The Indian team has had a consecutive drubbing and whitewash in tests, first at the hands of England and now Australia. An 4-0, 4-0 score-line doesn’t look good in any sport, and especially in cricket – given our best-ever batting line-up, arguably – this is shameful if not downright disgraceful. With legends like Sachin, Dravid and Laxman leading the charge and other greats-in-the-making like Sehwag and Gambhir, not doing themselves and their nation a single favour in the just concluded down under tests, there have been a lot of cries for their heads. In a recent poll by a leading media-house, even Sachin Tendulkar, the God of cricket, has 1/3rd Indians rooting for his removal from the test team here on!
I was pondering over the same, and wondering whether as a nation we have such impatience built into our DNA, or do we have such short memories that we forget and overlook the achievements of these same cricketers of very recent past, which we were revelling in and celebrating. Why, just a month ago, Rahul Dravid was second only to God, having scored the maximum test runs in the world in 2011, with 5 centuries coming last year itself, in the process becoming only the second batsman after Tendulkar to score 13,000 test runs in the history of cricket. Just a few months ago in November 2011, Laxman was being hailed as the unsung hero of Indian cricket, when he scored 176* against the West Indies in the 2nd Test at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, which India won by an innings and 15 runs. And what can one say about Tendulkar? Yes, he’s had a very strange & longest-ever run of 22 test innings without a century, but watching him bat in 2011 was pure magic. His elusive century of centuries notwithstanding, the man looks 20 years younger in his aggression and stroke-play, and such is his batting prowess right now that even one of his harshest critics like me is left wondering if his detractors have chosen the right time for seeking his departure.
As regards Sehwag, all I’ll submit is that the man plays like the way he plays. You can love him or hate him for it, but you can’t ignore him. A proof of his genius & dangerous abilities lies in his ODI world record double century in 2011, which made him only the second batsman after Sachin to achieve the feat. This, of course, is not made in a test match and purists may argue this is comparing apples to oranges, but his innings still is testimony to the way he bats in any form of cricket, and I’d happily pay every time to watch him play. His opening partner, Gambhir has struggled in tests the whole of 2011, but if one is to look at what he provides to the team, one look at his ODI average of 56.90 in 2011 – including his World Cup Final winning inning of 97 – is enough to demonstrate his class. Not for any other reason was he the most valued player at $ 2.4 mn of the IPL auction of 2011.
Moving away from these 5 great men, I’d also like to spend a minute here on our captain, M.S. Dhoni – the man with the Midas Touch. He’s done so much for India’s glory in the past 3 ½ years at the helm – winning the T20 World Cup, winning the ODI World Cup, and taking India to Numero Uno in Test rankings – that it is almost blasphemous for him to be castigated the way he’s being castigated for his uninspiring captaincy and failure with the bat. One would do well to remember that he’s no bunny with the blade. In fact, he scored a big & brisk century in November 2011 in the Kolkata test innings victory against Windies, and still has a lot to offer to Indian cricket. It may be time to infuse younger, less tired hands behind the stumps, but I feel that India needs to persist with Dhoni as a batsman and the shrewd captain.
Yes, India has not been doing well in away tests. But the reason lies beyond our batsmen. Yes, they have failed individually and as a unit. But our bowlers haven’t also done anything to write home about. We’ve not been able to take 20 wickets to win a match. In fact, the pressure of chasing humongous totals by the Aussies in almost every match has overcome our batsmen, and cut through their nerves and gut. The fielders also haven’t done much to prevent the run-riot of the Australians. So, why lay the blame at the batsmen’s door only and ask them to leave?
It is time for some introspection about what all ails the team, and how the World’s No. 1 Test Team has declined so suddenly and so steadily. Part of the blame rests with the cricketers, but there are enough questions around preparing the right pitches at home for preparing the team to play on bouncy wickets abroad, the team training & mentoring process, the selection policy that needs to focus on the future without giving up the present, et al. All these are grave pressures that the team has to encounter, and adding to the pressure that our players already face is our nation’s obsession with winning everything or being damned. I’m particularly amused and curious about the last one, since I rarely come across such passion in personal lives of people. How come we don’t measure ourselves with the same yardstick that we use for measuring our cricketers? How come we don’t care about being the best and winners in everything we do, or at least in our chosen professions? Why, there are so many times, we don’t even try! And yet, we have the obnoxious arrogance to pronounce death to our heroes who’ve done so much for Indian cricket and our personal happiness in the past!!!
