WC2011 - Ind-vs-Eng ODI@Bengaluru

Another bashing festival on a bowler killing pitch! Only the result and the build up to it (i.e. final 10 out of 100 overs) will stay in memory, besides the rather indifferent captaincy by MS Dhoni before PP3 was taken by England.



Interesting takeaway of match:

Powerplay 3, dreaded by fielding captains, came to the rescue of both skippers when they were cluelessly ultra defensive in the face of slaughter by opposition batsmen. These Powerplays yielded crucial wickets. Instead of aiding the batting side who chose it, the PP3 of each innings produced important breakthroughs and upset the smooth 'milking operation' that the batsmen were carrying out in the face of inert captaincy combined with placid pitch.

I see merit in introducing an additional 5 overs of Powerplay (say 26th to 30th over). Modern captains are feeling the pressure and tend to give up on aggresive strategies altogether. Together we saw another example of a skipper, a celebrated one like Dhoni, not showing aggression even when defensive strategies had leaked runs badly without looking like producing a breakthrough. It was almost as if he was prepared to lose the game that way rather than try something more positive to upset England.

By having another middle over powerplay, skippers will be FORCED to be positive at and left with no choice but to back their bowlers with wicket taking field settings. We saw today what a major difference positive fields (resulting from PP3) can make even in a match that was virtually dead by 92nd over. Time for PP4

[source: expanded from my Facebook wall post after the match]

WC'2011 Pak vs SL group league match: Watching Pak after a long time

Once again pals, I can only share my match summary as posted on Facebook a while ago after the SL-vs-Pak match ended:
 

SL vs Pak: At last a proper WC match...where we got good batting and good bowling in both innings..Would have been a very good match with close finish if Chamara Silva would have scored more than 13 in his first 40 balls...

First the backdrop of my Pakistan review that will follow:

I was watching Pakistan today in an ODI after God knows how long..certainly more than 18 months. The last was perhaps the Ind-vs-Pak match in ICC trophy 2009 - which came after a similar previous gap.

It is no better in Tests, and perhaps slightly better in T20's. I have missed all the controversial stuff tht Pak were involved in. I missed the entire career of Mohammad Amir..except in highlights. I barely followed even Indian cricket in the last 3 years, and hence the only familiarity I have of non-India teams / players are those that played against India.

So here's my observation, again from Facebook:

Pak reminded me of old days.



Early wickets while batting , followed by great middle order work, followed by stop start final overs (inspite of having magnificent hitters)..


And then while fielding they showed variety+quality in pace & spin.......combined with good outfielding and terrible catching.



And a proud, fiery skipper who bowls brilliantly at crucial times and backs his players @ 'unforced errors' (While also getting livid when they serve up poor stuff) - almost saw reflections of another mighty Pathan lurking in Shahid today



Only change from those days: their keepers used to be ALWAYS good...(Akmal can cost them the cup)...and their pace bowling was even greater!!! [Qadir looked like a relief to most - so you imagine].



A rejuvenated Pak was much needed for the Cup...now there is an outside chance of this edition becoming a bowlers' cup!! May be Afridi's..



Abdur Rehman / Shahid Afridi / Umar Gul / Akhtar can make life difficult for right handers coming their way - it is a little too much variety for 'sameness' fed right handed batsmen of today to handle over 50 overs...Sri Lanka needed their left handed opener to last today.

Some 'fresh additions', in case you think I have sold out to the dark world of Facebook:


1) Ahmad Shahzad looked like the only one capable of catching anything, just as Mr. Sania Mirza - or whatever his name is with same initials - did in matches played 8-9 years back. [Well I am being dishonest here for sake of crude humour - I rate Inzy as a good catcher]


2) In 12 WC matches over last 3 world Cups spanning across 2 other decades, Shahid Afridi pouched only 7 wickets. 2 matches into this World Cup, he has bagged nine scalps. Five of which are all to him (bowled / lbw). He also leads his team in 2011.


