CricDigs Blogs

It is really sad what has happened in Mumbai. The terrorist attacks have left scores of people injured or dead. The nation’s image as a gracious and secure host to foreign nationals is bound to suffer. Further, this could dampen the cricketing traffic that was being driven to the Indian shores. The Champions T20 lies in jeopardy and although it may be re-scheduled and may still be a success, India’s image as a secure cricketing domain is going to suffer a huge knockdown. India was one Asian nation that had managed to keep terrorism away from the concept of the foreigners and tourists being attacked. Now, with many visitors from the West among the mournful list of those who lost their lives, the proportion of fear among the visiting teams is bound to increase.

It would be rude to say that the English team chickened out of their tour of India. One really can’t blame a player or a team for fearing for its life. After all, for them cricket is a profession too and nowhere in cricketing manuals did it say that one should carry on with playing a one-day or test series even in the wake of fearing for one’s life. There are already murmurs that have started comparing the situation in India and Pakistan as cricketing hosts. Whereas, Pakistan’s image has been in the doldrums for many years, India’s position could just get a bit too compromised as the BCCI plans to schedule many events, including the IPL league.

Further, most matches of the IPL are organised in major metropolitan cities — these places now show a pattern of being on the radar of the terrorists hell-bent on fanning the fear that must be gripping everyone in India. Again, in terms of cricketing powers too, if India loses its stance as being a secure cricketing host, it would eventually mean losing a lot of money that was due to come in from the scheduled matches. This could again have a chain reaction — BCCI derives its superiority from its financial strength, if the BCCI’s earnings are dented, so would be its authority. BCCI has been the only cricketing Board that has stood before the non-Asian Boards and has held its own against them, even Cricket Australia (CA).

At a time when the entire nation is shaken up by what has transpired at Mumbai terror strikes, the PCB chief, Ijaz Butt, has resorted to promote his selfish interests ahead, totally insensitive to the trauma that our nation is going through. This was on the third day of the anti-terror operations being executed in Mumbai when Mr. Butt went on to comment that now India ‘should’ definitely visit Pakistan for the scheduled tour of January 2009. He has somehow connected this with the fact that a bilateral series between the two nations would serve to act as a deterrent to the terrorists.

He had the audacity to make this statement at a time, when every second news channel was making it clear that in all probability the attack on Mumbai’s heart had a very strong Pakistani connection!! Just to make it clear — I too don’t want to mix politics with the sport but to actually hint at the fact that India and Pakistan offered the same kind of risk when it came to foreign tours being hosted and then to somehow manipulate what was happening at Mumbai into something that would get PCB out of its financial crisis — a series with India, seems a bit too insensitive.

What sort of mental make-up would the Indian team have if they are forced to tour Pakistan? The current and ongoing investigations are all pointing to the presence of our neighbours in the attack on Mumbai. Can we really expect the players to go on and play in Pakistan barely a month after these happenings, when their conscience must be pricking them hard? The least the PCB chief could have done was to offer condolences to those who lost someone in their family or even out-rightly condemn the attack. But what did he choose to do? Just use the unfortunate series of events that struck Mumbai to make sure that somehow the BCCI is forced to send its players, being aware that many of the senior members of the Indian team had expressed their unhappiness with touring the troubled interiors of Pakistan.

England has called off its cricket tour of India — in all probability. This has happened in the wake of the terror strikes in Mumbai that started on Wednesday. Reportedly, their management has informed BCCI about the apprehension of their players have in carrying on with the remaining two matches and the Test series. The English team had reservations about playing in Guwahati from the start of their journey and this had already jeopardized the scheduled 6th ODI of the series. Now, the remainder of the one-day series and the forthcoming Test matches both stand cancelled. BCCI has itself said that the Twenty20 Champions League would have to be moved out of Mumbai. There are already efforts being made to make the Englishmen come back for the Test matches at least — the chances of which are very slim.

