Tag: Ricky Ponting

Redemption! Jekyll and Hyde style..

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-20107 Comments
 Welcome to the real curtain raiser to the world Cup. What has gone before this, minnows bashing or champions breaking TVs, its all an entré to the main course. If Ponting or Dhoni was asked before the start of this World Cup, which captain they would love to avoid most till finals, they would have mentioned each other. The fact that they face up to each other today to decide who misses out on a berth in the semi finals, is an indication of how much under-par they have performed. Australia, though got drubbed by the Poms in test series, showed their opponents their rightful place in ODI series winning handsomely, and maintained their supremacy in the ODI ranking. India, who on the other hand came into this competition from a difficult tour to South Africa where in spite of their main players not participating, did quite well in the ODI series and certainly surprised their fans and opponents equally. While Aussies were coming from a high, Indians were coming home. And with their linchpins like Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gambhir returning and their spinners likely to find more bite from the tracks, Indians were certainly fancied to prevail in all the games they played. However, typical Jekyll and Hyde Indian show has had most of the their supporters, including die-hard fans like me, hesitant to consider them as firm favorites. It is difficult to predict the outcome of the game, at least for some one like me who has a soft corner for both the teams and would have loved to see them play the finals. That way I would have been the winner!! Not to be…

Let us analyse this sans emotions.Take strengths of both teams first:

  1. India have perhaps the most robust batting line up of all. There are proven match winners and three out of top five have scored tons in this comp. Sehwag, Tendulkar are at the top of the leader board of individual runs. With 5 centuries between them in this comp, Indian batting looks settled.
  2. Indians will be playing at home; home crowds and home wickets. Things can’t get any better.
  3. As for bowling, their spinners will be a little more difficult to get away than on normal roads.
  4. For Aussies, their pace battery is formidable due to their air speed which can negate slowness of the wicket to some extent.
  5. Aussie batsmen, though not looking in great form at present, are proven champs.
  6. Typical Australian never-say-die spirit has always given its opponents something more to worry about apart from their skills.
  7. Australian fielding has always been top class, even when they carry some players in their 30s.. 

And now for the negatives:

  1. Indian batting has had two collapses that defies logic. Their opponents will try to exploit that.
  2. Indian bowling has, except for Zak and Bhajji to some extent, looked insipid and at times, lacking ideas. 
  3. And of course, Indian fielding is made up of some slow movers and some who would not be selected in an international side, if fielding was a criteria. 
  4. Last but not the least for India, it is also a home-pressure and incredible hype of winning at home and giving their favored son a deserving farewell. 
  5. Australian batting, on the other hand has so far looked superior on paper more than on the turf. So far no a single batsman has scored a ton.
  6. While pace bowling looks formidable, back up spin department looks innocuous. So potentially 20 overs of loose bowling if Indian batsmen can time their assault properly.
  7. Most importantly, Australia looks a disjointed unit at present with the skipper being under-fire more from his own side than any opponent. This has to be the most unhappy looking Australian unit I have seen with its skipper at his grumpiest!! Ponting’s “love-affair” with India is not making it easy for him to feel at home, which I believe, is affecting his performance.

All in all, it seems like both the teams are competing with each other in accumulating negatives more than positives. Don’t forget that these are no. 1 and 2 ranked teams in the world, even at present. So the competition is going to be fierce. The way I feel is, small things will make big difference tonight. Like those small edges eluding stumps or hands or falling short; those lofted shots falling in no-man’s land or slashes flying over keeper’s head for a four or six, or a stinging straight drive touching a bowler’s finger-nail and running out a well set non-striker, or a miraculous direct hit!! Cricket’s uncertainties are about to unravel tonight and will make this game a most memorable one….That most important commodity which has never been given its due in this great game, will perhaps play a signature tune tonight…that commodity called luck!! Mind may say something different but my heart says luck will be with India tonight! Even if Sehwag may not be found fit to play!!!

Perhaps for the first time, I feel Indian and Australian fans both are in the same camp; camp of uncertainty!! For a team that has held an ownership of this Cup for as long as Aussies have, it is definately a new territory.On the other hand, for India, a team playing at home, in their favourable conditions and coming off a reasonably tough but successful campaign, it is equally unexpected to be in the same position. Rarely India and Australia have been so level in ODIs. Hopefully the Jeckyl and Hyde nature of the Indian team will work its magic tonight in their favour!!! India will never get a better chance at redemption for the World Cup final defeat of 2003!!!