Compare that to Dravid's WC career who started with Shahid in 1999. Tell me you have seen any greater paradox??!!

The videotapes that never were

I was searching for youtube videos of our featured player of the day. We share those amongst a FB forum of colleague friends trying to make the most out of the cricket World Cup. Each day we have decided to have a World Cup great as a player of the day.

I picked up a number of videos from the net to pay tribute to this man...for example this one, or that one - even this.

Then I tried to search for a final video, the pinnacle of his achievements..only to remember I CANNOT show it.
No one can. It was never videotaped, that's why.



"Why are India perched at number 1 position in Tests?"
'Coz they have great players for some years.


"Why do India have great players?"
Because so many people in the country play and follow this game.


"Why do so many people follow this game?"
Because it shot up in popularity after India won the 1983 world Cup.


"Why did they win the 1983 world cup?"
 Because...


....as much as all other reasons in all other games of India in that Cup, one man - their captain and best player Kapil Dev - emerged from the pavilion with his team grovelling at 17/5 & played one astonishing innings of 175* to win India a lost cause against Zimbabwe at a venue called Turnbridge wells in UK.


He did that on a day when the British media went on strike....

Top batting averages in world cups: facts that we expected and facts that we didn't

These days we are playing a little cricket quizzing game in a closed Facebook forum of a few old friends...and trying to answer each others questons without using the net.

AD Prasad, one of my friends, asked about the guy who comes in this WC with highest World Cup batting average. Turns out to be Shane Watson (112). Holland hero Ryan ten Doeschate is number 5 with a figure in the 80's from 4 matches.

Then AD, as he is famously called this side of Motera, filtered out the guys with top World Cup averages and run tally >400.

His findings:
1) Andrew Symonds at 103.00 is tops
2) Michael Clarke comes in at no.2 with 98.80
3) Scott Styris
4) Peter Kirsten (he played just one cup)
5) 'The King' [Viv]
6) Rahul Dravid
Sachin is 9th on this list, while Ponting is ranked in 30's

Surprised at the 6th name? So were we...

Now AD decided to do a further bit of study based on our queries. Dravid is number 6..which is quite something. But his runs may have come slow, not as valuable as some others maybe?

AD took the top 50 scorers in World Cup (by aggregates & not by averages). He multiplied their World Cup averages with the corresponding World Cup strike rates (avg 100 ~ 1.00 & so on proportionately). There may be (and SHOULD be) a formal name given to this value - perhaps it is there already - but we called it the 'factored average'.

Here's the new leaderboard (pasted straight from AD's Facebook post):

1) SCOTT STYRIS (62.107).
2) King Richards (53.845),
3) SRT (50.342),
4) HH Gibbs (49.064),
5) RR Sarwan (48.787),
6) ML Hayden (48.268)
7) R Dravid(46.047),
8) MD Crowe (45.964),
9) ME Waugh (44.243),
10) V Sehwag (43.483),
11) SC Ganguly (43.307),
12) Kapil Dev (42.786),
13) S Anwar (42.561),
14) AJ Lamb (42.437) &
14) DC Boon (39.639).
..
..
..
Ponting comes in at no. 20.

Conclusions we drew:

1) This last list brings out the true greatness of Viv 'da' as ODI player...To have anyone playing half of his WC's in the 70's (when 30+ avg & 60+ strike rate was very good) as high as no.2 on this list....it is simply out of this world. 


These were his world cup specific averages, but his overall stat also reflects a batting average of 47 & strike rate of 90....effectively 42.3 factored average. We wondered if any player with >5000 runs in ODI's still exceeds that*..and we are not even talking about advantage of batting with protective gear / field restrictions / bouncer restrictions / lack of pacers / shorter boundaries etc

2) This part is a completely unexpected side-effect of the fun study that AD undertook:

One Indian player has played out the whole of his three-World-cup career between the last sub-continent World Cup (1996) and the current one. Over those 3 tournaments, Rahul Dravid bettered all but one of his all time great contemporaries from the sub-continent in World Cup averages - both normal AS WELL AS factored ones.

