Shattered pieces of a Golden Mirror

Seriously, have we ever heard, or seen, or read about, or bloody imagined a greater anti-climax than the one served up by our savior, Sehwag?

Messiah. Revenge taker. English Beater. Baba Sehwag Dev. The Man!

The hype generated, especially by the Indian media, already had Sehwag scoring a triple hundred in each inning at Edgbaston.

Well, he missed by just a little bit.

Each test shows the surreal progression. The English have gotten better and better, and Indians have scaled depths of equal proportions. 196 in the first test, over 300 in the second, and now marching handsomely-all-trumpets-blowing towards an innings defeat, as an Indian fan, I shudder at the thought of the defeat margin in the fourth test.

Cook’s brilliant double, and Sehwag’s King Pair has perfectly embodied this tour for India. The visitors have gone into each game hoping for a fortune-changing performance that would rouse the sleeping lion.

However, Tests require eleven performances to come together in a perfect Cricket-symphony; they are not won or lost by one sparkling hurrah.

I had hoped that the stark difference between a 100 meter sprinter and a marathoner would dawn upon us after we bid farewell to our last gunslinger-test players. That it would come while they are still around is both a shame and a leveler, in perfectly balanced glory.

Great tests have always come about when two equal-ish teams created epic battles. Sometimes though, one team has to carry the baton and create dominant brilliance that overshadows everything.

So far, it seems, India made the trip for nothing. They could have played these matches from the comfort of their living rooms back home.

It was great while it lasted…..but friends, it is time,

We are not number one. They are.

Period.

Fading memories of Trent Bridge

The outrageousness of India’s defeat at Trent Bridge was actually predicted by Mirza Ghalib when he wrote “Dard ka hadh se guzar jaana hai dawa hona”. For the Urdu challenged, Ghalib was referring to the second test at Trent Bridge in India's current tour to England, when he wrote “pain can only increase to a certain point, beyond which you don’t feel it anymore”. Such was the brutality and ruthlessness of the English attack that the Indian Cricket Team disintegrated in perfect resonance, with the inflicted pain increasing a bit at a time till Sachin was given LBW, and then we were all comfortably numb.

England did everything right. If the victory at Lord’s was near-perfect, the Trent Bridge rout was one scripted by the Cricketing Gods. Slight hiccups were simply opportunities for new heroes to seize moments and continue the carnage, with the bat or the ball, at the top or at the tail. If Cook and Swann seemed to lose their incredible forms, others rediscovered theirs and more than made for all Brit shortcomings. Broad was a marginal selection at the beginning of the series. What a joke that looks like in hindsight! We would have to go back a long long way to find another Test player that could match his current purple patch. Bat, Ball or words, he is playing with them all with mind numbing brilliance.

Bresnan, another outside selection, couldn’t do anything wrong either. Kevin Pietersen, yet another out-of-form man has found his knick in the nick of time to deflate India. Bell, Trott, Anderson, Tremlett are all names in a long list of fine performances from England. The Cricket has indeed been near flawless from the hosts. They have truly and fully outplayed India in all departments and have registered two thumping victories to ensure that they will not lose this series. Glorious memories of 2007 can find another home; they were mercilessly washed away today.

What’s more, it wasn’t cheeky Cricket at any stage. It was bold and handsome, going for the jugular. Victory was never sneaked in by going after the tail while giving easy singles on the other end. England dismissed Sachin in the second innings, and Dravid in the first, before ripping through the tail like a knife through warm soufflé. India didn’t have a lone fighter stranded on one end as it so often happens.

Like the Cricket from England, my fellow fans, India’s defeat was just brilliant in its completeness.

It is also symbolic and morbidly ironic that India’s number one test ranking is being washed away in this fashion. One could argue that this is the last golden legion of Test Cricketers to have represented India. The only way we will see VVS, Sachin or Dravid back at the 2015 tour of England would be as commentators, spectators, umpires or all of the above. One wonders, once these greats hang up their boots and take up alternate professions, who will step up and be the next great Test Cricketer from India? Would any of our new crop go on to become a legend of such stature? Would this seemingly last league of extraordinary gentlemen take with them the last golden era of Indian Test Cricket?

Oh well! No matter how deep these gashes are, and how excruciating the pain may be, we have to cherish these dying moments of India’s reign at the top. We have to cherish these last batting stands by the likes of Sachin, Dravid and VVS. Each boundary, each forward defense, even the well judged ‘leaves’ are like last breaths. We have to live them to the fullest while they last.

Until the next jagging delivery by Anderson, or the precisely shaping outswinger from Broad, takes our breaths away….

A Caribbean Vacation

Ahoy Cricket, How’ve you been mate?

If flipping between the SL-England test and Ind-WI ODI gives me enough time to write this, there is something seriously wrong with today’s Cricket-planetary positions.

After wallowing in the hitherto-unknown bliss for over two months, and basking in the make-believe serenity that should follow after a World Cup victory, I feel I am ready to write again. I should admit though that writing about Cricket was a bit of a challenge. Like an old fountain pen that needs a violent jerk before it gets going again. I didn’t give up easily though, I was surely, miserably and flat-out defeated…..

After relentless attempts to follow IPL ardently, I am indifferent to report, that I have failed as comprehensibly as such failures can be. It didn’t take long for me to realize that a mortal human being can only follow a monstrosity of a tournament like IPL if it was being done for a living, in exchange of exorbitant amounts of money. And since neither of these applies to me, largely due to the painful reality of having a full time job to do unfortunate non-Crickety things, I figured that IPL will most certainly have to pass me by.

So, while I waited for the IPL tornado to pass, I started planning life beyond the Cricket World Cup. And all that soul searching also made me reflect back on simpler times when fans looked forward to Cricket. Back in the 90s when the human race hadn’t evolved enough to embrace Cricket twice a day, we waited and waited, sometimes for months, to see our boys in mild-tentative-blue back on the field. Now, things are quite different. Today, we don’t wait for Cricket, as our boys in bold-blue-and-other-shocking-color-combinations are playing about 500 days a year, as Cricket is fire-hosed down our throats sending us into a cathartic coma. Today we need to weed through and look forward to Cricket that fits our interests, from a big <expletive> basket of Cricket that is on offer.

For me it means waiting for tours like the ones to the Caribbean and England, watching Sri Lanka play test matches at the Lords, and shamelessly shutting myself out of Twenty20 extravaganzas.

Well then, after my longish rant, here is a look at our Caribbean vacation.

A quick look back

The first Indian triumph in the Caribbean went on to become more of an aberration than a fresh start for the sub continent teams. It was the magical year of 1971, when Sunil Gavaskar made his Test debut in the second test against WI in Port of Spain. Gavaskar wasted no time in announcing himself to the world by scoring 65 in the first inning, and an unbeaten 67 in the second to guide India to its ever victory in West Indies. The year 1971 continued its glory for India when immediately after the Caribbean tour, much like it is scheduled this year, India toured England and registered its first ever victory on English soil.

After that series victory in 1971, where India won one test match and drew the other two, it took India 35 years to register another series victory in the Caribbean. In the meanwhile, we toured West Indies 5 times, in 1975, 1982, 1988, 1996 and 2001, only managing to win two test matches and lost every single series.

Look no further

Considering the Test history in the Caribbean, India has fared relatively better in the ODIs. Though they have certainly dominated in the recent years, as India’s stock ascended into the Stratosphere and the West Indians invented new ways to implode every season. With Lara continuing to be the last good thing to have happened to Caribbean Cricket, this series, at the very least, provides yet another opportunity for the Windies to stir up the good ol’ Cricketing Love at home.

Things may have gotten a bit easier (or lamer depending on how you look at it) when India announced its squad for the tour. Some of our players need physical rehab, some need breaks and the remaining need surgeries.

The blatant truth of T20 Club Cricket being more important than International Cricket tours now looms on us like the mark of Death Eaters over Hogwarts. But that cynical story is for another gloomy blog, bottom line for now is that India comes to Caribbean with an outrageously depleted team for the limited-overs leg of the tour. Combine that with the largely-amateur WI performances and a gaping Chris Gayle hole, and what you have is really a not-so-promising limited overs Cricketing action.

Test Cricket that follows the five ODIs provides a glimmer of hope for watching some of our own greats back in action.  

