Not Cricket

The more things change

One has been out on vacation and hasn't really been able to keep up with the events unfolding in the sporting arena. One noticed that things hadn't really changed.

• Sri Lanka and NZ shared the 2 match T20 series in the US of A. Now that's exactly what is needed to make cricket popular in the US. A stale mate. The Americans love winners and not drawers. The only quick draw they ever respect ended with the demise of the Westerns starring Clint Eastwood.
• SA leads Windies 2-0 in the ODI series in the Windies. Even without looking at the scoreboard one knows that Chris Gayle failed. One can't remember the other 'recognised' Windies batters who must have failed. Pollard who was battered by Holding as not being a batter isn't forgotten but he performs only for MI and that too only in the last 4 overs.
• Pakistan has appointed Shahid Afridi as its Test captain. Now this is an addition to the growing list of non-playing captains. One's ignorance may be pardoned but what are Shahid Afridi's Test Match averages again? And it seems he actually came out of 'self exile' to return to Test Matches. 
• Younis and Yusuf have been picked up in 30 probables inspite of their bans. Can we ban the ban please in Pakistan cricket?
• England has won the football WC. Oops sorry read too many Brit newspapers. But it's just a formality which should happen in another month and a half. All other teams are expected to roll over and let England win. One is reminded of the hysteria generated in the Indian press before the start of any LOI WC. The hysteria and the confidence that Team India will come back with the trophy.
• DInara Safina lost in the first round at the French Open. Justin Henin wins her first round. Unequal prize money anyone between the men's and the women's champions?
• Bangladesh is in England and they aren't using the UDRS for lack of money. Local newspapers say 'controversial UDRS system scrapped for Bangla series'. The word hypocrisy seems to be somehow related to this episode.

Somehow not too many things seem to have happened over the last one week. Constancy is the only change in the world of Cricket for sure.

One heads back to a few days of inactivity.

Making sense of some World T20 stats

Out of the top World T20 scorers  16 played the IPL, only 4 didn't.

If we look at the highest wicket takers a different picture emerges

With the bowlers though its not the same case. Can we infer that IPL is actually placing more value on batters than bowlers? It's any body's guess. Or is it that the bowlers are getting more tired with continuous cricket? You tell me.

International quality? Excuse me.

A lot has been said about the Indians getting complacent after the IPL because of the lack of quality in the league. And how they fell short (pun intended) when face with an international quality team. It was pointed out (and rightly so) that Yusuf Pathan scored that blitzkrieg against the 5th and 6th MI bowler and as soon as he faced Zak and Malinga, he looked quite ordinary. The argument is that people like MSD could hit Irfan Pathan in that dramatic final over because Irfan is a ‘has been’ out of form and a pathetic bowler. These are just illustrations to show that the Indians became over confident after playing against mediocre opposition.

The IPL IS a domestic league, no doubt about that and the compulsory inclusion of young local players often weakens a team. But then saying that once the Indians came up against quality international opposition one begins to feel uncomfortable.

One is intrigued by what people define as ‘INTERNATIONAL standard’.

West Indies? Sri Lanka? New Zealand? One would frankly even put Pakistan in this list. Do these teams have the balance and depth of quality/ experience to say that they are a quality international side?

Sri Lanka has around 4 batsmen on whom they rely. But once a team gets the betters of Jayawardene, Dilshan (is he still in the team? Never noticed him in a match), Sanga and maybe Angelo Mathews. Without Murali, Malinga becomes the only threatening prospect (Mendis has more or less been sorted out) with maybe Mathews again proving useful.

WestIndies the less said the better.

New Zealand has Vettori, Taylor, Ryder, McCullum (who performs in one out of 10 matches) and HAD Bond who played one out of 10 matches. They consistently punch above their weight but ‘international quality’? One doubts severely.

Pakistan again had a dearth of experience and talent in their batting order. Readers may accuse one of being a sore loser and point out that India actually lost to both the West Indies and Sri Lanka. This may lead to the question whether India itself is a quality international team. That is a matter of debate and one will be interested in seeing how it develops.

Won’t a team like MI/ CSK/ RCB/ DDD beat the abovementioned teams in a T20 game? Interesting question but one cannot say for sure that these national teams will be able to beat these 4 teams consistently.

