The only outdoor game where skill >> athleticism

Today a 'friend of friend' on Facebook stated sarcastically that he was 'glad that cricket was played mainly by 8 countries' (indicating India hardly had a chance to be world champions if cricket was played widely). He also went on to state that it is time for India to be doing better in sports that is popular in many more countries, like Football.

I am sharing with you my reply to that point, with some edits to improve readability of this post (an FB post is, well, an FB post):

"Again, assumptions galore here, without much emphasis put on the essentially different nature of the games. I would like to put forward an argument here.


India's sports culture has ensured that India's performance in various games depend on the ratio of athleticism-to-skill involved in that game. Let us take a game like Football. While it is also a lot about skill, the skill comes in only as the final 20-25% of a player's making in the overall picture; the first 75-80% of a great football player is great natural athleticism.

As the skill portion increases in a game, India tends to gets better at it. Hockey needs slightly higher proportion of skills as I see it.I Cannot cite many more examples right now. But whatever  variation it is, all outdoor games were created PRIMARILY for athleticism. Both Football & Hockey fall in that category. All other outdoor games like rugby are also in the same league - if anything it is even more about physical athleticism. All others except cricket.


Cricket stands alone as virtually the only game where athleticism requirement percentage is so low (maybe down to 20-25%) that LACK of it can be COMPENSATED by skill. I doubt if any other outdoor game could have 'achievers' like Ranatunga and Inzamam, to cite two. Those are extreme examples, but cited only to get the point across. They would not have a hope in hell to compensate the lack of athleticism by their skill in ANY other sport like football, even if they had the skill of Maradona within them.

Conversely, their being better athletes would NOT contribute to their being much better cricketers or even better catchers. Inzy was the best catcher in his side. Inzamam in fact got fitter once and promptly aggregated 9 in six WC matches in 2003...no wonder that after getting dropped he came back heavier both in girth and scoring ability.


The whole point of so much is: It is NOT guaranteed that other team's sporting performances in athleticism dominated sports will be replicated in cricket, the only skill dominated outdoor sport where a player - albeit a very talented one - playing for 21+ years is having the best year of his life while approaching 38 and is looking good for more.

Just having many countries beginning to play cricket does NOT guarantee that India's position will then become as lowly as it is in other 'athletic' sports. The subcontinent clearly has a special talent in this particular game called cricket. A game in which hand eye coordination is as much required as extreme mental powers of concentration required for long durations to avoid EVEN ONE mistake (applicable to batsmen, mainly).

If it were not so, India would be no match in cricket for New Zealand, England, South Africa and Australia. Countries that are quite good globally at some very athletic sports like rugby or football. Teams whose fielding and running between the wickets hails from another world compared to the Indians' (on their poor days, which are many).

"Wunnit for Sachin": why Sachin got 18 instead of 100th hundred in Cup final

Heaven. A cold morning of early January 2011.


God sips coffee early in the morning and checks his mailbox. He was out of office for the Durban Test between India and South Africa.

The box is overflowing. He finds a lot of applications from India requesting, or almost ordering him to award the 2011 World Cup to Indian cricket team. Reason: This will be Sachin Tendulkar's last World Cup.

His eyebrows get furrowed. Do these guys have nothing to do? Shaking His head, He opens the next email in his Prayers folder: from a 22 year old called Virat Kohli.

He knew a teenager by this name. That Virat had sent an email called 'silent prayer' to Him 4 years back on the eve of a youth cricket world cup final. At the time God had liked the boy's passion and granted his wish.


Turns out that this email is from the same Kohli Kohli's request is same as the others. But God is immune to such veiled 'give it to him' prayers which are truly intended for self. "Look's like the guy has grown up and as a natural consequence got greedier", He murmurs with a frown.


Then He sees some more requests from other Indian cricket players. God is struck by the common theme: not just the comon folk of India but even Indian cricket players are placing the prayers of World Cup win to Him on behalf of Sachin rather than themselves. "Oh my Rajnikant," God says, "what's happening here?"


God is impressed and decides to grant the common wish. But he wants to check genuineness before granting.


He loads the 'Future Preview' tool on his Cloudtop [not having MSW operating System, please be mindful, which is a banned substance in Heaven].


When God intends to verify genuineness of any personal promise / claim qualifying a prayer, he justs uses FP to simulate and check the person's reaction when the prayer gets granted. Instead of granting the exact prayer they asked for, God often fine tunes it from their FuturePreview reactions. People often do not express themselves so well in prayers.


[FP does not lie and is hence incompatible to MSW OS - another reason for not using the latter.]


He checks Kohli's reaction first, after a simulated World Cup win:
Kohli says "Wunnit for Sachin."


So far so good. God is a little repentent to have earlier misjudged Kohli as greedy. He moves on to the next sender. Zaheer Khan.
"Wunnit for Sachin", Zaheer says in the FuturePreview, pointing to Sachin.


