Short and Sweet!

England is playing an interesting Test against New Zealand where a new Ambrose is making the right kind of noises albeit with the bat and for England. On the other hand South Africa have blown away the Bangladeshis to be crowned the no.1 team in ICC rankings. This sets up an interesting situation! India just beat the no.1 side and are up against a no.1 side (ODI)! Let's hope they soon become the no.1 side!!

The first Test against the South Africans is at Chennai and begins on the 26th of March and a few things beg to be noticed. Firstly, the headache for the selectors. The openers slot that must be giving the real headaches to the selectors. Sehwag is an automatic choice for the opener's slot Tests and while on the subject, his performance in the two tests that he played in Australia emphasises the point that a Captain who supports to Sehwag really stands to gain as he not only has an opener who can change the fortunes of a match in a jiffy but really keeps the spirit of the side high over a 5 day period. Add to this his useful bowling and much improved fitness, you have a neat package for whom, run rate is never an issue! The other opener with him would be a toss up between Jaffer and Gambhir and given the fact that Gambhir would not find a place amongst the formidable middle order, it would be best to give Gambhir the other slot. The other question is, does Yuvraj get a look in? With Brad Hogg out of the way, he just may:) though I would not rush into this choice given the fact that his form has been horrendous in the five day version of the game and India has turning tracks (Surprise! Surprise!). I would even put Dhoni on a notice. There are quite a few good keepers waiting in the wing who at the moment seem to be better and more reliable than Dhoni in the longer version and unless he performs, he should be made to concentrate on his ODI and T20 skills! Then come the spinners. Bhajji is an automatic choice and so is the Captain, thus there can be no classical leg spinner. If we need one, Amit Mishra should be picked. He is the best classical leggie in the country and can bet well too! I am afraid, Piyush Chawla needs to do a lot of hard work before he can even dream of coming near Mishra. Lastly the fast bowling attack! There seem to be quite a few options...... but.... the selectors really need to sit down with them and the trainers and physios and work out their injury prevention schedules if we are to keep them for long. Else one might find on a later day that this battery had a short life!

Another thing that the interests me is the presence of Paddy Upton, the mental conditioning specialist who now forms an important part of the support staff of Coach Kirsten. Having worked with the key South African players, it is upto the Indians to try and utilise his skills to the fullest in a way that not only helps them with the mental conditioning but also tread a path that would aid them in exploiting mental chinks in the armour of the Proteas without breaching ethical barriers.

We however are getting ahead of ourselves. First comes the Deodhar Trophy, the zonal one day tournament that is currently underway. Forget IPL, forget the Test Matches, follow these matches as it is these matches that are going to exhibit the talent for the future. We see advertisements on all channels about the "Karamyudh" but hardly any of the Deodhar Trophy! The initial round of Deodhar will have the top stars participating but it will be the later part (when the top stars will be off for National duty) when the fresh and interesting talent is more likely to be unearthed. Here's praying for great competition (in the true spirit), which seems to be the order of the day:)!


Till then!

The Australian Tour

As I sat in my hotel room in Sydney in front of the tv on the first day of the Sydney Test in January 2008 trying to combat the jet lag after a tiring journey from New Delhi, I heard the commentators of Channel Nine discussing the state of affairs of Cricket with a former Aussie great who at that time, was commenting on the superiority of the Australian Cricket team. He was of the view that the Australian team were the best team in the world by a huge margin and no Cricket team came even close by any stretch and certainly not this Indian team!! Wonder if he liked the taste of the words as he ate them.

From the second day onwards, I viewed the Test match and was lucky enough to see it in august company, seeing two days of Cricket from the Alan Davidson suite of the SCG and the other two from the box of Cricket Australia. The thing that stood out in the test match (apart from the on field controversies, off field controversies, tremendous Cricket and the great hospitality of Mr. David Gilbert, CEO, CNSW and Mr. Creagh O'Connor, Chairman CA) was the appreciation and love of the Australian people towards the Indian cricketers and their talent. When Laxman and Dravid were on the crease and playing different styles of the game, (Laxman in his flowing element and Dravid with his gutsy stay at the wicket) the Australian public were whole heartedly applauding each shot of Laxman's and the fight that Dravid was putting up. That was still nothing compared to the roar that welcomed the Little Champion Tendulkar. He must love this ground! After the first innings, his average on this ground was a staggering 326!! Well, things did deteriorate and a lot has already been said about that monkey business and I do not think there is any need to add anything to that but after that, the Indian team went from strength to strength and my only gripe is that Virender Sehwag should have been given more weightage in the ODI series. He is a batsman who the Australians fear (any opposition for that matter) and I firmly believe he was not treated properly. The awe that he inspires in the heart of the opposition was clear to me when the Australian administrators, writers and former players were very seriously asking as to why "Se-waag" isn't playing in the Sydney test. Giving credit to him, when he got the chance, he played an important part in turning the series around, goading the captain and Ishant to bowl that extra over to Ponting, which for me was the turning point, on - field, in the series.