Famous for his away performances in Tests, this stat captures one whole career of stellar 'away only' performance from Rahul Dravid in the decidedly lesser facet of his game - ODI's. Not quite the King or the Master but a man for all occasions nevertheless.

Update: For a perfect contrast to Dravid's World Cup career, have a look at Afridi's World Cup career as it looks 10 days (& 2 Pak matches) into the 2011 WC. Both started their ODI careers in 1996, WC careers in 1999 World Cup.

Update 2: See what I mean when I say no one expects Rahul Dravid on that list, least of all at a position that high?
-------------
* Michael Bevan is the only possible suspect that comes to mind

MSD's masterclass in communication

I simply love this guy's communications...most willing to make him my communication guru.



He might be the only skipper in the history of all cricket to speak exact same things at press meets as well as team meetings - and be respected by all concerned for doing that!!


Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a genuine trailblazer in this field. He has blasted all previously held notions of discreetness by following a simple code of lipwork: what cannot be uttered at one place cannot be uttered anywhere..and the rest will have to be consumed everywhere.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/501317.html

Check the above crystal clear yet impersonal pre-WC communication on an issue that, with any lesser communication skills, would either be kept away from the press or would be shared in a manner that it became a potential source of ambiguity to the key middle order batsmen  of the Indian team. Far from it, the skipper's current communication has made it clear to all concerned the strategy that will be adopted for certain eventualities. No cobwebs...no murmurs...no role confusion - all clear. Get on please.


I have seen corporate houses making loud noises on 'aligning' people across the hierarchy, while deliberately keeping the same people in dark on key issues...MSD can go to such orgs, ask CEO's of such companies to stand up on the bench holding their ears and teach them a lesson or two on alignment! And that being honest, frank and respectful have no disharmony with each other.

To make full use of MSD's unparalleled combo-offer of vision, leadership and communication, we need MSD to be around for the next 30 years to Indian cricket - 7 as a player, 10 as a coach, 5 as a Chief selector and 8 as an administrator (4 in BCCI and 4 in ICC)...and this is IRRESPECTIVE of Indian team's progress in the 2011 world cup.

When he reaches age 60 we can finally release him - he will be free to go and win the Prime Minister's post hands down thereafter.

Update: Here's a cricinfo quote from Dhoni on what he has suggested to Sreesanth to control his temperament:

I told him that he should not cross a few boundaries. If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side.

Once more, the Alignment Man of Indian Cricket is direct, clear, precise...but fair considering the guy in question (a still temperamental Sreesanth).

Update 2: I suspect some of the readers may be having furrowed eyebrows while reading this article. It may seem to be a fan post eulogising Dhoni.




To them I warn: You are taking good things for granted; good things like having captains with pride and vision, captains supportive of their players.



India are fortunate to have such skippers for 11 years now.





For anyone having slightest doubts on the value that these leaders have brought to Indian Cricket through good communication, commitment & pride, I recommend this Prem Panicker article hailing from an era where it was missing in the leader of Indian team....an article written with a lot of angst but with fairness ahead of another World Cup campaign 12 years back.
[As always, I still remain an ardent fan of Azharuddin the batsman - the single biggest reason for my getting hooked to cricket]


Update 3: Even the master communicator can have his sloppy days at press meets when made to answer same questions over and over!!

Dhoni offered a rather strange explanation for the fields he has set for Harbhajan so far. "At the group stages, I don't want to have a forward short leg or silly point because I don't want any player to get injured. That is one of the reasons we have been restricted to using a leg slip."

The Magnificent B*****d

You have read millions of articles on 'Dada' evoking love and hate alike. Dileep Peemachandran's cricinfo article on the same topic does not offer new insights to start with...you can skip the "oh no, not again" parts in the first 10 paras.

I suggest you go to the 11th paragraph straightaway, where Dileep begins his account of Ganguly's 144 at Gabba. Indeed it was Dada's finest hour of both batsmanship and leadership.
 
