Tag: New Zealand

pU steS! Talking Confuciusly!

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-20103 Comments

Three quarter finals have been done and dusted. Confusion reigns!! One major upset, one sort of and one a damp squib. Such a contrasting level of cricket skills seen in all three games……. confusion rains!!

West Indian effort against Pakistan was a total washout; a complete disgrace and unworthy of last 8 round of a premier competition. May be West Indian team decided to take their revenge on Bangla spectators for the stones they received at their hands!! Me thinks that may be West Indians took it upon them selves to confuse the (g)hosts of match-fixers that inevitably tag along Pakistan team, like a Betal on Vikram’s shoulder! May be this is a better way of taking the ghost of match-fixing out of equation?? Take that..we will shoot your odds to hell! And for free….

I mean, for cryinoutloud, how can batsman after batsman of international class miss simple straight ones? I thought I saw an expression of utter confusion on the face of Mohammad Hafiz. Poor fellow must be trying hard to spin the ball and here he is getting wickets even when failing to do so? Wow, how come no one told me that to be a “right-arm-sidha” could be so profitable? Sack the coach!!! When confusion rains, it could be cats and dogs and wickets!!

To me, more than minnows bashing this spineless batting performance is a reason enough to dredge up the  discussion to revamp this premier competition. Reduce this to only 8 teams AND performance in last tournament should count towards your entry to the next!!! If you loose by over a certain margin (e.g. over 100 runs or more than 8 wickets), whatever you do in proceeding four years, you shall remain barred till next edition! Sorry, that is a bit harsh but there has to be some bloody accountability towards performance. If the players do not take pride in their performance, may be they do not deserve to get the center stage! Perhaps ICC should penalise the board for such a pathetic performance. May be their one year royalty or whatever that ICC distributes to the member boards should be withdrawn! May be if the board members find it hard to live an exalted status for a year or two, it may knock some sense in those fat cats? In case of Windies, that would certainly be helpful. If they had settled the players contract issue in time the team could have performed better….or would they? Confusion reigns…

Was it New Zealand beating South Africa or South Africa loosing to NZ or SAF beating it self? I am confused….I guess, so must be Daniel Vettori and his team. While the South Africans are perhaps chokfused!! How can you explain this phenomenon of choking? People have choked on fish bone; even on drinks. Choke  Africans, oops South Africans  do so regularly in cricket. Graeme Smith has been known to answer “choking” questions from scribes by dismissive and aggressive responses; sadly he and his team has refused to answer that in the best possible manner; on the turf! Strange how many times a team can repeat its follies? On the other hand, you can say that in case of South African cricket, the saying “practice makes you perfect” can’t be truer! It is unconfirmed news that ICC is going to open a “Hall of Choke” which will exclusively include South Africans. The inductees will be called “Choke-a-bloke”. I have this from an unquestionable source that Google will request Smith to write the new Chokopedia. Also it is grapevine on the international cricket circuit that South Africans are not sledged….just “c” word followed by a grin will do! I was surprised when I heard that South African team management had given strict instructions to caterers that their dressing room shall be chocolate-proof…..now I know why. For heaven’s sake, scribes are rummaging the statistics to dig out all “choking” stats of South Africans. The pity is they don’t need to search too hard!! I am told that some one from SAF team actually accused Indian Hindi reporters of sledging when they mentioned phrase “choka chhakka”!  I mean, for chrissake, Kiwis won this fair and square. Isn’t it a “choking” shame that we talk only about South Africa?? That’s why I am confused with this up set!!

To be honest, the Kiwis were still celebrating Australian team’s loss to India more than their miraculous win. They now have the antipodean bragging rights for the next four years; for the first time in the history of World cups, Kiwis have gone a step beyond their elder neighbors. (if it is incorrect, then I blame it on confusion!). I heard a loud cheer last night from across the ditch. I was told it was New Zealand cheering their team’s win. Then there was even louder cheer. It seems some one mentioned Australia!! India’s beating Australia can be called a “sort-of upset”. In some ways India were expected to win in their home conditions. But India’s performance till date was confusing. Perhaps the players were confused that they were still playing overseas… However, it seems that the Aussie sledging reminded them of the “home-truth”. Australian media is now accusing Ricky Ponting of poor captainship. It was reported in one daily that “It was disapPonting to note that we did not let the sleeping dogs lie”.