Although depleted, India will look to press its dominance in their first international appearance after the mind numbing stupor of the WC victory. Apart from a number of fresh players, it will also be testing grounds for the new coaching staff.

Being the undisputed Champion means beating everyone, everywhere. Winning the cup shouldn't be a conclusion, and the Indians would want to prove it to be the beginning of a lasting reign at the top.

Would the Caribbean tour offer enough quality to keep the audience engaged, or would we have to wait until we travel further north to English soil?

Extras:

§         WI remains a country where Sachin has not scored an ODI century, and with him missing the ODIs, it may well go into the history books that way.

§         At 13.41%, India has the lowest Test Match winning performance against WI. This rate falls to 9.5% winning performance against WI in WI.

§         Gavaskar has a comprehensive record in WI, scoring 7 centuries and 4 half centuries in 13 tests, at an average of 70.20. This record created at the time when WI produced its most successful and dreaded fast bowlers.

§         The only other contemporary batsman who comes close to Gavaskar is Dravid, with 2 centuries and 10 half centuries in 14 tests, at an average of 70.00

§         With 25 and 15 wickets in 5 tests respectively, Harbhajan and Zaheer are the only current Indian bowlers to have a respectable record in WI. Others either have less to no experience, or have fared poorly.

How much is too much? - A biography of a dying hen

BCCI has a great thing going on right now. Match winners all over the team, number one test ranking, world’s greatest batsman in the side, one of the finest, if not the best, Captain, and now a World Champion one-day team.

And yet, they continue to put in the relentless effort to destroy it all.

It is sickening to see Indian cricketers perhaps being the most outrageously overworked employees in the world. Every conversation in this regard is quickly dismissed with one of two counterpoints: one, they are also the most highly paid athletes, and two, nobody is forcing them to play other league cricket. And I will be hard pressed to pick the more ridiculous statements between these two. Paying millions doesn't mean that the whole concept of workload goes out the window, and as custodians of the game, BCCI can't create sponsored leagues and sit back to say they are not forcing anyone to join. That BCCI power has been grossly abused with IPL is the biggest understatement of all time.

India had a great world cup, and it really isn't so hard to understand how emotionally and physically fatigued this team must be. Heck, I'm completely drained just by watching it on TV. I'm ready for a vacation, to soak it all in, bask in the glory and just recharge a tad. Well, no such luxury for our boys in blue. They barely get a couple days with families at home, if that, before trooping back to their base camps for our celebrated IPL, whose creation itself was borne out of revenge and not from a vision for developing the sport.

To further drive my point home, we can look at the Indian team roster for last 24 months. The World Cup was the first time when we played at full strength in forever, and that needed some pretty long-term planning. Our injury lists are ever growing, with more players going through surgeries and cricket-less recoveries every year. Between long-out-of-touch rehab periods they are simply losing time that can't be bought back with the BCCI billions. Their schedule is simply exacerbating these problems to new heights.

It reminds me of the children’s story about the hen and golden eggs, the one that apparently should be required-reading for all BCCI officials. It doesn't take a genius to see that instead of being nurtured for long lasting glory, the hen is being beaten to death with a sledgehammer.

It also pains me to think about the quality of cricket that athletes (both Indian and otherwise) will be able to produce on the back of a long World Cup. Would that even be fair to fans, let alone these cricketers?

BCCI has got to take a serious look at the schedule of this Indian cricket team and understand the whole concept of work-life balance. This unreal greed for money, milking Indian Cricket for every penny that it is worth, all that is already unbefitting of a non-profit organization, is simply undermining BCCI’s primary function of being custodians of the game of Cricket in India, and catalysts for its development.

Moving IPL to be a bi-annual tournament might go a long way in solving these issues. Not only would it keep Cricket fresh for audiences, it would also provide a realistic opportunity to get ICC’s nod for a calendar spot which would do wonders for the tournament and all Cricket boards.

Someone has got to ask the question, How much is too much?

A New Era Beckons

A Journey. Chest thumping. Arms raised in jubilation. Men on knees. Tears in eyes.

A dream realized.

India beat Sri Lanka to claim the title of Champions of the World in Mumbai yesterday. I had dreamt of writing these words for months. I had dreamt of witnessing this moment for my entire life. I was a year and 6 months old when India last lifted the World Cup, and shockingly, I am told, that food, sleeping and biting my Dad’s foot were higher on my list than Cricket. I was little, barely self-aware and didn’t know anything about reverse swinging Yorkers. Consequently, I spent my entire life hearing glorious stories of 1983, always wondering what it would be like to someday see the Indian team win it again! What was that National Pride like, when you conquer the world, and become Champions. Period.

The manner that the victory came in, was an apt conclusion to what has been a perfectly-scripted campaign for India. Apart from doing all the other incredible things, India consistently found new ways to win a Cricket match, never relying on a single individual, strength or performance. That to me has been the biggest reason why India deserved this title. The fact that the opening pair, that India relies on more than anything else for tight chases, departed right at the top of the inning, only to have the younger generation show their mettle and carry India over the line, was both poetic and symbolic. There is no doubt that all of India, and perhaps the world, would have loved to see Sachin score his hundredth hundred here but what eventually happened would have been a very close second.

This was also a game for redeeming oneself. We saw disciplined performances in all departments, with less sledging and more doing from India. This was best demonstrated in measured aggression by bowlers, and India’s extraordinarily spirited performance in the field. They certainly saved the best for the last by good measure, and batting efforts were in a similar breath. Save the winning runs, there weren’t any violent shots. It was a day for quiet grinding, measured risks and Cricket that befitted the moment and not the personalities. Ever since Yuvraj flung himself flat out to stop a certain boundary, there was no doubt, this was an Indian team that was here to win.

In barely four years as Captain, Dhoni finds himself at a curious stage of his still-young career, with very few things that remain unaccomplished. The man has seen India win numerous tough tours, reach the number one test ranking for the first time ever, won the IPL as well as the Champions League for Chennai, won the Twenty20 World Cup, and now to top this cake with the crowning jewel, he has led India to a World Cup triumph, one that came emphatically with a thump over long on, on his own bat. One needs incredible amounts of confidence to back oneself after a lean patch, to take on the responsibility on the biggest stage possible, the Final of the World Cup. Dhoni did. He came and he delivered.

Credit can not be taken away from Gambhir who also played an inning of his life. With the exception of the mindless charge to lose his wicket at 97, Gambhir was the cement that held the Indian chase together. With measured risks, quiet accumulation and handsome shots, Gambhir guided Indian recovery, first with Kohli, then with Dhoni. By the time he made his way to the pavilion cursing himself, he had already steered India to calmer waters. Victory was within sight. Knotted stomachs. Rumbles. Bitten nails. Tri-colors.

If India won like Champions, Sri Lanka lost like Champions. They were both graceful and fiercely competitive. Some questionable selection decisions might still linger in discussions, but nothing should cloud the fact that they did most things right when it mattered. Their fragile middle order was identified by everyone as the Achilles’ heel, and perhaps their top batters tried to shield it a bit too much, however, 274 was by no means an easy total. Jayawardane, once again, showed what a class act he is. Every batsman has his own style, and Jayawardane’s style seems to be about hitting boundaries that look so innocuous that the resulting runs come as a shock. The man plays a brand of Cricket that is perfect in its deft touch, grace and composed brilliance. What he produced yesterday was brilliant. To do it in a World Cup final is unreal.

It was a shame for Sri Lanka that an inning this brilliant still ended up on the losing side. Irony continued with two of the most celebrated Champions of Cricket barely leaving a mark on this game. Murali and Tendulkar didn’t live up remotely to their own high standards, but the inspiration their very presence brings to these two teams can not be questioned. It was just one of those days.

After six weeks of grinding that lifted each individual and made them all part of a team, an objective that was bigger than each one of them, Dhoni’s expression after hitting the six said it all. It was all too raw. Confusion. After Australia, Pakistan and now Sri Lanka, had we really done it?

Pandemonium. Delirium. Roars.

Silence.

India,

World Champions.

India 5, Pakistan 0

India, take a bow, and fans, go ahead and rub it in, because the semi final at Mohali was comprehensively, surely and squarely won by an Indian Cricket team that continues to invent new ways to win. This match produced many firsts, and a fifth, and totally lived up to the hype leading up to it.

