Dhoni thinks the parties that come with the IPL are to blame. The other experts feel that the timing of the IPL was a massive blunder in the sense that it gave the Indian team no prep time for the World Cup. And Arnab Goswami, a host on one of the Indian news-channels kept reminding everyone yesterday that this was a national crisis of sorts. The last might be excused as a TRP generator, and the first as a lame excuse from a captain who suddenly found himself and his team in the middle of a World Cup.
None of the above rants is the reason for the note. However, this is a good chance to look at keeping the IPL alive, albeit on ‘my’ terms, for it is a pioneering effort in cricket.
A conversation with a friend a month ago threw up the fact that the IPL is the way it is, so that the battle of the remotes in Indian homes does not happen. Granted, but what exactly is it that makes the woman of the house, who is a peripheral cricket fan hopefully, to gracefully hand over the remote?
Mandira Bedi in designer sarees? Porn-ready hunks as anchors? Cheerleaders shaking their booties? Or shots of Preity Zinta waving a flag or Shah Rukh Khan looking intense while chewing gum? I grant the middle-Indian wife far more brains and taste. Does she see herself as a mindless bimbo who will watch a game she doesn’t really give an eff about, just because it’s glitzy and has a few of her favourite Bollywood personalities? I would think not.
On the other hand, if one builds on the fact that T20 as a format has enough cricketing excitement in it to lure the peripheral viewer, we could end up creating more knowledgeable fans out of such viewers.
Much as I hate giving Bernie Ecclestone any credit, Formula One combines glamour and sport intelligently. Yes, there are the so-called paddock babes. But once the engines start, it is just pure sport. What if the 2011 IPL was built in a similar manner?
We would start off with a pre-match show with sports presenters and genuine experts. Anjum Chopra is a genuine expert – she has played the game at the highest level and is good-looking in an intelligent sort of way. She reads the game well, and no, she wasn’t discovered by the IPL machine. It was the dowdy DD that first featured her as an expert.
Having cheerleaders shaking their best bits is like a promotion campaign for God. The game is a religion here, and this format is just right as far as driving Indians into a two-hour long frenzy. You don’t need stunts to fill stadiums here in the sub-continent. Just the promise of good cricket gets the queues forming up.
You want breaks between matches? Well, don’t waste it on a gum-chewing Khan, a Preity Zinta dimple and the like. There are enough fascinating, funny and interesting facts about the game to keep everyone watching.
Why do you think a woman will not want to know more about the game? It just could be possible that she doesn’t watch the game because no one’s taken the time off to point out the finer points to her. Okay, if you feel that she will be more comfortable getting her fundas from a woman, get a woman cricketer to host those portions.
There are ways and ways of making cricket more appealing. The way the IPL is headed isn’t one of them. If it continues this way, the bubble will burst. As surely as night follows day.
We are proud to announce that this is the 50th article on cricketcetera (our half century), and has been contributed by Nandu Narasimhan (catch him @ http://www.facebook.com/nandu.narasimhan)
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
How the BCCI should play the short ball
Started this note last night after listening to cacophony on the news channels about how India have dug themselves into a hole in the T20 World Cup.
As far as the use of the short ball is concerned, the strategy was not a shock. Steyn, Kallis and Nannes amongst others, were using them regularly against Indian batsmen in the league with some success. The deficiency is an old one, and is compounded by the fact that batsmen generally prop themselves on the front foot before the ball is delivered, in this format of the game.
And as far as the bowlers go, they don’t really look to bounce, but put the ball in that area which is marginally shorter than the ‘back of a length’ spot. Which means the ball reaches the batsman at the chest or the throat level. Add to this the fact that the front foot movement shortens the distance the ball has to travel, and you have a problem on your hands. Also, unlike a Test match situation where the batsman is not looking to attack every ball, here the backlifts are bound to be higher.
So where’s the remedy? It is now a well-publicised fact that all batsmen at the top level practise against bowling machines to get used to the speed. It is good, but the machine doesn’t have the cunning of the bowler, the false field adjustment and the pressure of the situation.
My mind went back a few years when I had the pleasure of shooting a commercial with the former Indian quick, Javagal Srinath. An erudite man, Srinath was soft-spoken and curious (about film-making techniques), and pretty strong in his views.
He got very excited when I shared with him a proposal that I was putting together to present to large corporates. It was about equipping every major Test venue in India (the ones with some real estate to spare) and the national Cricket Academy with facilities for drop-in wickets. The way it was, it looked at replicating wickets in countries from across the world. Theoretically, it is possible to ‘manufacture’ a Perth track from the mid-seventies, or a Headingley grasstop.