Cricket Australia too is contemplating sending its cricketers to India for the Champions League. The blasts along with the hostage crisis that has caught the attention of the nation has spooked off nearly every cricketer who was planning to visit India in the near future. Nearly the whole world has been shaken with the reported death of more than 100 people and it is no surprise that the foreign players just don’t want to stay on. Cricket Australia would most probably not send over its national league teams and the chances of the cancellation of the Champions Trophy too cannot be ruled out.

It is a shame that in a nation so devoted to its cricket, the game has been endangered and innocent people are being slaughtered in the name of some supposed ‘Bigger’ cause. The reputation of India as one of the most favoured cricketing hosts and the centre of the cricketing world stands compromised as it witnesses bombs being exploded in the nation’s commercial capital, Mumbai. Well, to be honest, right now the mind doesn’t contemplate too much about how the game would suffer. There is a much bigger problem at hand — the words ‘national security’ are fast losing their meaning.

As it turned out the fifth one day between England and India started out with the impression that this match was going to be an actual contest for a change. This was primarily because from the third over of the English innings, their batsmen showed some intent to actually try and score big. This momentum was taken forward by their skipper and probably the best batsman in their line-up, Kevin Pietersen. He went on to score a 111* — called a Nelson in cricket. He pulverized the Indian bowling to all corners of the ground in Cuttack. However, one aspect of the English batting still stood out. On such an easy-paced track, their batsmen just couldn’t get the hang of our slow bowlers. The much-improved part-time bowling of Yuvraj too, it seemed, was difficult for them to manoeuvre. This seems rather strange. None of their middle order batsmen are adept at stepping out of the crease and hitting the bowl over the inner circle of fielders.

In the end, England did manage a decent 270+ plus score. But to his disappointment, Pietersen realised why had MS Dhoni had chosen to field even after winning the toss. He had factored in the dew factor. When the Indian innings started, it was apparent that the ball was getting wet much faster. This factor alone meant a dampener for the English side as their spinning options now stood ruined. Pietersen looked frustrated and dismayed as the Indian batsmen got the runs with nearly 8 overs to spare. He looks like lost for any ideas that can get his team out of this hole, they have dug themselves in. There are already rumours that some of his players have started commenting that he isn’t the ideal leader as people had thought him to be.

In fact, there are reports in the British media that he himself struggles to keep up with the disciplined training regimen that is a part of every international sport side. All these things were swept under the carpet when he captained the side for the first time and outplayed South Africa, back home, in front of the home crowd. Now, that the things are getting difficult, it is obvious that his team is looking up to him to motivate them. He did try and do a bit of that by notching up a century, but when on the field, his presence isn’t as authoritative as a captain should be. Once again, the question of a gifted players necessarily not being the best captain has surfaced. Looks like Flintoff may be in contention.

England told they were playing for the big bucks in the Standford match and were shot out cheaply out of the match. Then in India they said they were going to play for pride and have lost the series and their little pride they had. So now with just a few matches remaining, what do they play for?

The answer is to salvage some pride but is it possible to do so?

The English team has had trouble adjusting to the Indian conditions and the situations. They have lost key moments in the match and have let India win. In the fourth match they opened with Ian Bell and Ravi Bopara when they should have opened with Flintoff or Kevin Pietersen. The side also lacks experience and apart from Flintoff and Collinghood nobody has played in India. Kevin has played a few matches but only a handful. Even the coach is someone who has never played International cricket and probably not familiar with the Indian conditions.

Apart from this the Indians have been playing competitive cricket and have challenged the world champions fearlessly. Indians have a well oiled bowling unit with quality spinners and batsman who can score blindfolded in the flat Indian tracks. The team led from the front by Dhoni presents a image of a team stronger than it really is.

Being an Indian fan I hope England will salvage some pride for the sake of the game. All I can say is God help English cricket.

The one-day series has been wrapped by India but things aren’t going to get as boring as some people might have predicted. Flintoff has been insisting that his team-mates should look upon the three remaining one-day matches against India to try and sort out their problems and become accustomed to playing in the subcontinent. India might be leading the series 4-0, but if the English side can narrow the margin to 4-3, then they can still return home with some pride. At least that is what Flintoff is preaching to others in the English camp. The biggest factor apparently in the English defeat has been their inability to adapt to the big-hitting from the word Go, which is a norm on Indian pitches.

