India wins 5-0 as expected

When Yusuf Pathan said that the knock of 123 not out against the Kiwis might just prove to be the turning point in his career, he was right in many ways, or so it seems. At least history is on his side, for New Zealand has regularly allowed Indians some truly career-transforming moments, ever since I can remember.



Yusuf played a blinder

About a decade ago, on 2nd August 2001, Virender Sehwag played his life changing knock of 100 off 70 balls against the Kiwis, coming at the top of the order. He has not looked back ever since. Go back seven more years, and on 27th March 1994, yet again New Zealand witnessed a young Sachin Tendulkar playing that unforgettable inning of 82 runs off 49 balls opening in absence of Navjot Singh Sidhu, a knock that would re-define his batting position and in turn his LOI career forever. You could probably add to that a hattrick in world cup to Chetan Sharma, or the only one century of his career to the original little master Sunil Gavaskar, or the other 123 to Rahul Dravid that resurrected his one day career, but we need not go that far.

Today, if Pathan feels history may repeat itself yet again, you can’t blame him for sure. But then the onus is entirely on him. What this particular knock has done for him is that, it has allowed him a fresh lease of life in this over competitive Indian batting line up. To say that this knock has cemented his place in the world cup side would be logical, but slightly tricky. That’s because, the timing of this epic innings has made Pathan a certainty for the five one day matches against South Africa, and if due to any reason he fails there, it might just go against him when the wise men sit for picking the world cup squad.



Pathan handled the short ball well

But from what I saw in that knock of his, Pathan was in fact handling the short ball much better than he used to, something that would stand him in good stead while dealing with the likes of Styens and Morkels in the bouncy wickets of South Africa. Also, since all our big guns would be back there in the squad to test themselves in match conditions for the final time before the world cup, Pathan would only be batting only during the last few overs, if at all. That he should be able to manage.

One more demon should have been laid to rest as a result of this performance of Yusuf, i.e. the unreasonable competition with Jadeja for the number seven slot. In all fairness, going by ability alone, this comparison should never have been made, for Yusuf is a game changer and a match winner, where as Jadeja is just an accumulator of runs even though a slightly better bowler. Though both have similar kind of records in international cricket thus far (request Sankara to provide us with a qualitative analysis on this piece of statistics), we need an impact player at the number seven slot, which tilts the scale towards Pathan beyond doubt.



Gambhir lead from the front

Now coming back to the series against the Kiwis, a five nil white wash has given India a very good momentum and self confidence, especially due to the fact that they were able to achieve the result in absence of quite a few regular players.

It has helped Gambhir, Kohli and Pathan immensely, and to an extent Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma have also benefitted from their knocks. In the bowling department, Sreesanth, to my surprise has done quite well and Pathan and Yuvraj chipped in with wicket when needed. Ashwin did justice to the faith that was reposed upon him, carrying the mantle of the lead spinner role with élan, in absence of Harbhajan. Parthiv Patel too, helped himself with a couple of half centuries in as many matches. I am not sure, where he features in the future plans of the selectors, but all credit to him for grabbing the opportunity and showing that he is now a much improved batsman and wicket keeper who can be considered when Dhoni is not playing. Dinesh Karthik has competition here.

Of course, like Sankara, I too would have preferred to give Rayudu or Robin Uthappa a go in such kind of a series, but can’t really complain much especially the way Patel batted and kept.

The biggest dissapointment of the series emerged in terms of Murali Vijay, who despite of a fair run at the top of the order for three matches, could not capitalize on the oppotunity. It is extremely difficult to get your chances in this Indian batting line up, more so, at the top of the order, as we have stalwarts like Sehwag, Sacin and Gambhir in our wings, hence it's absolutely important that Vijay should have grabbed the rare chance that came his way. This was the second time after the series in Zimbabwe, where Vijay was seen wasting the opportunity.

Now the focus shifts to South Africa, where the battle for the number one position in test would take the center stage to begin with, and then to the ODI series, which would, as I mentioned earlier, be a defining series for the Indian world cup campaign.