We exchanged mails for a period of three months while I spoke to a few of my clients who had the money to spare and a bit of passion for cricket. Sadly, none of them wanted to take it further up the organisation, as it was not backed by big media coverage.
Let’s face it – this scheme is a long-term one and does not have cheerleaders shaking parts of their anatomy and bright uniforms. This does not have that little whiff of potential controversy for news channels to pick up. It remains a dream for me.
On another note, around six years ago, there was a programme on Zee Sports where Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was the resident expert in a conversation on the ‘short ball’ topic. I had called in to ask him about a batting academy, on the lines of the MRF Pace Foundation. The Nawab drawled that all it needed was batsmen going to the pace academy and playing the bowlers there.
Now the pace academy is for bowlers to perfect their craft. Imagine a scenario where a batsmen gets into a net to get his hook shot going. And the bowler being told by Dennis Lillee and T.A.Shekhar to work on his outswinger.
Unwilling corporates, a callous expert and a dream that is destined to gather dust. And another generation of Indian batsmen squaring up against a short ball and fending it into a waiting gully fielder’s hands.
Guess that’s the way Indian cricket will be.
This article has been contributed by Nandu Narasimhan (catch him @ http://www.facebook.com/nandu.narasimhan)
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
As far as the use of the short ball is concerned, the strategy was not a shock. Steyn, Kallis and Nannes amongst others, were using them regularly against Indian batsmen in the league with some success. The deficiency is an old one, and is compounded by the fact that batsmen generally prop themselves on the front foot before the ball is delivered, in this format of the game.
And as far as the bowlers go, they don’t really look to bounce, but put the ball in that area which is marginally shorter than the ‘back of a length’ spot. Which means the ball reaches the batsman at the chest or the throat level. Add to this the fact that the front foot movement shortens the distance the ball has to travel, and you have a problem on your hands. Also, unlike a Test match situation where the batsman is not looking to attack every ball, here the backlifts are bound to be higher.
So where’s the remedy? It is now a well-publicised fact that all batsmen at the top level practise against bowling machines to get used to the speed. It is good, but the machine doesn’t have the cunning of the bowler, the false field adjustment and the pressure of the situation.
My mind went back a few years when I had the pleasure of shooting a commercial with the former Indian quick, Javagal Srinath. An erudite man, Srinath was soft-spoken and curious (about film-making techniques), and pretty strong in his views.
He got very excited when I shared with him a proposal that I was putting together to present to large corporates. It was about equipping every major Test venue in India (the ones with some real estate to spare) and the national Cricket Academy with facilities for drop-in wickets. The way it was, it looked at replicating wickets in countries from across the world. Theoretically, it is possible to ‘manufacture’ a Perth track from the mid-seventies, or a Headingley grasstop.
We exchanged mails for a period of three months while I spoke to a few of my clients who had the money to spare and a bit of passion for cricket. Sadly, none of them wanted to take it further up the organisation, as it was not backed by big media coverage.
Let’s face it – this scheme is a long-term one and does not have cheerleaders shaking parts of their anatomy and bright uniforms. This does not have that little whiff of potential controversy for news channels to pick up. It remains a dream for me.
On another note, around six years ago, there was a programme on Zee Sports where Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi was the resident expert in a conversation on the ‘short ball’ topic. I had called in to ask him about a batting academy, on the lines of the MRF Pace Foundation. The Nawab drawled that all it needed was batsmen going to the pace academy and playing the bowlers there.
Now the pace academy is for bowlers to perfect their craft. Imagine a scenario where a batsmen gets into a net to get his hook shot going. And the bowler being told by Dennis Lillee and T.A.Shekhar to work on his outswinger.
Unwilling corporates, a callous expert and a dream that is destined to gather dust. And another generation of Indian batsmen squaring up against a short ball and fending it into a waiting gully fielder’s hands.
Guess that’s the way Indian cricket will be.
This article has been contributed by Nandu Narasimhan (catch him @ http://www.facebook.com/nandu.narasimhan)
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Monday, May 10, 2010
It's the lack of imagination & courage that will push India out of the World T20
A loss to Australia followed by a loss to West Indies in the pre-semi-final stage has led India to a curious situation. All but out, and praying for a miracle.
Theoretically, India can still make it to the next stage. What they have to do is win against SL either with a margin of 20 runs if India bats first, or with 14 balls to spare if they chase. And then, pray and pray and pray that Australia win their match against Windies.
The second task is much easier, and something that I am sure everyone in India is already doing. For once, every Indian is praying for an Aussie victory.
