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DreamCricket Views
May 2011 - Posts
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By Suresh Menon During the third Test against the West
Indies in July, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will turn 30. No Indian captain’s
job has looked as secure as Dhoni’s. Since he took over from Anil
Kumble, Dhoni has combined flair and certainty, and has been secure
enough to stand aside while others have led. This is unusual for Indian
captains, most of whom are constantly made aware of the temporary
nature of their assignment, and reminded by current events if not
history that one false move will see them sidelined.
Not
surprisingly, it is often seen as the second most difficult job in the
country, the uncertainty of tenure alone causing premature balding and
graying. Selectors have often contributed to this, keeping captains on
edge, playing off one against the other, and forcing them into
Mephistophelian compromises.
India had played international
cricket for three decades before the first long-serving captain was
given the reign. But even Tiger Pataudi, who led at 21, had to face the
chairman’s casting vote twice. He survived on the first occasion, and
made way for Ajit Wadekar on the second.
Since Dhoni took
over, three men have led India. Virender Sehwag, who is three years
older, Suresh Raina (he led on the Zimbabwe tour while many seniors
were rested), and Gautam Gambhir. Raina, 25 this year, will have to
establish himself in the team over this season before his captaincy can
be taken seriously. Gambhir is nearly the same age as Dhoni, and
although he leads the team to the West Indies for the one-day series,
can only be a stop-gap leader as long as Dhoni maintains his form and
fitness.
If a natural successor to Dhoni four or five years
down the line can be seen now, it is Virat Kohli. He is only 22 and yet
to play Test cricket, but he has both an obvious toughness and tactical
nous that make him stand out. Also, he seems to enjoy the
responsibility of leading a side, which is a trait he shares with
Dhoni, and one which is common to many great captains. He has picked up
a reputation for enjoying the good things of life, but that is
something that can be corrected. India lost a potentially major captain
when a similar reputation stuck to Ravi Shastri’s name. Shastri might
have been a great captain, but lost out in the West Zone versus North
Zone politics which was sustained by his lifestyle often exaggerated in
the media.
Kohli will have to learn from history even while
realizing that a couple of generations after Shastri, society- and the
selector - is probably more forgiving.
All that is many years
into the future, although grooming a youngster is never a bad idea.
Pataudi was groomed, Shastri was groomed, Dhoni was groomed.
England
have decided to split their cricket captaincy three ways, and India,
among the pioneers to split the job in two, will watch that experiment
with interest. Dhoni is the most overworked of the Indian players, and
sometime in the future he might withdraw from the T20 captaincy (even
if he continues as player).
Dhoni’s reputation rests on his
man-management abilities and his risk-taking temperament. He has
well-honed instincts and when he occasionally gets it wrong he feels
secure enough to admit it. “We read the wicket wrong,” he confessed
after a World Cup game recently.
It will be interesting to
see whom Dhoni himself grooms as his successor. This is not part of his
job description, and in fact very few captains have even attempted it.
But somehow one feels Dhoni is different.
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By Suresh Menon
The West Indies looked out of sorts at the
World Cup, and the fallout was depressing as their cricket board
decided to drop the senior players, and then decided to reinstate them
while keeping star batsman Chris Gayle out - hardly an inspiring
build-up to an important series. Pakistan were struggling too, their
cricket affected as much by their politics as by the insecurities of
the players.
Still, when Pakistan won the first three matches
of the five-match one-day series, everything seemed to be going the
pre-ordained way. Not even the home advantage made a difference.
Had
the West Indies been whitewashed in the one-day series, and then lost
the Test series, cricket would have been dealt a massive blow in the
Caribbean. Already there has been talk of the ‘West Indies’, the only
Test team which is not a single nation, breaking up into Jamaica and
Trinidad and Barbados or worse, collapsing as a cricket unit altogether.
By
winning the last two one-dayers, the West Indies showed they were not
about to roll over and die, a feeling enhanced by their victory in the
first Test. The IPL might have pushed the series in the West Indies
into the background for most Indians, but India tour there next month,
and every bit of information is useful. India won their last one-day
series there in 2009 and a Test series in 2006, so there might be a
tendency to be complacent about the chances of winning there.
It
is important to world cricket that the West Indies climb out of the
hole they have dug themselves into. Neither the administrators nor the
players for the most part, have been particularly inspiring. The pool
from which cricketers arise has become smaller as other sports and
other distractions take away the youngsters who begin with great
promise. There is nothing like an international victory to bring them
back into the game, to get the sponsors interested, and to ensure that
the game survives.