An on-the-go update on the one day series against New Zealand

By the time this post is published, India has already secured yet another series win over the Kiwis, having pocketed three out of the three matches that have been played so far, and are looking good for a emphatic white wash, given the form and confidence of the opposition.

Kohli & Gambhir have batted well

But I wouldn’t read too much into it, as even Bangladesh had handed the same team a similar result only a few weeks back. That the Kiwis were able to give India a good run for their money in the test series, is entirely the fault of the curators or the authorities who do not have any interest to advance the traditional form of the game, and continue to prepare flat tracks that would help only piling up the runs. The very fact that Harbhajan Singh could treat test bowlers the way he did, proves my point. Mind you, this is not to take anything away from the sardar. He batted extremely well, but the tracks did play their part.

The one-day series has had its own benefit though. It has brought somebody like Gautam Gambhir to terrific form. He looks to be quite intimidating on the crease, and that is no good news for the oppositions. Virat Kohli has helped himself with some good knocks, and Yuvraj Singh too has looked to be getting back to some kind of rhythm. Sreesanth, though not one of my original choice for the series, has bowled quite beautifully and before being rested for the last two matches, has done enough to earn himself a place for the one day series in South Africa.

Sreesanth celebrates a wicket

As I had mentioned earlier, I would have liked to see Yusuf Pathan bat up the order just to let him score some runs and gain some confidence ahead of the world cup. That doesn’t seem to be happening, and it should be ok as long as the lack of opportunity doesn’t work against him while picking a team in near future. Our selectors are good at that, I mean, good in dropping some players without providing them enough opportunity. Not everybody is as fortunate as Ravindra Jadeja after all!

The real test of character is awaiting them in South Africa, and a win there would be invaluable in their preparation for the world cup in terms of confidence and self belief.

A quick update on the 1st test of Ashes 2010-11

And the coin goes up

As I write this post sitting in front of my television, watching the second test in this Ashes series, on this early Friday morning, I experience perfect bliss. It doesn’t get better than this, I think, as there is no better feeling for a avid cricket lover like me to go to bed thinking about the buildup of the oldest rivalry in this great game and then waking up to find Australia three down with just two runs on the board! No good news this if you are an Australian fan though.



Last week saw England walking out of Brisbane holding their head high after a high scoring draw, despite of Ricky Ponting’s tall claims about how the visitors were going to struggle under the difficult batting conditions of the Gabba. Peter Siddle, with a six wicket haul including a hattrick in the first innings did everything to prove his captain right, but Andrew Strauss’s men never felt they were out of the game except for the start of the second innings, when they were staring at a mammoth lead of 221 runs with two and half days to go. But very quickly, the captain in the company of Alistair Cook, wiped up the deficit and then England went on to pile up the runs on Australia in an authoritative manner.

 

Finn claimed six wickets in the match

The positives from this drawn test would be a high level of confidence for England, given the fact that deep down, they still have this feeling of the Aussies being kind of invincible at home To their credit, England played aggressive cricket over the entire five days, despite of being pushed back early in the match by the Siddle-storm, and then by the Hussey-Haddin partnership. But then they knew they blew their chances by poorly using the UDRS, which costed them Hussey’s wicket when he was in his eighties. I also liked the way KP and Trott approached their knocks in the first innings. Even though they didn’t score a lot of runs, they did manage to set the tone for the rest of the match by their positive approach. Pieterson was greeted with a customary bullying, but came and settled like he does, before unleashing some stupendous shots.



Trott in fine form



I had no doubt, KP bats only one way, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the way Trott played. Here is a player who has got a tight technique, knows how to mix the right amount of caution and aggression in his batting, strong on either side of the wicket and most of all is unfazed by things around him when he is on the crease. He lend solidity to the top order of England much like what Ponting used to do for Australia a decade earlier. I can’t really compare his with a Dravid of a Kallis because he unlike the former two guys, doesn’t miss out on any scoring opportunity. Mind you, I’m also not comparing his game with that of a young Ponting; they are as different as chalk and cheese. Only, the effect of their knock could be similar on their sides at the crucial one down position.