The fact is that England no longer has a series at stake — this means that they can try out as many combinations they want in the batting order and experiment all the all-rounders they have in their side. Players like Luke Wright could be tried out. In addition, with the IPL coming up and the chances of English players participating in it, the Englishmen would be more than happy to get more accustomed to Indian conditions. Again, with test matches against India coming up, the English batsmen would like to spend some time in the middle.

Most cricketing experts believe that England have gone down to a much superior side. However, the actual difference lies at the top of the order. While India has the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag, England is stuck with traditional batsmen like Ian Bell. Again, the English bowlers haven’t learnt the art of bowling on roughed out surfaces like Zaheer. England has lost the series, but they can still gain a lot from the three remaining games. India too stand to gain a lot from the remaining games, if they decide to test their bench strength — something Dhoni had already hinted during the post-match conference after the fourth one-dayer at Bangalore.

MS Dhoni or Mahi as he is popularly called is excelling at the art handling the Indian team. I personally believe in what Sunny Gavaskar had once commented – captainship is all about man management and isn’t about being the greatest or the most gifted player in the side. In our case, this stands absolutely correct. Just look at our history of captains, Tendulkar and Dravid are perhaps the greatest Indian batsmen of this generation but who has excelled at being the captain? First it was Ganguly and now Dhoni. Both of them weren’t looked upon as captain-material even when playing at the state level and certainly don’t have the prettiest of batting techniques. Both of them aren’t in the same class as that of Tendulkar, but while the little Master’s stint as a captain was miserable, Dhoni, like Ganguly, is having a great time. Reason?
He is an expert at using his available resources.

There have been many examples in the past few days about Dhoni’s skills at keeping his team together and getting the best out of them. He has been instrumental in getting Sehewag’s confidence back. Yuvi certainly has reacted very well to Dhoni being in-charge. On the other hand, the perennial under-achiever — Zaheer Khan, has come to the fore under Dhoni’s watchful eyes. In the fourth one-dayer against England, the Indian captain wasn’t very sure about the bowling areas that should be picked up by his pacemen or how to thwart the rampaging Owais Shah. Faced with a difficult situation, Dhoni did exactly what he is best doing is at — he dug into his available eleven players to find the person who could solve his query.

He immediately put Zaheer in-charge of the situation, making him even set the field placings for Ishant and company. Zaheer has reacted very positively to his role of being the senior bowler in the team and such gestures by the captain would only engage Zaheer’s attention in a more positive way. Again, Dhoni was very clear that he didn’t want Amit Mishra — India’s latest bowling discovery to be exposed to the English batsmen on placid Indian pitches. He foresees Mishra as a force with a number of test matches coming up and doesn’t want to take any chances to spoil the young man’s confidence. During the game at Bangalore, Gambhir was finding it hard to catch the wet, slippery ball. Once he did manage to take a catch, it was Dhoni who threw his keeping gloves at Gambhir — the message was clear, he understood Gambhir’s predicament with holding on to the wet ball but made it clear, though in a light-hearted manner, that the team couldn’t afford missed chances.

For once the Indian team has a captain in the form of MS Dhoni who looks fit to carry the burden of people’s expectation and still maintain his all-conquering ways. His wisdom has been the glue that has held together a team full of young hopefuls and seniors who are looked upon as demi-Gods. Had it not been for Dhoni, the rift between the seniors and the young guns of the Indian team might have become a reality. What Dhoni really needs is the unquestioned support from the Indian selection committee and a selection panel that behaves like Dhoni himself — ignoring regional preferences or personal likes/dislikes. However, what has transpired in the last few days is suggestive of the fact that the Indian Board might be falling back in its old self-destructive mode.