Next is Yuvraj Singh - another second timer. God had recently granted approval for his request to succeed at 2011 World Cup with both bat & ball.
"Wunnit for Sachin", says Yuvraj too. He also goes on to say that the mysterious special person he wanted to win it for was none other than Sachin.


Gautam Gambhir. 2nd timer again. This guy wanted to do well in the Cup final, if his team progresses and if he gets selected. God had approved this guy's earlier prayer too.
"Wunnit for Sachin," Gambhir utters on Future preview.


Last one. This is the only World Cup win prayer for self from an Indian cricket player. You guessed the sender right: Sachin Tendulkar. FP had already started processing 'Sachin after grant of prayer'..but then the battery got discharged. God knew its contents though as he had already approved the prayer (this was a resend from Sachin). Sachin requested for a World Cup win as well as a 100th hundred for himself at the Cup final.


"Okay," God summarised, "I will give them all what they said they were happy for. Sachin wants the world cup, so I will give it to the Indian team for his sake. However all the others waxed eloquent in FP about their happiness at Sachin getting a particular score. So that removes the 100th hundred Sachin was destined to get in this match as per his own prayers. Instead I will grant the general players' preference of one-eight for Sachin."


That's how Sachin got 18 (one-eight) in the World Cup final instead of his 100th hundred.


“Wonder why these players prefer a particularly low score for Sachin in the finals…I have never seen so many people do that to a person they genuinely like!”


He finishes the coffee and moves to visit the World Cup stadiums. Most of them need His help to get completed on schedule.


---------------


cricinfo players' quotes after 2011 World Cup final: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/current/story/509249.html

Spraying @ Wankhede [WC 2011 finals]

We were jointly watching the cup at my friend's place.
Sometime around the 30th over of Indian chase, the spinners were losing control on the batsmen. We were discussing if dew was a reason.
One of us pointed out that the newly started custom of spraying anti-dew sprays had worked like a dream in favour of India during the semi-final at Mohali. Any effect of dew would suggest non-application of spray.

"Was the anti-dew spray missed?"
We reckoned that was indeed the case. We then sought to delve deeper even as the Indian batting looked increasingly assured and Murali yielded 19 in his two-over 2nd spell.
"Is that (spray) a miss by Mumbai cricket authorities or was it deliberately omitted to maximise Indian advantage?"
We tried putting on our "conspiracy theorist caps".


At this point, one in the group went a couple of hours back in time and quipped:
"Now I get why the normally accurate Zaheer started spraying during his last twilight spell. The ever generous host** that Zaheer is, that's when he noticed that spraying had not been done. Good man."
Indeed.


**Zaheer Khan plays for Mumbai, venue of 2011 WC final

World Cup final watchers' sea-sawing opinions: Gambhir bimari

During the Sri Lankan innings, Gambhir chased a ball and made a half-decent attempt to save a boundary off the last ball of the over. He failed. Ad break. Up comes a medical insurance company ad making viewers aware of its coverage of 'gambhir bimari' [serious diseases].
The acceleration of Sri Lankans was getting on the nerves of some of us.Gambhir's concession of that boundary did not help one bit. A riled friend grunted after the ad:

"Gambhir bimari hai" [Player Gambhir is the disease]

By the end of the 10th over of Indian innings though, the same friend was predicting Gambhir to be the match winner(which was a creditable 'early call'). And by the 30th over Sangakarra and his Sri Lankan side had begun to think what my friend had said earlier:

'Gambhir bimari hai'

Zaheer_2011_final vs Zaheer_2003_final

Anyone out there still likening Zaheer Khan's Cup final performance of 2011 to his performance in 2003? DON'T EVEN!!!!! Zaheer only bowled badly in last 3 overs yesterday. Maybe a better performance in those overs would have slashed 15 runs from Team India total and from his own bowling figures.



But in retrospect it is critical that Zaheer saved his most special 1st spell for the final (6 runs in five overs)..If there was a wayward Zaheer show in the first few overs like 2003 (with one side already leaking via Sreesanth), then EVERY bowler would have had 15 more runs in their figures. Work out the Sri Lankan total with that calculation for an idea of the difference Zaheer made with his first spell.

'Change Managers' & 'Continuous improvement agents' Dhoni & Kirsten

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was part of the previous Indian world cup (2007) team that was eliminated early. He, in fact, was integrally involved in the failure, when he failed to support the then skipper Dravid in the still-in-balance elimination match with Sri Lanka. He played the ugliest first-ball shot of his career to Murali first up and departed almost looking happy to go.

Then came the elevation. Dhoni became the T20 & ODI skipper in 2007. The T20 WC win gave him some power with the authorities as well. And he set about arranging his pieces for the change he saw as compulsory.

Irrespective of what people think of him, everything he has done since was done with the good intent of increasing India's chances of success. Some of them were drastic yet right decisions. Dravid & Ganguly's one day omissions were such. These are two players he respected for their ability and Test performances, but also rightly judged the unsuitability of these two to modern limited overs cricket. Some in recent times have been controversial. The selections (or non-selections) of Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin in various series / tournaments are amongst those.