India won an important toss and elected to bat even before Ravi Shastri had a chance to move the microphone closer to Dhoni’s lit up face. For once, Dhoni had announced to the world that he has slugged it out in the nets practicing the coin toss. Opening the batting, India’s intimidating, and arguably the world’s best, opening pair started the proceedings in typical fashion. Tendulkar being assured and watchful, and Sehwag being belligerent while treating bowlers like they were mere inconveniences between him and the boundary. Umar Gul totally lost the plot with a flurry of boundaries and Pakistan were gasping very early in the contest. And then came a young lad named Wahab Riaz to the crease, and the somewhat-frowned-upon-earlier decision of Afridi to play him in place of Akhtar was vindicated beyond anyone’s imagination, including Afridi‘s own. The pitch that had everyone engaged in damage-control looked like a bowler’s paradise for Riaz, who produced incisive bowling that Pakistan has come to be identified with.

Also worthy of mention was Saeed Ajmal who bowled with remarkable precision. To keep Sachin guessing for that long was brilliant for a pressure game. Ajmal showed how old-fashioned spin bowling can be a critical weapon in limited-overs Cricket, even in this 20-20 era. Though Ajmal might have been the victim of some hasty Captain-decisions on an occasion or two, overall Afridi had a pretty good day in the office. With the exception of losing the game eventually, he showed great Captaincy, and more importantly, uncharacteristic composure in the face of some absolutely outrageous fielding that had 6-year olds beaming back in Lahore, and which I believe was half caused by the incessant yelling from behind the wicket. While Pakistan’s bowling was delivering blows to get India’s famed batting skittled for a paltry total, Pakistan’s fielding fought back hard and kept them on the field for as long as they could.

In the midst of all this, Sachin accumulated 85 at an uncommon strike rate. To start the polar performance, Sachin tested the cardiac health of the entire nation by being referred to hair-tight referrals, on successive deliveries. Past that, he kept producing startling concentration-lapses to toss oh-so-make-able catches to the Pakistani fielders inside the circle. With the same startling frequency, Pakistani fielders determinedly kept dropping Sachin to the point where it simply became obscene. Throughout this madness, Sachin kept swinging promptly between being streaky and assured, continuing to keep fans clutching their chests. Eventually to end the misery, Sachin with pin-point laser-like accuracy, picked out the lone fielder inside the circle on the off-side where Afridi finally pulled off a low catch. Due credit should be given to Pakistani bowlers for keeping Sachin gingerly feeling the ball even after facing over a hundred deliveries. It was one of those days, and after 21 long years an inning was witnessed that visibly humbled a Master.

There were cameos from the entire batting order, but it was Raina’s innings towards the end that produced the critical 30 odd runs that would go on to catch Pakistan short. Throughout the first half though, Pakistan produced some truly incredible bowling spells. Ironically their star performer, Shahid Afridi, did not pick up a single wicket. Thanks to some exceptionally sloppy fielding, India racked up 260 on the board on a pitch that was starting to look more sluggish than rush hour traffic on the Long Island Expressway.

Pakistan’s response to India’s 260 was uncannily similar to India’s batting. It began with a fluent start, wobbled somewhat with a couple of wickets and was later seen suffocating horribly in a fetal position. The only exception that swung the game in India’s favor was that Pakistan’s lower-middle order did not bat through. Misbah, who actually hung in there till the end, did the drastic mistake of realizing too late in the innings that he wasn’t batting to save a test on the fifth day in Rawalpindi, but that this was a semi-final of a World Cup with an asking rate of more than 6 an over. Sadly for Pakistan, by the time Misbah took the initiative and started manufacturing some ugly and some handsome shots, it was too late and Pakistan’s life had been choked out completely. The other senior player, Younus Khan, was dismissed before he could complete the strangulation, though he too produced an inning that was painful to watch. Arguably the slow scoring rate, and the gross inability to rotate the strike, left batsmen like Umar Akmal to do too much. Fair credit must also be given to Indian bowlers for producing an unbelievably disciplined performance. Harbhajan and Munaf produced magical deliveries to claim key wickets at crucial stages, while Zaheer and Nehra found their vintage touch to work batsmen over. India’s bowling couldn’t have worked better even in a Bollywood-script for a Chak De cricket-remake. Each bowler picked up two wickets, bowled one of the fewest extras ever, while never pushing Dhoni to look at any of the part timers. Indian fielders did their part too, showing intensity that is supposedly only reserved for big games. No complaints from the Indian fans though, as it all worked out in the end, with Pakistan folding for 231.

Despite the wobbles and a labored 85 from their star batsmen, Indians brought home the game comfortably. With a sense of anti-climax, the end came less like a sudden head-trauma, but more like slowly sucking the life out of a Pakistani side that was expected to go down swinging. I had envisioned this game to be won or lost by the nerves, and it was, but rarely one sees the strange manifestation that we saw today. In the bowling department, youngsters showed great composure for Pakistan, while the experienced fast bowlers either completely lost the plot and got tonked all over the park, or did not make an appearance after bowling a couple. For captaining the side, Afridi showed uncommon calmness, and eventually turned out to be the only fielder who managed to hold on to a catch, but went wicket less after being the leading wicket-taker for his side. And finally, and perhaps most strangely, the batsmen either showed great composure only to get out playing appalling shots, or perhaps showed excessive calmness that became the very beginning of the end for Pakistan.

In two days’ time, the Indian team will show up in Mumbai to play a World Cup final in front of a home crowd.

A dream, a quest, a redemption, a salvation and a cracker of a game awaits.

Extra: Sachin beckons History
Tried as they could, the Gods could not manufacture the hundredth hundred for Sachin today. Perhaps it was better. It would obviously muddy the waters somewhat if Sachin had to look back at this patchy innings as his crowning milestone, and perhaps it is destined to be a little more poetic…

History has been dreaming of this day since her childhood, creating scrapbooks and dreaming dreams in daytime. History has put on her favorite dress and she sits by the window waiting. Sachin may come knocking any time. She has met him before. Many times actually, but something tells her that it is going to be different this time. Special. Magical. She continues to wait.

If there was a record for holding the highest number of records, or being the first to create ridiculous ones, or to break seemingly-insurmountable ones, Sachin would have his name written on all of them. Take a second and think about it. Beyond numerous scores in the 90s, this man has given us Ninety-Nine international centuries to savor. Mind bending. Ludicrous. Compared to other top batsmen that the world has seen, these stats go on to  show how many light years this man is ahead of everyone else. And, when Sachin goes on to produce his best year yet at this stage of his career, it just makes a grown man want to snuggle up in the bed and cry in joy.

The hundredth hundred will be special. If it comes as part of an effort to win the World Cup for India, at Mumbai in front of his home crowd, to achieve that coveted crowing jewel in his already stupendous career, it would be, like I said, just poetic.

For the rest of the team, it is time to win it, not just for Sachin, but for the nation that never ceases to dream.

Anatomy of a World Cup Rivalry

Disclaimer: Due to the sheer amount of research required, I started writing this article a day before India played Australia in Motera. When I was half way through tearing this up and eating it, Yuvi and Raina saved the game for us. So, parts of this write-up have been re-constructed, though the original was much better. 

Make no mistake; there is nothing healthy about the rivalry between India and Pakistan. Fans don’t hug each other after a game saying “it’s not about winning, it is about playing”. When these two Cricketing giants square off against each other, there is no fooling around. Victory is sweeter than any other, and defeat is simply soul-crushing. And when they meet in a World Cup knock out, well, there is not a pacemaker in the world that can make a fan’s heart race any faster.

Ask any Indian or Pakistani, and they would take a victory in this game over the final any day of the week, and twice on a Wednesday.

The fact that these emotions bring out the best in both teams is a testament, to Cricket as a great game, and to this rivalry as one of the greatest ever. Players from both sides feed on this energy and almost each one of them has better averages against the other side than they do against the rest of the world. I think it would be mighty hard to find another sporting rivalry like this one….and yes, not even the English and the Australians can match this passion.

Consequently, India and Pakistan have produced some of the most sensational Cricket games in the past. The record though is heavily skewed in favor of India for World Cup meets. However, that fact is a source of anxiety, as it is of pride, because Indian fans fear the day when the law of averages might catch up. Here is a quick look at the instances when these teams have collided in World Cups to send unidentified terrestrial objects flying in all directions.