The grounds that produced Garry Sobers and
Rohan Kanhai and Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards and Brian Lara and some
of the most fierce fast bowlers to have ever drawn breath, have been
lying fallow for too long.
A Darren Sammy might not yet be in
the same class, but by defeating Pakistan in the first Test, the West
Indies have shown what is possible. It might have been a dodgy wicket,
but you still have to beat the opposition, and that’s what the West
Indies did, denying them runs in the fourth innings chase.
In
many sports, the traditional leaders have been struggling. India and
Pakistan are not the force they were in hockey. In tennis, the US do
not have a single player in the Top 10 among either men or women, Tiger
Woods has been reduced to human proportions, and the West Indies, who
were to cricket what Brazil are to football, have been struggling for a
long time now.
They last won a Test match two years ago, and
since the departure of Brian Lara haven’t found a batsman around whom
the team can revolve. Chris Gayle, who might have played that role (as
he threatened to do while making two triple centuries in Test cricket),
has been an unhappy Test player, and at loggerheads with officialdom.
Beating
a Pakistan trying to find their feet after spot-fixing scandals took
away some of their best players, and internal wrangling took away some
others, might not indicate a major turnaround for the West Indies. It
will not necessarily be all sweetness and honey from here on. But the
message implied in the victory – that it can be done – is probably the
most encouraging news West Indies cricket has had for a while.
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By Sunil Gavaskar
The appointment of Alastair Cook as captain of England’s one-day
squad should not come as a surprise to those who follow English
cricket. It is only in England that a player who cannot find a place in
the team on merit can become its skipper. It is not the first time it
has happened and just when cricket followers in other parts of the
world were thinking that England has shed it’s old thinking, the
nomination of Cook as skipper has shown that it still lives in a world
of its own. Cook has had an outstanding Test series against Australia
where England retained the Ashes. He was a huge part of that success
but he was not in the team that stayed on and played seven one-dayers
in Australia. Neither was he in the team for the World Cup that
followed where England did not reach the semi-finals but did enough to
suggest that with a bit of luck they could have been there.
So instead of rewarding some of the players from that World Cup team
with the captain’s cap, the English selectors have gone for one who was
not even part of the squad. This may well have been because Andrew
Strauss expressed his desire to focus on Tests and so did not want to
play one-dayers anymore but it still begs the question why Cook? Of
course, he has a university degree which makes such a difference in
English cricket as far as hierarchy is concerned and he speaks well
too, so there you are. The England selectors also chose Stuart Broad as
skipper of the T20 squad but the way he is getting injured it may well
be a different person who will actually lead the team onto the field.
What Cook’s appointment will do is to create bit of a rift in the
team for nobody likes to be led by a player who is not worth his place
in the team on his own ability. That will change of course if, in his
first couple of matches, Cook scores hundreds and leads the team to
wins but if he doesn’t do that there will definitely be rumblings
within the team.
Way back in 1981-82 when Keith Fletcher was appointed the captain of
the England team to India despite not having played or even being in
consideration for a spot in the team for the Ashes series played
earlier during the season, the divide in the team was obvious. Sure,
Fletcher was supposed to be a canny captain for Essex and had led them
to the County Championships, but as he found out soon enough that
wasn’t going to be enough for some of the seniors in the team who had
played their hearts out in the tough series in the summer and had
wrested the Ashes from the old enemy. They quite naturally felt that he
was an impostor and intruder and he did not get the support that he
expected. His is a classic example of how presumptuous, sweeping
statements people who have no idea of the pressures of international
cricket make about certain first-class players being the best not to
have played for the country.
It is a whole different ball game between domestic first-class
cricket and international cricket especially Test cricket. There have
been innumerable players who have been terrific at the domestic level
but who either through sheer bad luck or fragile temperament are unable
to have the same success at the Test level. That is why those who have
missed the bus cannot be called as the best not to have played, for how
does one know that they would have been a success at the highest level.
There are many factors that can make the difference starting from
tougher opposition at the international level and thus the skill level
as well as temperamental level being found wanting. At the domestic
level, there is a certain sense of comfort because one plays with
others, who also have pretty much the same approach and attitude to the
game and who probably a player has grown up with or talks the same
language.
When a player is picked for his country, he has others who may have
had a different cricketing upbringing and who speak another language.
So, the comfort factor is much less and that can affect the player’s
performance. It is the same with the captaincy. A good captain at
first-class level does not automatically mean that he will be a good
one at the Test level too. Cricket history is replete with plenty of
good first-class format leaders who were found wanting at the Test
level. It is easy to make statements if you have not experienced the
pressure of the international level. For, just watching international
cricket can never give even a fraction of an idea how tough it is and
how players have to cope with the tensions and pressures. If only
cricket was as easy to play successfully as it is to talk and write.