THAT is when the journey to No. 1 got its wheels.
 
The last 2 para's are too good, especially in context of a bit of 'unmentionable' history attached to Eden Gardens 2001!

Minutes before he raised his hundred, I'd gone down to the stands where the Fanatics stood, waving their Boxing Kangaroo flags. Some of them had history with Ganguly. On the tour of India in 2001, when India did a Houdini at the Eden Gardens, one of them had told me that they had footage of Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh showing them the middle finger after the victory.







The men and women I was surrounded by weren't admirers. It was fairly apparent that they'd love nothing better than seeing him run out for 99. But when he wasn't, after he had charged between the wickets to make his ground and then run a third of the way to the sightscreen to celebrate, I asked one of the flag-wavers what he thought of the man.






"He's a bastard" was the reply. After a small pause, he added: "But what a magnificent bastard."

That was a delightfully memorable anecdote, Dileep. Thanks a ton.

FB wall posts on 'silly' ODI's

Disappointed at the tame end to the 3rd Test with South Africa, and also sensing some upheavals on personal / professional front, I made this 'wall post' on Facebook couple of days back:

Apologies to my non-cricket loving friends for an overdose of cricket (Indian cricket, actually) related messages on my wall. For next 3 months there will be overdose of silly ODI's and sillier T20's, so not much chance of me getting as excited as the SA series...

However after the 2nd ODI with SA ended THAT way (see commentary in the link) I am on the backfoot once again (like Team India at the start of any series these days):

Did I say ODI's were silly? Smelt some egg on my face during the closing stages of 2nd ODI with SA today..Today I played in a cricket match** and watched another to re-learn that 'catches win matches'..glad that India did better than learning it bitterly.

**Don't laugh, I actually did - but managed not to raise howls around the field by avoiding bowling and batting in the 12-overs-a-side tennis ball match. We missed catches offered by the best opposition batsman during their chase and he made us pay dearly by leading his team to an eventually facile win.

I issued that 'retraction statement' to mitigate my humiliation, but I suspect I may have to keep eating some of my words steadily till the current series is over.


Update: Siddharth Monga of cricinfo has noted this incident, as a fallout of a strict commandment issued by World Bowlers' Association stating "Thou shalt bounce Suresh Raina whenever thou spot him":

"The moment he saw Suresh Raina, Lonwabo Tsotsobe went on a bouncer spree. So excited was he that he nearly bounced himself with one, pitching it at his toes in a way that the ball almost hit him in the face during his follow-through. Smith, fielding at straighter extra cover, had the best seat in the house and fell down laughing."

"Believe it or not" stuff at the 2nd Ind-SA ODI at the Bullring

I am not referring to India's thrilling 1 run win defending 190. I stopped short of stating a cliched "yet another comeback from MSD's men", in case you did not notice..

It is a curious few seconds of unusual sight that struck me. I thought I actually watched Munaf Patel running like a gazelle and fielding off his own bowling even with a close-in fielder around. In FB jargon I "superliked" it.

Something more in Munaf may have changed than physical fitness. Besides NOT looking forever disinterested at all times except the delivery stride like the Munaf of old, "Munaf 2011" also spoke about bowling a lot at the nets at the MoM award ceremony. [Besides the point: I do not see the point in organiser making these chaps struggle with a language they have not been educated to speak - how about well-spoken skippers doubling up as translators in absence of better alternatives?] 

Does IPL and his RR skipper Warnie have something to do with this transformation? Or is it primarily the work of the MSD-GK combo?

To make things better, Munaf Patel is bowling well in successive ODI series spread across nearly half a year, in surfaces as drastically different as in Sri Lanka and South Africa. If only his pace goes back to the early-2006 stuff...

Overheard after 3rd day at Capetown

"This looks so familiar....
- India plays the best Test opposition available on earth.