1992 Benson and Hedges World Cup, hosted in Australia and New Zealand
Incredibly, it took four editions of the World Cup spanning more than 16 years before India got to play Pakistan for the first time on the biggest stage of the game. Up until this point India and Pakistan had always played in opposite pools, and despite progressing to the knock out stages on five occasions combined, they had successfully avoided each other. The 92 World Cup, being the rebellious tournament that is was, had just one group. This meant that every team would play each other once to decide the top four that progress to the next round. Arguably one of the truest tests for a tournament, this World Cup produced some remarkable Cricket. Though India did not qualify beyond the round-robin stage, the only two victories that it accomplished included one over Pakistan. Needless to say, that was consolation enough for Indian fans. While the only other victory came against Zimbabwe, India scored a comprehensive victory against Pakistan by 43 runs in a fairly low scoring, though competitive back then, group stage match.

India 216/7 in 49 overs (Tendulkar 54, A. Jadeja 46, K. Dev 35; M. Ahmed 3/59; A. Javed 2/28)
Pakistan 173 all out (A. Sohail 62, J. Miandad 40; M. Prabhakar 2/22, Kapil Dev 2/30)

Pakistan’s slow over rate, as it would go on to repeat, reduced the game to 49 overs. Sachin picked up the Man of the Match award, a feat that he would go on to repeat as well, for scoring a half century and taking one wicket. Miandad and Kiran More should have received the ‘Best supporting Actors in a Comic role’ awards, but we are still waiting for ICC to approve that category. Pakistan had nervy moments through out the tournament, but under the dynamic leadership of Imran Khan, they eventually came against all odds to claim the championship title.

1996 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
 After the adventure down under, World Cup returned to the Indian sub-continent, with order restored to the format with two team-pools. Once again, India and Pakistan found home in separate groups, perhaps because this time they were destined for an encounter with much more at stake. As the Cricketing Gods conspired, India qualified third in its group with Pakistan qualifying second in theirs, to set up a quarter-final showdown in Bangalore. The match produced the intense drama that we have come to expect every time these teams go out on the field. This was the famous game where Sohail dispatched Prasad to the extra cover boundary only to point his bat at the bowler to add that extra humiliation. What happened next is Youtube history that every Indian fan has watched over and over. This was also arguably the first time Prasad uttered a swear word. It was a game where India scored 57 in the last 4 overs – a late carnage unheard of in those days - with Jadeja giving the stick to Waqar Younis of all bowlers. India went on to win the game comprehensively to make it two in two.

India 287/8 in 50 overs (N. Sidhu 93, A. Jadeja 45; M. Ahmed 2/56; W. Younis 2/67)
Pakistan 248/9 in 49 overs (A. Sohail 55, S. Anwar 48; V. Prasad 3/45; A. Kumble 3/48)

Almost 10 years after setting the “maximum sixes in a tournament record“, Sidhu claimed the Man of the Match award for his 93 at the top of the innings. The game was also notable for Pakistan being penalized an over again for slow over-rate, and for being the game when Miandad finally said Goodbye to One Day Cricket. The crowd at Bangalore, and the entire Cricketing world, were once again treated to Cricket as dramatic as it can be.

India went on to infamously lose to Sri Lanka in the semi-final at Eden Gardens – a game that the Calcutta crowd refused to see the end of. Sri Lanka taught the world that aggressive shots might be an option when the field is up, arguably changed Cricket to become what it is today, and went on to become the World Champions for the first time.

1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in England
Cricket World Cup returned to its home in 1999 with super sixes introduced for the first time. This format was never a friend of India’s, but produced some interesting Cricket all along. Once again, India and Pakistan were in separate groups, and shockingly England and Sri Lanka got knocked out from India’s group in the first round. While the Brits lost interest and moved on to other things, the expat population in England kept this tournament alive. Pakistan qualified top of their group, surprisingly registering their only loss to Bangladesh. India met Pakistan in a Super-Six game at Old Trafford and once again batted first. The game was again relatively low scoring, but comprehensively won by India.

India 227/6 in 50 overs (Dravid 61, Azhar 59, Tendulkar 45; W. Akram 2/27, A. Razzak 1/40)
Pakistan 180 all out in 45.3 overs (Inzamam 41; Prasad 5/27, J. Srinath 3/37)

Prasad picked up Man of the Match for picking up a fiver in the seaming Manchester conditions, and Pakistan once again fell to their age old nemesis on a World Cup stage. They did take solace in the fact that India never qualified beyond the Super Six stage (partially due to the Points Carried Forward rule), while Pakistan made it to the final. They eventually lost badly to Australia, but for the sub-continent fans, the match at Old Trafford was etched in our memories.

2003 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in South Africa, Kenya and Zimbabwe
2003 brought the first World Cup to Africa, and it also was the first occasion when India and Pakistan found themselves in the same group in a two-group format. This time it was Pakistan’s turn to get knocked out in the first round, but not before they met India in an absolute cracker of a game. Given that it was a group stage match the stakes were lower, but one can never really have an India-Pakistan match up without razor edge tension. This was the first time that Pakistan batted first in a WC tie against India and Saeed Anwar produced one of the greatest Pakistani innings ever. His century was deflating and put a competitive 273 on the board. What followed is again, Youtube history.

Pakistan 273/7 in 50 overs (S. Anwar 101, Y. Khan 32; Zaheer Khan 2/46, A. Nehra 2/74)
India 276/4 in 45.4 overs (Tendulkar 98, Yuvraj 50, Dravid 44; W. Younis 2/71)

Tendulkar, as he was doing quite often back then, got out in the nervous 90s, but not before he produced one of his personal best in the World Cup history. To this day he recalls this inning as one of the most important ones he ever played, and deservedly picked up yet another Man of the Match award. Pakistan buckled under the relentless batting attack that India brought to the table and lost the game with more than 4 overs to spare.

This meeting was the last time these two sides met each other in a World Cup, because 2007 was quite a forgettable outing for both. And since I don’t quite recall what exactly transpired then, I shall now quickly and very smoothly move on to 2011.

2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, hosted in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
This year’s tournament presents us with the greatest India-Pakistan World Cup match. The only game that could top this one would be an India-Pakistan final, if we are lucky enough to see that some day.

Would this be another feather in India’s cap, or would Pakistan finally catch up with the numbers and hand us a WC defeat in our own backyard? Only time will tell. On paper though, India is looking pretty good. We are hitting form in all the right areas; we seem to be making the most of the already-limited bowling resources, while our batsmen have shared the workload nicely and most of them are looking in good nick. Pakistan on the other hand certainly brings a bowling attack that looks much better on paper, but a batting line up that is somewhat untested and a little shaky on either side of the Misbah-Younis dam in the middle. India would certainly want to get over that hump as soon in the innings as possible. Pakistan on the other hand would want to continue their consistent and relentless bowling attack to keep the Indian scoring in check.

The one thing that certainly stands out is the ability to handle pressure, where India has definitely fared better than Pakistan. Pakistan disintegrated grossly at the first sign of pressure when New Zealand brought the fight to them. India looks a little more battle-hardened than their Pakistani counterparts and should back themselves to be able fight back from the corner.

But as mentioned earlier, when these two sides collide, players feed on a whole other energy-reserve. It would be interesting to see how the younger players perform, because for the ones playing their first WC game against each other, they are about to witness pressure like they never imagined in their worst nightmares.

The entire Cricketing world waits, for arguably the greatest World Cup showdown in the history of the game.

For non-Cricket fans, this would be a good day to give this game a chance and convert!

The 'C' and the 'F' words

The beauty of this World Cup had been that despite the riveting drama, the bottom line results still largely followed Cricketing logic and predictions. So you kind of got the best of both worlds, gripping action without the loss of any of the stalwarts slipping on a banana skin into WC oblivion. All was working as planned by the Cricket Gods. Until the Kiwis set off manic scenes at the Shere Bangla last night.