In the ODI's Dhoni did lead his team very well, he supported his players, backed them, gave them a long rope and when it mattered they delivered. He has been very supportive of all the players but what got me thinking was, why did Sehwag not have his support? If Yuvraj could be persisted with, so could Veeru, infact he deserved the confidence more than Yuvraj! That the confidence of the captain in a player goes a long way in increasing his confidence is amply clear from the way the youngsters in the team have responded to Dhoni. I am very impressed by his captaincy and full marks to him but not quite full. In his treatment of Sehwag, he may have lost out on another formidable aspect of the game, an opener who not only is one of the most useful men in the team with his presence on the field and understanding of the game but sends shivers down the opposition's spine when he gets going.

Anyway, it makes us proud to have a team like the one we have and they played phenomenally well and deserve all the credit for their wins! Congratulations and GO INDIA!!

As the players assemble at the Ferozeshah Kotla today to be felicitated amidst euphoric celebrations, I would sure like to know if that eminent gentleman liked the taste of his words that the team helped shove down his throat:)!

A young and unsung side

While India was celebrating the victory of the senior team over Australia and the U-19 team's world cup triumph, the Ferozeshah Kotla was witness to another team of promising youngsters taking on the Ranji Trophy Champions, Delhi.

To their credit, the Delhi team had lost only once in the entire season, to the Pakistani cricket team and since then had remained unbeaten till they met this young Haryana side led by Amit Mishra in the Ranji Trophy One Day Zonal tournament. I could go on to describe the match in detail but that would be unnecessary since the HT, Hindu and TOI have covered the match in detail and cricinfo has uploaded the scoreboard. I feel it would be more interesting to profile a few of these youngsters who have the willingness to succeed at the highest level. I am not mentioning their fielding abilities as all of them are brilliant fielders and the Haryana team is possibly the best fielding side in the country!

1. Amardeep Sonkar (Age: 24) (nicknamed Jayasuriya by his team mates due to his uncanny resemblance, both physical and in his style of play to the great player) has been one of the finds of the List A season (List A, for the uninitiated are the domestic One Day matches) He is a slow left arm bowler and an attacking opening batsman who has not only given good starts to the Haryana team but has also stemmed the flow of runs whenever he has been called into the attack.
   
2. Nitin Saini (Age: 19) is a player who performed at the U-19 championships and was given his chance in the List A competition. An opening batsman and a wicket keeper, he also bowls useful off spin!! Talk about multi tasking. He is more of a classical player and is not made out of the slam bang stuff.
3. Sunny Singh (Age: 21) a veteran at 21! A player who debuted at the age of 17! Played for India U-19. Scored exceedingly, went through a bad patch, was dropped and made his comeback in this series scoring a quick fire 42 against Punjab and a 59 against Delhi. One player who has it in him to play and to successfully perform at the highest level. (not an over estimation of his abilities by any stretch.) He is a useful medium pace bowler as well.
4. Sachin Rana (Age: 23) an extremely talented player who has performed not only for Haryana but also for the North Zone both with the bowl and with the bat. Having already scored 2696 runs and snapped 56 wickets. His future seems bright.
5. Kamal Beniwal (Age: 22) He is very good with spinners and in the two matches that he has played, against Services and Delhi, he has performed well, scoring 52 against the Ranji Champions.
6. Abir Lavasa (Age: 21) An under 22 player who was promoted to the Ranji First Class side in Haryana's last game where he top scored with 76 on debut. Having not done well in the first two List A matches this season, he came alive with a 17 ball 34 against Services and followed it up with a 34 ball 37 against Delhi in the end overs. A very composed boy with a bright future.
   
