Archive for February 2009
If Antigua was in India!!
Poor selection
And then Dhawal Kulkarni makes his way to the team. Amazing. Just a season with …..and he is into the team. If Karthick can be in the team for some 1100 runs in Ranji, then what the heck has Pujara done wrong ? May be not from Chennai or …… ?
Selection of Munaf Patel is also a bit questionable as he would be injury prone more than taking wickets. Test batting line up selects automatically. Hopefully nobody would speak again of 5 batsmen theory. That doesnt work for India. Not untill we have a decent alrounder or half one like Irfan.
Sad to see the quota system still existing in Indian team even now. Unfortunately not all are Saurav Ganguly who could ride over the allegations and prove their critics wrong. Lets see what this lads riding on favoritism do. Lets see what specifically the Kulkarni lad does ?
Rohit Sharma in Numbers.
Ok, I drew lot of flak for being critical of Rohit Sharma. Not cos I wrote he is a under delivering performer, but bcos he is from Mumbai. Mumbaikars shouldn’t be criticized. A harsh learning. I was thumped loud cos I referenced Mumbai for his origins. So is it that Mumbaikars fail and then they get away with it ? One greater man than this young kid continues to have to prove to his critics that he is worth the adulations and the records, yet he never cares about them. One great man who is an icon for the country who hails from the same city, same terrain, same geography as this Rohit Sharma, but then those detractors keep quiet on different grounds. Youth rules in the country. Being young is in, despite you perform or not. Oldies, move aside.
Alright, then here is dissection of this man’s performance in the ODIs. He is yet to perform in Tests and T20s doesn’t really hold that significance as its too short, so I wont count his contributions for now. Not that he has got a great record there. He has got few hundreds in Ranji games but those 100s failed to give him the confidence and attitude to take the scoring opportunities in SL. I feel this is the worst time in Indian cricket not to perform. Cos if you fail to perform, probability might be that you might never get a chance more to play. Yeah the money would keep coming in from IPL and other sources, but if you don’t make runs, then no endorsements and then no invitations to the parties as well.
Alright again, I shut myself up and let figures speak :
He has played 35 games for 637 runs with the highest score of 70* against SL in SL (2008) with an average of 25.48 runs per game. Great.
Here is his record in India in last 2 years:
|
filtered |
6 |
103 |
52 |
25.75 |
0 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
1 |
0 |
6 games, 103 runs, highest of 52 vs Pakistan in 2007. 4 games against England 50 runs in 2008 (when India won 5-0) and then he was dropped. And 1 run against Australia in 2007. Sumps up to 103 in 6 games. An average of 25.75, 0.27 more than his career average. So slight home advantage for him.
Now lets see for his overseas figures in last 2 years for giving him a bit of benefit of doubt:
|
29 |
534 |
70* |
25.42 |
29 games, 534 runs and highest of 70* with an avg of 25.42 runs. Diseccting more he has got 138 runs in 6 games vs Aussies (take out 66 and then he has 72 in 5 games). Aussies were the world champs (officially still) when he played them last.
Now for minnows Bangladesh : 2 games and 48 runs. Highest of 26. No distinct advantage here too. More trouble. Against HongKong its 11 runs in 1 game.
A bit weaker teams but stronger than Zim and BD (based on ICC rankings).
Vs Pakistan he has played 4 games 91 runs at 30.33 (best average against a country). Vs SL he has played max 14 games and made 238 runs at 26.44. Further breakdown gives him 8 runs against SA (long back in 2007).
He has never hit off. Not scored runs anywhere. Prodigies never average for under 26s for long. They get one defining moment and then the career turns around. 2 years for this man and that moment is still to come. The so called my critics now have the figures to compare and peek through. Judge them for yourself. And if you say still he should be given chances, then go ahead with the opinion. Its pretty clear that he has been given chances in 35 games just cos he is young and for most part of his 2 yr career, Mr DBV was at the helm of national selection committee. It would be interesting to see how Kris Srikanth deals with him.