While each decision can be discussed and criticised, it surprises me that so often the INTENT of MSD's decisions gets questioned. And especially as it involves a man who is the first one to admit his positives and his mistakes including his own non-performance after every match in front of all the world (try that just ONCE, to understand what it takes to do it) and tries to build further on it. All of it an extension of the mission of continuously improving the team he is entrusted with.

For the Indian ODI side, we have seen the COMPLETION of transition from dependence on the 10 year+ greats in the match yesterday. Make no mistake. What the cricket world saw yesterday was awe-inspiring.They saw a bold, formidable team which has delivered when it mattered. What's awe-inspiring? That the win came through guys that will return at the next world cup at their peak powers (or still close to it). This team has its problems, but it is aware of those and is perhaps smart enough to assess them well and chart a near perfect 'horses for courses' solution for the chinks. Much of it MUST BE thanks to their skipper and coach...combined with some support from the selection panel who at times have trusted these two guys even when they were unconvinced themselves.

Gary is now leaving for home. Do you think this is going to be Dhoni's BIGGEST contribution to Indian cricket? Much less. He has a far tougher transition in hand in next 2 years - doing to the Test team what he did to the limited overs side. That side is far more dependent on 10+ experience players. Alarmingly it still remains so even after retirement o 2 greats like Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly. And the reason behind it is why that makes it more important - young talents are not adept at the longer version as the older generation and this gap is increasing ALARMINGLY. Dhoni's ability to keep the Test team at the top and hence creating a 'suction' for Test cricket amongst youngsters picking up a bat or ball is critical to the health of Indian cricket (and hence cricket in general) in next 2 decades.

Imran Khan made a great comment after yesterday's victory when Rajdeep Sardesai asked him if Imran was expecting India to win the World Cup. Imran said words to this effect:

"India have been doing well in all forms of cricket in the lead up to world cup. And this is what was Pakistan team was also doing in 1992. This is always the case.'

Imran was not far off the mark. India 1983 were the SOLE instance of a 'not-doing-too-well-for-previous-years' team winning the world cup and sending shock waves. All the others were always major contenders. Success in all forms of cricket is thus intertwined.

If India's Test side tails off, it can still enjoy ODI / T20 sucees for a couple of years. At most. But such anomaly will indicate inability of Indian first class cricket to produce Test quality players...and soon enough the cracks will show up in ALL forms. See Australia between 2007 & 2011? If the Aussie case looks like a moderate decline, we need to remember that such decline in quality is happening INSPITE of an Aussie cricket system in place to prevent it. We do not really have a strong system as yet - we depend heavily on the individual leaders for identifyig talents that come up, how these talents are nurtured and focussed to perform well as well as work for team's cause. This has a big bearing on the team performance, hence its ability to create a following and generate for talent.

That is why people like Ganguly & Dhoni are important to create this 'suction' at top by generating success. That is why the ONLY person I have seen close to God in cricket is Imran Khan of Pakistan, where even the gradually-shaping-up cricket system we have is non-exitent.

From that ugly dismissal in 2007, to the gutsy and brilliant innings culminating in an unforgettable winning sixer in 2011 - the circle probably turned the proverbial FULL circle for Mahendra Singh Dhoni when India chased a once-in-4-years Cup final with 2 of their 3 "10+ years big batting guns" gone within 1st 12% of the chase.

The ODI transition is complete for now, even though Sachin chooses to plays on for a couple of years.

Waiting for the next great transition show for Indian cricket - the Test team. And this time Mahendra Singh Dhoni will need to bridge a bigger gap, with no Gary Kirsten as his accomplice. This where the new coach is going to be critical in carrying on the legacy of Kirtsen-Dhoni combo, albeit with tweaks to suit the style of the new guy. And this is where all of us - cricket followers & media alike - are also going to be critical. How? Simply by appreciating that the Test transition is going to be tougher, with the self-styled-self-techniqued-self-taught-but-team-oriented Amazer from Ranchi himself getting on in years.

The legacy of Dhoni-Kirsten will matter. Just as it always did ever since a rotten, shame-ridden legacy was chucked away 11 years ago and a new legacy gradually emerged under Sourav Ganguly and John Wright. A legacy that has since underwent upheavals, modifications, even personal clashes and downward spirals but nevertheless always strove to achieve improvement [Some things do not really change, perhaps..]

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[Edited from a note in my Facebook page]

Need your support in favour of marching towards floodlit first class cricket

My appeal to any cricket followers that read this post by intent or by accident:
-------------------------------
Please spare a thought about supporting first class / Test cricket played with pink balls. It needs support. No use supporting the branches and leaves (read ODI's & T20) of a tree whose roots (first class cricket) are shrinking by the day.



Currently floodlit first class cricket has a downside: it leads to more consumption of resource (power) but I believe that can be managed in near future by advanced solar energy harnessing resources. A cricket stadium receives a lot of solar energy in daytime - which can be used at night!