May the best on the day, win!!

De Ghuma Ke World Cup…

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-20109 Comments

The world Cup 2011 is simmering and started living up to the lyrics of its anthem, “De Ghuma Ke”. It seems to have inspired quite a few players including a totally unknown teenager called Hiral Patel, of Canada!! The caning he gave to the world cup champions in a lost cause, especially the six over covers off the fastest bowler in the tournament Shaun Tait, will linger in the memory long long after the dust has settled in Mumbai. There has been a lot of talk about the minnows bashing; for a change it was nice to see Champion bashing! That’s the beauty of sport; king for a day is far better than a pauper for life. Love it!!

 One swallow does not make a summer, agreed; but it can make a painfully bad memory for life for some! Ask Zubin Surkari, who copped the brunt of Tait’s thunder and came away with three balls! The Great Australian selector Andrew Hilditch must have been moved sufficiently to say “Tait needs to improve“!! What? for missing the goolies?? For heaven’s sake, Taity looked like the best bowler even in that game with searing reverse swings! Ah, but then what else do you expect from an Aussie chairman of selectors, the only one to have lost three Ashes?

The tournament has by far, looked the best in all editions…………er, except 1983! Writing this just before the 39th game between South Africa and Bangladesh begins, a couple of upsets, an associate member scalping a test side, a high scoring tie, smash-bang batting, 19 tons, 6 fifers and two hat-tricks! Bowlers in general have been at the receiving end though with the advent of subcontinent spring (which is more than summer in some participating countries) slowly but steadily, they are beginning to dictate. The wickets like highways earlier, have started changing their nature to more brown coloured and slow low challenging 22 yards that normally batsmen, that spoiled species of this sport,  lament; some indeed start calling it names like “rolled mud“! Thank god for the summer, or the killing fields of the subcontinent would make every young boy and girl throw the ball away for a bat. I don’t mind wickets yielding a bit of spin or slowing down a bit. This is sub-continent and you expect that. Gives bowlers something to work with and generates a bit of doubt in the minds of the batsman and prevents him from clearing the front foot and give it a heave-ho! Thank god for the summer for bringing cricket back to its original form rather than converting it into that cross-batted Yankee contraption, better known as Baseball…..

That’s why I am very happy to note two wonderful new comers, two bowlers, two leg spinners, who have announced themselves in this world cup. South Africa’s import from Pakistan, Imran Tahir has had a great start. At the time of writing this, in 3 games Tahir has highest wickets of any in SA camp. 11 wickets at 8.9 ea and a great economy rate of 3.84.
And bowling against Bangla later today,  he will have every opportunity to improve upon that. Admittedly, while he has is yet to play against major teams playing spin well, like India and Sri Lanka, his start is looking very promising.

Tahir though is not a young man as this next fellow, Devendra Bishoo. What a gem this kid is. I reckon we will hear more about him in future, if Windies management treat him properly. At the young age of 25, his control over leggies was quite remarkable, even while playing against experienced English batters. He is also a very good fielder. I am not sure if he will play against India in the last group game or not; I would love to see more of him and against top batters. He has a good slider but I did not see a good googly. Enough time for the young man to learn a few tricks of the trade, which in my opinion, is the hardest skill to master in cricket.

Talk of surprises..It is very hard to expect surprises from Ricky Ponting. Like it was no surprise to see a glum and grumpy Punter hurling the ball on the ground in disgust after catching a Canadian batsman; annoyed at his younger colleague Steve Smith for rushing in for the same catch. Now, neither the batsman nor his team were likely to derail Aussie world cup campaign. Perhaps, Ponting’s grumpiness reveals the stress he and his team may be feeling in this world cup campaign? May be all is not that well within the team?? However, the surprise was when Ponting offered an apology in an interview for his behavior, after the game! I did look for the morning Sun in the west!! While Aussies have been the only team to win all of their games so far, they do not look that dominant as in previous editions of the world cup. They were lucky to escape spin-test against SL due to rain. They will be tested tonight against Pakistan. Aussie batsmen have struggled to put up runs which is clear from the fact that not a single batsman, on these batting friendly wickets, has been able to post a three-figure mark so far. Countries like Netherlands and Ireland have batsmen who have got tons, but no Australian!! Now that IS a surprise.

