Posts Tagged ‘sachin tendulkar’

One final chance for ageing superstars to conquer Australia

Posted: November 27, 2011 by Prasad Moyarath in Cricket, India Cricket, Opinion
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Prasad Moyarath

An Australian tour always provided an ultimate test of character for any cricketer and remained a tough frontier to conquer for any team. The pace and bounce of the Australian pitches combined with its bigger boundaries intimidated the batsmen from the subcontinent to such an extent that a big innings in Australia is epitomised as his ability to play quality fast bowling. Off-spinners struggling, fast bowlers bowling a wrong length, fielders struggling with their throw from the boundary, wicket-keepers fumbling are all common problems faced by the teams from the subcontinent in Australia. The Australian media are well known for their attack on opposition captain and almost all sub-continental teams have had some bitter experience in the past.

Yet another Australian tour is round the corner for the Indian cricket team. Indian selectors have announced a 17 member squad for the four test series which looks strong and well balanced in paper. But for any cricket connoisseur, this team does not inspire any confidence. Though this team has a set of talented youngsters and established stars, the way this team has been groomed as a unit and its preparation for this tough tour has raised the eyebrows of many. Having followed many Indian tours of Australia particularly the last two in 2003-04 and 2007-08, this team for me, does not look strong enough to conquer Australia even with their new look side.

Sreesanth and Harbhajan are known to get under the skin of the Aussies. They might be missed. © The Indian Express

India drew the series 1-1 in 2003-04 and lost 2-1 in 2007-08. Sehwag, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Zaheer who were part of those two tours are still there in this team. Dhoni toured Australia in 2007-08. Team with 6 experienced players should have an upper hand against a new look Australian squad. But a look at the performances of the 6 Indian experienced stars makes me jittery. Zaheer is coming out of an injury. Though Sehwag has scored a few half centuries after his come back, his performances have not been convincing. But Sehwag is unpredictable and can fire any time and India’s performance in Australia depends to a great extent on the innings he plays there. Dravid has been in great form and should continue his dream run in Australia. The whole nation is waiting for a century from Tendulkar and this expectation seems to affect the great master. Despite his big knocks in India, Tendulkar does not look to be in a good rhythm. Laxman has always produced some wonderful performances against Australians, but age seems to have caught up with him. His feet are not moving like in his younger days and with his slow reflexes, he can be a burden on the field in Australia. Dhoni has a dubious batting record outside the sub continent and his keeping has also not lived up to the expectations recently. Australians are well known for their meticulous planning and they are sure to exploit the above weaknesses of Indian stars.

It will be the first test series in Australia for Gambhir (though he impressed in the one-day series there back in 2008). Kohli is yet to cement his place in the test squad and his weakness against short pitched balls which became evident in West Indies will be exploited by Australians. He needs to display how he has rectified this short coming. Rahane and Rohit Sharma are yet to make their debut in test cricket and don’t expect to play any part in the test team unless any of the batsmen gets injured. Only one among the two spinners will play in 3 test matches except in Sydney. Praveen Kumar, Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron will relish the conditions and it is up to them to make their presence felt. Saha will be a mere passenger unless Dhoni gets injured. India needs to play Umesh and Varun in all the test matches and knowing the leadership style of Dhoni, it looks a distant dream.

What is lacking in this “strong” team compared to the previous tours? To be honest, this Indian team lacks characters, those who have the guts to fight it out in the middle and those who can inspire others with their cameo. India will surely miss players like Saurav Ganguly, Sreesanth and Harbhajan. It is not that these players should be included in this squad, but this team lacks “something” which these players have which will help them fight against all odds.

What could have been done to improve India’s chances? The West Indian tour to India ahead of this Australian tour is a big blunder. The flat pitches here did not help the cause either. The Indian selectors and the team management never bothered to groom the players. Rohit Sharma was identified as a test batsman very late and the captain did not have the courage to play him in place of an established star even after winning the series. Same is the case with Rahane. The Indian selectors have still not identified the players to replace the 3 greats. They should have played Rahane and Rohit by resting Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman in rotation. Now it is suicidal to blood these batsmen in trying conditions in Australia in case of a crisis. Parthiv Patel as a reserve keeper would have solved the batsmen’s injury worries considering his experience in Australia. Why the selectors don’t consider him as a batsman despite some crucial knocks against Brett Lee and Shoaib Akhtar is still a mystery. By denying a chance for Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron to bowl in tandem in Mumbai, the Indian team management missed a golden opportunity to groom a new fast bowling pair. With a captain who wants the Indian test pitches to assist spinners from the first day onwards, this was not unexpected.

