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DreamCricket Views
September 2011 - Posts
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By Suresh Menon Sachin Tendulkar is being used once again. This
time by political loudmouths so keen on protecting his good name that
they think nothing of throwing dirt on the fair name of our democratic
country. ‘Thou Shalt Not Criticise Sachin’ has, especially in recent
years, become a commandment that is at once silly and embarrassing. The
cancellation of the book release of Shoaib Akhtar’s ‘Controversially
Yours’ because he criticised Mumbai’s favourite son should make us all
hang our heads in shame. It began with Rajiv Shukla, Vice
President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India demanding an
apology from Shoaib for suggesting Sachin didn’t enjoy playing him. I
haven’t read the book, but if media reports are to be believed (just
because it is on television, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true), then Shoaib
has called into question Sachin’s match-winning abilities and said that
on one occasion, Sachin rather than play the ball simply moved away
from the line. To me these sound like the desperate attempts by an
immature person to get back at Sachin for the treatment the batsman
meted out to him especially at the 2003 World Cup, and a pathetic
attempt to sell the book. By pouncing on these irrelevancies, the
cricket Board, the National Congress Party and the Shiv Sena, each more
loyal than the king, have done Sachin a great disservice. They have lent
credibility and seriousness to frivolity. Shoaib Akhtar will laugh all
the way to the bank. Sachin does not need the Rajiv Shuklas of the
world to defend him; if anything, such a move is counter-productive. He
does not need political parties to use him to score cheap points with
the voting public. Politicians should have taken a pointer from Sachin’s
dignified response when the story broke. His response was lack of
response and the suggestion that it was not worthy of a response. Sadly,
this is not about Sachin. It is not even about the climate of
intolerance which seems to be built into our system by the defenders of
the indefensible (although that is an important element too). It is
about the new political discourse – dragging in art, sport,
entertainment, culture into the ambit of the one great perceived cause.
Nationalism. Thus, to criticise Sachin is anti-national; to appreciate
the works of M F Husain is anti-national; to watch a movie which deals
with reservation in educational institutions is anti-national. Politicians
say, refining Frank Sinatra further, ‘It is my way or my way.’ There is
no choice, no other sieve through which anything can be filtered. The
Sachin story is made to order for politicians. A good Brahmin boy with
an international reputation versus a wild Muslim boy from Pakistan.
There are so many layers – good vs evil, India vs Pakistan, wholesome vs
tarnished, us vs them, our icon vs your bad boy, blameless career vs
career full of off-field shenanigans and much more. The question
is not whether Shoaib is right or wrong. Either way he is entitled to
express his opinion. It is unlikely that many of those calling for his
head now have even heard of Voltaire, but it has become a cliché to
quote him in such situations: I do not agree with what you say, but I
shall defend to the death your right to say it. The self-appointed
Upholders of National Integrity consistently fail to recognise that
they usually cause great harm to the person or institution they are
trying to protect with such excessive zeal. A politician who has
taken credit for browbeating the prestigious CCI into cancelling the
event said, “Sachin is the God of cricket, and I, being a cricket fan,
organised the protest. I also called upon the CCI to prevent their venue
from becoming a platform for a book that criticises Sachin." The Shiv Sena man has said, “(The book) will hurt the sentiments of all our countrymen." It
would have been possible to sympathise with the CCI who might have
decided to cancel the show calculating that discretion is the better
part of valour, but its president has been reported as saying, “We do
not want to sully the association we have with Tendulkar.” So it is
about protecting Sachin’s fair name, after all. If a throwaway
line by a sportsman is expected to hurt the sentiments of all our
countrymen – a significant portion of whom live below the poverty line –
it does not speak well of the country. And who gave these windbags the
right to speak on our behalf anyway? Our culture needs to be protected
from them, not by them.
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By Sunil Gavaskar
It was great to see the ovation that
Rahul Dravid got when he came in to bat in his final one-day game for
India and it was even more emotional when the England players rushed to
shake his hand when he was dismissed after a fine innings of 69. It
showed the respect they had for this wonderful player and the
recognition of his yeoman service to the game.