So, let’s not jump to any sentimental & irrational conclusions and ask for heads to roll for these losses, unless we get to the root cause of the same and work towards removing that cause rather than our players. For, if we don’t do that and go ahead and take short and easy measures like removing a few off-colour players, we’ll be akin to the Mad Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, who keeps shouting “off with her head” without a single right reason, and without a single right cause being served by the same.
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Thursday, February 2, 2012
It's time for the seniors to hang up their boots... or, is it?
Friday, April 8, 2011
The Etcetera of The Cricket
Basking in the glory of having won the World Cup, we soon found ourselves amidst the biggest mass movement that I have seen against corruption. One 72 year man has brought the mango man (Aam Aadmi) to the streets in support of a burning cause in a typical Gandhian way. The pent up angst in people against the corrupt, fuelled by recent multiple expose needed just a little light to ignite the fire, which has been spreading like a jungle fire in last four days. Indians are standing up for greater participation in investigative and punitive process against the corruption at the highest level. The passions are running high and there seems to be a determination to do at least this much for the country. This is all so wonderful to see, so much so that yours truly feels personally involved.
However, one has come across some skeptics too. Skeptics not to the cause, but doubtful against this ‘cricket crazy’ nation’s will and ability to take part in the just social cause all the same. Initial responses read “people of this country can only come out to celebrate cricketing glory and nothing else…” But as the support grew and more people came on streets, there is a call “why are cricketers, who support Bharat Ratna for Sachin Tendulkar, not supporting the cause? Perhaps they are corrupt too...” Thankfully, MS Dhoni has expressed his support and asked people to join the movement, lest a hero on 2nd April would have been termed a greedy and corrupt captain. The latest one doing the rounds is “you wait till IPL starts and everyone will forget about the Anna Hazare cause…” Most surprisingly, this is coming from people who love the game and were tracking the world cup matches hoping for an Indian win. I am sure they would have celebrated the winning moments in their own ways.
Yet there is an element, or rather a fear of ‘Cricket’ Vs ‘Everything’ contest going on in minds of people right now. This is where the Etcetera of the Cricket comes into the fore. Yes, we are a cricket crazy nation and why should there be any negativity attached to it? Cricket as a game collectively enthralls us and kindles the passion that we have for the country. I find the belief that it (that passion) is restricted to cricket and cricket players totally unfounded. On the contrary, I feel one of the reasons that we see this unprecedented number of people coming out to actively support the cause is the timing of this movement which is just after cricket world cup win. All of us witnessed the fight for RTI, yet we didn’t see ourselves on streets then. India winning world cup a day before works brilliantly, the people are emotionally charged up, filled with pride and looking for ways to contribute in individual and collective successes. A cause is shown to them, something which is close to their heart, and that positive energy has got channelized into something bigger. I do not think this huge support is ‘despite’ the cricket and would rather believe that it is ‘because’ of cricket.
Which way will the people go once the IPL starts later today is yet to be seen. As for me, I am for the cause and will love to make the country’s leadership accountable to people when it comes to corruption. But I love my beer too and I love my cricket as well. I will certainly find a way to express all three loves at the same time and enjoy the Cricket as well as the Etcetera that comes with it!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Resolve, The Game and The Glory!
It is the day after. The euphoria has settled but make no mistake, it has not reduced even by a millimeter. 45 days ago it all started with a few question marks - Will team India live up to it's expectations? What about the format? We are the best team on the paper, But? Will India be able to handle the expectation of a billion people? Will they do it for Sachin? Mercifully, it has all ended with an exclamation mark - exclamation of joy, of ecstasy, of pride and of dreams getting fulfilled. Well done India!
