Cricket

My views on cricket itself, players, matches, events, etc

There are 25 posts filed in Cricket (this is page 4 of 5).

The Most UnderApplauded Batsman

The Wall / Mr Dependable - Rahul Dravid

The Wall / Mr Dependable

UnderApplauded… Is that even a word? Even if it is not, I have coined it now, and its suits perfectly for someone who is also known as “The Wall”, Rahul Dravid!! Now let me explain why I say so… BECAUSE —

  • He is the player who has faced ball after ball over the last 14 years with levels of concentration not many can match. You need to see him sweat during a match to understand his concentration levels. Right in the beginning of his career, he batted 541 minutes in the first innings of this match and followed it with another knock in second innings while the rest struggled to put bat to ball.
  • He is the player who have been criticized by viewers and critics everytime he has got out cheaply but he has never used his mouth to answer them. Neither does he need to, as his bat is enough. Not many people have hit centuries in both innings of a test match, and he has done it twice. (vs Pakistan and New Zealand) Only Gavaskar has done it thrice.
  • He is the player who has stood alone on bouncing tracks alone while all his distinguished mates have struggled and got out. Still he is never acknowledged for the numerous matches he has won and SAVED India. I can never forget the second innings of this match where his 27 not out is not less than a century (on that wicket). Or see this match at the Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica where he stood as a rock in both innings and made sure India won a series (first overseas series victory in 20 years) in West Indies. A match-winning captain’s hand in the second-innings of a historic away-series deciding Test on a minefield. Now beat that!!
  • In many pitches that appeared to have landmines buried on a good length, Rahul Dravid has waged a war. Ducking, weaving, blocking, watching partners come and go, jabbing, leaving, ducking, weaving… Not many have batted for more than 600 minutes (like here when he scored a double when all others struggled to get even a fifty.
  • He is the player who has formed the platform around which many big names have hit knocks of a lifetime. May it be Sehwag’s triple century , or Laxman’s 280, or during many of Sachin’s tons, he was the player at the other end. Cricket is a game of partnerships, and he has shared 19 century partnerships with Sachin (a world record), 11 with Laxman, 10 with Ganguly and 10 with Sehwag. If you compare the accolades all of these players have got and compare it to Dravid’s, you will know why I call him the most UnderApplauded batsman..
World Record century partnerships between Sachin & Dravid

World Record century partnerships between Sachin & Dravid

  • He is perhaps the only player who averages more abroad than at home (55 to 50), yet he is never credited for the numerous matches India have started winning abroad over the last 15 years. Ask any bowler and he will name Dravid in the top 3 of “most difficult to dismiss” players, and yet he is the first to be dismissed by the viewers and critics!!
  • He is the only player left who is a classical batsman. Perhaps the most complete batsman playing the game today, and perhaps the last. He is the person who you would want to watch if you need a definition of batting. Yet he is measured by his strike rate more than the runs his partners have scored in his company.
  • He is the player who has totally transformed his game for one-day cricket and T20 cricket, yet he is pulled by critics for playing slow. Ask his teammates what freedom and confidence they have in playing their shots just knowing that Rahul Dravid is standing at the other end! He has kept wickets in ODIs to maintain the team balance, been the vice-captain of the team at the same time, scored runs consistently and yet never have expressed himself or demanded any attention. Without anybody noticing, he has amassed more than 10,000 runs in ODIs too.
His shots define how it should be played

His shots define how they should be played

  • While many people still believe he was never suited for ODI’s,  he has 11 century partnerships with each of Sachin and Ganguly. Then why do we regard Sachin and Ganguly as the best one day players ever to play for India, and totally forget Dravid’s contribution in that.
  • If Ganguly, Sachin, Sehwag and Laxman have a natural talent and genius, Dravid has compensated for it with sheer hard work and levels of concentration that are almost yogic. Not many can bat for 835 minutes (its not a typo) like he did in this epic match in Adelaide, or when he batted for 12 hours for his 270 in this match. Not to mention the Adelaide victory was the first for India in a generation and the Pakistan series ended up being India’s first ever series win there.