Really this world cup is the most open we have seen for a long long time. Hard to predict who will be able to wrap their hands around this trophy on 2nd April. And that is good to see. Any one from South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia or even England could be holding the trophy ….could feel like an April Fool joke, a day late!!

Is this World Cup about minnows bashing?

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-20102 Comments

Long awaited ICC World Cup has begun and results have been going as per seedings…so far. Meaning all the minnows so far have been bashed. And in some case, have been reminded about their status in no uncertain terms, as well. Perhaps Veeru’s emotions boiled over after his terrific innings against Bangladeshis; even though Indian win by no means was a washout. At 182/2 off ~30 overs only, Bangladeshis were in the scrap. To think of a cricket game as a revenge is a bit too much, but for those who suffered 4 years back at Port of Spain, the kind of back lash from the fans and everyone else, that you see only in India, it must have felt like redemption. If that defeat in the Caribbean was a motivation to play well, Indians succeeded. However, World Cups are more about proving you are a champion side rather than an ego trip. Having said that, Veeru is one of the very few players on the international circuit whose uttering on cricket and especially his opponents, have any thing  to do with ego. He talks as he bats….you see’em, you hit’em!! I would love to see Veeru continue with what he has begun. The way in which he was batting, he seemed to be in the zone to go past the double hundred mark. He will have plenty of opportunities in next 6 weeks to do so. Perhaps, this world cup is one for him. For too long, this mercurial player has remained in the shadows, in the ODIs. Time for him to stamp his authority in this format as well…

Three other games involving lower ranked teams produced disastrous results for the minnows. Only Zimbabwe gave a good account of themselves in the field; though they could not come even close to a modest Australian total. That is the problem with minnows. they will get caught out in either bowling or batting. And with the subcontinent wickets largely being batsman friendly, if their batting fails, they have no chance to remain competitive. The results have started the on-again off-again debate on whether to include associate member teams in the premier event like 50 over World Cup. Indeed, some feel even some of the regular test playing nations are not worthy of this honour!! Much as it has generated the brouhaha from ICC membership, there is a lot of truth in what Ricki Ponting has said. Premier tournaments are more about finding who is best rather than providing an opportunity for minnows to show how far they have progressed. There are other ways to do so. I would not use the arguments like: it is disheartening for lower ranked teams to loose massively or they hardly learn anything from such games etc. I think these arguments are patronising. Minnows need opportunity, not sympathy. One learns more about one’s capabilities from defeats.

In fact, I agree with Punter that it is best to restrict the number of participants to 8 rather than full membership of 10 nations (Zimbabwe is still a full member). If ICC goes with only 8 teams it won’t be anything new. Not every country playing Soccer gets a shot at the title and same is true for field hockey. Accordingly, out of 10 full members any two from last 4 ranked will miss out. To decide this, last 4 full member teams (ranked 7,8,9 and 10) will participate in a 10 team qualifying tournament, made up of 6 best Associate teams. Here is the opportunity for the minnows to play against weaker of the full member sides and knock them out of the main draw.

The way I see, the World Cup program can be divided in three stages:

First, a league phase where all 8 teams to play each other. At the end of league phase last two teams (no. 7 & 8) will be eliminated.

Second, teams 1 to 6 will then play in play-offs to determine semi final berths. This can be based upon old McIntyre 6 system used in AFL (Australian Rules Football League). Basically there will be three games: 

Game A 4 V 5  
Game B 3 V 6
Game C 1 V 2

From Game C (1 or 2) winner will get an opportunity to play against lowest ranked winner of Games A and B, while looser will play the highest ranked winner from games A & B. This allows both top ranked teams a certainty of a place in semi-finals while still giving 2 extra teams (no. 5 & 6) an additional chance to go to knock-out stage.

Finally, a knock out stage will determine the eventual winner.

This will provide each participating team sufficient opportunity to pick up form in the seven league games they will play. The beauty of this is, top ranked teams may play each other three times (once in league phase, once in play-offs and possibly in the finals) during the tournament. I see this scheme better than best of three finals between finalists. Total number of games in the comp will be 21 games for league phase, 3 play offs, 2 semis and one final = 27 games. This should be finished in 5 weeks with majority of games producing competitive cricket that should make the spectators, players and sponsors equally happy.

Sure, minnows have a role to play in the globalisation of the game, but through performance rather than quota system. The fact of life is, if you get an undeserved opportunity and get thrashing, it will neither translate into improved performance nor generate interest in the sport within that country. One-off upsets have not propelled the protagonists to higher level. India V Bangladesh’s game in this world cup is a proof of that.