There will be views and reviews about the tournament and what made team India click and made us the world champions. More often than not, there would be discussions about individual contributions - Yuvi's miraculous comeback; Dhoni's impeccable leadership; Sachin's determination; Zaheer's piercing bowling; Kirsten's mission accomplished; so and so forth. These individual contributions (all of them) are worthy of the praises that they will get and lessons from each one of them will inspire the newer bread to succeed and create more winners in field of sports as well as corporate and social domain.
In my previous blog two things were highlighted, one of them was the importance of three (last three) matches and the other one was the ability to tackle the tag of the favourites. Irrespective of whatever happened in the league stage, it was India's resolute performance in these last three match which landed them with the coveted cup in their hands. In quarterfinals against Australia, India faced the reigning champions who showed that they still had it in them to lift the cup one more time, yet India were still the favorites for the match. Out of nowhere India lifted their fielding and late middle order batting to get past them. As much as skills, that match was won by team India with an overpowering passion and commitment to win at all cost.
Then it was the pot boiler of a semifinal against Pakistan, who had come up like a dark horse, defeating Srilanka in Srilanka and the mighty Australians in their league stage. Here too, India were running with the burden of expectations before the match started. Quite a few of us didn't give the credit where it was due after India won that match. Yes it was a scratchy win, but it was a scratchy match simply because of the unadulterated pressure (sportingly, historically and politically) attached to it. India Vs Pakistan match at such level can and will be won only by the team which handles this pressure better and the fact that Pakistan dropped catches and Indians held them goes on to show who handled that pressure better in this semifinal.
Then it was the finals against Srilankans who had knocked at the doors earlier by being in the semis in the previous world cup edition. Once again, playing at home India had an edge going into this game. The tone was set in first hour of the match as one observed Indian fielding reach an unprecedented height. Interestingly it wasn't only Yuvraj, Raina and Kohli who were rising to the occasion as expected, but also it was that brilliant catch of Sehwag in the slips, Zaheer diving around at the boundary amidst his opening spell of 5 overs and Sreesanth on the leg side boundary - all underscoring a resolve I have never witnessed from this team in this tournament, before or for that matter ever before. If there were any doubts about the fact that team India had raised it's game to be worthy of the cup, it was put at rest during the chase when both the star batsmen were lost early. Gautam, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvi chased the total down with a level of grit and determination which showed that their life depended on this win.
There was a stark difference in how the two finalist had played their last three games. At one end, it was Srilanka who had got over toothless England and skill deficient New Zealand who somehow managed to be on the right side of an upset quarterfinals. Playing in their Colombo den, Srilankan Lions had roared through to the finals. Whereas, India had already played two finals before they played Srilanka in Mumbai yesterday. They had already lifted their game and demonstrated how ready, hungry and skilled they were before the finals. They say Srilanka missed a few tricks on the field and I agree. Sanga, normally a smart captain wasn't probably acclimatized enough to do the things that you need to do in situations he found himself in that cracker of a final. Jayawardhene had given them more than a hope while batting, but he was not prepared for what he got from Indian middle order.
As expected, it was 'a cup of three matches' and it was won by the 15 men who, driven by lots of skill and one motivation called Sachin Tendulkar, cracked these three matches. This world cup victory and its memory is not limited to the final in Mumbai but each of These three Games that have left behind pride and Glory for the recently counted 1.21 billion passionate Indians... and more. Long live the Glory of my motherland India and long live the Game of Cricket! Amen!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
There will be views and reviews about the tournament and what made team India click and made us the world champions. More often than not, there would be discussions about individual contributions - Yuvi's miraculous comeback; Dhoni's impeccable leadership; Sachin's determination; Zaheer's piercing bowling; Kirsten's mission accomplished; so and so forth. These individual contributions (all of them) are worthy of the praises that they will get and lessons from each one of them will inspire the newer bread to succeed and create more winners in field of sports as well as corporate and social domain.
In my previous blog two things were highlighted, one of them was the importance of three (last three) matches and the other one was the ability to tackle the tag of the favourites. Irrespective of whatever happened in the league stage, it was India's resolute performance in these last three match which landed them with the coveted cup in their hands. In quarterfinals against Australia, India faced the reigning champions who showed that they still had it in them to lift the cup one more time, yet India were still the favorites for the match. Out of nowhere India lifted their fielding and late middle order batting to get past them. As much as skills, that match was won by team India with an overpowering passion and commitment to win at all cost.