7. Sumit Sharma (Age: 26) At 26 he is one of the senior most members of the side. Technically a very correct batsman who still hasn't fulfilled his talent and I write this because a lot is expected of him. His performance has been good by normal standards but by his standard, he needs to be more consistent.
8. Dhruv Singh (Age: 21) Abir's buddy in more ways than one! He is a brilliant fielder (need to mention this) and a very talented batsman who rotates the strike the way a back bencher rotates a pencil, with ease! Hasn't got the chances yet since the top order is scoring runs and he eventually comes into bat in the last 3 or 4 overs but a phenomenal team man with a bright future. (Also the joker of the team!)
9. Amit Mishra (Age: 25) A young team should have had a young Captain and they have one in Amit Mishra. Another veteran at 25. In my view the best classical leg spinner in the country. His 45 wickets in this First Class season are the second highest by a bowler (The highest wickets are by someone who has bowled 2o odd overs more than him and has taken one more wicket than him (46)) His performance in the Challenger series was also outstanding. A very attacking batsman as well as a brilliant bowler makes him one of the strong contenders for a recall to the Indian side. Impeccably behaved and a good leader, was an automatic choice for Captain of this well behaved side.
10. Gaurav Vashisht (Age: 25) Another senior player:)! Personally, I really like this boy's attitude. He is always ready to be there for the team's cause. If his team needs him to bat, he will score a 50 batting at no. 10. Scrooge like in his off break bowling, a fine gentleman and an asset to the Haryana Cricket Association.
11. Sanjay Budhwar (Age: 20) He didn't play that much at the U-19 level. Worked hard on his fitness and strength and is now one of the fastest bowlers in Haryana. Though he tends to be erratic at times, his Left Arm Pace has come in for praise from all quarters. Definitely a prospect for the future. (Akash Chopra may vouch for him since he is one of the rare bowlers who got him on a duck!)

This was the playing 11 against the Delhi team. With an average age of 22.7, they certainly fill the heart of the Haryanvis with pride and joy. With former players Ashwani Kumar and Vijay Yadav to guide them, there is a strong likelihood of this team's sitting on a very good learning curve.

In times when all one reads about is money in Cricket and all sorts of motives, it was refreshing to see a young team playing passionate Cricket. All the best to them.

The Indian Premier League

The Indian Premier League promises to change the face of Cricket, in a good way or bad, only time will tell.

We have eight city-centric teams sold to franchisees to run as a business who in turn have purchased players from the BCCI's sub-committee, IPL and are now trying to create their teams around them. There is a compulsion of 4 players in a team who have to be from the catchment area, a minimum of 4 U-22 players who must be a part of every team and only 4 international players in a team for a particular match. Loads of other things!!


At this stage, there are more questions than answers and there are quite a few genuine concerns voiced by a lot of Ranji Trophy players and other junior cricketers.

• Primarily, what happens to those players who represent a particular state in which a team is not based?
  
• Is performance in Ranji Trophy or any other tournament for that matter any criteria for selection?
• Once a player becomes a permanent member of a club team, does he even require to play Ranji Trophy or domestic cricket?
• Shouldn't it be compulsory for all players of Indian origin who are part of a club team to have been a regular member of any of the state sides for the particular year?
• Shouldn't the player playing in IPL require a NOC from the state Association?
• Shouldn't the players from a state where a team is not based be available for any of the 8 teams and not be available only for the team in the catchment area? Take for example, a random name, Prateek Panwar, who is an U-19 player who scored a triple century in the U-19 Cooch Behar Trophy playing for Haryana. If Prateek wishes to play, first, the IPL Mohali team has first right on him and only if they dont wish to play him will he have an option of playing for another side. What happens if IPL Mohali does not even approach him?
• What if a player playing in the IPL breaches ICC's code of conduct? There seems to be no match fee:)! It was just a bazaar! Where are the rules?
  

I have no doubt about the commercial viability of this product and about the marketing skills of the people in the committee that is responsible for IPL but I strongly feel that some changes are required to address the concerns (quite a few of them, even apart from these) of the players and the system that is responsible for churning out these players else one might see the dilution of any interest in the Ranji Trophy, the premier tournament (Sorry IPL) for Cricket in India. IPL can and should be used to enhance the value and quality of Ranji Trophy and it is imperative to do so for the future of Cricket in India.