Want to see the pics? Here they are: http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/mcc-v-nottinghamshire-champion-county-27-30-march-2011-sheikh-zayed-stadium-abu-dhabi,33,PS.html?imageNo=4

 
While the cricket crazy world is keeping collective eye on the climax of the global event, a silent revolution has been started by people concerned with the health of the 'Mother' format of the game - first class cricket.
It is clear now that while the Son (Tests) augmented the mom's health since itis inception, Grandson (One dayers) had been a mixed bag- positive in some ways and negative in others. Mother was still doing fine but now the Great Grandson (T20) threatens to finish it off by pumping away all blood (read talent) from it by lucre of money.
This development is quite a shocker, as the lifeline for all 4 generations resides solely in the mother. Without survival of the mother, the next three generations might either perish or go into a coma (read 'associate member quality'). Problem is: the Great Grandson is kind of a 'bull in a china shop' guy, one who has immense power but does not know about using it for family's good.
For the Mother to stand a chance of survival, she may need to raid the Great Grandson's territory. The 'positive move' may or may not work but it is worth trying as the mother is dying anyway if she tries nothing.
The preparations for that assault into grandson's territory started at Abu Dhabi on 27th March. Support the cause.
-------------------------------------------
More links:

MCC website report of Rahul Dravid endorsing to take 'pink ball first class cricket' experiment forward: http://www.lords.org/latest-news/news-archive/dravid-pink-the-future-for-tests,1969,NS.html
Pink ball day-night first class match between MCC & Notts at Abu Dhabi - scorecard: http://www.ecb.co.uk/stats/fixtures-results/score-card.html?Pfixture=com.othermedia.ecb.stats.Fixture-L-16738

Here's a link to my previous post listing the exact concerns on health of first class cricket that I discussed heart to heart with a cricket loving guy I know very well - MYSELF.

This is the cricinfo report where Dravid, after completing his participation in the experimental floodlit first class match at Abu Dhabi, has endorsed the new idea as good for cricket's future. The comments in that article list concerns of the readers - one of which was negative impact on energy consumption.

India Revisiting all WC champion teams in chronological order

Who won the WORLD CUP since its inception (barring 1983, which was won by India)?




1) West Indies (1975, 1979)..& defeated in India's last group league match


2) Australia (1987, 1999, 2003, 2007)..& defeated in quarter final


3) Pakistan (1992)..& defeated in semi final


4) Sri Lanka (1996)..waiting in final



India is a nation that respects history.


We undo things in the EXACT order those were done.
 
[Shared on my FB page today]

Raina's crystal ball

As expected before the finals, the Indian players are nervously energetic.


None of the Indian players has any idea of how the final will play out for him.

Sehwag returns back to his room from a special lecture by Ravi Shastri on "Hitting deliveries to the boundary like tracer bullets" and immediately feels this tension. Being a social animal, Sehwag has no intent of withstanding this uneasiness alone. He has set up an Facebook invite to a nail biting party for all his mates. Ex-captain Sourav Ganguly is the Guest invitee.


About 12 suo-moto responses came promptly from Sri Lankan players volunteering to join the party but Sehwag had to refuse the invites.
Papparazzi saw a controversy in that refusal but the story turned out to be less engaging than was initially thought.


The hotel staff have only agreed to clean up KILOS of bitten off nails resulting from the party. TONS of nails will be out of the agreement and the room owner will have to clean it himself. As we all know, Sehwag prefers to sweep Sri Lankan deliveries ONLY on the cricket field.
13 other Team India players have accepted Sehwag's invite for nail biting party ahead of finals. Tendulkar's acceptance reportedly came within 13 seconds of sending out invite...making Sehwag tweet on it.


All except one man.


Suresh Raina.
He is not chewing his nails for a change. He is unaffected by tension.
Why?
Because he knows EXACTLY what he will be doing in that match as the 7th batsman.
How does he know that?
He has a secret crystal ball that has given him his secret brief in all EXACTNESS.


This is his brief:

 - Irrespective of whether India bat 1st or second, the fifth wicket will fall EXACTLY at the score of 187.


- The fifth wicket falls in EXACTLY the 38th over too.

- After coming in, Raina will be required to take the Indian total to EXACTLY 260 by playing cautiously at the start and aggressively at the end.

- And in the process he will get to an unbeaten personal score of 34 (not EXACT for a change, but thereabouts) in those overs.

Raina reopens the cricinfo statsguru page. He wants to check the number of times he passed 34 in ODI's with a new filtering criteria he just thought of. He would next go to the ESPNcricinfo camp to ask for those videos.
[End of story]

Don't you believe me on Raina's brief? Check up for yourself on the QF with Australia and SF with pakistan - you already know that India scored 260 in both matches. Now see the over# and team score at which 5th wicket fell - and also Raina's score in each of the 2 games:

QF: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/match/433601.html

SF: http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/current/match/433605.html


Are you an Indian? Then pray that Sri Lanka do not bat first and get > 260 ;-)

[Acknowledgement: This is an expansion of cricinfo's stats article today on no. 7 performances in India & SL teams]

I've beaten Lara's first Test triple [375]

This is the 376th post in this blog.
Hold your congratulations - I am concentrating on surpassing Lara's 400 right now..
Wish me luck!!