Then it was the pot boiler of a semifinal against Pakistan, who had come up like a dark horse, defeating Srilanka in Srilanka and the mighty Australians in their league stage. Here too, India were running with the burden of expectations before the match started. Quite a few of us didn't give the credit where it was due after India won that match. Yes it was a scratchy win, but it was a scratchy match simply because of the unadulterated pressure (sportingly, historically and politically) attached to it. India Vs Pakistan match at such level can and will be won only by the team which handles this pressure better and the fact that Pakistan dropped catches and Indians held them goes on to show who handled that pressure better in this semifinal.
Then it was the finals against Srilankans who had knocked at the doors earlier by being in the semis in the previous world cup edition. Once again, playing at home India had an edge going into this game. The tone was set in first hour of the match as one observed Indian fielding reach an unprecedented height. Interestingly it wasn't only Yuvraj, Raina and Kohli who were rising to the occasion as expected, but also it was that brilliant catch of Sehwag in the slips, Zaheer diving around at the boundary amidst his opening spell of 5 overs and Sreesanth on the leg side boundary - all underscoring a resolve I have never witnessed from this team in this tournament, before or for that matter ever before. If there were any doubts about the fact that team India had raised it's game to be worthy of the cup, it was put at rest during the chase when both the star batsmen were lost early. Gautam, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvi chased the total down with a level of grit and determination which showed that their life depended on this win.
There was a stark difference in how the two finalist had played their last three games. At one end, it was Srilanka who had got over toothless England and skill deficient New Zealand who somehow managed to be on the right side of an upset quarterfinals. Playing in their Colombo den, Srilankan Lions had roared through to the finals. Whereas, India had already played two finals before they played Srilanka in Mumbai yesterday. They had already lifted their game and demonstrated how ready, hungry and skilled they were before the finals. They say Srilanka missed a few tricks on the field and I agree. Sanga, normally a smart captain wasn't probably acclimatized enough to do the things that you need to do in situations he found himself in that cracker of a final. Jayawardhene had given them more than a hope while batting, but he was not prepared for what he got from Indian middle order.
As expected, it was 'a cup of three matches' and it was won by the 15 men who, driven by lots of skill and one motivation called Sachin Tendulkar, cracked these three matches. This world cup victory and its memory is not limited to the final in Mumbai but each of These three Games that have left behind pride and Glory for the recently counted 1.21 billion passionate Indians... and more. Long live the Glory of my motherland India and long live the Game of Cricket! Amen!!!
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Cup of Three Matches
Two teams (India and Pakistan) out from world cup running in the league stage and One dead coach. The headlines pretty much summed up the disaster that ICC World Cup 2007 in West Indies was. The lesson was learned, and before the fans could say "What the 'duck' was that?", ICC WC 2011 edition format was redressed and the Life Insurance premium for coaches had hit the roof. To ensure that (at least) the calamity of two biggest financial powers of the game dare not cause the cricketing recession again, the 2011 format now has found out a way to say a polite 'Buzz off' to the minnows of the game by recalling the quarter finals in the event after 16 years as the tournament returns to the sub-continent.
Nothing too wrong with that except the fact that the qualifying for the semis is not as rigorous as it was in last three editions. The eight (or at least seven teams) are virtually assured of a place in the quarterfinals. Put in the other way, you need only three wins out of your six league matches to book your place in the quarterfinal of the tournament. Not too bad as a probability considering there are three minnows in your group, eh?
But these are not the three matches that the title of this blog refers to. The tournament is about the three matches after the league stage - the quarter finals, the semi finals and the final. This is the stage, the knockout stage, where the real suitor of the coveted cup would be decided. There could be and there would be only one team who will win these three matches back to back. No matter how much the conditions suit you; no matter how perfect is your team combination; and no matter how much in-form you are, you have one bad day and you can kiss your dream, shove it into your billion followers, go back to start and try your luck again four year later. Scary... really scary!!!