Strauss has proved himself by leading two victorious Ashes campaigns
and that is why it is not going to be easy for Cook and Broad when they
lead the England team out for the limited overs and T20 internationals.
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By Partab Ramchand
Should the IPL constitute a yardstick for selection to the Indian
team? Or should it be domestic first class cricket? Or the recent World
Cup? These questions have been raised following the selection of the
Indian ODI and Twenty20 teams to tour the West Indies. In the absence
of senior players – some injured, others rested – there were bound to
be surprising omissions and inclusions in the 16-member squad and the
Kris Srikkanth led selection committee have made a few. It appears that
they have been guided more by the performances in the domestic first
class game rather than the IPL even though the team will figure in five
ODIs and one Twenty20 game. A player’s showing in the World Cup did
count of course.
The first thing one notices about the selected squad is the Indian
bench strength. In the absence of Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish
Nehra, Virender Sehwag and MS Dhoni the selectors have picked suitable
replacements because these are readily available. And to think that a
couple of other candidates have been rather unlucky in not making the
squad!
Let’s start with the captaincy first. In the absence of Dhoni Gautam
Gambhir has led India capably – including a 5-0 sweep in the ODIs
against New Zealand last year - and was always the front runner to lead
the team to the Caribbean. His deputy however is a bit of a surprise.
Instead of Suresh Raina one would have preferred Virat Kohli who is
already looked upon as a future Indian captain based primilarly on his
leading the Indian Under-19 team to a title triumph in the World Cup in
2008. However it is good to see Yuvraj not being named vice captain.
It’s best he is left best to cocentrate on his manifold duties now that
he has more or less become a frontline spinner in limited overs cricket.
The ideal team composition would have been seven batsmen and seven
bowlers and one utility man. But with the selectors deciding to pick an
extra keeper the number had to swell to 16. It is here that the choice
can be questioned. I would have preferred Dinesh Kartik to Wriddhiman
Saha and on the performances in the IPL the highly talented Ambatti
Rayudu who can keep wickets would have been the better choice.
Parthiv Patel comes back as first choice stumper but he is also to
double up as an opening batsman. He has seized his chances both in
domestic cricket and the IPL and makes a well deserved return. The rest
of the batting itself. Besides the captain and the vice captain,
Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, S Badrinath and Virat Kohli were always going to
be predictable choices given the batting skills and recent
performances. The return of Badrinath is most welcome. He played the
last of his three ODIs almost three years ago his batting being
regarded as more suitable to Test cricket but he has shown a great deal
of adaptability and in the absence of Tendulkar, Dhoni and Sehwag
should now be considered as a must in the side especially considering
his recent form.
Two of the three spin bowlers – Harbhajan Singh and Ravichandran
Ashwin – were certainties but considerable discussion centered round
the inclusion of the third spinner. Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and
Piyush Chawla were always going to be the contenders but the IPL threw
up another serious candidate in Rahul Sharma. The young and tall leg
spinner has created an indelible impression while turning out for Pune
Warriors in the IPL by his subtle bowling skills and was regarded as
having an outside chance of making the squad. He has just missed out
but his time will undoubtely come for he is an exciting prospect who
needs to be nurtured. He is able to extract both turn and bounce and
what’s more is remarkably accurate. In the meantime it must be said
that Mishra is a little lucky in making the trip ahead of Ojha though
the opponents being West Indies – traditionally vulnerable against
orthodox leg spin – could well have weighed in his favour.
Yusuf Pathan was always going to be ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and
anyone else when it came to fielding the utility man while in the
absence of Zaheer Khan, three of the medium pace bowlers Parveen Kumar,
Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel picked themselves. The promising Vinay
Kumar who has played in two ODIs and three Twenty20 internationals has
rightfully been given another chance to show that he belongs at the
highest level with Sreesanth being the one to miss out.
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By Suresh Menon
Chris Gayle wears the number 333 on his
jersey for the Royal Challengers Bangalore. That is his highest Test
score, made in Galle against Sri Lanka last year. How’s that for irony?
Gayle has said often enough he wouldn’t miss Test cricket if it
disappeared off the face of the earth. Yet if his confused national
selectors pick him, it is difficult to see how he can turn them down.
He has two triple centuries against his name like Don Bradman, Brian
Lara and Virender Sehwag.