Dravid has
shouldered the burden for India for more than 15 years now and is still
there for Test matches though it may not be for too long. Like Tendulkar
and Laxman he will want to try and conquer Australia. That team and the
South African team are the two teams that the Indians have not beaten
in their countries and so that is what these stalwarts will be trying to
do and if they succeed then that would be the right time to say good
bye and pass the baton on to some of the younger lot who are doing well
in the limited overs format but need to organize their skills and
temperament for the longer version to be able to fill partly the big
shoes of the seniors.
Dravid has done everything that can be
asked of him. He has opened the batting, he has kept wickets to allow
the selectors the flexibility to add a batsman or a bowler according to
the needs of the team and he has also fielded in the suicide position of
forward short leg and taken a few blows there too. All this he has done
in his unassuming manner and without any fuss or drama. That
unfortunately has not been recognized or appreciated by those who think
the only way to bat is to hit sixes. He has hit them too when the
situation demanded it but he has been happier playing risk free shots
and still scoring at a brisk rate. His batting will not set the pulses
racing as when a Sehwag or Yuvraj or Dhoni come in to bat but in the
dressing room they know his value and importance to the side and in the
end it is the appreciation and respect in the dressing room that makes a
players day.
When he came in to the team Sachin Tendulkar had
been playing for about six years and had captured the imagination of
the cricketing world with his audacious batting, which was a rare
combination of classical correctness blended with some brutal hitting.
In every sport there are always players who catch the eye and become the
ones the crowds come to watch despite others playing in a similar or
sometimes better manner. There are many golfers who hit shots like Tiger
Woods does but when Tiger hits it there is an excited buzz that is
heard more than when another player hits an identical shot. In tennis
too when Federer plays his sublime backhand passing shot the crowd
erupts and not as much when a Nadal or a Djokovic plays the same shot.
It is just a connection that is there between the player and the
spectator and which is hard to explain but it is there and that’s why
‘sports’ is unique.
Dravid, because he built his innings like
good old-fashioned brewed coffee over a period of time, has been
appreciated more by the connoisseurs of the game and not the aam janata,
who want to see the big shots into the crowds or out of the ground. The
janata has enormous respect for what Dravid brings to the team. They
also know that they breathe easy when he is at the crease because of the
solidity that he brings with his technique and temperament. His work
ethic, his preparation for a game and his concentration are such that a
young player would do well to try and not just follow but also emulate.
To
Indian youngsters to share the same dressing room with Tendulkar,
Dravid and Laxman is a blessing for they can teach more about batting
and how to get big scores than any university could. There is also
Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni who can teach them how to keep cool and then go
out and smash the bowlers, but they have a special skill set that not
many others have and the temperament too and therefore are harder to
emulate than Dravid who brings a method that can be easily followed.
It
would have been fitting if Dravid had bowed out of the one day game
with an India win but it has been such a forgettable tour that India
just have not been able to find a combination that has worked and have
not been able to finish the opponent when it was down. Injuries of
course have not helped but what it also shows is that India must find
bowlers who can take 20 wickets in Test matches and not rely on its
batting to bail them out.
Indian cricket has been on an
upward curve but the England tour has shown that the slide down has
begun. Let us hope that it is not a steep one but a slow one.
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By Suresh Menon
“I don’t think India actually won the World Cup. I think the television channel did a ‘Wag the Dog’ type of production where everything was staged,” began my neighbour in the Edrich Stand at Lord’s. He was unhappy at the fall of the early wickets, unhappy at the way India had played throughout the series, and worried he might not get his money’s worth on a lovely Sunday.
But he had reckoned without Suresh Raina and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who gave a glimpse into the kind of batting Indians are capable of when the planets are in the right configuration. It was exhilarating stuff. Raina threatened to become the first Indian batsman to hit the Lord’s clock, his bias towards rousing shots over midwicket indicating the time had come. He did cart the ball hard and high, but it went into the stands at the opposite end of the ground.