So much has been talked about South African chokes that anything I say here would simply be kicking a horse that died in 1992. I shall do it anyway. SA, what the hell are you doing?!? When will you do justice to your own talent?!? This team goes on to prove the cliché that the most beautiful nose, eyes and mouth can't be put together to paint the most beautiful face. One's heart goes out to SA fans who endure through gruesome chokes that only feel like the worst one ever, until the next gut-wrenching one comes along in 4 years. Generations after generations rising up to fall similarly prove that its not the players, but the system that needs fixing. And I shall conclude my rant by plainly admitting, if I were an SA official, I wouldn't have the first clue on where to start. What makes the most confident Cricketers with stellar records, playing under a fearless bull of a leader, fall like a boxer who simply spent all 10 rounds punching himself in a corner? Your guess is as good as mine, mate.

Now that I got the disgust out of my system, I must also admit that all the teams that remain in the Championship, and of course their fans, will only be too happy to see the backs of the South Africans. But if the love of the game is applied objectively, we all know what a criminal waste of talent this is. At the moment though, it goes into the credit column for the rest of us.

Moving on to more positive things in life, a panda bear was born in a zoo yesterday. In other news, Kiwi fielders made Newton turn and throw up in his grave when they mocked and ridiculed the laws of gravity, while fielding like Roman Gods with wings and Indian ones with 10 hands, all morphed and black clad into a single super being. It wasn't just one dive, or a single catch. As the Pundits would say in technical jargon, it was the whole Enchilada. It was as if they extracted the Jonty Rhodes gene, mixed it with steroids and a splash of Red Bull, and spiked Kiwis' drinks with it. It was quite simply the best fielding display I have ever seen by an ODI side. This game should be a case study on how fielding alone can create magical victories out of thin air. Vettori was fearless and brilliant with his strategies, and the rest of the Kiwis were relentless until they instilled a sense of panic in the Proteas camp. What followed is Cricketing History, covered in the previous paragraph, and the latest entry to the Choking hall-of-fame that is head quartered in Johannesburg.

While ‘Choking’ and ‘Fielding’ were the highlights of the match served up to an ever-lively Bangla crowd, there is a lot else to be learnt from the experience, mostly for the South Africans, but also for the rest of us.

Intensity doesn't always have to be provoked by extraneous events, sometimes it can just be a part of the plan. Faith doesn't always have to be inspired from a flash of brilliance, sometimes it can just be a part of the player's psyche. And, Unrelenting effort doesn't always have to come at the brink of victories, sometimes it can become the method to victory, and eventually a way of life.

Greatness though, is not thrust upon. It must be earned. (Mr. Shakespeare, I beg to differ with you on that!).

Grit, Grind and a Pinch of Ugly Cricket

Cricket is a funny game. It serves you moments of despair right alongside moments of elation, both perfectly seasoned, and in the purest form possible. India were the favorites going into the quarter-final tie up with Australia, and did come out the winner. However, it wasn’t without some spectacular fighting from Australia on a pitch that was exclusively tailored for India, and intense, sometimes grotesque, drama which included a mad phase of the game when both sides’ objectives aligned and India worked just as hard as Australia, to beat India.

Indian bowlers put up a good show, and riding on some uncommonly good fielding, restricted Australia to what seemed like a fighting total. Ricky Ponting chose the quarter final match to storm back into form, and all Indian fans were left wondering why this man defies Cricketing logic to always show up for the party with India. Nevertheless, Ricky produced an inning that gave the Aussies a real chance, and also a lesson to the Indian batsmen on how to grind on this pitch to accumulate runs.

India came out with a Sehwag who just looked bored and out of sorts, and a Sachin who was the serene personification of assurance that he always is. After Sehwag was done with the formalities, Gambhir and Sachin put in the hard work to calm a billion nerves. Between sporadic blistering strokes were long phases of pure concentration and quiet accumulation that this game really demanded.

Then came a phase when Australia started to hang back a bit while waiting for things to happen, and India snatched the initiative and almost served the game back to them on a platter with caramelized onions and mint chutney. Kohli, Gambhir and Dhoni all departed playing irresponsible Cricket and we were down to our last recognized batting pair while still needing 74 runs to win. A billion stomachs were now starting to twist into knots.

However, out came Yuvraj and Raina to play the ugly form of Cricket that doesn’t make the highlights reel, but brings the game home for the country, and brings grown men on their knees crying, on the field and in living rooms. As I have written in earlier posts, sometimes the need of the moment is to play personality-defying blander-version of Cricket, where the objective is winning the game and not wowing the crowd. This was not a game that was won by soaring sixes or blistering fours. Had our batsmen tried either of those for too long, they would have most likely skied their shots with top edges on a pitch that only reluctantly delivered ball to the bat, and where kids were later seen building sand castles.

It was ironic that Australia managed reasonably well through the group stage, even being the only unbeaten team at one point, while Ponting kept getting criticism all along, internationally and at home. But the day Ponting showed up to produce a magnificent century became the day that the Aussies are booking an early flight home in almost 12 years. It is also ironic that it was Lee's wicket-maiden that put Australia into the driving seat, and it was a Lee over that leaked 13 runs to mark the beginning of the end for Australia. Two proven champions rose to the occasion, only to fall and walk away defeated. Like I said before, funny game this Cricket!

And finally, as the reality of this game starts to sink in, we now all wait for the semi final against Pakistan next week. A World Cup semi final against Pakistan…think about that for a moment. Few sporting events have commanded more respect in the history of mankind, not just Cricket, as this game will. To put it into perspective, take the insignificance of recent events like Sheila reaching adulthood and defamation of Munni, and imagine the exact opposite.

For India, the road only gets bumpier from here. We need Grit more than Flamboyance, Character more than Ego and nerves of reinforced steel.

The nation stands united today as a Billion names melt together to produce a single Identity –

Today; we are all Indian Cricket Fans.

A couple of unrelated Extras

PS: I have got to say, after the West Indian players conspired to humiliate me publically, the lower-middle batsmen of both sides vindicated my prediction for the India-Aus game. Those dogs in Manhattan can walk themselves for now, because I live to write another day :)

Finally, as I write this, the World Cup threw another twist and New Zealand gave us all a lesson on how to win a Cricket match simply by outstanding fielding. More on that tomorrow….

Until next time, Stay Classy, Indian Fans!

Paint Motera Red, and Bleed Blue

Having just finished picking the last bits of my pasta from what appeared to be a pool of butter at the bottom of my bowl, I feel totally ready to type out a Cricket-Write-Up that will effectively take my mind off the guilt of inhaling about fifteen hundred delicious calories in fifteen minutes.

A couple of somber thoughts: First, Soon after I predicted a mighty close game in the first quarter final, all West Indian players conspired against me to fall in a heap quicker than I could finish my shower to get back to them game. Well, the next time they predict an awesome blog from me, they have another thing coming!! And if they think I will go back to my old job of being a dog-walker in Manhattan, well then they may very well be right!

And, second, since I am not a professional writer but a mere mortal-blogger-soon-to-be-dog-walker, the law of objectivity - that apply to every journalist in the world except Sanjay Manjarekar - do not preclude me from writing shamelessly biased articles. Riding on this disclaimer, I write this blog as an ardent Indian Cricket fan, and not a blogger pretending to be an objective observer.

Let me now make a fresh start by plainly stating that I have been having recurring nightmares of waking up to a cricket-less morning after the World Cup, clawing at my bedroom walls in a mad rage until I am put down by my wife’s recently-purchased tranquilizer gun. Waking up to a World Cup sans India would be very similar, if not worse while saying Goodbye would be infinitely easier if we kept the trophy at home, and bid farewell to all visiting teams that return empty handed. And, since I don’t want to be falsely accused for the mysterious disappearance of the trophy on April 2nd around 7:45PM, the only alternative would be for India to win it at Wankhede. BUT to get there, they first need to run through Australia at Motera, a ground that was recently inducted to the awesome-sounding-stadium-name Hall of Fame, alongside WACA and Chepauk.

Having spent a few minutes on some well-directed research, I am sad to report that the statistics are not quite working in India’s favor. To start, Australia has already experienced playing at the Motera in this World Cup, during the rout of Zimbabwe where Mitchell Johnson produced figures of 4 for 19 in 9.2 overs, at the cost of some Zimbabwean batsmen who didn’t know what hit them until they arose from Cricketing Coma a week later to watch replays in slow motion. India hasn’t played here since Kallis and de Villiers gnawed on our spirit, obliterated our faith, and left all Indian fans with a severe stomach disorder in February earlier this year.