Hopefully, it is expected that this state of confusion will not continue for long. Tonight, Sri Lankans will resolve any confusion Andrew Strauss has about the out come of last quarter finals. Seems like Strauss is confident of “adjusting”. I have a feeling that by the end of the game Poms willl know that adjusting is not enough in cricket; you have to win it!! But then again, Poms have been the most Jekyll and Hyde team of this World cup. So much so that Afridi is totally confused. So much so that the Pakistani team has registered a protest with ICC and threatened England for a compensation for “breaching of our paternal rights”. Now ICC is confused and trying to interpret cricket laws as per Sharia Laws!! Confusion reigns supreme….

Year 2010 was Very Very Special!

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-20102 Comments

2010 was perhaps the best year for Indian cricket in a long time. Perhaps only one that can match it was 1971, when India won two overseas series for the first time against powerful cricket nations, WI and England; not counting 1983 when India became world champions in One day cricket against the run of the play. In spite of Tendulkar, the Ram, being so dominant in Indian cricket, to me 2010 was the year of (VVS) Laxman. Five superlative innings that not only saved India but converted defeats into victories and changed the fate of every series. Review the following games and you will find VVS as the common denominator; the pillar of strength.

    1. SA vs India in India
    2. India vs Sri Lanka in SL
    3. Australia vs India in India
    4. New Zealand vs India in India
    5. India vs SA in SA

And the last one against South Africa will be remembered for a very very long time. Indeed a water-shed moment in Indian cricket as it helped India to level the series for the first time in South Africa. Laxman was all grace and attack; standing up to the ferocity of Steyn and Morkel while scoring the only 50 of the match as if he was batting on a completely different track to any one else in that game. Didn’t surprise may of us though, did it? The man has done it before; quite a few times. Indeed India now EXPECTS him to do so when every one else fails. What a psychological edge to have for the Indian team when the push comes to shove.

Lot has been written about this one of the finest batsman in the history of cricket. Very Very Special, Silky Steel and what not. And no one has missed a chance to wax lyrical about him; Bhogle to blogger and all in between. VVS Laxman is one of the few batsman who can unite all in consensus about his art, regardless of national boundaries. And when it comes to one country, he just turns from great to a colossus. No prizes for guessing that Australia’s love-hate relationship with Laxman is one of the most enduring and endearing one. Many in Australia do not know whether to love him or hate him. Many love to hate him when he bats but hate to see him get out. The identity of a true champion is that even your enemy wants to embrace you….after loosing. I would like to think that out of all recent players the three who got the most respect from Aussie crowd were Tendulkar, Lara and Laxman. We know his name VVS Laxman stands for Vangipurappu Venkata Sai Laxman. It could very well be Vengipurappu Venkata Sachin Laxman, because when it comes to Australia, he can be double the Sachin. And I am sure, Tendulkar will take no offense at that.

For long, Laxman has been indisputably the best Indian batsman for 2nd innings as well as the fourth of the test match. What a gem of an innings he played on Tuesday, 4th of October against Aussies. While Ishant Sharma was a very ably ally in the rescue act that turned triumphant, Laxman’s presence at the other end must have been like a balm on a burn. The confidence with which Laxman let Ishant face more deliveries in a partnership than he did, must have encouraged the young man to repay the faith. Bit of Steve Waugh in that Laxman. He read the situation very well and scored off every possible opportunity. Now that is not very hard for an immensely gifted artist like him but often many celebrated players have been known to opt for caution over aggression and give the impetus back to the opponent. To his credit, Laxman did not allow any Australian bowler to settle, let alone dictate.  50 of 48 balls and eventual 73 n.o. of 79 balls. He had to waste more than 6 balls in farming the strike after Ishant was given out, meaning he played at a rate of well over run a ball! There in lies the genius of the man. On 7 August 2010, he played yet another master class; he is almost making a habit of doing that now. On a turning track rampaging Sri Lankan spinners discovered what Australians know for over a decade that this man turns into a superman when his team is thrown a gauntlet. From that point he is quite un-Indian batsman. Australians love him perhaps because of this typical “खडूस” (khadoos) Australianness.. But he is not just an axeman like a Hayden or a bloody minded never-say-die Steve Waugh. He combines the steel of a Waugh, stroke-play of a Ponting and dominating verve of a Hayden. And all without looking violent. His blade is like a Ninja’s katana. The victim does not know when the cut was made till it is all too late and indeed, dies admiring. Laxman has played many symphonies for his team, the best being the great 281 on Eaden Gardens against his arch rivals, the Aussies. But this last one will be remembered equally fondly since it was a very similar fight from the death-bed; lost hope turned to triumph; रुदन से रम्बा……Probably the new age axiom in cricket is that the game is never over till Lax(st)man is out!! Aussies and South Africans will agree most emphatically.