My Favorite Cricketers, and why?

Over 19 years of following cricket madly does leave you with quite a good number of old memories to cherish. Be it the 1992 (see first comment below) 1993 Hero Cup last over by Sachin, or the sight of Siddhu stepping out and hitting Murali for sixes!! The memories and the experience of watching those pristine cricket matches could never be replaced. Obviously, some players have left a deep impression on me. I have always been a fan of good cricket, and never madly followed any one cricketer, and so I am going to list my favorite players whom I have seen play (in no particular order), and why they are on the list.

Brian Lara

Brian Lara

1. Brian Lara

Brian Lara has been the most destructive batsman I have seen play, and with the consistency he had, I rate him as the best Test batsman till he retired. It is one thing to score a world record 375, but another to come back and reclaim it with a 400 not out 10 years later. He has 9 double houndreds, second only to Bradman. He holds the highest first class score record of 500, which makes him the only batsman to score a century, a double century, a triple century, a quadruple century and a quintuple century in first class cricket. And all this has come against the great bowlers of the world like Murali, Warne, McGrath, etc when his own team was struggling to even make a contest. To top it all, he was the captain of the team for many years and yet continued his onslaught without letting the captaincy affect his batting. I remember a series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka where Lara scored 2 double hundreds in 3 test matches while West Indies were beaten without a contest by the Lankans. He has a strike rate of 60 in test matches (which is not matched by many) and is only one of the few players to score a hundred before lunch. The fear he had in the bowler’s minds was unmatchable.

2. Sachin Tendulkar
Probably much has been written and said about him than all the other players in this list combined. The way he has persisted with batting beautifully, how he has rediscovered himself, first for the one dayers and then for T20s is totally amazing. How he has overcome the limits of the human body to play continously for 21 years (and counting), how he has overcomes injuries, criticism from critics (including me) make him the cricketer he is. His continous hunger of runs remains after two decades and his ability to play with the bat is as much amazing as his ability to play with the mind. He is the one player who always seems to have an extra second while playing a ball, and many times he knows what delivery the bowler is going to bowl. The way he hits a ball over the fielders sometimes to create gaps where he wants in the field shows the marking of a true thinking batsman. And the humility which he brings with him to his cricket makes him a very good human being too. A true ideal for youngsters on how to handle criticism, and more importantly, how to handle success. I rate him, along only with Shane Warne (of current generation), as one of the greatest players ever to play cricket.

3. Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid

Rahul Dravid

Grit, determination and perseverance are not better symbolized by anyone else as by Rahul Dravid. Not everyone is nicknamed “The Wall” and Dravid has earned this nickname by standing tall against the best bowlers in the world while his team mates came in and got out at the other end. He has saved many test matches for India, by just standing there at one end. He has hurt the bowlers, not by aggresive strokeplay but by an inpenetrable defense. I have always felt pity on a fast bowler like Brett Lee who comes running in and bowls at 150ks / hr and the ball lies dead on the pitch just below the point where it hit the middle of the willow of Rahul. Yet he has scored more than 11,000 runs in Test cricket with 80 century partnerships (a world record). Fielding at slip, he has the highest number of catches in test cricket. Once deemed unfit for one day cricket, he rediscovered himself and has over 10,000 runs in that format. Now he is a treat to watch in T20s in IPL. He is one player who I have seen change the most in terms of his batting, yet contains the humility with which he entered the team in 1996. And in test matches, I would say he has been a better batsman than Sachin Tendulkar and one of all time greats!!