The fact is that when one wakes up on a Saturday morning and reads columnists like Pradeep Magazine, who go on raving and ranting about IPL and BCCI without any well formed argument, one is livid at such a poor start to the day. This, in turn, leads to raving and ranting from oneself that culminates in posts like these.

Phew. 

Mike Hussey played for CSK this season and his lack of exposure to quality bowling surely showed yesterday against Pakistan. What an innings.

Bharat Ratna for V Anand? Right away..

The portents were ominous. He had performed poorly in the year 2009-10 in all tournaments. All his recent games would surely be studied by the opposition. Was it a deliberate move to not let the opponent know his strategy? One shall never know.

The ash hanging in the air had forced him to undertake a grueling train journey. The organizers refused to shift the dates citing sponsorship issues. The match was being played on Topalov’s home ground. Topalov had tried his version of sledging by declaring before the championship match started that he wouldn’t offer a draw. There were so many excuses to offer. But the man never offered even one.

He lost the first game promptly but hit back almost immediately taking a 1 point lead. He had lost his lead in the 8th game and couldn’t break through Topalov’s defence in the next 2 games playing with white. The 9th game was especially heart breaking as he had all the chances to force a result but failed to do so.

He was under pressure. Big Time! Cometh the last game playing Black, cometh the man. It wasn’t purely about Chess. It was about handling pressure. The easiest thing was to play safe, which he had done almost through out the championship. But he went for it and Topalov faltered. What kind of a pressure does a chess player go through playing the last match of a World championship and with black pieces that too? Is it similar to what a cricketer faces in a similar scenario? One doesn’t know. But it was immense for sure.

The day Vishwanathan Anand turned the tables on Vaselin Topalov, India was bowing out of the World T20 in the Windies in a spineless display. There have been many calls for conferring the Bharat Ratna on Sachin Tendulkar. After this display, Vishwanathan Anand would be my choice as the first sportsperson to receive it. Anyone has a problem with it?

Great plan but poor execution

 The day before –

Gary K and MSD discussing team strategy against Australia - “So MS, what do you think should we do if we win the toss?”

“You tell me Gary. YOU are the coach!”

“Look I motivate Gouti, Yuvi, Rohit and Jadeja to perform. That takes some doing and almost all my time. Why do you think has Yuvi gained only 3 kilos eating his mom’s food? I gave him some tips and said that they should act as a food for thought. He is still munching on them. Now he eats Raina’s mom’s food.”

“I think we should bat first. Then we will send Yusuf up the order to scare Dirk and Tait. Wait, I have a better idea. We will bowl first and get Yusuf up the order to bowl at Warner and Watson. All the short pitched stuff will knock the stuffing out of them.”

“MS, this is not your grand plan to win the match, is it?”

“Come on Gary. All we need to do is go out and enjoy. Play with a free mind. Bowl in the right areas, bat with gay abandon, field like tigers. And hey presto! We win!”

“MS all this tripe is fine for the post match conferences and remember I taught you all these words to say. So don’t try and use them back on me.”

“How about this? We get Pup and White into the game early. The longer they stay at the crease the better for us. The viewers will have to bear the sight of Pup's sleazy looks but I will ask my sponsors to put in more of my ads to calm the viewer's nerves.”

“That sounds like the first good idea coming from Ranchi. I actually believe this may work.”

But little did they know about the meeting taking place between Pup and his coach at the same time.

“So Pup what’s the plan?”

“Bowl short!”

“Yes. I agree with the plan. This should work. Anything else?”

“I won’t bat and just be a fielding captain.”

“That’s an even better idea. We have a winner on our hands mate!”

The rest as they say was history

If Lalit Modi writes an autobiography

Lalit Modi’s idols (Courtsey DNA)

LKM has promised/ threatened to write a book on his IPL experiences. One is sure that though the photo above may not make the the cover page of the book given LKM's larger than life ego, it will given a place of honour for sure.This is the bunch of some of the sports administrators who were Lalit Modi’s spiritual Gurus when he dreamt of the IPL. What did he learn from them? Plenty one would guess.

• Authority without responsibility 
• Complete lack of transparency
• Complete control in individual hands
• Weak governing councils or their equivalents to question their authority
• Complete brazenness when accused of improprieties
• Full scope for financial scandals
• Strong political connections

Though LKM obviously forgot the part of running things inefficiently, treating sportspersons as slaves and plumbing his sport to new lows.