I am unable to comment of Ian Bell’s knock for I missed that part of the match, but I am told, his was the most defining innings on day one. He played superbly to pull the England score towards that respectable 260, which kept them in the game.  



A dissapointing Johnson



For Australia, the two most disappointing factors were yet again Mitchell Johnson and Marcus North. Both failed to make any impact in the match and are looking like a burden on their team. As of today, we are aware that Johnson has lost his place to Doug Bollinger, but North has still got another life line in the second test.

It does look like England are a much better side and are in with more than a decent chance of retaining the Ahses, but it remains to be seen, if they can beat the Aussies in their own den. It's gonnabe a long series as Ashes are, and this English side, despite of the absence of the towering Andrew Flintoff, does look capable of beating the Aussies. Much would depend upon how they keep up the already created pressure though,

Much more excitement to follow in days to come! Will update you on the second test ASAP.

My take on the squad for the first two one day internationals against New Zealand

The selection committee

Despite of managing more than a decent job for the most part over the past few months (at least!), the selection committee headed by Kris Srikkanth, keeps on repeating at least a couple of blunders, every time it announces a squad for any series. This time too, it was no different for the first two one day internationals against New Zealand. Let’s try and find out what they have done right, or wrong.

The squad: Gautam Gambhir (captain), M Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Saurabh Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, R Vinay Kumar, Munaf Patel, Sreesanth, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja.

First things first, let’s give credit where it is due. The selectors have done an excellent job by bringing back Yusuf Pathan into the side, which goes to show that they are thinking in the right direction, so far as the upcoming world cup is concerned. To his credit, Yusuf has played a couple of excellent knocks (195 off 138 balls against Haryana and 89 off 42 balls against Gujarat) in the on-going domestic tournaments) and also bowled with purpose(Ten wickets against Uttar Pradesh). We had discussed in an earlier post about his utility in the subcontinent at the number seven position in the Indian batting line-up. Against the Kiwis though, the team management would do well to give him a few opportunities to bat up the order to boost his self belief (assuming he would be picked up for the entire series.).

Gautam Gambhir makes a come back to the one day scheme of things after his injury lay off and this series would give him a chance to get back into rhythm at the top of the order. Murali Vijay Is going to be his partner, which is a really good thing. For Vijay’s sake, I hope that, he grabs this opportunity and scores a few big knocks. There is no dispute in Kohli, Yuvraj and Raina’s selection. Saurabh Tiwary too, deserved to be persisted with.

I am a bit baffled with Sikhar Dhawan’s exclusion though; he was just given a solitary chance against the Aussies and then discarded. This is not going to do his confidence any good. No point picking a player if you are not going to allow him to play at least a few matches to showcase his potential. Dhawan was better off not at all being picked; at least he would have remained positive that way.

Ravindra Jadeja

Coming to the ridiculous part of this selection, Ravidra Jadeja still continues to find a place in the side despite of his indifferent showing in the many matches he has played till now. Nobody in the past decade has found this much backing from the selectors and the team management. Or wait! I get a déjà vu feeling here, was not Ajit Agarkar the blue eyed boy for a long time in the past? He used to be a permanent feature of the side irrespective of his many match-losing performances. We are bent on repeating the same in Jadeja’s case as well. And at least, Agarkar had some amount of skills, which he didn’t use, for reasons better known to him. On the contrary, Jadeja is a clear case of lack of ability. I fail to decipher any apparent reason why he should be persisted with.