The years 2003 and 2007 left the Indian cricket lovers broken hearted due to the Boxing Day test matches in Melbourne. The year 2011 seems to end in the same note. Unless the Indian openers give a sound start and our team management gives up their defensive thinking and our new fast bowlers rip through the Australian batting line up, this Indian team don’t seem capable of presenting a happy 2012 to its fans. Good Luck Dhoni and team.

The Inevitable Day will come when it has to

Posted: November 27, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India Cricket, Opinion
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Chandrasekhar Jayaramakrishnan

It is clear from the summary of events over the last five days that the Wankhede wicket was not as much at fault as anything in bringing about the scale of the expectations surrounding Tendulkar’s milestone. Yours truly, for one, believed otherwise while witnessing a West Indian unit, with due respect, amass 591 runs. What followed was a non-verbal war between the accuser and the accused – the wicket spoke for itself, and so did the result.

The excesses of expectations throughout the cricketing fraternity have become a national problem. The media fails to see beyond the much awaited milestone, while commendable performances on the field by others have become sub-headlines to a more eye-catching, heart-on-sleeve title.  Every headline seems a verbose isomer of the other.

Hard not to associate the man with the number

The obsession with the milestone is understandable. It is easy to overstate the problem, but it is a lot easier to come to terms with the fact that it will happen, and that time will show us when and how. One would argue that it would have been befitting for the greatest batsman of the modern generation to have achieved this milestone in the same home ground in which his nation lifted the coveted World Cup – a ground in which he started playing as a young teenager.

But certainly, history would want to remember this milestone as one achieved under non-ideal conditions in an arena and environment that challenges the abilities of a batsman. Just like how Euclidean geometry had taught us as kids that the three angles of a triangle sum up to one hundred and eighty, the sport has continuously taught us that records and numbers do not matter if they don’t shape up for a team’s cause, under trying circumstances. There is a reason why his 114 as a young kid on a Perth wicket is remembered as one of his best innings of all time. A few others, like Anton Tchekov’s characters, at the end, have vanished into life.

That he has 99 centuries till date is a catalog of his virtues – and that he has sustained for over 22 years a tribute to his consistency. And that glaring countdown:  fully armed with preconceptions portrayed by the recalcitrant media and frenzy – a mark of disrespect to a man, who at times, has wielded more responsibility than the Prime Minister of a nation.  The game of cricket has challenged every champion in disproportionate measures – from the meager run bucket of Ricky Ponting this year to the branding of anything less than a Tendulkar hundred a failure. It is about one man’s recent past, and another’s future. And not to forget the Turbanator, who is going through a lean patch after being a fulcrum in the Indian attack for close to a decade.

As fans, every one of us has a role in mediating the mayhem that surrounds a player’s personal glory. A series victory down under would mean a lot more to Tendulkar than achieving his milestone. And it is important to remember, given the circumstances down under, that there may not be a better time to tour Australia with the hope of obtaining a result. And if both happen, well – what is left to say here? Life isn’t a movie script that one can write in advance.

After all, the inevitable day is just about adding another one to his monumental tally of tons, and not even remotely close to that day when Canadian sensors hope to detect microbial life in Mars. Why all this fuss then?

The Wankhede pitch is a disgrace to the game and the nation

Posted: November 24, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, Opinion
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Goutham Chakravarthi

“Just learnt from a player that it is a very good batting pitch at Wankhede for last test…u know why right? : )” tweeted Sanjay Manjrekar ahead of the Mumbai Test. But how good is this wicket? No one says it is a good bowling wicket when wickets tumble? If anything the two Tests in South Africa had more Indians glued to it than the three Tests in India have. Good cricket is universally loved. And invariably they happen on wickets where ball battles bat on equal terms. But Wankhede is a disgrace.