Ind Pak semi final proved existence of God

The high voltage Ind Pak semifinal match of 2011 World Cup proved that pressure matches can also be played in good spirits.



It also finally proved that God exists amidst us.


Don't get me wrong - he is not a player who is in his 22nd year of career as many hallucinate. There was proof yesterday that the guy is a mere mortal.


He is a slim, sharp looking umpire who has been sublime for many years, and divine yesterday.


He is Simon Taufel.

Pak-Ind WC semi final at Mohali: My facebook posts during the Pakistan chase

After Nehra's 1st over:

Nehra - you must come good. You also got swing in 1st over. C'mon

Upon my thoughts going back to Wahab Riaz's deliveries in the Indian innings even when the Pak chase was on:

Wahab Riaz - can't still get over him!! Wonder what he can be if he gets swing both ways regularly.

Upon why I thought India had a good chance of winning, even after making concession of Pakistan being a better bowling side than India:

Pakistan created 15 chances out there (the 9 dismissals + the 6 lives of Sachin including the reviews). We need to create 10 (or 11, keeping cushion for 1 dropped chance)..

comment after further progress of play: we have missed two (Dhoni missed Younus before he was caught 2 balls later, and Yuvi misses running out Umar)..so NOW we have to create 12 chances;-)

While watching Munaf bowl good spells in today's match and remembering his remarkable spell to English midle order in his debut Test, Mohali 2006:

‎5 years back at Mohali, in another March, the fastest bowler (then) in India made his debut against the visiting English team. And decided the match in the 2nd innings with proper fast bowler's wickets. His name: Munaf Patel. History counts for nothing... and today Munaf's pace is unrecognisable. Still it remains the same venue, and the same bowler...

After Yuvi took two important wickets of Pak middle order to compensate for his batting duck:

Punjab ke gaon gaon mein, sarson ke kheton mein ei badi purani kahawat hai:



"You can't keep a good Yuvraj Singh down!"


'Wah - ab' yeh bowler banke inteqam lega.

Finding a familiar favourite batsman lurking behind the frame of Pakistan's Misbah ul Haq as the latter kept failing to get the ball off the square, thus conceding dots:

There's a lot about Misbah ul Haq which reminds me of a Very Special player from Hyderabad, India, someone who is arguably the greatest player NEVER to play in a World Cup. Misbah has the same wide shoulders, same clean-n-strong-jawed face, the same solidity, same age, same calm & solidity..& unfortunately today, also the same struggle in limited overs format to get the ball of the square. Feel for him..

After Munaf took his 2nd wicket:

Munaf & Mohali - made for each other!!!

After Pak reached the close of 40th over will  one set batsman (Misbah) and a willing ally in Wahab:

Pak need 62 off 6 overs, PP3 yet to be taken, Misbah & Wahab Riaz at crease, 3 wkts remaining. Can it get better than this??

After the Indian win, while trying to rub it into the folk that pretend they know EVERTHING better than the national skipper:

For all those who played pundits and thought Dhoni & team mgmt knew less than jhontu's and montu's of the para: have a look at Munaf and Nehra's figures. Sometimes, just sometimes (which is most of the times) Captain Cool knows better. He sees these guys at the nets too..we don't.

Quoting the most interesting personal note I heard in a tele-channel just after completion of the semi final match: Quote of the night when India won against Pak in WC semis:

"Main Mumbai mein hasoonga - 1996 mein main roya tha magar ab hasoonga."

          - Vinod Kambli, on a TV channel.

[This one is for eternity, irrespective of what happens on April 2]

On news pouring in from FB friends in other cities that crackers are being burst:

I cannot hear many crackers being burst: probably Kolkata hangs on, holds its guns for April 2nd..SUPERLIKE!!

comment after learning that crackers are being burst at some parts of Kolkata as well:
CORRECTION: Salk Lake holds its guns for April 2nd

 
Upon seeing bowling figures of Indian bowlers at the end of the semi-final with  Pak:

Zaheer 2, Munaf 2, Nehra 2, Bhaji 2, Yuvi 2....no 6th bowler...talking about pack hunting, HAVE YOU SEEN ANY BETTER THAN THIS?

Sharing a video of the Indian national anthem (recorded in 2009) where India team has Ashish (Nehra) on the screen and the word (ashish) in the song as well:

Time now for some POSITIVE Nehra jokes:



Q: Who is the only cricketer who will have his name pronounced when the Indian national anthem is sung at Wankhede on April 2nd?


A: 'ASHISH' Nehra, of course!!


-------


Check the video below - I shot it before Ind-Pak ICC trophy 2009 match. India lost that one. Then the team had 2 players whose name ...was in Indian national anthem - Dravid had been recalled!!