It is the first task that makes me worried; the task is not just difficult, it also needs Dhoni to really start rethinking about the team needs. So far, at least in this World Cup, he’s lacked imagination & courage, and has to an extent tried to be defensive rather than attacking. None of these have ever been his hallmarks, and therefore it surprises me. If you want to win, you can’t just try and build a cocoon around yourself and hope to win. You have to get out of your safe zone and try to shake things up a bit, so that you can then take strides towards success. Sadly, Dhoni was too concerned about preventing the team from losing, and therefore couldn’t win.
There are many examples of this. Take for instance the fact that R Vinay Kumar is cooling his heels, when he should have been firing down a few in conditions that favour pace bowling. Take for example the fact that yesterday Windies bowled just 3 overs of spin vis-à-vis India which bowled 12 on a bouncy wicket. Another thing to ponder over this is the fact that given that both Vijay & Gambhir are not clicking (especially Murali), it might be a good idea to bring in Dinesh Karthik, who’s equally good at opening the innings, and pairing him with Gambhir, since both play together in domestic cricket as well. And what about playing either himself or Pathan so low down the order at times, that by the time they try to do something, the task is well beyond them.
I am particularly surprised over Jadeja’s selection for the World Cup. Jadeja might be a find as an all-rounder, but probably for ODIs only – though given his figures in that format, I even doubt that. If his highest in 31 T20 innings is 42, average is 21.96 and his scoring rate is around 7/over, then he’s not the finisher we’re looking for. Also, if we look at his bowling, he gets a wicket after every 30 balls and concedes 37 runs before he gets a wicket, and his economy rate of 7.4 is not bad but not too flattering either. And if we discard his domestic figures in T20s (including IPL) and just look at his international match figures, they are worse than what I just mentioned. So, why will you play Jadeja instead of a specialist bowler or a specialist batsman (if Karthik can be called that)?
It seems that by trying to play safe all the time rather than be inventive, we’ve become too much of a single trick pony, who cannot compete in a horse race. There have been times in the past when I’ve wondered why Dhoni keeps pursuing with something or somebody despite indications that it may not work always (Joginder Sharma being case in point), and I guess the time has come for some fresh thinking to be infused, or we will keep sliding down the slope.
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Theoretically, India can still make it to the next stage. What they have to do is win against SL either with a margin of 20 runs if India bats first, or with 14 balls to spare if they chase. And then, pray and pray and pray that Australia win their match against Windies.
The second task is much easier, and something that I am sure everyone in India is already doing. For once, every Indian is praying for an Aussie victory.
It is the first task that makes me worried; the task is not just difficult, it also needs Dhoni to really start rethinking about the team needs. So far, at least in this World Cup, he’s lacked imagination & courage, and has to an extent tried to be defensive rather than attacking. None of these have ever been his hallmarks, and therefore it surprises me. If you want to win, you can’t just try and build a cocoon around yourself and hope to win. You have to get out of your safe zone and try to shake things up a bit, so that you can then take strides towards success. Sadly, Dhoni was too concerned about preventing the team from losing, and therefore couldn’t win.
There are many examples of this. Take for instance the fact that R Vinay Kumar is cooling his heels, when he should have been firing down a few in conditions that favour pace bowling. Take for example the fact that yesterday Windies bowled just 3 overs of spin vis-à-vis India which bowled 12 on a bouncy wicket. Another thing to ponder over this is the fact that given that both Vijay & Gambhir are not clicking (especially Murali), it might be a good idea to bring in Dinesh Karthik, who’s equally good at opening the innings, and pairing him with Gambhir, since both play together in domestic cricket as well. And what about playing either himself or Pathan so low down the order at times, that by the time they try to do something, the task is well beyond them.
I am particularly surprised over Jadeja’s selection for the World Cup. Jadeja might be a find as an all-rounder, but probably for ODIs only – though given his figures in that format, I even doubt that. If his highest in 31 T20 innings is 42, average is 21.96 and his scoring rate is around 7/over, then he’s not the finisher we’re looking for. Also, if we look at his bowling, he gets a wicket after every 30 balls and concedes 37 runs before he gets a wicket, and his economy rate of 7.4 is not bad but not too flattering either. And if we discard his domestic figures in T20s (including IPL) and just look at his international match figures, they are worse than what I just mentioned. So, why will you play Jadeja instead of a specialist bowler or a specialist batsman (if Karthik can be called that)?
It seems that by trying to play safe all the time rather than be inventive, we’ve become too much of a single trick pony, who cannot compete in a horse race. There have been times in the past when I’ve wondered why Dhoni keeps pursuing with something or somebody despite indications that it may not work always (Joginder Sharma being case in point), and I guess the time has come for some fresh thinking to be infused, or we will keep sliding down the slope.
© Shailesh Nigam, Varun Khanna (for respective articles)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)