 4th innings and Dravid anchored that chase like a champion (just like Sachin did in the Chennai test vs. England, though Dravid's was earlier & hence, maybe better). If Dravid hadnt batted in that manner that day, we may also well have collapsed & stuggled to figure out "how to win"! Salute the WALL !

Abhimanyu Mithun..watch out for this name

As a typical cricket freak, i luv picking up players from the Ranji scene who I think may one day break into the next level. One of my earliest picks was a person named MS Dhoni, but no blogging then to prove that.


In keeping with that, Abhimanyu Mithun, 20-yr old pacer from Karnataka is my latest pick.

He made his Ranji debut this season and in 8 matches, has taken 38 wickets at an average of 25-odd. By newspaper accounts, he bowls in the region of 140 km/hr. These numbers have been achieved by him bowling mainly on what is an unhelpful Chinnaswamy Stadium track (where he also picked up a 4-for in the recent semi finals against a decent UP line-up). He also played in the IPL for the Royal Challengers and in the 3 games he played, Kumble gave him decent spells and put faith in him- which also gives me confidence.


Watch out for this name. I will track him & most importantly his pace (so that he doesnt go the normal way of our speedsters- quick only for the 1st season a la Munaf)


Source for data / pix- http://www.cricinfo.com/

Pakistan's day at the SCG & Ponting's weakness against the short ball :)

Pakistan had a field day at the SCG. You can check out the scores at http://www.cricinfo.com/ - I thought the day's play showed why Pakistan is a dangerously weird side:
1. Mohammed Asif bowled an awesome spell to take a 6-for. He has now taken 79 wickets in 15.5 tests at an average below 23. He never ever bowls about 132 km/h , yet is consistent and menacing. And of course, he has come back from a drug possession ban !!!!
2. Mohammed Sami, on the other hand, is an enigma. He is quick, can swing it and is very fit. Yet, in a career spanning 33 tests, his bowling average is above 50. He played in last test against India in 2007 and was surprisingly called back for this Aussie series. He even flirted with the ICL in the interim. As he showed today, he can be a handful with pace, bounce and movement. He is a decent No.8/9 bat too.
3. Their catching was awful in the Boxing Day test- prompting the commentators to even say that their catching in this test could be the difference ultimately. Today, be it Misbah or Faisal Iqbal in the slips or even Kamran behind the stumps, the catching was really good.
And Mr. Ricky Ponting got out for a duck..first ball to a bouncer. The second or third time this summer. Kenmar Roach from the Windies had given him a harrowing time with short balls. And now Sami gave him a first-baller. None of the esteemed Channel-9 team were talking about this. Had it been Sachin or VVS or Saurav, they would have all been up saying weakness against short ball etc etc. Ricky getting out to the short ball only proves what Sunny Gavaskar has been saying all the while- that all batsmen are vulnerable against good short-pitched bowling !

Pakistan find themselves in great position to force the game at the end of Day 1 at the SCG. Its damn tough to decide who to support (or not support) in a Pak-Aus series. That in itself is saying a lot about the Aussies !:)
All data source: www.cricinfo.com

Travis Birt & the Aussie game !

Am sure most Indians hate the aussie cricket team !! Remember sledging them from the crowd at a T20 game at the CCI few years back !
But you have got to admire the quality of their game ! They have been doing ok in all versions of the game for the last 2 years with pretty much an average team (by their own standards). An answer may lie in their compact and competitive domestic structure (besides of course, their general love for sport).
Have been following the KFC (eeeks- wat a sponsor) T20 bash this year and the quality of cricket is quite staggering ...Saw Adam Voges take a spectacular catch for Western Australia (WA) vs Tasmania..and a chappie named Travis Birt play an aggressive knock for Tasmania. Watch out for these names..Voges has been in and around the Aussie team but Birt is my pick for a place sooner than later especially in T20.
Will still sledge & chase the Aussies out of India but for sure, there is a lesson for us to enhance our domestic structure..

Test Cricket...hmm...

I had an awesome end to 2009 ! I was on leave, yet didnt travel ! Spent time eating and watching some awesome test cricket...Every thing has its place in the world and I think those predicting the end of Test Cricket, seem to be doing so, in a year which has produced some of the best Test Cricket ever !!
You dont think so?? Sample this for the year !
1. The year started off with Australia thrashing South Africa in SA - in a kind of a revenge for their defeat in Aussie land! Before that we saw Graeme Smith being uinable to stave off defeat at the SCG despite batting with a broken hand
2. We saw an awesome Ashes series with most matches being very closely fought and we ended the year with great games between SA-Eng , Aus-Pak & before that NZ-Pak
3. As for India, we beat NZ in style in the beginning of the year ! Tragically, we didnt play too much test cricket this year !! And ended the year packing off SL at home.. The catching, fielding and bowling all comes good in the slower, less frenetic test matches !! And the batting has a rock star look to it !

Methinks test cricket will survive and thrive ! 20-20 style batting ensures results and excitement ! A few changes here and there like lights, weekend scheduling etc and test cricket will rock !