Wriddhiman Saha

The second inexplicable case is that of Wriddhiman Saha’s selection, who seems to be a bit of personal favorite of Srikkanth. He had even played as a batsman in a test against South Africa, remember? Agreed, that was a forced choice then, but for limited over cricket, especially when we are in the process of building a team for the world cup, the selection of Saha over Dinesh Karthick is just non-sense. Only a few matches back, Dinesh was considered good enough even as a specialist batsman in the team! Strangely enough, he is out of favor despite his undeniable talent and spirit. I have always maintained that he is an automatic selection, when Dhoni is not there in the playing eleven, irrespective of the format of the game, for I am dead sure, Dinesh even without a bat is a better batsman than Saha, and is not too far behind him when it comes to wicket keeping. And if Dinesh is injured, which is not the case now; the second closest replacement for Dhoni has to be Naman Ojha.

Vinay Kumar

The third unimaginative selection happens to be that of Vinay Kumar, who without doubt is a mediocre bowler, which anybody with the slightest of cricketing sense would know. He proved me right against the Aussies when he was carted all over the park by Clarke and White. Perhaps 22-runs in the penultimate over was okay with our selectors! Make no mistake; he is perfectly capable of replicating that performance any day. To me he is a Praveen Kumar type of bowler without Praveen’s swing and common sense. Would you pick such a bowler even for your club matches? Why not pick an Umesh Yadav or an Unadkt in Vinay’s place, if they are considered such good options to play against the South Africans?

All said and done, if I were to select a playing eleven out of this side, I would go with Gambhir, Vijay, Virat, Yuvraj, Raina, Yusuf, Saha, Ashwin, Praveen, Sreesanth and Munaf. I wouldn’t be too happy with Saha and Sreesanth in the eleven, but in any case would go with them for lack of better alternatives.

Whatever happened to Yuvraj’s test and Laxman’s one-day career!!!

Laxman and Yuvraj are undoubtedly two of the most talented cricketers India has ever produced. If one is amongst the toughest nuts to crack when the chips are down in the test arena, the other makes sure that India doesn’t lose a limited over match as long as he is out there in the middle. Yet, both have a common regret in their careers, that of not being considered good enough for both the formats.

Laxman-Yuvraj in Sydney

As ironic as it is, a super-brilliant batsman of the calibre of Laxman, notwithstanding his phenomenal success in the longer format of the game over a decade, shall never get to play for India in a world cup match, a dream he had nurtured right from the day he had held a cricket bat in his hand. On the other hand, an extremely gifted and highly regarded batsman like Yuvraj, who can send down a few scares to any bowler when on crease, could never cement his place in the longer version of the game, something that is regarded as the ultimate goal of any cricketer. Certainly some bitterness to carry at the end of your cricketing career!

Now, before analyzing the reason, we will have to counter the argument that their individual games don’t suit both the formats. I would defy anybody who says Laxman was not good enough a batsman for the shorter version (one-day matches at least), due to his strike rate, for the simple reason that he was(is) a much more positive player compared to Dravid, who has managed to accumulate in excess of ten thousand runs under his belt in the limited over international matches. Not only that, Laxman was a much more free-flowing batsman and with the kind of wrist work that he possesses, he had got a much better chance of piercing the field as against Dravid at any point of time. He also has six one day hundreds to his credit, most of which he had scored under trying circumstances against the best of bowlers. A phenomenal bowler like Brett Lee pays him this tribute, “I have been playing against Laxman since my under-16 days and nothing has changed. He used to smash me then, and he smashes me even now all over the park.” Steve Waugh paid him yet another after the breath-taking Sydney hundred, “This has been the most blazing stroke-play I have seen in a long long time.” Even though the later  was a test knock, our focus is on the kind of shots that Laxman can play, which makes him an excellent top order player even in one-day matches. And Cricinfo editor Sambit Bal rightly points out that Laxman is the only player who has the ability to play the same ball on either side of the wicket in a manner that would make you believe that there could not be a better shot than what you just saw. So it’s not his game for sure, it has to be something else.

Similarly, if Sehwag can be a phenomenal success in the test arena defying all the logic of technique, foot work or the so called traditional wear-down-the-bowler-over-time strategy, why can’t Yuvraj replicate the same? Again it’s not Yuvraj’s game that is holding him back. What’s it then? Read on, and in case you have another point of view, please put that down here at the end of this post. 