4. Shane Warne
Shane Warne is the only cricketer of the present generation (and the only bowler) who figured in the Wisden Top Cricketers of the Century list in 2000. It is a tribute to the man who weaved his magic with his wrist spinners and huge turners, bowling batsman out behind the legs many times. His dismissal of Mike Gatting in 1993 is widely regarded as the ball of the century. He is very rightly labled as the King of Spin and was the first to take 700 test wickets, and it is not to be forgotten that he played in a team which had great fast bowlers not always giving him a full chance of taking a lot of wickets. He was also the man of the match in the World Cup semi-final and final in 2003. Apart from bowling, he captained English county side Hampshire for 3 seasons from 2005 to 2007 before joining the Rajasthan Royals in IPL as captain and coach. He led a team of no-stars to victory in the inaugural version of the IPL due to his inspirational captaincy and magical bowling. He never got the Australian captaincy because of being surrounded in controversies but many say he is the “Best Captain Australia Never Had.” And you have to see him to believe what charisma he brings with himself when he walks into the cricket field.

Steve Waugh

Steve Waugh



5. Steve Waugh

I have always admired Steve Waugh’s integrity and courage under pressure on the cricket field. And his ability to remain calm in high pressure situations made him known as the “Iceman“. He started as a batsman and a bowler, playing some epic innings, including the twin hundreds during the 1997 Ashes. Later he led Australia to 16 consecutive test victories, the best run ever by any team in Test Matches. During the 1999 World Cup came his biggest test when Australia began badly and needed to win all their last 8 matches to win the World Cup. The twin matches against South Africa in that World Cup, where he made 120 not out in the first one to turn the tide around and his leadership in the tied semi-final made him one of my all time favourites. Along with Shane Warne, he turned around Australia’s World Cup and ended up winning it, making him only the 2nd Australian (apart from Tom Moody) player to be a part of two world cup winning teams. Apart from cricket, he has also been involved in philantropic activities in Calcutta and was named the Australian of the Year in 2004 when he retired.

6. Wasim Akram
If Shane Warne was the magician of spin, Wasim Akram is the Sultan of Swing. With Waqar Younis, he formed one of the most destructive opening bowler pair ever. His mastery over the art of moving the ball both ways at a good pace made him the most dangerous bowler of all time. He showed the world how to bowl with the old ball. See this delivery to see how he filled dead pitches with life. He finished with the highest wickets in one days and 400+ in test matches. His inspired leadership and batting made him a matchwinner with the bat too. He will always be remembered, with Waqar Younis, the person who showed the world the art of reverse swing bowling.

7. Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag

Perhaps the only cricketer of the current era who has broken all notions about how cricket should be (or should not be) played. He is one player who always sees the ball and not the occasion. Whether it is the first ball of the match or the last, whether it is a test match or a T20 match, if the ball deserves to be hit, Sehwag will hit it. A player who has changed how test cricket is played, and has handed India many test wins just because of the impact he has when he scores his runs at such a pace at the top of the batting order. Though he gets dismissed quite often playing his style of cricket, and criticized everytime he does so, but this is Sehwag for you. Critics have always hit out at him for not being more careful and mature in his shot selection and that his style of cricket won’t suit Test cricket but he is most successful in the longer version of the game. 6600 runs at an average of 53+ and a strike rate of 80+ makes him the most fearful player in cricket today. He is the only player to have three 290+ scores and the only player ever to complete a triple century with a six. He is one of a kind, and his views about cricket is as candid as his batting. By the time he retires, he might be one of the all time greats.

8. Saurav Ganguly
The man who still is India’s most successful captain ever has evoked emotions in Indian cricket like none other had done before. He took over the reins of Indian cricket in its worst time with match fixing allegations doing the round. He made a team, and a winning one at that, out of a bunch of youngsters. He backed players like Zaheer, Harbhajan, Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag when no-one was ready to give them a chance and made them into match winners and the Indian team into a formidable unit. Earlier he has formed, with Sachin Tendulkar, one of the most destructive opening wicket pair in One Day cricket history. After unceremoniously going out of the side after a public spat with coach Chappel, he made a spirited comeback and even scored his maiden Test double century. Amidst all the controversies and negative publicity surrounding him, he was a cult figure in India and not to forget the fact that Wisden named him the sixth greatest one day player of all time. His strokeplay through the off side has earned him “The God of off-side” title. If his batting was as elegant as it could be, his “in the face” aggression was best depicted by the shirt removing act in the final of the Natwest Series in 2002.