Raina continues to remain an enigma. India’s only centurion in all three forms of the game, he looks world class when battling the white ball. Against the red, however, he often looks pedestrian, even pathetic. At Lord’s, even off spinner Graeme Swann pitched short to him; the faster bowlers didn’t need a special invitation to do so. Yet Raina not only coped, he attacked. The shots were clean, power-packed and cleared the field comfortably. Steve Finn bowling consistently over 90 mph (this was England, and there are some things no one wants to change, metric or not), was sent screaming past midwicket to start the Indian onslaught.
Stuart Broad was deliberately lifted over the wicketkeeper’s head. James Anderson was treated with disrespect bordering on disdain as Raina stepped on the accelerator to add 140 in the last 14 overs with his captain. There was something surreal about all this.
Not so long ago, England’s Graeme Hick had caused similar confusion. He was the finest batsman of his generation – but outside the Tests where he struggled. He had over a hundred first class centuries to his name, including a quadruple century. The West Indies fast bowlers exposed him, as fast bowlers everywhere seem to be doing to Raina.
It is not the easiest thing to do – to play a delivery that is rising into your ribs at top pace. Those with the technique get out of the way or help the ball along towards the boundary. Raina is often caught between two stools, neither moving out quickly enough nor hitting confidently.
Yet it need not all be about technique. Dilip Vengsarkar didn’t have a great technique against the short, rising ball either, yet his centuries against the West Indies during their period of dominance is bettered only by Sunil Gavaskar’s. The opener had flawless technique, Vengsarkar had something that is sometimes a useful substitute. Heart. He was often squared up by the short ball, but he had gumption was tough. It meant taking the odd blow on the body, and being a tall man meant his height was sometimes a disadvantage, but he not only coped, he carried the fight to the bowler.
Raina is clearly a talented batsman, and a potential India captain should he cement his place in the Test squad. In the shorter forms of the game, he is currently India’s best batsman, which allied to his brilliant fielding makes him India’s most valuable player. There is too his off spin bowling.
For a while as the sun shone, and a packed house watched in wonder, sanity seemed to have been restored to the series. India had shown what might have been, but to me the day only served to deepen the Raina mystery.
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By Partab Ramchand
Lala Amarnath whose birth centenary falls on September 11 was always news. On and off the field he unwittingly made sure that he was always in the public eye. He made brilliant centuries, bowled accurately and skillfully, fielded in an agile manner that belied his build and led his side as shrewdly as only he could. This was all on the field. Off it he was involved in countless scraps with officialdom, fighting for more freedom and better facilities. He was even sent home from a tour of England for indiscipline - ``an ``uncalled for’’ and ``high handed’’ act as it was termed. He was the most outspoken player of his time – this was seen later in his newspaper columns and radio commentary - and cared ``two hoots’’ for administrators. You liked him because he was ``open’’ and ``candid’’. Or you disliked him because he was ``blunt’’ and ``rude’’. But you could never ignore him. Amarnath wouldn’t have liked that!
It is true that Amarnath might have helped his and the country’s cause better had he been a bit more diplomatic in his statements. He was an impetuous young man given to sudden outbursts and could have been a little more restrained in his comments. But it would be incorrect to say that the fault was entirely that of Amarnath. For the major part of his long career he was player and captain under the most autocratic leaders and administrators. Vizzy’s infamous role as captain has been well documented. Major Brittain-Jones who was manager of the team to England in 1936 was a tactless official. Anthony de Mello for long president of the Indian Cricket Board ruled like the ``big boss’’. It was difficult for a player of Amarnath’s temperament to get along with them and the result was a chequered, start-and-stop career for Amarnath who under normal circumstances should have played many more Tests than the 24 he did.
Happily however history has reprieved Amarnath. He has been absolved on all counts. Regarding his being sent back from England the Beaumont Enquiry Committee considered the step taken by the powers-to-be then in England as ``stern’’. Wisden termed is as a ``drastic action.’’ Don Bradman and Wally Hammond shared this opinion in their books and both in fact had high praise for Amarnath not only as cricket and captain but as a person.