That said, if we look at 2003 and 2007 editions, Australia as a team did not lose even a single match in their quest to find their rightful place at the top. Ricky Ponting, irrespective of how much we hate him, has a unique distinction of having a 100% win record in WC matches as captain. More than his captaincy, it speaks volumes about the team which was named favourites with a huge distinction at the start of both these tournaments. By our design all of us love underdogs and the idea of 'a chaiwala winning a KBC' fascinates us. But imagine what this thought process does to you if you are the 'favourite'. Everyone thinks that you will win, but most of them wish that you don't! Also, when you are on top you are visibly exposed and a soft target as every opposition is shredding you threadbare, working on sole agenda to topple you somehow. To win as a favourite is much much tougher than winning as a underdog. Dhoni explained that winning the T20 WC was convenient since the expectations were low. So it was with Pakistan and then England in the subsequent T20 WCs.
By the looks of it India is hottest to win this tournament, but then there is this tale of three matches in a row. Irrespective of how well we've done in the warm-up games or how well we'll do in the league stage, the only thing that will make us champions would be three back to back wins at this knockout stage. India is placed in a similar position as Australia in 2003 and 2007 at the start of this tournament, however the pressure of being favourites is stronger... by a billion units at least. And then there is an added responsibility of doing it for Sachin in his last WC, for this son of the soil deserves to fulfill his dream as he has filled ours for last two decades.
It would be nothing short of a miracle if the men in blue are able to rise above this constraint of being the favourites. As of now, this is the only thing that stands in the way. A little prayer goes out for Team India that they shut off completely from the pressures that we create, focus hard, and finish the job. One bad day, is something team India cannot afford... Amen!!!
Varun
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Nothing too wrong with that except the fact that the qualifying for the semis is not as rigorous as it was in last three editions. The eight (or at least seven teams) are virtually assured of a place in the quarterfinals. Put in the other way, you need only three wins out of your six league matches to book your place in the quarterfinal of the tournament. Not too bad as a probability considering there are three minnows in your group, eh?
But these are not the three matches that the title of this blog refers to. The tournament is about the three matches after the league stage - the quarter finals, the semi finals and the final. This is the stage, the knockout stage, where the real suitor of the coveted cup would be decided. There could be and there would be only one team who will win these three matches back to back. No matter how much the conditions suit you; no matter how perfect is your team combination; and no matter how much in-form you are, you have one bad day and you can kiss your dream, shove it into your billion followers, go back to start and try your luck again four year later. Scary... really scary!!!
That said, if we look at 2003 and 2007 editions, Australia as a team did not lose even a single match in their quest to find their rightful place at the top. Ricky Ponting, irrespective of how much we hate him, has a unique distinction of having a 100% win record in WC matches as captain. More than his captaincy, it speaks volumes about the team which was named favourites with a huge distinction at the start of both these tournaments. By our design all of us love underdogs and the idea of 'a chaiwala winning a KBC' fascinates us. But imagine what this thought process does to you if you are the 'favourite'. Everyone thinks that you will win, but most of them wish that you don't! Also, when you are on top you are visibly exposed and a soft target as every opposition is shredding you threadbare, working on sole agenda to topple you somehow. To win as a favourite is much much tougher than winning as a underdog. Dhoni explained that winning the T20 WC was convenient since the expectations were low. So it was with Pakistan and then England in the subsequent T20 WCs.
By the looks of it India is hottest to win this tournament, but then there is this tale of three matches in a row. Irrespective of how well we've done in the warm-up games or how well we'll do in the league stage, the only thing that will make us champions would be three back to back wins at this knockout stage. India is placed in a similar position as Australia in 2003 and 2007 at the start of this tournament, however the pressure of being favourites is stronger... by a billion units at least. And then there is an added responsibility of doing it for Sachin in his last WC, for this son of the soil deserves to fulfill his dream as he has filled ours for last two decades.
It would be nothing short of a miracle if the men in blue are able to rise above this constraint of being the favourites. As of now, this is the only thing that stands in the way. A little prayer goes out for Team India that they shut off completely from the pressures that we create, focus hard, and finish the job. One bad day, is something team India cannot afford... Amen!!!
Varun
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
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