Laxman saves his best for the worst situation. In that he is similar to another immensely gifted Aussie, Mark “Junior” Waugh. Both displayed the same characteristics; their levels of concentration, artistry and dominance were directly proportional to the skill, challenge and degree of difficulty their opponents presented. That is why, both these  batsmen are remarkably similar in stats. Junior scored over 8000 runs with 20 tons at an average slightly over 41. Mere look at the  cold statistics reveal as much as they hide. It appears as if both these artists under-performed. With the gift of supple wrists and a hawk-eye for picking up the length quickly, they could have scored lot more international runs than they have. Since they are immensely talented, scoring runs against any attack in any condition comes easily to them. But artists get bored very quickly; and easy task may soon become uninspiring resulting in loss in concentration and wicket. A workman like player, a technical perfectionist (and who could be better than G. Boycott ?) will strive to score runs every time he goes out to bat. For a pro like Sunny Gavaskar it does not matter who the opponent is; since he has no eye, time or mind for the bowler; he sees only the ball. However an artist thrives on inspiration, responds to a challenge; like a cry from his team mates to wake him up from the slumber and do what is expected. And usually it is done so easily as if saying, “silly, what did you wake me up for?”. Result is not the only bonus when they bat; every run scored is dipped in delight. When you analyse their performance in critical moments of a game, they attain a colossus status. That describes the magic of both VVS and Junior. That is what their stats hide. These two guys are special, “पैसा वसूल” (Paisa vasool) players.

I believe that Laxman as d’Artagnan compliments the three musketeers of modern Indian cricket: Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly. They along with Kumble, Harbhajan, Zaheer Khan and Dhoni have been responsible for taking India to the pinnacle of test cricket. Recently Laxman was given a Padma Shri Award by Indian government. He is certainly a “Padma” (lotus) of Indian cricket. I believe even a “Bharat Ratna” award would be most fitting recognition for this humble student of the game. As the name of the award suggests, he is truly an “Indian Gem”. It is the exploits of such gems like VVS and Tendulkar that gives meaning to the much-loved slogan “India Shining!”

Listed below are some of the finest innings played by VVS; gems in the history of Indian cricket. If you get a chance to watch them, don’t miss. Guaranteed to make anyone forget the national boundaries and nationalistic fervor.

  • In his debut test against SA in Ahmedabad, he made a crucial 51 in second innings out of 191; top score  that helped India win the low scoring test. He showed this ability to bat with the lower order that early in his career. Since then, he has been the best Indian batsman to play with lower order batsmen and score runs in the fourth innings.
  • His first test hundred came in  Sydney test of the new millennium in Jan 2000. It was one of the finest innings in a hopelessly lost cause; a scintillating second innings 167 out of a team total of 261; a whopping 64% of the total. Even though, Aussies had given Indians a drubbing, at the end of that test they appeared dazed by the brilliance of Laxman’s fightback; an innings scored  at a strike rate of 83, while wickets were tumbling all around him. Certainly Aussies got a glimpse of things to come. Laxman has lived up to that image of Aussie Tormentor ever since. I was indeed lucky to watch that innings on SCG.
  • Classified as one of the best ever in the history of test cricket by Cricinfo, his colossus 281 against Aussies at Eden Gardens in March 2001, completely changed not only the course of the game but series. India became a force to reckon with after this series and haven’t looked back since.
  • India V Australia, 4th test of 2004 series at Wankhede stadium produced another amazing contest between these arch rivals. On a raging turner, the game didn’t last even 3 full days. With wicket at its treacherous best, who else but Laxman scored the most emphatic innings of 69 in the third innings of the test match. Batting at no. 3, he was the main batsman in two match wining partnerships; 91 with Tendulkar and 48 with Dravid. The value of his innings can be judged from the fact that later on the same day, whole Australian side got dismissed for 93 chasing 103 for a win!
  • On 2006 tour of SA, Indians drew blood in the first test wining their first ever test on SA soil. While Sreesanth was undoubtedly the hero of this test, Laxman came to the rescue, as usual, in the second innings. With India tottering at 4/61 with Tendulkar, Dravid and Sehwag all in the hut, Laxman resurrected Indian innings with a superb 73, to put the lead beyond SA batsmen. In this innings he again showed his ability to bat with the tail.
  • March 2009, another superlative second innings unbeaten 124 against Kiwis at Napier. India after wining the first test, were made to follow on and in dire straits at 3/260 still the deficit not wiped out. He played in two crucial partnerships with Gambhir and Yuvraj, nursing both junior players and took India to safety and series win in NZ after a long time.