Anil Kumble

Anil Kumble

9. Anil Kumble

The perfect brand ambassador cricket can ever hope for. And the way he led India during the controversial Australia tour in 2008 was an example of how a leader should lead himself and his team. He is the leading wicket taker for India in both Tests and One Days and is third in the overall Test list with 619 wickets. He is the only bowler of the current generation who has taken all 10 wickets in an innings. I still remember watching that match on TV on a chilly February day in Delhi. He has relied more on change of pace and guile rather than big turners. He is the leading wicket taker by way of “caught and bowled” and has taken 5 wickets in an innings an incredible 35 times. Perhaps no bowler has won India more matches than Kumble. “Jumbo“, as he is popularly known, is known for his determination and full commitment to the team, which was symbolised with he bowling with a fractured jaw in 2002 in Antigua. After his retirement from Test cricket, he has reinvented himself for T20s, leading Bangalore to finals in 2009 and has been their best bowler in 2010.
Players will come and go, but legends like those listed above will be impossible to replace!!

The Indian IPL XI for World Cup

The IPL is going to be followed by the T20 World Cup in West Indies. As per some “hard to understand” ICC rules, all countries had to announce their teams one month before the tournament starts. As a result, many players who are out of form in the ongoing IPL have been selected and many in-form players have been left out. Kris Srikanth, chairman of selectors, has also remarked recently that it is unfortunate that some of the players in good form in IPL have to miss out of the World Cup T20. I am trying to list below a team “Indian IPL XI“, which will include only those Indian players from the IPL who have not been considered for the World Cup. My contention is that if this team enters the World Cup, they would perform as well as the national Indian team.

The team follows –

1.   Murali Vijay* – Opener
2.   Naman Ojha – Opener / wk
3.   Robin Uthappa – Batsman / Captain
4.   Saurabh Tiwary – Batsman
5.   Virat Kohli – Batsman
6.   S. Badrinath – Batsman
7.   Irfan Pathan – All Rounder
8.   Pragyan Ojha – Spin Bowler
9.   RP Singh – Pace Bowler
10.  Sidharth Trivedi – Pace Bowler
11.  Ishant Sharma – Pace Bowler
12.  Amit Mishra – Spin Bowler
13.  Ashok Dinda – Pace Bowler
14.  T. Suman – Batsman

*Murali Vijay was later included in the side as Sehwag got injured.

P.S. – I have not included Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble and Tendulkar as they have retired / refused to play in the World Cup.

Cheering for Warne and not for Sachin? What has IPL done?

IPL bringing 2 greats face to face again

IPL bringing 2 greats face to face again

The year was 1998, and the Australian cricket team was touring India. They were led by Mark Taylor, and had players like Mark and Steve Waugh, Ponting, Warne, Slater, Healy in their team. That was the time when Navjot Singh Sidhu was on the cricket field and not in the commentary box or TV studios. India was led by Azharuddin, and the team had players like Mongia (Nayan, not Dinesh), Srinath, Kumble, and others…. This series had been termed as the “Sachin v Warne” series already. And what was going to happen in the forthcoming weeks was something special.

Australia first played a 3 day game against a Mumbai team featuring Sachin Tendulkar at Mumbai. The world beaters v an Indian Ranji team. Well, Sachin had other plans. There were reports that he made local legspinners bowl to him turning leg spinners outside his leg stump before the Aussies arrive to prepare for the Warne onslaught. Coming back to the 3 day match, Australia lost it by 10 wickets inside 3 days as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar slammed his maiden first class double century. Warne had been taken for 111 in his 16 overs without getting a wicket. The same story continued in the test series, with memories of Sachin sweeping Warne over square leg perfectly stored in the memories of every Indian fan forever. India won the series 2-1, and the contest between Sachin and Warne was a no contest at all.