VVS Laxman

Laxman’s lack of success in the shorter format of the game is largely due to his inconsistency in the initial years of his career. He was one batsman who would score heavily in a series and would not go beyond a quick 20 or 30 in another. He never looked out of touch mind you, but more often than not, would play a careless shot and gift away his wicket, at time over doing it beyond the tolerance level of the spectators and selectors alike. His fitness too was not up to the mark those days. The selectors were running out of patience with him, and as it turned out, Laxman’s loss indirectly proved Dravid’s gain. After being kept away from the limited over matches for a good year and a half as punishment due to his over defensive approach, Dravid was kind of cementing his place at number five as a make-shift wicket keeper batsman, and following his phenomenal success against Australia in both form of the game, Laxman was given yet another opportunity to bat at the number three slot. But after playing a few mind-blowing knocks yet again his inconsistency got the better of him. Eventually, he lost out his place in the 2003 world cup squad to Dinesh Mongia, whose only claim to fame was a 150-odd against a lowly Zimbabwe attack. With his kind of limited ability, Dinesh was never going to be in the side for long, and his departure brought Dravid back to the number three slot, which he grabbed with both hands. And with the consistency Dravid showed thereafter, it was hard to dislodge him from there. Then, as you know, arrived younger players like Yuvraj and Kaif, and filled the lower middle order for India. Thus the door was permanently shut on Laxman. So, I feel, Laxman himself is to blame for his failure in the shorter version of the game, where his inconsistency and lack of fitness, coupled with Dravid’s consistency made sure that he was not going to get another look in.

Yuvraj Singh

Coming to Yuvraj’s test place, as it stands today, Suresh Raina is the one who has replaced him in the number six slot, which Yuvraj had earlier managed to inherit after Sourav Ganguly’s retirement. Yuvraj struggled and struggled in the number six slot and finally one fine day, when Raina got the opportunity to bat at that spot owing to Yuvraj’s injury, he grabbed it with a century and a few more strong performances. Yuvraj’s problem lies entirely in his mindset. He somehow can’t seem to take his mind off from the label of an one-day player that was stamped on him by his detractors. He come to the wicket and tried a bit too hard to prove them wrong and ends up being caught up somewhere in between, neither playing aggressively, nor being able to defend with conviction. By trying to defend too much, he ends up ignoring his natural game, which is attacking, and playing a game of somebody else, a situation that any opposition would like to put a batsman into. Then on he becomes a sitting duck for even a part time bowler. His strength is his assured drives of the full deliveries and his brutal pull shots off the short balls. He is the only batsman in the current lot, apart from Dhoni, whom you would not fancy bowling short stuffs. Jacques Kallis, Allan Donald, Brett Lee, Glen McGrath, Waqar Younis, all these fast bowlers have discovered that the hard way. His major weakness lies in his tentativeness outside his off stump at the start of his innings. If he manages to overcome that with a bit of discipline and gets his eye in, he becomes as destructive as anybody you could ever imagine, his high back lift only helping him sending the ball flying out of the stadium. The sooner he realized this better for him. I have always seen him as the Indian version of Kevin Pieterson. Confident to the point of being arrogant, assured on the crease, a rock star in stature just like KP, when in full flow; Yuvraj can just dismiss the bowlers out of their self belief. Any team would love to have an unfair advantage at number six of his caliber.

Unlike Laxman’s one day dreams, Yuvraj’s test career is far from over. With Suresh Raina showing signs of running out of steam, he still can get another chance to prove his true class, only, that would be his last chance.

What Sachin and Rohit have in common....

In a recent post on Murali Vijay, I had incidentally drawn a comparison between the youth brigade of Indian cricket (Rohit-Virat-Raina-Vijay) and the ‘fabulous four’ of the past decade (Sachin-Dravid-Ganguly-Laxman). Even though the occasion was entirely different, I really meant what I mentioned there. I had received some off-line feedback on that article from a friend, which eventually prompted me to elaborate on the topic. While he was fine with the other comparisons, he had kind of taken offence on the Sachin-Rohit parallel. Viewed in isolation, he was quite justified in saying so, but the context in which I mentioned the one-on-one past verses present does need some explanation. In this article though, we would try to address the most controversial comparison of the lot while still touching upon the others just briefly.