Indian cricket has seen many enduring personalities over the years but could there have been a more colourful character than Amarnath? Veteran sports journalist PN Sundaresan once told me that for cricket lovers of his generation, their great hero was Amarnath. But Amarnath bridged the generation gap many times over and was a hero to a new generation of cricket followers. Such was the personal charisma of the man, his dynamic personality that young cricket fans born after Amarnath’s playing career was over were eager to hear tales of yore told in the inimitable Lala manner.
Amarnath possessed a touch of flair in whatever he did. After all, did not Bradman write in `Farewell to Cricket’ that ``I look back on the season with Amarnath as my opposite number as one of my most pleasant cricket years. Amarnath was such a pleasant ambassador and throughout the tour I found him absolutely charming in every respect.’’
As an attacking batsman, a skillfully accurate bowler, a shrewd captain and one of the leading personalities known for his outspoken views and acerbic wit, Amarnath’s exalted status in the history of Indian cricket is enshrined forever. As a batsman, he was once described as ``a pure romantic, the Byron of Indian cricket.’’ For sheer razzle dazzle of his strokeplay he takes his place among the most entertaining batsmen in Indian cricket. As a medium pace swing bowler he was naggingly accurate best symbolized by the story concerning Harold Gimblett on the tour of England in 1946. For long Amarnath tied down the naturally attacking batsman until in despair Gimblett asked him ``don’t you ever bowl a half volley?’’ And that impish Amarnath humour came through spontaneously - ``Oh yes I bowled one in 1940’’. As a captain Amarnath was pitted against master tactician Bradman on the tour of Australia in 1947-48 but that did not stop him from
emerging with a lot of credit. He was a daring strategist and in fact it was said that his knowledge of Australian pitches was superior to even that of Bradman’s!
Amarnath’s reputation as one of the great entertainers – on and off the field - is secure and unchallenged. He served five terms as chairman of the selection committee and being remarkably perceptive opened the avenues for a host of talented cricketers many of whom went on to notable international careers. His behind the scenes role in India’s miraculous triumph over Australia at Kanpur in December 1959 has been well chronicled. In later years he earned a name as a radio commentator and newspaper columnist his shrewd observations and frank views on players and issues making him immensely popular. The tributes paid to him when he passed away in New Delhi in August 2000 were sincere and handsome. They came from all over the world and were headed by Bradman himself.
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By Sunil Gavaskar
India’s cricket team is going through the horrors at the moment and
while England have played remarkably well and are high on confidence, a
lot of India’s problems have been brought about by being overconfident
and complacent after the World Cup win. That tremendous victory made for
joyous celebrations alright but it also made some people take it easy
and that is where India finds itself in trouble.
International
sport is such that it is tough to be away for a bit and then come back
to the same competitive level immediately. It will happen of course if
enough hard work is put in and if there is inherent talent but it does
mean a few barren games. The preparedness that was seen before the world
cup was conspicuous by its absence for the subsequent tours to West
Indies and England.
True, there were injuries that upset the
balance of the team and brought in inexperienced players into the fold
but even here there were some whose selections were based on
performances in a format that was other than the one that they were
picked for. Far too often in India we have given India caps to players
on the basis of scores in the IPL which is only a T20 tournament and so
does not give a correct idea of the player’s skill level as well as his
temperament. Just because the IPL has more viewership than the Ranji
Trophy does not mean that the players who do well in that should get the
India cap but have a look at some of the players picked for the ODIs
and see if they have done well and been anywhere near selection for the
Indian team again. So the caps were quite clearly undeserved and a
waste.