On the recurrence on 'mis' prefix in Pak's misadventure in the chase:

Wondering if one of the Pak newspaper headlines tomorrow will be:



"MISbah's MISbalanced MIScue ends MISsion"

My subsequent correction to comment: More correctly: "MISbah's MIScalculated innings culminates in MISbalanced MIScue, ends MISsion"

On Sachin: note on 'When desitny begins to wilt and comply to your will':

http://pavilionview.blogspot.com/2011/03/when-destiny-wilts-and-begins-to-comply.html

When Destiny wilts and begins to comply to your will...

"itni shiddat se maine tumhe paane ki koshish ki hai



ki har zarre ne mujhe tumse milane ki saazish ki hai....



kehte hai agar kisi cheez ko dil se chaaho toh poori kaynaat tumhein usse milane ki koshish mein lag jaati hai...aap sabne mujhe meri chahat se mila diya...thanks, thanks very much, kehte hai ki filmon ki tarah hamari zindagi mein bhi end tak sab theek hee ho jaata hai..happys endings...aur agar theek naa ho toh woh the end nahi, picture abhi baaki hai mere dost"

- quote from Hindi film Om Shanti Om, based on Paolo Coelho's similar thought in his novel 'The Alchemist'
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In a 1999 WC Super six match which could have eliminated the Australians, Steve Waugh scored only the 2nd international hundred of his career when he came in at fifty something for three chasing 250+ against a formadable South African attack. Gibbs, the 2nd best fielder in the world after Rhodes at the time and certainly the world's joint best catcher with Rhodes and Mark Waugh, famously 'dropped' him by throwing the ball in celebration too soon after catching..that Steve Waugh ton allowed Australia to win 3 world cups and start a phenomenal winning streak of unbeaten matches that took 12 years to stop.

Anybody with only 2 hundreds in ODI's who did better, and at a more opportune time? Destiny intervened that day, perhaps.
Probably because Steven Rodger Waugh wanted that Cup badly enough.



Cut to 2011. Another Cricket world cup.
Sachin Tendulkar. He generally gets bad calls from umpires, some of them especially in crucial moments in Test matches. But extension of Test innings is the last thing on his mind today.
The only thing he wants badly today is an ODI World Cup win. He went the whole distance to a final once 8 years back but returned empty handed from the last step.
How badly does he want to win the 2011 World Cup?

So badly that Destiny is forced to comply and contrive to make it happen, as that saying goes. It certainly did so today, by returning back ALL (and I mean all - six to be precise) of Sachin's career earnings of 'bad dismissals' with interest in ONE SINGLE innings, the one innings that needed him to succeed for his team to take him where he wanted to - playing a 2nd WC final. And play that game at home, the city where he grew up in and learnt his cricket, the city where his elder brother & other family members made sacrifices to let him become what he is today. And possibly win the game, to attain his one remaining unfulfilled dream. The one he wants badly, very badly, so badly that destiny is beginning to comply. "Itni shiddat se" and all that.
Quite un-dramatic, isn't it?
Almost as un-dramatic as that win coming through Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar scoring his 100th international hundred in the final. For destiny also took care, probably with an understanding half-smile on her face,  that Sachin did not end up getting his 100th ton in a semi final which will be remembered as much for him getting 6 lives as for India playing Pakistan in a semi final match for the 1st time in a WC to come up tops.

[shared as a note on my Facebook page]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This post has been insipred by a comment of Rajdeep Saedesai to the tune of 'Things getting set up for a Sachin dominated finale in Mumbai' on CNN IBN today after India won the semi final against Pakistan

Pink balls: first class and possibly the last hope

Q-AH: "If India win the WC, would that be more special that winning a Test series against a formidable SA in SA?"

A-AH: Difficult to tell - India stopped short of winning the series this January. Had India won the SA test series, I would have probably gone ahead and said 'No'. Actually a World Cup win would be a collective joy, something that I can enjoy with all...without being extra special to me personally. I will be excited & delighted about a WC win all right, but I won't dream about it like a smitten schoolboy for days on end. An away Test series win against the best side available, on the other hand, would certainly have been a personal moment of cherish.

Q-AH: Could you say that the response of too many others who follow cricket would be the same?

A-AH: Can't say. It depends on the section of followers we consider.

Q-AH: Explain.

A-AH: The relative importance of Tests and limited-overs cricket varies across the globe. Even in the same region, it will vary across the generations. In India, Tests are back in spotlight mainly because India are number 1. The following for Tests is still not much compared to ODI's and is restricted mainly at cities ..which in turn are now falling short in comparison to T20's. Generally it is limited overs cricket that has a far bigger fan base, especially so in the younger generations.

Q-AH: Why do you think it is so?

A-AH: Because for the last 20 years, generations are growing up seeing all the focus from media and sponsors on limited overs cricket. Also - to be truthful - people have lesser time in their lives these days to witness Test matches.