Sachin versus Rohit: When I compare the talented Rohit Sharma to the batting legend Sachin Tendulkar, I do not; by any means propose that Rohit is as good a batsman as the little master. Nobody can be, I only mean, if anyone comes even close to be compared with the great man, it has to be Rohit, and logically he is the one who should be batting in the number four position that’s going to be eventually vacated upon Sachin’s retirement.

I have got some strong logic going on this theory, which I have gathered from watching and analyzing Rohit’s batting, and listening to cricket experts discussing the approach of this youngster on the batting crease.

Sachin

If you look closely at Sachin in action, you would be sort of surprised to find the simplest of technique there. The little master just does the basic things right, absolutely no effort to do a copy book act, it looks as if his eyes, head, feet and every part of his body just glide through the motion when his bat meets the ball. How many times have you seen him standing out of his crease to negate the swing, or deliberately trying to move back and across while negotiating express deliveries on lightning quick pitches? Very rarely. Everything just comes automatically to this man. How does he manage to do that so effortlessly? What’s that one thing which separates him from the rest? Certainly not technique, as Sunil Gavaskar, Jeff Boycott and even the contemporary Rahul Dravid undoubtedly are known to have tighter and better technique than him. What sets Sachin apart is the amount of time that he possesses when he plays a ball. He has more time to negotiate a delivery than any other batsman I have seen. Nice and easy on the crease, he is never hurried in his stroke play, executing the most breathtaking shot with the least of fuss. Even the great Brian Lara, with that extra-ordinary amount of natural talent, looked hurried at times. This extra time-factor, coupled with a highly disciplined mind has taken Sachin to a place which others can only dream of. 

And this is exactly where Rohit is blessed. He too has that extra amount of time at his disposal. You would never see him hurried just like his idol Sachin. And this is precisely the reason why he was so successful in negotiating a rampaging Brett Lee on a super quick track in Australia with ease, when everybody else was struggling to find his bearing. That one glimpse of class turned the great Ian Chappell a fan of this young lad from India for ever, as he often asks what a batsman of the caliber of Rohit is doing outside the test team.

Rohit Sharma

Pretty much like Sachin, Rohit too has a simple technique; he looks to plays late, straight and close to his body, right under his nose. He has this lazy elegance that simply oozes class when he is on the crease. Just try and recollect any knock that he has played so far, and you would be reminded of poetry. He doesn’t have the amount of runs under his belt to make people believe in him as yet, but that’s just a matter of time. As you are aware, class is permanent.

Where Rohit lacks is not ability, but application. And he needs quite a bit of that very quickly. So far he has failed not because of short supply of talent, but discipline on the crease. He still features in the current scheme of things only because the Indian selectors have seen what Ian Chappell had seen. But if Rohit doesn’t grab the limited opportunities that come his way with both hands, he is going to miss the bus. Indian cricket is just too competitive.

Now to round it off, we would try to quickly touch base upon the other three comparisons too.

Dravid versus Kohli: I compare Virat with Rahul only due to the mental strength factor. Both are quite different players with Virat being as much aggressive as Rahul is technically equipped. But when it comes to fighting it out there in the middle or batting right through an innings under pressure, both are amongst the best of the best.

Ganguly versus Raina: Natural talent is the common factor here, unless you are mentioning the susceptibility against the short ball, which both these players have displayed. Now, Raina has to manage this weakness of his like Ganguly has done over an illustrious career. The other factor that induces this comparison is that both are aggressive left handed batsmen, who like to stamp their authority on the bowlers.