Rohit Sharma : Time to dispatch him to domestic cricket
This days if you happen to be young lad in Indian cricket and on top of that if you hail from Ranji Champion team Mumbai, then trust me you are going to be in the team for infinite time. Doesn’t matter, if you perform or if you don’t. To add to the toppings on the icing on the pizza cake, if your captain trusts you and ex-chief of selector publicly banks you as next Tendulkar shamelessly and if you once play a 55 in a must win T20 game in world championship and then you make 70 in the company of the BAAP of cricketing knowledge and batting down under (till then down under was big thing winning, this days anybody can do it), then you are in for the team for good.
Doesn’t matter if you average paltry 15 in the ODIs and just 4 in the T20s, you are still high hopes and billed as the next big thing in the Indian cricket. You happen to live in a chawl in Mumbai in not so good conditions and then suddenly you win the T20, be a part of world cup winning team something the greats Sachin, Rahul, Saurav, VVS and Anil couldn’t do, your life changes , you go and live in swanky Bandra apartment and you become a poster boy of media and cricket glitz. Despite all this runs never flow out of your bat and you never take the game to the next level.
Only way then left for the skipper is to drop you out of the playing XI and then for the selectors is to throw you back to the grind of domestic cricket. Yes, that’s what fate lies for you. Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai cricketer, the failure Indian batsman of SL series who neither had any bad decision going against him or neither he was suffering from any distraction. Time is ripe for him to be dropped from the NZ touring party and get another new face mostly Pujara and ask Sharma to get the temperament, attitude and moreover the self-belief right. Till then no place for him in the Indian cricket.
Blabba King resigns.
Cricket is a great game of levels. A day it props you to the ascendency the next day it pulls you down. Not long back in Aug 2008, a 1-2 defeat and a lacklusture bowling performance by India’s greatest matchwinner Anil Kumble slid to his sunset of an illustrious career. That defeat was to SL under Mahela Jayewardene. Indians however went on to win the ODI series 3-2 .
And then SL went to struggle against meek oppositions. The teams once they hunt with cunning efficiency suddenly started to pose challenge to the Lanka. SL still won but the efficiency and ruthlessness wasn’t there. They almost lost the tri series in BD but won in Pakistan. And then the disaster followed.
India thumped SL 4-1 in the home ODI series and the home team slid to 3rd consecutive home series defeat in 3 yrs. Something which was unthinkable even in 90s when they were not as strong as they are / were in 2000. And the skipper was in false dawn. He was in denial. He suffered loss of form. Hit only 1 50 in last 17 innings (or 16). Yet he found himself in false dawn that he is in good nick and whatever. Dhoni left no stone unturned to ensure his team won 4-1 in a land where Indians choked even during peak days of Sachin, Saurav, Azhar and Kumble, Dravid. And what Jayewardene did to Anil Kumble, Dhoni did the same to MJ. The blabba king goes silent post Pakistan tour. SL is no Pakistan and skipper once gone never comes back.
Most prolly the next choice for skipper is obvious – Kumar Sangakara, but then he is untested on international front. And he has to don three duties now (if) : skipper, keeper and best batsman of the team. He is no Dhoni. But then Dhoni isn’t the best batsman India has. He can play with free mind cos he knows the test team has Fab Three plus Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj. ODI team has Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj ahead him. Sanga might not have that luxury. If Mahela is not the skipper then on his current form, he doesn’t deserve a place in the ODIs at least.
Here is what he blabbered may be for one last time:
In the best interests of the Sri Lanka team, I have decided to stand down as Sri Lanka captain after this Pakistan tour,” Jayewardene said in a statement. “This is something I have been considering for some time as it has been my long-held belief that my successor should have at least 18 months in the job to imprint his vision on the team for the 2011 World Cup.