Add 2010’s five superlative innings to the above and you get a resume that is hard to equal for the best of the best; 143 not out against SA at Eden Gardens, 103 not out against Sri Lanka, 73 not out against Australia, 91 against NZ and finally, 96 against SA. He has given immense joy to the cricket fans regardless of the nationalities, since his runs have mostly come when his team needed them most; often he was the last man standing.

Salaam to the most humble servant of Indian cricket!

Not Happy John!

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-2010Leave a comment

So John Howard, ex-PM of Australia has failed another “election”. In some ways you can say that he lost a winnable one this time unlike the one he lost to Kevin Rudd in Nov 2007. I honestly thought he would have got used to loosing by now! Apparently, you can neither take out the politics from the politician nor a politician from politics!! Most Pollies in all countries have a very sharp sense of smell; they will smell-out power even from a chook-raffle! Top level sports administration, obviously represents a pot of honey to a bear; especially to those who are missing their power-fix. And when a sport interests lots of people and spins a few bobs, it is certainly like a full syringe to a junkie.

But you can fool some people sometimes. Little Johhny is now facing the barbs from the thorns he nurtured during his tenure. While he did some excellent work to turn Australian economy around, his ultra-conservative beliefs could not adept to the fast changing canvas of this small but increasingly multi-cultural society. For whatever reason, even at the peak of his powers, he was viewed by many (and not necessarily coloured population only) as a torch-bearer of long defunct white-Australia policy. His utter refusal to apologise to the aborigines for whatever reason, did not help his cause. For all I know, he may be merely simplistic; convinced that anything different from his belief does not merit any attention from him. Fair enough, for an individual. Unfortunately that is not a trait of a leader. Great leaders never divide; they have a gift to unite the most diverse. Looking at the diverse nature of ICC, where 10 full member countries represent a myriad of colours and cultures, I was surprised that Cricket Australia manipulated Howard above what would have been a very welcome candidate like the kiwi Sir John Anderson, especially when Australia already had their turn in Malcolm Grey. All those detractors crying foul and complaining today about subcontinent’s so-called power “abuse”, very conveniently forget that CA did exactly the same by bullying New Zealand cricket. CA did that simply because they could. Those who live in glass houses don’t throw stones at others.

While Australia and New Zealand had an option to choose their representative to head ICC, their representative was eventually going to represent all member countries. With an incredibly complex cultural mix of ICC, what you need is a candidate acceptable to all. If CA had applied that criteria, Howard would have failed in CA’s board room itself. I am sure CA board members are not naive. So the obvious inference is that they wanted to bring in Howard as their Axe-man; someone who would not hesitate to seek and chuck out the “rotten eggs”. After all, those backward third world and corrupt countries can only produce corrupt leaders who are now corrupting the beautiful English game. Why is that so hard to understand? What all the “chest-beaters” in Australia (I can actually hear a giggle from across the Tasman sea!) conveniently forget is that CA (probably with support from England) tried a political stunt which back fired. It happens; get on with it.

In politics, there is a critical process called face-saving formula. What now, is the face-saving formula for CA? Re-nominating Howard would be provocative and more importantly, likely to get  snubbed again! I am not sure if CA is actually that masochistic! Sir John Anderson is hardly going to accept the used-towel nomination, especially when his claim to the nomination merited first-choice. In fact I can see NZ completely washing their hands off this affair. CA can dig in their heels and refuse to nominate any one. That will certainly look churlish. Like it or not, political and economic reality is that CA has to participate in this process as a part of ICC board and nominate someone who can take the attention away from this affair and still become a respected board member and a fantastic representative of all cricket playing countries. Some one like Gideon Haigh (who seems to have a one-point agenda of BCCI bashing) claims there was no better nominee for CA than John Howard. Get real Haighy; Mark Taylor will be well respected and will contribute towards bringing closer, all cricket boards. And that is lot more worthy cause than mending the ruffled ego of little Johny…