- At close of 3rd day of 3rd Test little separates the 2 teams; all 3 results are possible @ 33.33% each in the Test, and in the series too.
- Laxman has won the 2nd Test, scoring more runs than one of the opponent's innings. Zaheer Khan joins the playing 11 in the same 2nd Test.
- Indian bowling, ragged in 1st Test, is back with vengeance since the 2nd. That guy in turban is not doing too badly.
....This must be Chennai Test, March 2001...what's wrong with all the clocks??"

"Are you demented? Zaheer Khan took 3 wickets in the very first innings he bowled in the current series. That was Zak's series tally against Australia in 2001, same as that of Tendulkar the bowler. Oh yes - the latter scored his 25th ton in that match, not the 51st. The opponent is South Africa, not Oz. And we are playing in the opponent's backyard, nor ours."
 
"Maybe...how am I supposed to know? I came out today after serving a near-decade sentence in a high-security prison and find so little has changed...Tell me, what is India's position in world Cricket now - must be the same as then, six or seven? And who is that new keeper behind the stumps for India - another delayed debutant like Samir Dighe? I tell you he can come in real handy in tense final moments of the match..."

Laxman's feat in the Durban Test

Indian batsman VVS Laxman scored 38 and 96 in the Durban Test, thus totalling 134 runs in the Durban Test. In the process he helped his team set 300+ as a 4th innings target to hosts South Africa on a seamer-friendly track.
South Africa scored a mere 131 runs in their 1st innings as the Indian bowling attack punched way above their perceived capabilities under the stewardship of Zaheer Khan.

As the match closed out, doubts crept into my mind as to which was the more important contribution of the two -
A) Laxman leading the batting out of a collapse twice in a decisive match, or
B) Zaheer doing a Moses on the Indian bowling to transform a bowling  unit conceding 620 runs for 3 wickets in 1st Test, to a pack taking 10 wickets for 131 in the space of just the one Test

From yielding 620/3 to getting the same opponents 131 all out in the span of a match must be an achievement for Indian bowlers that may remain unparalleled. Zaheer's role in that improvement is undeniable.

However, that bowling turnaround was still a Team Achievement that was LED by Zaheer Khan. Part of it was inspiration from his return to the playing 11, and the team performance was not wholely dependent on his individual on-field performance. The win was achieved through sterling bowling performances of self (i.e. Zaheer) as well as others, at least one of whom was statistically as good as Zaheer in match performance. Zaheer was also overtaken by Steyn as the highest wicket taker for the match in either side. 

This is where Laxman is streets ahead of all competition. Like Zaheer, Laxman too inspired good innings from those who came in after him. But Laxman also literally came forward and "went through the roof' & produced a special ('very very' is cliched these days) personal match performance @ Durban. 

• Laxman got the highest individual score of 96, which is more than double the next highest individual score in either side - 39 (Prince in 2nd innings).
• The lower of Laxman's innings scores, 38, was also the 3rd highest score.
• Laxman's match aggregate (134) exceeded South Africa's 1st innings total, a feat than is comparable to the "620/3 to 131/10" bowling turnaround of his team's bowlers.

Historic figures indeed..and not quite unexpected from a man who, for a decade, has been re-writing favourable historic scripts for India in many matches and series well after the world unwisely makes predictions to the contrary.

Unendulkar, the Timeless

The quote below, amongst all I have read in past 5 years that praise or criticise him, best sums up the single biggest quality that defines the Sachin Tendulkar of today. Slyly, slowly and singlemindedly he has gone for the 10th mode of dismissal. Sachin has 'timed' everyone out through his continued love affair with Test cricket.

21 years after debut, it is quite extraordinary that he is likely to score as many centuries (6 achieved, 7 possible) in the current year as he got in 2 seasons even at the peak of his powers in 1998-99. To put in another yardstick, Sachin got as many tons in the first 4-5 years of his career and we all know how unimpressive he was in those days....

I won't be surprised if 40 years hence people start questioning the records when they chance upon this passage of his career. "This guy's incorrigible," the Mask would have remarked. Or in Boycs-ology terms, "it would take 10 horses to pull him off a cricket field."