Why is that when the team was gelling so well and looking very much like world beaters, the selectors had do raise this issue of selection of Irfan Pathan over RP Singh? This series may be against a weaker English side, but it is very important for the Indian team. This is first time Dhoni would is captaining in his nation, knowing that he is now the man totally in-charge, skippering the side in one-dayers, test matches and T20. This is the first time that Dhoni might be feeling the pressure of international cricket with so much cricket being cramped together. So what it basically means is that Dhoni needs the least number of issues that could tamper his peace of mind, especially those regarding his very own team. This is where the selectors have played a spoilsport.

Agreed, RP hasn’t been performing very well for a few months but the fact is that Irfan too has been badly out of form for more than two seasons. He might have redeemed himself to some extent by performing well in some T20 matches, but he isn’t even a shadow of his former swinging self. His pace and swing are both absent and he can at best be described as a containing bowling option — something he isn’t a champion at!! He has been playing in the Indian domestic league and was most probably working upon his bowling and focus. What wasn’t needed was to push him prematurely in a series where bowlers are getting carted all over the place. Irfan needs to get bowling practice and play more test matches to get his confidence back as Indian’s wicket-taking option.

This is probably why Dhoni didn’t want his return to the team to be hurried. History has it that the Indian selectors and captains have seldom had good working relations. When Srikkanth came to the fore, it seemed that things would change as both he and Dhoni appeared like approaching the game in the same way. Now, with all the drama being reported over Dhoni wanting to step down as the captain because Irfan’s selection was pressed upon him, it might be that the selectors are again functioning out-of-sync with what the captain.

I honestly believe that for once Tendulkar has put his own interest before that of the team. This is with regards to the fact that India was already 3-0 up in the ongoing one-day series against England and Sehewag and Gambhir were establishing themselves as a reliable opening pair. The opening slot had been a problem area for the Indian team for time. After trying out many combinations, for once the Indians have a pair capable of opening the innings both in the one-dayers and test matches, not to mention Gambhir’s explosive exploits in the T20 appearances he had made. For his own benefit and that of the team, Gambhir and Sehewag should have been given the liberty to carry on tearing into the opposing team’s bowling in their typical manner and this seven-match series against England was the perfect platform for the Sehewag-Gambhir combo to mature as a ‘pair’ and silence any questions that may have been raised against their temperaments/techniques when it came to opening the innings.

However, the selectors chose otherwise. For some strange reason, rather than using this series as an opportunity to try out the likes of Badrinath, they went back to calling upon Tendulkar — that too when the series had already been wrapped up. Was Tendulkar’s inclusion really necessary? Was there really a need to offset Gambhir’s batting position for the fourth one-dayer? After struggling for nearly three seasons, Gambhir had finally arrived at the international scene and then for some stupid, unconceivable reason Tendulkar was chosen to open the innings with Sehewag and Gambhir had to demote himself to the one-down slot. This is where I am questioning the wisdom of Tendulkar. Wasn’t it apparent to him that Sehewag and Gambhir is the pair for the future and they really enjoy batting in each other’s company? In all probability, Tendulkar was asked to choose his batting position. Did he do justice to the young and upcoming Gambhir, who is in the form of his life, to come down the batting order? Couldn’t Tendulkar fathom that this might again disrupt Gambhir’s peace of mind and shouldn’t he have been looking out for his younger counterpart in the team?

I didn’t like Greg Chappell like most other people, but once there had been a report of how Tendulkar had insisted that he would open the innings or he had to be dropped from the team!! Some newspapers highlighted the fact most members of the team felt that Tendulkar’s presence was more wanted in the middle order. Since we were all in a Chappell-hating mode at that time, this issue didn’t register in many people’s mind but now it seems to have come up again. Isn’t Tendulkar prioritising his convenience above the team’s best interest?

I wrote a tribute story on two players we have grown to love, Dada and Jumbo. It’s found at http://christopherdavid007.blogspot.com/2008/11/legendary-farewell-for-two-legends.html

Hope you come and take a look at it (It is quite big). But worthwhile reading never the less.