The stage turned to Sharjah for a one day tournament a few weeks later involving India, Australia and New Zealand. Australia were trying new players like Adam Gilchrist and made Steve Waugh their captain for the one dayers. India won the tournament with Sachin scoring back to back centuries in the last 2 matches and decimating the Australian bowling attack all by himself. Steve Waugh remarked, “We lost to a better Man“. Shane Warne said he would have nightmares of Sachin sweeping him over square leg for six. Such was the impact of Sachin Tendulkar on these two series. I always backed Sachin and was delighted to see Shane Warne being hit all around the ground.

Exactly 10 years later, in the April of 2008, a man named Lalit Modi organized the IPL, a league of T20 matches between 8 Indian domestic teams. Suddenly, there were foreign players playing for local teams. Indians rejected the concept first (as every new innovation is dealt with in the beginning), giving reasons like how can you cheer a foreigner against an Indian player and how can one cheer for cities when we are only used to see cricket between nations. Still, IPL 2008, with all its innovations, was a huge success. An unknown and week (on paper) team, Rajasthan Royals, comprising of many unknown players and led by Shane Warne won the inaugural IPL tournament. The Shane Warne who every Indian always saw as the Villain because of his rivalry with Sachin God Tendulkar, inspired a bunch of unknown players to the title. For the first time, I (and other Indians) saw him as a cricketer rather than as an Australian. He had done the same thing while leading Hampshire to the title in England a few years ago. And everybody was talking about his bowling and captaincy. Apart from this, he was the second highest wicket taker in the tournament, and he was only 38 years old.

Just a few days back, on 11 April 2010, Mumbai faced Rajasthan Royals. Altough they have clashed many times in IPL before, a true Sachin v Warne showdown has never happened. But this time, Sachin faced the full 4 over spell bowled by Warne, and like 12 years ago, let Warne have no impact on him. But I was not amused. The same players facing off against each other, and the same result as 12 years ago. But this time, I was cheering for Shane Warne and not Sachin. And I am not alone. Millions of Indians found it surprising when they supported Warne in this battle. They are certainly huge fans of Sachin themselves (as am I), but something has changed that made our support  go for Shane Warne and not for Sachin. For the first time, we are seeing Shane Warne as a cricketer rather than as a member of the opposing team. For the first time, we are seeing cricket being played where nationalities no longer figured, and patriotic sentiments gave way for pure cricketing talent. What has IPL done? Lalit Modi, what have you done?

When IPL originated, critics always pointed out that city rivalries are not possible in India, where cricket evokes nationalist feelings and is such a uniting factor. It was hard to imagine people cheering for Gilchrist hitting Zaheer Khan for a six or to see Shaun Tait bowl out Rahul Dravid with a yorker, and to do the opposite one month later when the players play for their respective countries. But IPL has managed to do that. And it has only started. We are still in the very beginning years of this revolutionary phase in cricket history. How cricket will be seen by the next generation will be determined in the next 2-3 years as IPL and T20 settles down. More so, it is important that how all the media attention, business houses and glamor parties will fit together and form a “cricketainment” option for the whole world to see. Twenty20 leagues could be the future of the game, and it will also revolutionize one day cricket as one day cricket did to test cricket. All three formats of the game are here to co-exist, an absolute delight for the cricket lovers!!

7 Innovations which make IPL fun to watch

Business, Bollywood and Cricket

Business, Bollywood and Cricket

The IPL has taken the country by storm for the third year in the running. But more so, it has taken cricket by storm. If you ask somebody what is IPL and he replies – “It is India’s domestic T20 cricket tournament”, you can’t be more wrong. IPL is the perfect mixture of glamour, fun and entertainment making it a complete package for cricket and bollywood crazy Indians. No doubt it is such a success in a country like ours, where cricket, apart from being a sport, also unites Indians like nothing else. T20s will continue after the IPL too (for the rest of the year), but an IPL match will only come back next year.