Yet he is happier playing Twenty20
and the IPL. There may be others like him, who prefer the shortest and
most paying form of the game, but he alone has been honest enough to
admit it. Others feel more secure mouthing the clichés about the ‘real’
test and the ‘real’ game, and pretending T20 is merely a guilty
pleasure.
Gayle has been batting in the IPL matches like
someone who has just had a great weight lifted off his shoulders. The
West Indies are in a mess, the board even more than the team, and there
has been talk in recent months of this artificial construct known as
the ‘West Indies’ being broken up into its constituent nations –
Jamaica, Barbados, Trinidad and so on. It is not a happy thought, but
anything is better than the internecine wars that have become a feature
of West Indies cricket in recent years.
The supply lines are
drying up, those with experience, including Gayle are being told by the
Board they have no role to play, so it is not difficult to see why the
laidback Jamaican is happy to exhibit his wares to an audience
screaming for sixes in his adopted home town. Against the Kochi team on
Sunday Gayle hit 36 runs in an over which yielded 37 in all thanks to a
no-ball. After being ignored by his former team Kolkata, he entered the
fray this season with a century against them. He already has two
centuries in the IPL in just five matches, hitting with such power that
his opening partner Tillakaratne Dilshan says that he will have to wear
bullet-proof chest pads in case he is hit by one of “the rockets.”
For
good or bad, Gayle is showing the way for players of the future. By
declining an annual contract from the West Indies Cricket Board, he has
kept himself free to play where and when he wants to. Every six, every
century increases his market value in the T20 format which is pegged to
the here and now. And if there is nothing else to occupy him, he could
always announce his availability for Test cricket.
Initially
cricket boards around the world will find it difficult to give their
players permission to pick and choose. The West Indies Board, like all
boards, has to give its players a ‘No Objection’ certificate before
they can play in the IPL. The West Indies have no use for Gayle right
now; but he is only 32, and the situation might change. Players
choosing shorter, more lucrative tournaments over national duty is not
beyond the bounds of imagination. Boards will be loth to let go of the
ten percent of the players’ fees that they receive.
In the
ideal world, Gayle would be in the West Indies now, preparing for the
Test series against Pakistan commencing on Thursday. He was dropped for
the one-day series ahead of the Tests along with Shivnaraine
Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, ostensibly because the Board wanted
to prepare for the future. Sarwan was recalled for the fourth
one-dayer, and Chanderpaul is likely to play the first Test. Gayle, the
odd man out, has been batting with a freedom that comes from not having
to deal with cricket boards.
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By Suresh Menon
The Board of Control for Cricket in India will not admit this, but the IPL is playing havoc with the international programmes of smaller boards like those of the West Indies and Sri Lanka.
First there was the Lasith Malinga kerfuffle. The Sri Lankan fast bowler was virtually abandoned by his national board and denied a contract when he was injured. Who can begrudge him the dollars that will buy him and his family security? His knee is injured, he is not getting any younger, and despite the media’s attempts to reduce his case to a club versus country debate, it is much bigger than that. It is a ‘security for self and family’ versus ‘an uncertain future’ debate. Put like that, the choice becomes easy.
Thanks to the Sri Lankan board speaking in different voices at different times, its team makes a tour of England with the leading players getting no time to acclimatise. Despite knowing the dates, it initially gave the players permission to stay on for the IPL till May 22, which would have meant missing the two games in preparation for the first Test commencing on May 26.
Although the spin doctors put out the story that the IPL is ideal preparation for the tour, they have found it difficult to convince anybody that playing 20-over matches under lights in the peak of summer in India with a white ball is all the practice that is needed to play a five-day Test in daylight with a red ball in a country that is emerging from winter.
Chris Gayle has for some time now expressed the desire to play in the IPL to the exclusion of everything else. West Indies are playing Pakistan now, but Kieron Pollard, potentially their finest one-day player is playing in the IPL for Mumbai Indians. “It was mutually determined that Pollard would be best served by being allowed to hone his T20 skills in the Indian Premier League which will bring future benefit to West Indies cricket," his board has declared. Dwayne Bravo, the vice captain in the one-day series where his team is currently trailing 0-3, has been allowed to skip the Test series that follows to play for the Chennai Super Kings.
The question that many ask at this point is: Should the BCCI be concerned so much about world cricket when its brief is Indian cricket? So long as Indian cricket is served, why worry? Countries construct their diplomacy and economic policies on the foundation of self-interest, so why should sport be different?
