Tag: Virender Sehwag

Veeru, Veeru, Veeru, Oi, Oi, Oi !!!

On By deepozIn Archive 2014-2010Leave a comment

Brutal Veeru
Sublime Veeru
Viv like Veeru
But most importantly,
Focussed Veeru!!

Though this innings of Virender Sehwag came against a reasonable rather than testing bowling and a feather-bed of a wicket, the way in which he approached it, indicates that if this player puts his mind to it, he can break all possible records in the annals of this game.

To me, this puts Veeru right besides my most favourite batsman of all time, Viv Richards. There is lot more to Veeru than mere statistics, but they do tell something.

Look at the following charts and it will show how Veeru is the most non-discriminating batsmen ever. He does not discriminate against any type of bowling, conditions, match situations and most importantly, the state of his own innings. He treats all same…one-dimensionally. If a ball is bowled, it is meant to be hit!
And he rarely hits a shot in anger….he doesn’t need to.
He started off a little circumspectly, as his first 50 runs came off 41 balls or a run-rate of 122 runs off 100 balls; something that could be called as great run-rate for a majority of international batsmen. His scoring rate picked up in later half of each hundred, ending with a rate of ~143 runs per hundred balls. Incredible, considering he had scored a whopping 58% of the total when he was dismissed!! Domination? No, annhilation.

Look at individual fifties and hundreds in this innings. His first fifties in every hundred took slightly longer than the later one. But almost identical number of balls. This does indicate that he was perhaps playing to a plan…..may be for the first time?? The fact that he got a double ton in less than 50 overs, is astonishing in itself, what is even more startling is that he scored two fifties in a day at 28 balls each! Rarely players get one fifty at that rate!! Individually, that should count as one of the fastest fifty in the ODI history, and he got two in a day!! And scored two hundreds in a day at ~70 balls each! He must have been tired, since he took 2 balls more to reach the second hundred!

Jimmy Maxwell on ABC Grandstand commentary box said it all….When he got out, Veeru perhaps missed a chance to score a triple on the day!! Sehwag got out with still 21 balls available in the innings. He needed another 81 runs for a triple. Presuming he would have received a major percentage of balls, say 15 out of 21, it means Veeru would have required to score like so: 12 x 6 = 72. 3 x 4 = 12..total 84…Final score = 219+84 = 303…….easy!!!! Funny thing is, for any batsman other than Veeru, this exercise would sound like a joke and a mere mathametical possibility!!! To even consider, even in a light vein, that he could score a triple in a day is an acknowledgement of his genius. Mortals do not even get joked about such things..

This innings shows that here is one player who plays independent of the situation. He plays within his own zone EVERYTIME he steps on to the field. Cricket is a very mental game. For a batsman to be unfazed so much as he is, unaffected by what goes on around him and stay pure to his art of stroke-making, is to me, the most amazing thing. In that, he is the Don of Batting…above every one, including even Viv Richards. And if any doubts, just look at his record of long test innings..Almost every time, he plays them completely devoid of any influence of the environment.

Every time I see Veeru bat, it seems as if he is asking with every stroke of his, why is it so hard to understand that you have a bat in your hand to make runs??? Veeru’s art of batting is distilled to the purest form of making runs; something we know as children but forget as we grow up to be called matured batsmen. Much like a pure Ethanol distilled from many other mixed spirits. But this elixir comes with flavours that makes it easy on the pallet and a joy to be intoxicated with. As I write this, I can say, even the hang-over is enjoyable. Imagine a clone of Viv Richards and Sachin Tendulkar, and you get Virender Sehwag on song.

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!!

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.