Here are the list of 7 top innovations which make an IPL match stand out from (normal) T20 matches –

1. Cheerleaders – Cheerleading is basically an US phenomena that include elements of tumbling, dance, cheers, jumps and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer. The cheerleaders in IPL have also been imported from US, and dressed in “attractive” dressing, are as much an attraction in the stadium, as the match itself. As expected, some self-righteous Indians have made a controversy out of their clothing and moves, but that is for another post. (You can read about an earlier controversy surrounding the IPL here..)

2. Time Outs – Year 2009 saw the IPL moving to South Africa, and to compensate for lost revenues, Lalit Modi introduced the timeout of seven and a half minutes after 10 overs of each innings to show more ads in the limited time that T20 has for advertisers. Obviously, he called it the strategy break for teams to restrategise… In 2010, IPL modified the concept to introduce two timeouts in each innings of total five minutes duration. And the timing was left to batting and fielding sides to chose. So, more unpredictability and more eyeballs for advertisers. And the time-out itself was sponsored by a Mobile Handset company.

3. Sponsored Commentary – Commentary was once a boring job, just reporting on the events of the match. But IPL made it compulsory for commentators to brand a six as a “DLF Maximum“, a catch as a “Karbonn Kamaal Catch“, any interesting moment as a “Citi Moment of Success“, and so on. In the future there could also be an “XYZ Special Wicket” or a “ABC Amazing run-out”. It can stretch as far as the imagination goes. Looks like it is never enough when it comes to advertising.

4. Microphones – Interesting placement of cameras and microphones have added a new dimension to cricket. IPL has, for the first time, involved the umpires in the game. Umpires, at the start of the match, are wired up with the DJ at the stadium, and hence, instead of just calling a dull “play“, he starts the match with asking “Are you ready batsman? Are you ready bowler? Are you ready Bangalore?” which is heard and cheered by the whole stadium and TV viewers.

Apart from this, during the match, umpires and players are wired up with the commentators and there is an interactive chat with the commentators during the match, which can be about serious cricket matters or it can be funny. Like the commentators teasing the fielder about the 40 degree temperature on the stadium or about the last ball where they misfielded. Or the commentators asking the umpires how did he manage to take his head out of that straight shot hit by Gilly. ICC might mean serious cricket, but IPL means fun (and a lot of it) !!

5. Cameras – Interesting placement of cameras like the overhead rolling camera view in 2009 and the cameras on the “MRF” blimp in 2010 have given interesting angles for viewers to see their favorite players on TV and on multiple large screens on the stadium itself.

6. IPL Nights – As you have seen and read in newspapers, IPL matches are often followed by IPL Nights, which are big parties which happen after the match. These parties include everything from fashion shows to music to booze and continue till early in the morning. There are cricketers, team owners, businessmen, models and bollywood celebrities all enjoying and relaxing after the match. There are Rs 40,000/- tickets which allow you an exclusive entry to these parties, apart from watching the match from the best location in the stadium.

7. Youtube’s Fun Feed – This is one thing which I think most of you must have missed. IPL is streaming its matches live (well… almost live) on youtube, and apart from the usual television feed, there is another feed called the “Fun Feed“. This is basically live telecast of the match but from a totally entertainment point of view. IPL has a former Miss Universe hosting this feed, and it includes interviews of Team Owners, Celebrities, the cheerleaders, players, and of spectators about the match. Even the match is shown from different interesting camera angles. In short, the focus is more on the happenings in the stadium (entertainment) apart from the cricket itself.

If you have noticed some other interesting stuff going on in IPL matches which I have missed, make sure to drop in as comments below…