The Ranji Trophy and Duleep Trophy are the premier
tournaments for selection and have always been so, but how many of the
games are watched by selectors who are now paid to do so? The selectors
are seen at Test and international matches in India and that too even
when the Ranji or Duleep games are going on and it would be far more
productive if the selectors were out for those and look for new talent
than go to a Test and see players whom they have seen so many times
before. Mind you, with most if not all Ranji games being played without
the international players it doesn’t always give a correct picture of
the ability and temperament of the player. Still to ignore that is not a
smart thing to do. What has been hard to understand is why those
who have been picked are unbale to get visas and get to England in time
for the matches. Aren’t standby selected along with the team? And if so,
aren’t they informed that they should keep themselves ready physically
and mentally to leave at a moment’s notice. Aren’t the visas done for
the standbys too or is it only for those actually selected to go on
tour. The delay in R.P. Singh and now Ravindra Jadeja coming in makes
one wonder if there’s been any information exchange at all between the
selectors and the players.
If R.P.Singh’s selection to
replace Zaheer Khan smacked of a left -arm seamer coming in for another
left-hander, Jadeja coming for an opening batsman shows confused
thinking when there have been so many batsmen who could have come in as
replacement. If Jadeja does get to England in time for the remaining
matches the management may not want to play him but with injuries coming
thick and fast it could well be only eleven fit men on the day who can
take the field for India. Of course detractors will once again blame
the IPL for the injuries but the fact is that India is not yet a fitness
conscious country and prefers skills rather than fitness that is more
athletic than cricketing.
The shorter formats of the game
requires more athleticism than the Test version but skills still have
to be paramount and there has to be a healthy blend of the two. England
dropped Samit Patel because he was too heavy at one stage and while he
has not dropped too much weight the England selection committee seems to
be satisfied with him. In any case if looks were to be the criteria for
selection then models have a good chance to play international cricket
than those ordinary looking ones. India will look to salvage some
face in the one-day series and being the world cup champs will be a
factor in the confidence level but as we saw in the Test series being
number one does not guarantee anything excepting that those below will
be gunning hard for you.
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By Suresh Menon Dr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni – the honorific thanks
to a university in Leicester - turned 30 this year. An international
sportsman at that age is the equivalent of an accountant or a
candlestick maker at 50. There is a good chunk of career remaining, but
its quality will depend on how well the mind and body are trained to
cope. Matches not played will have a bearing on matches played. Dhoni
is one of the most over-worked cricketers in the world. In Manchester
recently, he admitted his players are tired and called for a rotation
policy. After the first one-dayer he suggested taking 18 players on
tour. Dhoni has stood up to the strain remarkably well, although former
England wicket keeper Paul Nixon has spoken of the Indian captain’s
“sore hands” and general air of fatigue on tour. The question we
should be asking ourselves – and by ‘we’, I mean the selectors, the
coach, the player himself, the sponsors, the fans, the media, everybody
with a stake in the success of the player (not always financial) – is:
How do we protect Dhoni? Protect him from the excessive physical
and mental demands so that he is at the top of his game for longer than
his workload might indicate? To keep wickets is a full-time,
nerve-wracking job; to lead a side, ditto; to be one of the main batsmen
with responsibilities to control the innings, ditto. And Dhoni does the
job of three men in three different formats of the game while
maintaining one of the coolest responses to victory and defeat by any
captain. He didn’t burst into tears when India were thrashed in
England (at least one international captain in recent memory walked off
centre stage in tears), he didn’t suggest it was the end of the world.