ODI to become HDI (Half Day International)

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-2010Leave a comment

Cricket Australia has taken a bold step in revamping Ford Ranger cup (Domestic limited overs cricket tournament) by deciding to make them as split-innings one dayers. I like it. I hope they still maintain 50 overs per innings, rather than making it 2 games of T20 each. Obviously there are arguments for and against this. Those against it are worried that batsmen will struggle to restart their innings after fielding for 25 overs; spectators may shun first “innings” (20 or 25 overs from each side) and watch only the second “innings”, etc. Ricky Ponting is reportedly not totally impressed with CA’s announcement before any kind of consultation with the Australian players. In today’s Sydney Morning Herald, Channel Nine is quoted to be seeking all ten wickets in the second part of the split innings, making effectively a separate game altogether. The article also quotes English second division’s trial in split innings games. Apparently it has not received plus marks because “Coaches in that competition have expressed frustration over matches essentially decided in the first innings when a batting line-up folds”. Channel Nine’s Brad McNamara claims the patent on ODIs saying “…We would really like the batting order to start again, if you take that away then we’ve got a few concerns about how that might pan out.” Basically Commercial TV networks are merely aiming at the entertainment value of the game, in the name of improvement. While Channel Nine’s claim to the inventions of ODIs are undisputed, the quote “‘Not everyone is going to get a bat, but it’s about getting the best batters to bat twice. Last summer we saw Chris Gayle dismissed in the first over and the game was over”; is a joke! If CA follow that advise, even when the team will comprise of 11 players, some may be just spectators on the ground! In the greed for the cash, commercial channels seem to be forgetting that the game’s developmental aspect comes first and for that, opportunity to budding cricketers rather than marquee players must dictate the path to improvement.
I am sure we all have experienced the thrill of emergence of a new star when the established stars have failed to deliver. While the huge amount of money in the game is definitely due to television rights, they need to remember that ultimately it is the spectators who will determine the fate of the game and the value of their TV rights. And at present spectators are not greatly enamored by what they see in 50 overs cricket, in spite of what Ricky Ponting may feel. The game does need a bit of revamping and I am convinced at least trialling split innings is a way to go.

I am also not convinced about some objections to this innovation, especially those about the players needing to refocus on their innings after fielding for 25 overs. As the game has grown, there has been a constant demand on the skill level of players. A run rate of 4 per over that counted as fast in 70s has become almost normal  today. In transition from test cricket to limited overs ODI to T20, the demand has always been upon the batsman to start scoring runs straight away. The luxury of getting “your eye in” is a thing of the past. Majority of the players coming through the system anywhere in the world with competitive domestic cricket set up, are now used to the demand to maintain  a run rate of more than 4 runs per over. Factors like covered wickets, consistent wicket preparation standards and better equipment have helped but the major change has been to the mind-set of the players. Thus current international player is already adjusted to the requirement of readjusting their focus. Playing competitive cricket at night was unthinkable in my time, but today’s players are able to tune their biological rhythm to give their best even at the time when our bodies struggle to stay in peak performance mode.

While the changes may have been forced upon due to 50 overs inning becoming very predictable and sudden huge popularity of T20, I believe the real reason for improving should be the empowerment of bowlers. What has happened with the advent of slam-bang cricket is an almost annihilation of bowlers due to feather-bed wickets, shorter boundaries, better equipment and some stupid, batsmen friendly rules (like one bouncer and leg side wide). I believe we need to restore the balance in the game by giving something back to the bowlers.

In huge number of ODIs, often side winning the toss ends up gaining significant advantage; sometimes so much that the second side is always playing catch up. This is especially true in day-night games where external factors like dew play havoc with the bowlers. Split-innings will reduce the impact of this to some extent. If on the other hand the wicket does a bit, the side batting first will have some opportunity to exploit that as well.

Even though a side batting first does so only for maximum 3.5 hours in the current format of the ODI, often the nature of the wicket changes significantly for the side batting second to have the same condition while chasing. Splitting the innings will provide side batting second some foothold.

This innovation will also demand some new tactics from captains and coaches on how to utilize their resources, over the full game. May be some more work for the dynamic duo of Messrs Duckworth and Lewis, MBE  to come up with split formula (congratulations to the duo on their achievement); gives them an opportunity to earn a full Knighthood!!