To draw any confidence from India’s performances here at the Motera, we have to travel back nine years to a simpler time, when Sanjay Bangar scored the only half-century of his 15-match career, as India overhauled West Indies’ daunting 324. Two of our most prolific run getters at this ground are now giving service to Cricket as an official at the Karnataka Cricket Association, and a barely-audible-commentator, in that order.

However, Pride needs not historic victories, but a single thought, and when one tries hard enough, Inspiration can come from within just as much as from Motera Stats. The fact that Yuvraj is hitting form at the right time should be reason enough for Indian fans to rejoice, and walk to our paan shops with swagger and heads held high. While Johnson and Tait can be a handful on their good days, Lee is the only bowler with a proven track record and perhaps the only one who would draw some preconceived-respect from our batting stalwarts. Aussie spinners are more likely to be sweating their palms than licking their chops, and if we can make early inroads, Aussie lower-middle order can be quite vulnerable against quality slow bowling.

Bottom line is, all stats and mind-games put aside, it will eventually come down to a day’s game of Cricket. As I wrote before, the lower-middle order of both sides need a serious-talk from coaches and their mothers about what their role needs to be. Cricket Gods know that India needs this talk more than any other team! These batsmen are most likely going to be the cogs where the buck stops. 

India has to come out with a plan and play responsible Cricket that is befitting of the moment, and not the personalities.

Don’t glare so much that you lose sight of the game plan, but don’t be so meek that you are rolled over. Just be Cricketers who show up in Motera to win.

It is time when Boys became Men, Men became Legends, and Legends became Immortalized.

Lights, Camera, Random Western Music, Cricket!

Who’d have thought that a tournament that produced the most predictable quarter-finalists, even down to the order, could be this eventful? This World Cup has produced some spectacular games, and thanks to balanced pitches coupled with some excellent bowling performances, and England, we have had games that were played both with a bat and a ball.

An incredible group stage has made way for a knock-out stage that looks every bit as exciting as a meteor sighting, or finding 50 rupees in an old jeans pocket (both events that happen once in a lifetime). We have four matches lined up that promise mouth watering Cricket action. While nations will dream and pray in unison, Cricketing skills and mental toughness will both be tested on the grandest stage for this great game.

Pakistan vs West Indies (Mirpur, Bangladesh): A tale of two inconsistencies

Pakistan should feel pretty good about a lot of things, their form coming in, top rank in Group A and playing West Indies in their first knock out to name a few. They were cruising to the cardinal mistake of peaking too soon, when a couple of strategically-brilliant hiccups restored sanity. They have historically been mercurial, but West Indies proved that they have been prescribed the same medication all along. Both teams have batsmen that are prone to mindless-spur-of-the-moment decision making that results in crucial game-changing-wickets, and leaves the fans breathing into a paper bag. Pakistan bowling clearly shows more promise, but their fielding and catching (and Kamran) provides enough variance in the mix to give us the sweet ambiguity that we search in all Cricket games (except the ones India plays of course!). West Indian bowling looks better than it has in the recent past and their fielding, though not great, will most likely edge out Pakistan’s.

I appreciate the odds being with Pakistan for this one, but my gut says that this game is going to be a lot closer than most are giving it credit for. Pakistan will have to dig deep to overcome their internal demons, while West Indies will continue to think that they can only improve from this point. The objective is to be more composed in the approach, but also not let the pressure of the knock out game consume you. I predict a cracker of a game to start the knock-out proceedings.

I would call this 52-48 in favor of the Pakistanis.

India vs Australia (Ahmedabad, India): The Grudge Game

India faces Australia in their quarter final, and if I were to compare this to other awesome events, I would say it is as exciting as a meteor sighting. (This is not a mistake, but an intentional repeated-use-of-phrase to test if you are paying attention.) For Indian fans, the wait for this game is like watching a horror scene where the unfortunate girl is just about to open the door, and you almost don’t want her to do it, and yet you kind of do. The anticipation mixed with anxiety and sweaty palms is a concoction that only a World Cup knock out match can provide.

Now, putting the objective hat back on, this game is being played on a pitch that has produced high scoring games in the recent past. Most people might think of that as an advantage for India, but I think it might be one for the Australians. I believe a turning wicket would have tipped the balance in India’s favor a bit more. India hasn’t played here so far in the tournament, which isn’t a great thing either. India should fancy their chances against a somewhat-lackluster Aussie bowling attack. Australia should return the favor by salivating at the prospect of a flat wicket, gentle medium pace of Indian bowlers and the quick outfield at Motera. This one promises to be a batsman’s game to win or lose, though the bowler who can make the most of a bad situation might actually end up being the hero in the papers next day.

I expect this to be a 300ish game with tempers flying and the ground turning into a pressure cooker. Mental toughness of the lower-middle order batsmen will be one of the critical deciding factors, as they very well might find themselves in a tricky situation of scoring quick runs while having to conserve wickets. Bowlers will most likely play second fiddle to our glorious batsmen.

I will put 55 on India and 45 on Australia.

New Zealand vs South Africa (Mirpur): Efficient Cricket meets Efficient-er Cricket

New Zealand has finally built some momentum coming into the knock out stage but can they really believe that they can overcome the mighty South Africans to reach the semis? I would doubt that very much. Though they will certainly put their game faces on and give it their best, South Africans might be the prevailing team here. South Africa is currently the top favorite to win this whole thing, and in my mind they have always been. A lot of write-ups declared India to be the favorites in the beginning and I wonder why. We certainly had shown good results in the recent past, but when it came to the consistency of winning 7 games in a row, we were always close second to some of our competitors.

This South African team is far from being chokers, they are an experimenting, believing and exceedingly skilled team that has made peace with the local conditions brilliantly. South Africa’s only worry would be to expose their middle order too early in the game. If Smith and Amla can see off the new ball, it is tough to think of any scenario where New Zealand can produce a win. New Zealand bowlers will be under immense pressure in the first 15 overs, and arguably that is where the game really might be decided. Once Amla and AB drop anchor, the Kiwi bowling unit does not bring enough penetration to the table to threaten the Proteas.

I would put 75 on South Africa, and 25 on the Kiwis.

Sri Lanka vs England (Colombo, Sri Lanka): In the Lions’ Den

England is coming off an absolute rollercoaster of a ride in the group stage. They have proven, as mentioned by many, that they are capable of winning any game from any stage against any opponent, just as much as losing any game from any stage against any opponent. Their biggest problem is that, barring a couple, no one has produced consistent performances with the bat or the ball. They have mysteriously been the only foreign team to have caught the bad-fielding virus that is prevalent in the sub-continent, while their catching has swung between schoolboy-amateur to down-right-shameful.

Sri Lankans know that they only have to stick to their tried-tested-cricket plan to oust the English. Their reliance on Sanga and Mahela has been talked about enough, but I think even if one or both of them fail, this team is still capable of putting together a respectable total against the English attack. Anything in the vicinity of 240 will challenge the Brits, and as they say, beating Sri Lanka in Colombo is defying both physics and history. A seemingly tall task for English by all indications. The only way there can be an upset in Colombo is if the English bowlers can restrict Sri Lanka to a manageable total. All English eyes are going to be on Swann to extract spin and bounce and give the Lankans a taste of their own medicine, and England will most likely play a second-spinner to try to repeat what they did against the Windies.

I would call this one 70-30, in favor of the Sri Lankans.

A Walking Saint, A Dehydrated Soldier and a Familiar Foe

India’s match against West Indies was, once again, a bitter sweet concoction that inspired both moments of bliss, and dashes to the washroom to throw up.

To start the proceedings, Sachin nicked a peach of a delivery to the keeper. The umpire stood there undecided, but the West Indians roared because without wasting a single nanosecond, Sachin had accepted his dismissal and already turned to start the lonely walk back to the stands. He didn’t need an Umpire to give him a reprieve so he could continue his quest for the hundredth hundred, that would be very un-Sachin-like.

Such is the adulation of this man in India, where his dismissal at 2 is venerated just as much as an unbeaten hundred.

The mini collapse at the top left India in very familiar waters, where two Punjabi lads had their work cut out for them. Kohli, once again, justified why people think he is a younger-tattooed avatar of Dravid, and behind all the shenanigans he simply plays solid Cricket. He is quickly becoming an indispensable cog in the Indian Cricket machine and the game against West Indies was another feather in his crooked cap.