Such self-control is both awe-inspiring and frankly, a bit worrying. How
does this man let off steam? The pressures are incredible, yet
Dhoni never complains. Apart from the playing and the touring and the
public relations, there is the matter of IPL and the Champions League
which swells the number of playing days by a significant percentage
every year. Now that the boss at his IPL franchise is set to take over
as the President of the cricket board, chances are that if Dhoni has to
take a break, it will not be from the shortest format. India might let
him take a break, but Chennai Super Kings will not. Yet it need
not be all doom and gloom if Dhoni’s career is handled with care and
sensitivity. If, like Tendulkar and Dravid, Dhoni hopes to play into the
late 30s, steps have to be taken now. Periods of rest and a careful
policy of rotation will keep a player in the game for much longer than
the existing arbitrary play-everything policy. Dhoni has played 61
Tests, 186 ODIs and 27 T20 internationals. It took Polly Umrigar –
India’s batting record-holder in the pre-Gavaskar period – nearly 14
years to play 59 Tests. It has taken Dhoni just five years. England’s
three-captain policy is beginning to look attractive. A specialist T20
captain will reduce the strain on Dhoni who can sit out the games or
play without the added responsibility. For the moment, there is no
call to shift Dhoni in the one-day matches. He is the captain of the
reigning World champions, after all. When the Indian team returns, there
will be post-mortems, finger-pointing, blame-avoiding,
responsibility-spreading and all those other exercises so beloved of the
fraternity in India. In the midst of all this, two important
issues have to be tackled. The question of easing the next generation of
players in, and the matter (and manner) of stretching career of the
captain. I am not sure how successful the ‘Save the Tiger’ campaign has
been in India. But the ‘Save the Captain’ campaign must aim at greater
success.
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By Partab Ramchand
It may be too early to be talking of an
Australian resurgence but their emphatic victory over Sri Lanka at Galle
could just be the first step towards the long, hard road back to the
top. They may have slid to No 5 in the ICC Test rankings but their
performance in the opening match of the three Test series against a team
ranked one place above them was heartwarming. It is never easy to beat
Sri Lanka at home as so many teams have discovered over the years. Even
without Muthiah Muralitharan they remain a fairly strong bowling unit
while the batting continues to be formidable. So there is a positive
ring about Australia’s victory that could signal a climb back. After all
let’s not forget that they remain the No 1 team in ODIs. The
Aussies are still in the rebuilding process following the retirements of
greats such as Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew
Hayden, Justin Langer and Damien Martyn. But they have adopted the right
approach to the task picking the right young talent, discarding a
couple of older players and persisting with those who can still
contribute substantially. And under a new captain things seem to be
falling into place. If there is one player who symbolizes the
feeling that the Aussies are on the upswing it is Shane Watson. Not too
long ago he was regarded as a limited overs specialist who could chip in
usefully with bat and ball. In the last couple of years even as he has
played an even bigger role in ODIs it is his Test record that has caught
the eye. He is suddenly indispensable to the team in the longer version
of the game too and his batting and bowling skills have burgeoned. And
then you have the new kids on the block who have made an immediate
impact. How many times in a Test match have two debutants struck in
their first over, one with his second ball and the other with his very
first delivery? And yet this was the double feat pulled off by Trent
Copeland and Nathan Lyon. With a five wicket haul in his maiden Test
innings Lyon has pushed Nathan Hauritz into the background. And the
emergence of Copeland and Ryan Harris has meant no place for tried and
trusted bowlers like Doug Bollinger and Peter Siddle. If anything this
illustrates the depth in the Aussie pace attack. Finally you have
the veterans who can still pack a punch as events at Galle indicated.
Ricky Ponting even at 36 has still a lot to contribute with his bat. The
former Australian captain who has just become the first player to
figure in 100 Test victories is the third highest run getter and century
maker in Test history and somehow one feels that after being relieved
of the captaincy one could see the return of the commanding Ponting who
peeled off 12 hundreds in 25 Tests in the period 2005 – 2007. Mike
Hussey and Michael Clarke are an integral part of the squad and if any
proof was needed it was provided at Galle when on a turning track they
notched up the two highest scores on the Aussie side. Usman Khawaja
brings a touch of Asian elegance to the middle order while Mitchell
Johnson fast approaching the 200-wicket mark in Tests is still a very
fine bowler. Brad Haddin’s reputation behind and in front of the stumps
is growing with every match. And with Phil Hughes, David Warner and
Shaun Marsh around Australia have the nucleus of a side that could well
enjoy an upturn in their fortunes. The current series in Sri Lanka and
the contest at home against India in the winter could well determine
that. You can never really write off the Aussies can you? You do so at
your own peril.
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