Quite aptly, this quote has come up on Time magazine - or so I am told (apologies for not verifying). Enough of banter - 'time' to enjoy the quote:

"When Sachin Tendulkar travelled to Pakistan to face one of the finest bowling attacks ever assembled in cricket, Michael Schumacher was yet to race a F1 car, Lance Armstrong had never been to the Tour de France, Diego Maradona was still the captain of a world champion Argentina team, Pete Sampras had never won a Grand Slam.

When Tendulkar embarked on a glorious career taming Imran and company, Roger Federer was a name unheard of; Lionel Messi was in his nappies, Usain Bolt was an unknown kid in the Jamaican backwaters. The Berlin Wall was still intact, USSR was one big, big country, Dr Manmohan Singh was yet to "open" the Nehruvian economy. It seems while Time was having his toll on every individual on the face of this planet, he excused one man.

Time stands frozen in front of Sachin Tendulkar. We have had champions, we have had legends, but we have never had another Sachin Tendulkar and we never will."

Pollock, the emerging commentator

Instance 1: Robin Jackman was discussing a replay of Ishant's reprieve last nite (3rd day close of play of Ind-vs-SA 1st Test at Centurion). Ishant, after apparently being cleanly caught of Morkel's bowling, was called back by umpire Ian Gould after he chose to check foot position of Morkel at delivery with 3rd umpire under the new regulations and uncovered a no-ball.

Jacko then went back to the days of back foot no-ball rule. "Shaun, why do you think it got changed?" Apparently Shaun was off the mike for some reason, so Jacko himself went on explaining how some of the older quicks had metal toes in their shoes and would drag their feet ending up bowling from close to 18 yards. "That is where the front foot rule came into picture, to ensure everyone bowls from 22 yards." after a a while of silence Jacko adds :

"Shaun Pollock observes that since then the bats have got bigger and better, boundries have been pulled in, batsmen can jump to other side to bat left handed in themidst of a delivery but bowlers STILL have to declare the hand with which they are bowling and from which side of the wicket."

Instance 2: Sometime later Shaun Pollock is on the microphone. Ian Gould is flashed on screen at square leg, seen attending to some 'cramp' in the index finger. Off goes Polly in a flash:

"Ian Gould with an itchy finger - hasn't given anyone out since this morning."

[quotes are not exactly reproduced - but you get it I guess]

Being a top team is all about commanding an expectation

Reproducing a Facebook conversation with my friend Bikash Tewari:

Bikash:

wht do u feel , india has any chance in this test, in my view tomorrow is going to be the last day of this test, nomore 5th day is required.

Angshuman:

@Bikash: Sharing my thoughts: India being a top Test team does not depend on what the ICC ranking says, or whether the Indian team does Eden 2001 in the next 2 days. It is mainly in what we (supporters) and they (all opponents) EXPECT the team to do.




From what we saw in Sri Lanka and Ind-Aus series, India are deserving no. 1, depending on individual brilliances at key points (to counter upsets) but not too much. If they are as good as I expect them, they should get to a position after the end of the test where they have made SA bat again and taken 3-4 opposition wickets in their paltry chase. In other words, to surprise them the wrong way. That sets up the rest of the series.



Coming back to expectations, even those who were saying Australia were finished are not REALLY surprised that they have come back from the ashes into the Ashes. Irrespective of their ranking, we EXPECT that from them..that is what makes them a top team

Wanted: 5th gear in Indian Test team

Reproducing my Facebook wall post:

"India 292/2 in 82 overs after NZ's 193 all out...When will the Indians ever dominate if not in the current Test?? They are already about 30 or 40 short of what they should have been at end of day given the position and opposition bowling..Get a feeling that there is no 5th gear, and the team believes depending on the opposition car's failure for a win is a good strategy just because there were self-implosions in opposition ranks in the past. To be fair, the vision is perhaps impaired by limitations in bowling."