And then there was Yuvraj.

After countless headlines-for-the-wrong-reasons it seems that the sheer Cricketing brilliance often plays second fiddle to the flamboyance of this man. This is the guy who is the fifth highest run getter in ODIs in the history of Indian Cricket, and is starting to sparkle with his bowling to top it. There is no doubt that he is one of the finest fielders we have ever produced, and at long last, he is starting to show the grayness of the hair that all of us have been waiting for. Fighting sickness and bad form, Yuvraj rose to the occasion to become the true match-winner that he is. A kicking-and-screaming Yuvraj can send six balls sailing into the stands in an over, and as we saw today, a grinding-and-persevering Yuvraj can steer the ship to calmer waters. His good form is not just a welcome twist, but a critical ingredient in the recipe for success for India.

And after all the grit and perseverance, we got to see the brilliant vanishing act that our middle and lower order is dazzling us with these days. They have all put in the hard work, got their heads together and simply pledged to play the bat-swinging brand of Cricket that undermines incredible starts, and leaves our confidence shattered at the end of the innings. Players like Sachin and Yuvraj are looking around and saying “Are you kidding me?”, while Dhoni continues to dish out well-concealed criticisms that mysteriously all start with “Well of course“.

We quickly need to find a way to do two things: one, bat for 50 overs no matter what, and two, make better use of the batting power play. The latter needs to happen no later than the 35th over when the new ball is taken (unless we are in firefighting-mode at this stage already!), and Yusuf Pathan has to wonder how long a couple of hundreds are going to keep the selectors leaning towards him as opposed to Raina. The opposition is already there to beat us, let us not try to do it ourselves!

We are here to hit boundaries, exhibit brilliant stroke play, send the ball into neighboring states and the crowds into brain-cell-killing-delirium.

But sometimes we need to play a subtle-and-almost-ugly brand of Cricket to save games.

Because say what you may, we are first and foremost, here to win the Cricket World Cup.

And rumor says it is time to buckle down!

Need for Spin

With the last game of the group stage fast approaching, Indian Cricket Management must be looking back and wondering if they made the most out of the games so far to fine-tune all moving parts of the team. I fear we may have missed opportunities to test-fire some weapons, and ended up shielding some of our high-risk areas instead of challenging them.

First and foremost, I feel that we should have tried opening with a spinner in one of the games, just to see how our spinners adapt, how the tracks respond, and perhaps evaluate if it is a potential option for the future. Almost every other top team has at least tried it once, some have even developed it as an alternative strategy, and besides, it is not as if our seamers have been giving us dream starts!

Furthermore, it just feels that we have held Ashwin back for too long. With a sluggish pitch and an associate team, there was a great opportunity to play him in Delhi, but the logic of having home-boy Nehra play instead just didn’t come off as a good idea to try in a World Cup. Nagpur added another entry to the list of wasted opportunities, along with registering our first defeat in the WC campaign.

Harbhajan has been blowing-hot-blowing-cold this entire tournament in terms of taking wickets, but the one thing that he has consistently done, is containing batsmen. I agree that it is not his primary function, but still, if Dhoni can get through ten overs rather cheaply, he will take it with both hands. That leaves us with a serious issue of not having a strike spinner for powerplays and crunch situations. Chawla has proven beyond doubt that he is not that spinner yet. And that again begs the question, why are we not giving Ashwin the much needed match exposure, to get him into the driving seat alongside Harbhajan for the knock out stages?

I am fairly sure that Ashwin will get a chance against West Indies (since it will be his home ground, and shockingly, that is how decisions are being made in the Indian team these days), but if he comes off rusty in that game, wouldn’t that be an issue that we forced upon ourselves?

The World Cup can not be played with a ‘one-match-at-a-time’ strategy, it has to be thought-out like a chess game. Grounds, opposition and conditions should all only create minor tweaks, and flexibility must never undermine the need of having a master-plan. And in this tournament, an integral part of our plan needs to be a potent spin attack which we have failed to develop so far.

Games are going to be won and lost in the middle overs, where we are just not creating the impact that we need. With four fielders on the edge and part-timers operating, we continue to invite trouble every game, while waiting for wickets to fall in our laps. Sometimes our mighty batsmen bail us out, sometimes they don’t.

It is about time we realized that the group stage is almost finished, and a single defeat now means the end of the road.

We can grab the initiative or go home. Well, in this case, stay home. But you know what I meant!

An Opportunity that went Begging, and Spunk that Turned to Doubt

Saturday’s match reminded us of how limp Indian Cricket can appear on days when their batting falters even marginally, and how easily top teams like South Africa can flatten our modest bowling attack to overcome double-digit required run rates. Here is my take at the things that went wrong and how they could cripple India’s march towards a second World Cup title, followed by a couple of very realistic options for India to solve all their Cricketing problems.

Once again, a poor death-overs display. Both in batting and bowling, we showed that we are developing a fatal habit of being unable to step on the gas in finishing stages. Our batters followed the age old three step Indian recipe of forward-defending dot balls, building pressure and finally losing their wicket to the catcher on long-on boundary. We rarely ever ensure that at least a single comes off every ball to keep the scoreboard ticking. We would rather have big sixes to send the crowd roaring. Or so we thought! Well the sixes never came and on the other hand our bowlers showed that being simple-straight-and-full is actually as complicated as brain surgery. Half volleys, wide outside off stump and full-tosses made a sorry list of deliveries we had on the menu for South African batsmen in the late overs, with Bouncers and Yorkers being miserably conspicuous by their absence. Though after years of exposure to this agony, fans are starting to cope a little better, but the question never ceases to ring - For the love of everything that is holy, why can’t we bowl Yorkers like they do?

No-aggression treaty with opposition sides during middle overs. It is time that we overthrow the rule of not having attacking strategies employed between overs 15 and 35. When the bowlers run in, the only other blue-man in the TV-frame is Dhoni keeping wickets. We have four fielders on the edge of the circle, and five that patrol the boundaries. Period. This is the field-set-up no matter who the bowler is, or who the batsman is. Our rare show of attacking Cricket is having one lone slip fielder that barely ever comes into action, while opposition batsmen simply nudge the ball around to pick up six easy singles every over. We need to realize that with a batting powerplay in hand, required rates of 10ish are quite easily manageable against our bowling attack. We have to stop waiting for things to happen, and Dhoni needs to attack a bit more. Initiative-less-Cricket is painful to watch, and it simply sets up a cruise for the Indian team to a lame defeat.

BCCI’s inability to recruit. Fine, I am just going to say it. BCCI’s inability to pay millions to, and arrange Indian citizenships for, Dale Steyn and Brett Lee is hurting us badly. Since it is painfully obvious that we won’t develop genuine fast bowling talent at home, I urge BCCI to double their efforts to get these boys smuggled to India as Daljeet Singh and Brijesh Leeladhar, so we can get on with our fast bowling. It is about time we put the BCCI-billions to good use! It has now become a matter of national security, and having these guys right there in India to play the World Cup is the perfect opportunity.

Sachin and Sehwag. These guys have seen enough to know that losing their wickets at any stage of the game is detrimental. Sehwag got dismissed in the 48th over against the Bangladeshis, and the remainder of the inning was a sad showcase for Indian batting. The start needs to be the end, as it seems that the only way we can put insurmountable scores on the board is by being zero wickets down at the end of the inning. So, getting out is hereby prohibited by BCCI law for Sachin and Sehwag. And since we don’t really need batsmen other than the openers, it also provides that ever-elusive opportunity to finally play Ashwin in the side!!

Long Live Cricket, The Cricket is terminally ill

Dynamic leadership, charisma and inspiration can collectively move mountains and push a band of people to bring the best out of them. In a Cricket team, a captain can bring a team back from the brink of oblivion to echelons of glory. Sobers, Kapil, Imran, Ranatunga are all fine examples of how one man made a team believe and succeed against odds. Their team mates can't stop talking about how they were moved by these gentlemen, and they all attribute World Cup victories to these leaders. But shouldn’t we also honor the commitment of all those team members who were inspired, who dreamed collectively and believed in a singular objective? Players who gave it their all, and lost their individual personas and came together as one unit to win it for their countries? There is something powerful in the moment when a Nation is uplifted and united in an unrealistic way, when their beloved team wins the World Cup. Or is there?