Q-AH: Why do you think people have less time for Tests?

A-AH: They now have lot more options to invest their time on. Cricket itself has produced one - T20.

Q-AH: Do you think Tests will ever get back the following of pre-ODI days?

A-AH: No

Q-AH: Do you think Tests will ever get back the following of pre-T20 days?

A-AH: Don't know - but this one can be tried. And it MUST try before T20 internationals gain more ground (T20 is still more of a club game than international sport).

Q-AH: How does a 5 day game attack a 3 hour game which is getting lapped up by masses?

A-AH: It will need support from the administration. But the first target is to create competition in the strength of these T20's - essentially that 9-to-5 people can follow these 3 hour games fully with no impact whatsoever to their careers. If Tests are going to survive, they must invade this 'time slot advantage' territory and take it from there.

------------------

That's quite a frightening conversation with myself.

We are just not aware of the exact current health of the support base of Test cricket.

In general, all awareness of the viewership health comes from qualitative judgement from people writing their pieces from own, coloured standpoints.

That won't do.

We need cold, unbiased facts. The viewership data....for Tests, for ODI's, for T20's....From television audicences across the globe. From the ticket counters of stadia. With locationwise breakup. With age-wise breakups if possible.

We need it NOW. It will form the 'before expt' data.

And then we start the experimental period of say, 3 years. QA period where first class cricket is played in pink balls, starting late afternoon and ending at 10 pm. Not only for Tests, but also for Ranji matches, Duleep matches, County matches - everywhere....certainly wherever the players and boards agree.

Then at the end of the period we take a second set of data. The 'after expt' data.

We inspect what we have. We compare the two sets of data.

From that data, a picture will emerge.

We will get a good indication if Test cricket can soldier on inspite of 'loss of territory' or it is scheduled to die away.

If Test cricket fades away, cricket as we know it today also goes with it. We will then have players groomed without skills to last 2 days at a stretch in whatever weather they are exposed to...players 'designed' for limited overs cricket ONLY (which NONE of the current players are)....players who will play the game in such an alien fashion that we will identify the rules & the equipment but not the game.

If the data reflects 'regaining of territory', the experiment is taken further logically and Test cricket is redsigned in the next 10-15 years based on tweaks and subsequent results of those tweaks.Tweaks that do not alter the freedom that the basic first class game offers to all players (batsmen / bowlers / captains / fielders) or the endless possibilities that can emerge from the format.

Either way...those of us who hope to see the return of first class cricket as the prime form of cricket will be expressing gratitude to those who at least tried to do something for it.

I am one of them.

I hope the one-off experiment being carried out at Abu Dhabi does not remain one-off.

I hope we see bowlers running in with pink balls everywhere by the end of this year.

See them for yourselves: Pic 1: Pic 2

Update: An experimental first class match between MCC & Nottinghamshire was played out with a pink ball for the first time. After the match, Rahul Dravid endorsed furthering the experiment of using pink balls for First Class matches and Tests, albeit with a few more 'tweaks' to the rules.

He made a few comments on the experimental first class match in which he participated. Rahul scored a duck in the first innings and a century in the 2nd. Here's an excerpt of his quotes from the MCC report:

"As with any new innovation administrators and the players will need to take a leap of faith at some point." said the 38-year-old batsman.



"I think there is definitely a future if people are going to have to have an open mind to it."

Despite some issues, the day/night matches have been deemed a success and Dravid would like to see more experiments in the future.



He added: "It was a new experience batting against the pink ball under the lights. I never found sighting the ball under the lights a problem at all.


"There are some things which need to be looked at - for example the twilight period and dew which can be a problem in some parts of the world.


"But there is definitely a future for day-night Test and First-Class cricket.


"I think there are a few further tweaks that need to be made, and it would be beneficial to play some more trial matches at different venues and in different conditions as well."

Hope we see pink balls and day-night first class games sooner rather than later.

Super Semi at Mohali: the match within

Cricinfo's Andy Zaltzman on the main sub-plot of the Indo-Pak WC Semi final:

"India’s batsmen now average 74 against Test-opposition spin in this World Cup. Pakistan’s spinners average 21 against Test-team batsmen."

Sometimes statistics can surprise you by speaking the truth like no words could. That battle may well decide the war.

Ponting - not the end

I seriously believe so...and hence this post is to confirm that I am NOT prepared to write a farewell note on him just as yet.