“After much thought, I have concluded that the right time has now come for fresh leadership to takeover. It was not an easy decision to make because being the Sri Lanka captain has been the source of enormous pride. I am very grateful to have been granted the honour of leading the team during the last three years. I would like to extend a special thank-you to my team-mates for making the job so easy and fulfilling, to the Sri Lanka Cricket officials and selectors who placed their faith in me, and to family, friends and fans who have provided so much support. I look forward now to extending my full support to my successor and hope to play a major part in the team’s success during coming years as a batsman.
Good lord, we would now be saved from his monotonous speak unless he becomes MoM. But he did handle his part with grace. His high point was certainly the World Cup final of 2007. And in Tests it was 2-1 defeat to India and the draw in England in 2006. Besides that it’s the same old story for him in the Tests. Minnow wins and losses to major teams.
Vaughan can stem in England rot ?
Perhaps tahis time England need Vaughan and may be he as a batsman can stem the rot England are fast sliding to. Now its their 3rd consecutive series loss (almost) and the batsmen aint performing especially Ali Cook and Ian Bell. Vaughan can be inspirational provided he is back in runs and may be his presence could boost the spirits as he is a bit like Saurav Ganguly to England as he built the team brick by brick post Nasser Hussein in 2004 – 2006. But the big question is will the selectors bet on him ? Or is he still on ?
No KP for captaincy!!
Kevin Pietersen is likely to captain Bangalore Royal Challengers for the first three weeks of this IPL season for which he is available. Pietersen will then hand over the leadership to Rahul Dravid or Mark Boucher, a team source said.
If that happens, it would be very unfortunate and ridiculous. KP doesn’t boast of a very good record as a captain in his limited time. 4 ODIs won and 5 lost out of 9. 1 test won and 1 lost with a draw out of 3. Hardly inspiring. And look what he has done to England ? Left the team in a mess that there are murmurs now that England are new West Indies of late 90s and 2000s.
Warner
Warner was given a chance after slam bang success in T20, hailed up as new Hayden, barring one 50 in ODIs he didn’t live up to his potential, he was termed Shahid Afridi in temperament barring leg spin. And now he is dropped. What about the future ? Wouldn’t the kid’s confidence be affected ? Has a prospective talent being nipped in the bud ?
Hail West Indies
A West Indies victory in 2000s over stronger teams is a NEWS as it was an Indian victory in 1980s. And yesterday they not only achieved the improbable but also broke a jinx of 9 years of being not able to beat England anywhere. The last time they beat England was in 2000 1st test in England as they began their way in typical then routing England fashion, but fell apart horribly in the next 4. One of the Tests was even finished in 2 days with Andy Caddick taking 4 wkts in a over. And then their woes continued in 2004 home series when we had the rise of Steve Harmison with 7/12 in Sabina Park. Its an irony that the ground where they suffered worst defeat by being bowled out for 47, they won the Test match at the same ground by dismissing England for 4 more runs. 51 to be precise.
The victory wasn’t a news amidst the IPL auction. But it is very significant for West Indian cricket. It should give them a huge boost to the upcoming Tests especially with Jerome Taylor showing the caliber. 5 for 11 are superb figures against a team which has highest paid IPL cricketers in the world. Too early to say that their revival would begin, but this should definitely begin their upward sojourn.
Gayle, Sarwan and Chandu should form the batting trio if they are to win more and consistently. May be a draw NZ series gave them a boost to perform well so much so the pre series mess and the awful proceedings in England over captain coach row.
What would KP and Freddie feel ? On moon one day and buried deep down in shame the next ? So is the game. A great leveler.
Bravo and Hail the West Indies. Good job.
Anil’s perfect 10
A decade ago Anil Kumble, India’s former skipper and greatest Test matchwinning bowler took perfect 10 in a Test match at his favorite ground Kotla in Delhi. And his victims were no minnows, no cheap wickets, no frills but 10 Pakistanis who were gung ho after the victory in Chennai few days before.
Switch Hit 