Scorecard of India-NZ Test:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-new-zealand-2010/engine/current/match/464533.html

But honestly, how do you make them honest?

I just read an interesting article by Rudi Webster on 'the psychology of cheating', including possible ways to encourage integrity in sportsmen. Recommend it even for non-cricket fans..especially the results of the tests with and without vows of code of honour.


What the article does not say: Does it work as well even on sample students taking their 100th test with such vow? Those tainted guys across all sport - none of them did it in their first match. In all likelyhood they would not have done it even if there was to be an offer.
 
Sharda Ugra has her individual take on the factors that may lead to sportsmen demonstrating loss of morality. She tries to answer her question:

Sporting heroes build their careers, their lives, on reputation. Of athlete as fighter, athlete as adventurer, athlete as risk-taker, but a man or woman doing so always within the rules of their sport. When the boundaries around those reputations begin to fray, we are faced with the same old, weary questions. Guilt and innocence. Reason and impulse. It's what was asked of Hansie Cronje or Mohammad Azharuddin or Saleem Malik, even of Mark Waugh and Shane Warne. Why? Whatever the hell for? What on earth were you thinking?



We want to know what leads men of such skill, achievement and fairly firm financial ground, to make choices that, before they are unethical, are so utterly illogical.

She cites another example of a non-cricketing great sportsman explaining the 'why' what for' 'what were you thinking' questions by looking back to that dark phase:

Tiger Woods described what life was like inside elite sport: "I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to, deserve to enjoy all the temptations around me. I thought I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn't have to go far to find them." That was his answer to the questions "Why?" "Whatever for?" "What were you thinking?"

I also found some words of interest in Sandy Gordon's study of such incidents as excerpted by Sharda. Along side his famous contributions to international cricket teams, Sandy is professor of sport and exercise psychology at the University of Western Australia's School of Sport Science, Exercise and Health.

One of the more unusual terms Gordon used in his responses to ESPNcricinfo was the "derailer". It comes from a psychological questionnaire called the Hogan Development Survey (HDS), used to study an individual's responses under stress.


The derailer refers to traits that belong to the "dark side of personality", which can sometimes take over under pressure and play an important part in decision-making - traits that are normally tolerated, even indulged, as Gordon says, but which, when "tempted with opportunity", can derail. "It's about character meeting opportunity and/or sport revealing character," Gordon said. Temptations come in many disguises; what stays constant, though, is the powerful lure.


The personality types on the HDS scales include "colourful" (seekers of attention, productive, with ability in crises, and possessed of belief in self and ability), "bold" (overly self-confident, arrogant, with inflated feelings of self-worth) and "mischievous" (charming, risk-taking, limit-testing and excitement-seeking). Gordon says "bold" and "mischievous" characters abound in the entertainment industry (e.g. professional sport...) We may often call them "characters" in cricket.

To another planet..and back

Breaking news: Sehwag made a trip to a new planet today. It is called 'scoring 2 runs in 21 balls'. Amazingly he survived his stay in the planet.
Further news: Sehwag's personal score now reads 25(35)..the next 14 balls yielded 23 runs.


Perhaps the 12th man came running out to the crease and drew Sehwag's attention to an indignant looking man standing at the boundary rope, fully clad in batting gear. "Get off my planet," signalled a red-eyed Dravid to Sehwag and fidgeted his way back into the dressing room.

The VVS benchmarking

 

• Take a great modern Test batsman (i.e. someone with avg easily over 50 plus)
• Strip his Test stats of ALL "fair weather" runs
• Check his residual batting average

Is it still above 45?
Does his century count still top 16?
And does he have the number of match winning non-hundreds as the 'benchmark' has?
And has he scored nearly a third of his career runs against the most dominant side of his era?


Yes? NOW call him great.
Else, you can still continue calling him great but with added words.


"Great but not quite VVS"


Update:

Quote from Siddharth Monga on cricinfo:

While in Colombo they (Laxman's India teammates) walked out as if they had known Laxman was always going to win them the match, there was more exuberance today, but they were still not going to mob him Twenty20-style.