It is but blatantly obvious that a flat track is prepared in anticipation of that 100th hundred. ©Associated Press

Cricket should have no tolerance for vested interests. It is a shame that a wicket is prepared for the obvious. It holds the game and the fans to ransom. It is no less cheating than insider trading. It shows scant respect for the game, and in this case, to Tendulkar himself. He is his country’s greatest champion and doesn’t need freebees. The man’s boyhood and adolescence was Test cricket. He is under pressure to perform. Always. His failures are magnified and studied and speculated. In his time, a country limp on wickets abroad learnt it could stand on equal terms with the opposition and even dominate. As a boy he conquered Australia. A generation followed in his footsteps and it counts among the most respected teams going around today. It is not a coincidence that India’s strongest sides have coincided with his times. And now a tailored wicket to help him get to that hundred? That’s the biggest insult his home board has heaped on him yet.

From the times when French women bunted wooden objects with a log of wood 800 years ago, batsman have been in the ascendancy. Restrictive rules: under-arm, round-arm, field restrictions and so on have limited the bowlers. But, always, they have come through with a solution. If not for those ingenious minds that propelled cricket we would still be playing under-arm cricket. Bless John Willes and Edgar Wellsher for daring to bowl over-arm and change the game for ever. Googlies, swing and reverse-swing ensued. So have doosras, but still bowlers are not given their due. Bigger bats, restrictive field placements and dodgy laws impede bowlers. A bent arm is cheating and an extra bouncer unbecoming of the gentleman. There are more restrictions than American immigration checks. And now these dead wickets.

It is difficult to imagine a more batsman-friendly era than this: protective gear, ordinary bowling, flat wickets, big bats and small boundaries. Perhaps only the 1940s can count to be its equal with an insane amount of runs being scored. Routinely 600s would be replied with 700s resulting in run feasts, dull draws, inflated records and poor cricket. It is often the case today barring the results.

The quality of the bowlers coming through is a case for concern for the health of the game. Hardly a corrective measure is taken to address it on a global scale. Wickets to suit home teams are as old as the game itself, but it serves little purpose. The game is more important. It is meant to be a battle of equals – of bowlers bluffing batsmen with spin, dip, guile and scary pace and batsmen responding with restraint, judgment, courage and great skill. Alas, it is often not the case.

State cricket associations in India prepare wickets to their fancy and their hour of need: weaker oppositions are welcomed with under prepared tracks in the hope of full points and stronger teams with flat decks to rule out a result. The system is as corrupt as some of the others in the country. Cruelly, must-win-games for home sides finish in less than three days. And no one cries foul or is there an honest body to prevent this. Happily the body that runs cricket in India is more worried about television rights and even television production. All they want from its state associations are their votes. The game can cop all it wants, but it is only worried about its commercial interests. No empire stands the test of time. Neither will the BCCI.

Wankhede is a disgrace. They have sold cricket and nation short. And disrespected Tendulkar.

Sachin’s driving superior to Schumacher’s: Harbhajan

Posted: October 27, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Fiction
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Goutham Chakravarthi

“Tendulkar waving the chequered flag at the Delhi Grand Prix is anti-national,” said former BCCI secretary J Y Lele at the launch of his book I Was There – Memoirs of a Cricket Administrator. He explained, “It would surmount to him figuratively accepting that he has had a chequered career. In my opinion, and as you would understand from reading my book, he was never wrong, it is just that the elders who adviced him were wrong. Sachin should only wave the national flag and no other flag.”

Is Tendulkar better than Schumacher?

The comment raged a nation-wide debate with Harbhajan stating, “When was the last time you saw Schumacher or a Vettel come to a cricket match and put up a banner for Sachin?”

Harbhajan fuelled fire to the discussion by cleverly comparing Schumacher to Tendulkar. He said, “Sachin’s straight driving is simply the best, better than even Schumacher’s driving down the straight!”

Indian Formula One drivers Karun Chandok and Narain Karthikeyan took offence to Harbhajan’s claims and said “It is time Harbhajan concentrated on cricket alone and not make comments about sportspersons or sports he has no clue about. His position in the Indian team is in jeopardy and it makes sense that he ensures that his mouth and cricket doesn’t spin out of control!”