Photo story of all World cup hosting sub-contin​ent cities on cricinfo

Have a look at these pictures...can't imagine that I never visited these pages of cricinfo till today.
I loved the pics and that is why I am storing the links for keeps. In fact, I was tempted to turn back the timepiece by a month and half, load my purse heavily and visit these places even as the matches happened. The last two temptations are nearly as feasible as the first one..but the photos can get people dreaming for a while.
---------------------------------
INDIAN CITIES:

Kolkata: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/483949.html?city=kolkata&im=126321
Mumbai: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/483978.html?city=mumbai&im=122649
Chennai: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/484175.html?city=chennai&im=122788
Delhi: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/485133.html?city=delhi&im=122874
Bengaluru: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/484372.html?city=bangalore&im=123585
Chandigarh: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/484172.html?city=chandigarh&im=123219
Nagpur: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/483804.html?city=nagpur&im=123462
Ahmedabad: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/485159.html?city=ahmedabad&im=123766

SRI LANKAN CITIES:


Colombo: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/482949.html?city=colombo&im=123033
Kandy: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/485135.html?city=kandy&im=123112
Hambantota: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/485134.html?city=hambantota&im=123398




BANGLADESHI CITIES:


Dhaka: http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/484442.html?city=dhaka&im=123639
Chattagram (Chittagong): http://www.espncricinfo.com/travel/content/site/travel/gallery/484644.html?city=chittagong&im=123701

Commando's walk in the storm

This is the video link of the famous desert storm innings, Sharjah 1998:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXRkHervQJc&feature=fvwrel

India were facing elimination in the tri-nation tourney if they lost this match by a certain margin. After a major early collapse, there appeared no way that India would even come close to overhauling that margin. Sachin helped the team get over the minimum runs required to make the final..and then even tried to go for an impossible win (before falling just short). This innings had everything - EVERYTHING that an ODI batsman is expected to do for his team. Have you watched Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Commando"? No? Watch Sachin's 143 instead. Barring the end result, it can put even Miandad's last-ball-sixer-knock in Sharjah'86 to shade.


---------------

For those who questioned the intent behind Sachin's walk in 2011 WC (suggesting it was prompted by fear of getting caught at UDRS):


YES, that could have been a possible reason for his walk (I am sure it will be THE reason for many future walks)...but Sachin had started walking long back.


Watch the closing moments of this video - he had 'walked' at the end of his innings. He waited to check if it is a no-ball due to height - and walked away when he saw no no-ball signal...even after the umpire gave him not out. As I had opined to my FB friends earlier, there was a time before 1995 when Sachin used to let umpires decide if he was out. But from late 90's ever since he become a role model (or ever since Ponting started playing for Aus & took up the 'non-walker' mantle ;-) I have always seen him taking the decision himself.


[I am willing review that stand if I get proof that he selectively chose not to walk even after 1998. Unlikely - this was a high octane match against his eternal foes Australia, he was the lone fighter badly wanting to win this match (I am 75% sure he would have won it that day had he stayed...and there was no UDRS at the time.]

Alternative climax of Commando: Just before slaying the villain, Schwarzenegger turns into a monk and walks off into the mountains.

South Africa lose to New Zealand in a Quarter final upset

[Note: This is a result based analysis - I have not watched the match live and hence cannot comment on its nuances]

On South Africa
----------------
This is an upset. From whatever angle you look at it, this remains an upset. And especially so after New Zealand squandered a good fightback by Ryder and Taylor to limp to 220 odd.
But this was ALSO a mishap waiting to happen. For all the well laid plans of South Africa coming good, their loss in the hands of England also showed that their batting needed some insurance...especially as they had a non-performing opener. And especially as that opener was their captain Graeme Smith. And what a tragedy that turned out to be for this brilliant and (uncharacteristically, this time) entertaining side...ODI openers are the ones who set the matches up for the rest that follow. This team, which did EVERYTHING ELSE RIGHT, could not replace the malfunctioning opening partner of the classy Hashim Amla.
Over and above their great fielding, varied bowling and resilient lower order batting, the one last fallback that South Africa needed in the pressure cauldrons of WC knockouts was an opener who would come good on a rainy day, who would keep one end for most of the match even if wickets tumbled at other end. Smith never looked like coming good. And unlike Ponting who looked similarly off-colour for much of the league stages, Smith did not come good even when it mattered...not even to banish the 'c' word from the dictionary of South Africans.


On New Zealand
----------------
They started similar to the way Sri Lanka started against India in the 1996 Semi finals. Unlike Sri Lanka of '96 though, they never recovered in the batting innings and also did not look like having the bowling side  that could eke out best results from wearing sub-continent surfaces in the 2nd innings of the match.

But once again like so many other times the gritty New Zealanders showed how collective intent can get one up on the best collection of talents. I have not watched their fielding innings but from the position they were in mid-match, it must have taken superhuman self-belief and professional mindset to first hang in even after not getting too many early breakthroughs and making South Africa toil to their 100 run mark.... and then to turn on all cylinders and capitalise when the middle order wickets fell. ]

The beauty of this side is: I must still consider a semi-final win by this side against either England or Sri Lanka (whoever reaches semi-finals) as another upset. Another BIG upset.

The brisk Walker

A former cricketer on 'walking' controversy in 2011 WC:

"It's nice to see people walking but that doesn't happen now I guess,There is a system in place now so that you can't get away with it. I mean people still take chances and why not? Jayawardene took a chance and it went the other way."

Guess who said it? 'Walker' Younis!!