In the world of Laxman, you don't act all surprised after one of his near-impossible match-winning knocks. 

Serendipity and cricket legends

Sneaked into cricinfo today to check the latest on the silly Randiv no-ball controversy - more precisely to check if Sangakkara was involved in asking Randiv for that no-ball as some Indian news channels claimed.

Let me confess - I was planning to get more updates on Sanga's guilt so that I could write a post relating this incident to the final sequence of the movie 'A Few Good Men' where marines Dawson and Downey are deemed guilty of "conduct unbecoming a United States Marine" (Haven't watched the movie? Check the last para of the plot section here) for executing unethical orders from their senior Colonel Jessop.

Not to suggest that Sehwag looked remotely as 'unable to fight for himself' as the movie's victim William T Santiago, or that Sanga was as hot or as brilliant on Monday night as AFGM's Jack Nicholson (Jessop).

Thank God I had this petty craving to send down an uninvited e-lecture 'coz I chanced upon a great page under development.

It is to die for - the legends of cricket section with features and videos on greatest cricketers that ever played the game. It looks to be growing - and we will need to wait for a fully developed page covering other legends. I am not complaining. We have to give it time. Such splendid stuff takes considerable time and effort to compile.

ESPN-Star's timeless cricket footages have been married at this page with the excellent cricinfo reports and stats in this never-before section. Happy watching and reading! Probably some day priceless snaps of these legends can also be linked into this section.

If you are still in two minds on investing the next few hours on this page, here's a clincher: the first entry on that page (and hence the subject of the default video feature that autoruns on opening this section) is Sir Isaac Vivian Alexander Richards.

Remembering Rahul's best days - 1: Prolific 100 run partners in Tests for India

Highest numbers by various 'couples' in recent history - Those were the days, RD...

The fast and the Injurious

Munaf Patel is being flown in to replace Ishant Sharma in the tri nation ODI tourney at SL.
Reason: Ishant is struggling with a knee injury.

A tinge of sadness comes upon hearing those 2 names. Together, in the same sentence. In another depressing news of injury to an upcoming Indian fast bowler. As of today neither are quite the 'fast bowlers' as per the first three words of that report, none bowling with the menace associated with fast bowling. Certainly not any more.

And yet, this is what we got, and England had to believe they got, from Munaf in his first Test in early 2006. Those indeed are the dry stats and may not reflect much. But which Indian cricket fan can forget the thrilling memory of a debutante Munaf Patel sending down genuinely unplayable balls, balls that rose from length with English batsmen at Mohali wondering what hit them?

It was great while it lasted - all of one and half series.

Ishant the 'up your nose' fast bowler lasted a little more - about six months. This was his 'coming of age' match - and for the next quite some innings in all forms of the game he had 'The' Ponting (of 2007-08) as his bunny at the latter's own backyard.

Don't let your recent memory of Ishant's nightmare spells (inside IPL and out of it) make you snigger at the thought that his knockout spell on that overcast morning of the Perth Test ever happened. In case you have forgotten, you can check it out here. Forget the analysis by ex-cricketers in that video. Instead, look at the sheer number of deliveries and ways in which Ponting was lucky to survive for many overs in that 'up there for keeps', never-ending, unlucky-till-Ricky-fell 9-over spell by a 19 year old debutante. And the boy-man was almost as nippy and dangerous in the 9th over, when he got Ponting out, as he was at his first bowl.

Very recently, Ishant had once again looked intent and difficult-to-play in some spells of the 3rd 'Laxman & Ajantha' Test at P Sara Oval last week. That is where melancholy comes. Munaf went the 'can't retain top pace in the international circuit' way and broke hearts. Ishant did the same and broke hearts. Now that Ishant looks to be turning back ever so slightly he has to get injured at his knee.

The only hint of positive note that the news has: Munaf gets another chance to turn his clock back...and hopefully find his top pace again.