“Spin out of control? The only time anything has spun out of control is when those two buffoons have been behind wheels in a Forumla One car. They are just rich kids who could afford to buy their way into Formula One. May be their wheelspin is more than the spin I impart on a cricket ball, it doesn’t mean they are right. Sachin’s driving is the best,” retorted the angry Harbhajan.

Meanwhile, joining from his home in Pakistan, the controversial speedster Shoaib Akhtar said, “Sachin is used to waving flags, don’t you worry. It is just that it is a chequered flag this time and it is a little different from the white flag he used to wave at me when I was about to mark my 2 kilometer run-up.”

And when asked who he thought would win the Delhi Grand Prix, he said, “I don’t care who. I bowled quicker than any of those cars can ever go and that’s that!” He strongly disagreed to having any interest in motor racing and said he would instead “spend the money eating chaat” on Sunday evening!

Asked for a reaction on Shoaib’s statement, Chairman of Selectors, Srikkanth said “Who cares as to what the buffoon says! All I am worried about is the usage of DRS in the race. After we categorically said no to any DRS, I am surprised that teams will be using DRS in the race. We are suing the ICC and FIA on this matter!”

When the Chairman of  Selectors was told that DRS expanded to Drag Reduction System in Formula One terminology, he said “They always say something but the intent is something else. The last time DRS ended up being Dravid Removal System, this time it can be Dhoni Removal System. We cannot take a chance. We are against anything DRS.”

1st ODI: Rain robs India their best chance of win

Posted: September 3, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
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 Goutham Chakravarthi

 3 September 2011

 

Finally a day where India had the better of England and the game was called off! The end result is not that India are yet to beat England but may have lost another player, Rohit Sharma, to injury. It is a tour that simply won’t go right for India. And for DRS!

India were jolted early with news of Tendulkar pulling out after complaining of pain on his big toe. He is to consult a specialist on Monday and knowing the history of the injury, he might be advised rest. It seems there is nothing India can do to stop injuries. Putting eleven fit men on the park seems a bigger issue for the team these days.

Rahane and Patel have given India good starts in successive games

Amid all the chaos, India has stumbled upon an unlikey opening pair who have kept the English seamers at bay for two matches in succession. Rahane is highly rated in the Indian circuit and is a man coming with runs behind him in Australia recently. He has looked confident and in the company of the very gritty Parthiv Patel countered the conditions and the English quicks with aplomb. It was not a quick wicket but did offer enough nip for bowlers with the new ball.

If you looked at the highlight reel of Parthiv Patel’s innings a few years from now, you would think he played a pull or hook to each of the 107 deliveries he faced! England were convinced for whatever reason that he couldn’t play the short stuff for the second game in a row and kept bouncing him and Patel kept pulling them for fours. Closing in on a deserved hundred, he nicked a wide half volley that Anderson bowled which looked like the first delivery they pitched up to him in two games now. All this makes you wonder why he wasn’t chosen as the back-up wicket-keeper and opening batsman for the Tests.

Another positive for India from this game would be the form of Raina. He seems comfortable in this format. He looked confident throughout and controlled the batting powerplay. An astute slow bouncer by Dernbach ended his innings. But he looked in control while he was at the crease.

Rohit Sharma’s loss will be a blow forIndia. It might do India good if Dhoni pushes himself to no.4 for the rest of the series. Once he is in, he controls the middle overs like few can in world cricket. Batting at no. 7, he is doing himself and his team a great disservice. India are out of options and Rohit’s injury might force him to bat at 4.

India looked good with the ball too with Praveen Kumar continuing to mesmerize English batsmen with his swing and nip. He accounted for Cook, who looked ill at ease in his brief stay, and Kieswetter, who couldn’t pick Praveen’s swing. When rain intervened, India had had the upper hand and looked poised to finally put one over England this tour. The long batting line-up would have been tested to chase down the Indian score after a slow start.

India finally look to be hitting their strap with the induction of a new personnel. They will do well to put a couple of people who have played well in Australia recently on stand by even as a final call the injuries of Rohit Sharma and Sachin Tendulkar will be made shortly.

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