When I look at the evolution of Cricket, especially in recent times since the advent of Twenty20 leagues, I worry for the version of Cricket that is being embraced by the newer generations. Twenty20 has increased the 'every player on his own' syndrome, there is no doubt about that. With player-auctions, trade ins and exorbitant amounts of money changing hands, players are not people anymore, they are commodities. And in this environment, it just seems that the likelihood of an individual wanting to be a part of something bigger than himself is diminishing to dangerous depths.

Somewhere between cheerleading boundaries and making millions, playing for one’s country has ceased to be the greatest ambition.

There are players who refuse to play test cricket so they can preserve their bodies for IPL. There are even examples of players who have given up national contracts to play the ‘freelancing’ and more lucrative versions of Cricket!! There is nothing wrong with creating alternate avenues for aspiring Cricketers, but when concert-arenas replace the cathedrals of Cricket, does it not feel that something has been fundamentally violated?

Is Cricket no more about dying for your country to win the World Cup, or that Test Series against arch rivals? If not there yet, is Cricket heading down that path?

As people, should we also change our expectations, and value quickfire-30-ball-50s in a rock-concert-arena, more than we value a gritty century that saves a Test after 12 hours of unwavering focus?

Would doing so fundamentally change Cricket? Or would it always remain a contest between a bat and a ball, only changing faces to keep up with the evolving market? After all as consumers we get what we want, right? And this shorter-slicker version of Cricket certainly sells better. Perhaps there are even possibilities of Ten10 or Five5 out there, with World tournaments that will start and conclude over the weekend. This is supposedly the version that will bring Cricket to the Olympics and markets like the USA. This is the version that is going to take Cricket to unprecedented heights.

But is this the version that will murder Cricket as we know it today?

The narrative of spending 5 hours with your Mom making mathri could now be replaced with a quick trip to the supermarket to get microwavable ones. The objective is achieved, but the journey is lost.

Romantics like me will hang on to dying Test cricket for as long as we can while keeping the passion of playing for one's country alive in little blogs like these. But the cruel fact is that we live in a world where longevity is defined by commercial viability, and the desire to conserve something pure has to make sense in dollars and cents.

So, if Test Cricket passes on, would it be a defeat for us as a People? Or would we have been victims as well, at the hands of this system that only talks money, and doesn't understand love?

The Carnage at Pallekele that turned the 'table'

All was happening as the pundits had predicted, with New Zealand hobbling to yet another lackluster performance in a One Day International, until one man showed us how to win Cricket matches by obliterating belief and destroying spirits of a team. On his birthday, Ross Taylor’s planets, stars, satellites, meteors, moons, suns and random unidentified terrestrial objects were perfectly aligned, and he didn’t need any of it. The mild mannered and unassuming man from New Zealand showed the brutal, merciless and inhuman violence that he is capable of. The war cry after reaching the century spoke volumes about how much it meant for Taylor, and the faces in the dressing room told us how uplifting this experience was for this team that has almost forgotten how to celebrate. ICC is checking with the Sri Lankan Government if all that transpired was legal, and Taylor might be facing criminal prosecution for the unprecedented violence he unleashed on the Pakistanis.

The Pakistani team was the perfectly-bonding-having-fun-out-there band of brothers for about 43 overs of the first half. They looked very much like a single unit with a plan and a focused objective. But shortly thereafter they looked like eleven amateurs completely disjointed, disoriented and independent of each other, running around without a leader, thought-process or a sense of direction. Bowlers bowled wides on both sides of the wicket, juicy half volleys followed by juicier full tosses and eventually came undone with their confidence completely annihilated. The only respite came when they needed a new ball between the sixes that landed in neighboring countries. Afridi turned from the clapping-encouraging Captain to the yelling-machine, and finally to the quiet-personification of grief who wanted to crawl under the sofa and die. Pakistan showed the ominous inability to endure pressure as a single unit. The team that had sailed through this tournament embarrassingly disintegrated at the first sign of pressure.

The batting effort that followed further showed how deflating Taylor’s knock had been. This Pakistani team would have backed themselves to get 300 on any other day and twice on Sunday, but the batters that came out just seemed dazed, sleep-walking through a chase that was already a lost cause in their minds. Batsmen batted like they needed 5 from 2 balls, instead of 250 from 34 overs. There was no application or effort to build partnerships which resulted in a meaningless bat-swinging fest that felt more like revenge than a thought-out plan for victory.

Apart from the skill issues, Pakistan needs to address their inability to respond to pressure situations. They need to work on their Plan B’s and C’s and ZZ’s, and be able to bounce back when backed into a corner. These are issues that just cannot be sorted out in tough net practice sessions. These are issues that need inspiration, dynamic leadership and most importantly a belief in their abilities to stick together as a team and back themselves to win from tough situations.

For New Zealand, they will look back and know that there are multiple issues to be fixed, but the one thing that they are not going miss is, Inspiration. Taylor became the hero who stood up and delivered one of the best ODI innings ever. He uplifted a team and a nation today, and gave the Kiwis a reason to believe, which was half snatched away from, and half surrendered by, the Pakistanis.

The tournament that seemed like hobbling towards yet another lackluster week just came alive today.

Pay attention people, This World Cup has arrived.

The Curse of the Strokemaker

With India’s lopsided reliance on batting, there has been enough chatter (a lot of it from me actually!) about how our bowling has issues to address, and how easily we fall flat on flat pitches. However, there are some batting hiccups as well that mostly hide behind larger-than-life performances by one of our top order batsmen, problems that are only exposed when there is a major collapse. The latter happens less often than it used to because of the heavy-duty skill-level that our batters bring to the table. But there is that one issue that surfaces every time our top order fails - The curse of the strokemaker.

We love our batsmen for the explosive hitting that they can resort to, and bail us out of any possible situation. What is somewhat lost in the mix is the superb art of busy batting - The version of batting displayed and mastered by the likes of Michael Bevan. These are batsmen who score at pretty much run-a-ball without hitting many boundaries, tire and frustrate the fielding side and yet have averages in the vicinity of 50! Supposedly bland, but this breed of batsmen is particularly useful because they do all the three critical things required after a collapse – they stop the bleeding by preserving their wicket, keep the scoreboard ticking at a very healthy clip and build platforms for massive scores despite the early disadvantages. What is more amazing is that they do all this without taking too many risks, without hitting too many boundaries and in short, pretty much play a boring brand of Cricket.

Our Indian version of rebuilding an inning seems to be a three step process - digging a hole in the middle overs, burying ourselves deep into it and finally digging out with some manic hitting in the death overs. Often, our batters drop the anchor after an early collapse and do two out of the three critical things – they stop the bleeding, and set up a platform for a final slog with wickets in hand. However, more often than not, they fail to keep the scoreboard ticking at a healthy clip during the consolidation period. And the day the final onslaught (or taking on the lone opposition spinner) fails, we fall woefully short of a competitive total and/or the victory.

Dhoni and Raina have shown glimpses of Bevan-ish Cricket on and off, but we might benefit by putting in a conscious effort to develop this (dark) side of our Batting, where we can consistently bat for the 25 middle overs, not lose more than a wicket or two and yet produce 140 runs. What this would also help with is creating less pressure on the likes of Yusuf to score at unreal rates, and buy us some insurance against late collapses.

We love the sailing sixes, bellowing Ravi Shastri and the random western music blasting out of our PA systems, because they all make for great highlights. And boy, we love our highlights so much, that we are diligently working to erase the line between the match and highlights! Today if one of our middle order batters produces a 58-ball-50 with a single boundary, my fellow-spectators are more likely to yell “Kya sula raha hai yaar!!” at the TV rather than sitting back to appreciate the serene saunter to victory.

As viewers, should we not appreciate the reliable need-of-the-hour grindings just as much as the unreliably-and-hastily-achieved objectives?

It feels like another case of misplaced perceptions, where consistent can sometimes seem boring, and volatile firepower can seem glamorous. We need a couple of batsmen who believe in rotating the strike six times an over just as much as hitting it into the stratosphere or the next state. In our quest to be undisputed World Champions, it is just another box that needs to be checked.

So, the question is,

Can boring be the new sexy?