The answer is simple. As the World champions, the No 1 Test-playing country and with the power and influence that comes with having the richest cricket board in the world with the potential to make themselves and everybody else richer, the BCCI must give up their narrow-minded domestic concerns and focus on cricket - the world game. Whatever the compulsions of political entities in the United Nations, sport must follow the beat of a different drum. For that is the reason for its existence – it is artificial and should strive to be idealistic. Also, what goes round will come around as boards that ruled in the past have discovered. India will not be on the top forever, and countries at the top have a responsibility to the game beyond concerns for their own backyard. A parochial attitude is bound to boomerang.
Already, if news reports are to be believed, there is a fall in the television audiences for the IPL. There is a sameness about the matches, and worse, a sameness about the breathless commentary that is turning people off. Cricket needs its variety. The boards with dollar signs in their eyes must recognise this. The one board which can make the difference cannot abdicate its responsibility and say ‘let the markets decide.’
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By Partab Ramchand
A great player need not necessarily be a great coach. Very different qualities and credentials are needed for the latter and cricket history is strewn with names of good players who did not make it big as coaches as also those with a limited record as players but who were successful coaches. In India we have had the recent example of Greg Chappell. One of the greatest cricketers of all time he took over the post amidst a lot of goodwill and a sense of optimism. Two years later his term ended prematurely amidst a lot of gloom and distrust and acrimony following India’s ignominious first round exit in the 2007 World Cup.
On the other hand we have also had the example of John Buchanan who did not play in any international match and had a limited first class record but who was in charge of the all conquering Australian teams under Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting. Admittedly the Aussie squads were one of the greatest of all time with a number of great players but I sometimes wonder whether Buchanan has received enough credit for moulding the team into one formidable unit.
Over the years the role of a coach has become more and more important. With the increase in the number of teams playing international cricket there is inevitably numerous tournaments and high level competitions and winning has became that much more imperative thanks also to the huge sums of money involved. That is why besides the coach you have a batting coach, a bowling coach, a fielding coach along with various support staff. Physios are now part of the squad as injuries are now more common thanks to the vast number of matches being played round the year. And cricket being a mind game has brought the psycho analysts into the picture to make the players mentally strong.
Coaching now has became highly scientific and professional. It is a far cry from the days when the coach was seen during the practice sessions hitting the ball for players to field and take catches besides of course supervising the net sessions. Man management skills are now the topmost priority in a coach’s CV. Every team has players who are different in their physique, in their mental strength and in their background. The coach has to attend to each cricketer’s needs in a special way. He should also instill a sense of self belief in them and see that they play above their potential.
One of the reasons why Gary Kirsten was such a success is that he did just that. Sachin Tendulkar for one made it clear that Kirsten was a success as he allowed the team to be themselves. ``He has allowed the natural instincts of the players to flourish’’ said Tendulkar. On his part Virender Sehwag praised Kirsten hailing him ``the best I have ever seen.’’ Sehwag put it simply when he said that Kirsten ``doesn’t force things on you.’’ It is well known that Chappell had tried to get Sehwag to change his batting style and this led to serious differences between the two. It may be difficult to believe but Chappell apparently wanted the most gifted and uncomplicated batting stylist, the most natural striker in the contemporary game to visit psychologists in a bid to curb his instincts.
Another player who showed vast improvement under Kirsten was Gautam Gambhir. The left handed opener has had no doubts about Kirsten’s contribution. ``Gary is the best coach India has ever had,’’ he said a few months ago. ``I don’t have to speak much about him. His fabulous record speaks for itself. He has been a great man manager.’’
With Kirsten in charge there was a spontaneous camaraderie among the Indian players that had not been seen before. And in this amiable atmosphere great things were achieved. Harbhajan made a very interesting observation not too long ago when he said the main reason why India have been able to build on the winning momentum in recent times is that the players are no more insecure about their place in the side. He was of the view that the team management's belief in the players has helped them counter all sorts of conditions. "Why we are winning is because we are playing good cricket," Harbhajan said. ``Everyone is performing, everyone is willing to be a champion. A lot of credit must go to the support staff and team management. That gives a player a lot of confidence,’’ observed the ace off spinner.
Kirsten spelt out his policy clearly in an interview sometime back. ``These are international cricketers and they know how to succeed. But whenever they need me for anything I am always there.’’ He certainly was a refreshing change from the autocratic Chappell. And as Duncan Fletcher takes over he would do very well in following Kirsten’s footsteps. The former Zimbabwe captain and England coach inherits a well settled team and a successful blueprint has already been laid down by Kirsten so it is best that Fletcher does not tinker too much with the system. If he just follows Kirsten’s mantra all will be fine for him and the Indian team.
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