Laxman versus Vijay: I had already addressed this in a previous post, wherein I mentioned about the sublime stroke play of these immensely talented batsmen. Despite of batting at different positions, they approach the task at their hand with a similar lyrical smoothness that simply mesmerizes the viewers.

To conclude, I must reiterate that all these modern day players have much to prove before their names can even be taken in the same breath as the yester year’s greats, but they certainly have the potential to succeed on the big stage.

And India’s success lies in their success.

A probable side for the ICC World Cup 2011

We are round about ten matches away from the all important world cup and for the first time ever it does look like we have a team at our disposal that matches the pre- cup hype

Unlike the earlier occasions, we now have excellent bench strength which not only makes the management feel secured when team India starts its campaign come February, it also keeps those in the playing eleven on their toes all the time. The fact that the world cup is staged in the sub-continent does have its own advantage for our team, as even a few otherwise good players might look unassailable under home or home-like conditions.

Under such circumstances, it would not be too bad an idea to put together a probable playing eleven and over all a sixteen member squad for the mega event, going by the current form of our players. There are certain players who would walk into the side by their sheer class; there are a few who would do so by form, and at least one that I can think of by his name.

We would go by batting positions as that would give us a chance to evaluate each of the players as per the requirement of the order in which he would most probably play.

Number One: Virender Sehwag walks into this position by talent, experience, name and whatever you can think of. He is ‘the one’ who has the ability to single handedly carry India on his shoulders to the title. Known as the most dangerous batsman of his era, it does not take much time for this destructive player to turn any game on its head, when in full flow. And by making opposition constantly think about his frightful presence on the crease, Sehwag allows batsmen at the other end to score freely without any pressure, till he is out there in the middle. The only negative about this awesome stroke maker is that he takes too many risks and in the process provides that many opportunities to the opposition to claim his wicket. But all said and done, with the kind of impact he makes, he is the most automatic choice for any side in any type of match irrespective of its nature. Hence, without any dispute, he plays in our team at the number one position.

Number Two: This position belongs to the little master Sachin Tendulkar by his choice. And his choice is our choice with pleasure. He is in the form of his life, even otherwise, twenty years of experience is just mind boggling. His name alone could elevate any side to an entirely different level both mentally and otherwise. We are fortunate to have the master in our side and his name does send down a few scares to all the oppositions. He can bat through the innings, attack or defend at will or just control the game with his mere presence out there in the middle. I would prefer him to play right through though, as that would keep the advantage with India all along, what with all the destructive players coming in at the other end. So no dispute here as well for the number two position.

Number Three: This has got to be the most controversial position in terms of selecting a batsman. Ever since Rahul Dravid has(read has been) stopped playing limited over cricket, this position has been up for grabs and a number of players have batted here with varied amount of success. Of late, an automatic selection into the side, Gautam Gambhir had made this position his own, as he didn’t get to open due to the presence of Sachin and Sehwag in the lineup. Batsmen like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina and sometimes captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also batted in this position. My vote though, would go to Virat Kohli as he is one of the most talented young players India has in the recent times. He is aggressive, he has got a tight defense and more than that he has got the ability of batting under pressure. This might look a bit unfair to Gambhir, but Virat to me comes into this side as much due to his mental strength as his undeniable talent. Gambhir is just an excellent back up for the opening slot, in event of injury to Sachin or Sehwag. 

Number Four: Who else can bat in this position when Yuvraj Singh is fit? He has been a clear match winner for India at number four for many years now and we all know what kind of impact he could make to the lineup. He just has to get back his confidence in the forth coming ten matches before the world cup. This is yet another position which has got no dispute to it with Yuvraj sealing it easily with his sheer heroics over the years. He has got unbelievable respect of all the oppostion, something he thoroughly deserves. When in full flow, he is truely a sight to behold. The fact that he has been around for close to a decade now, is another fact that can't be ignored. From whatever we have seen of him in the solitary match against Australia, he looked tremendusly hungry and determined and that augurs well for India's world cup campaign.

Number Five: This position goes to the prodigious Suresh Raina for the kind of talent he brings into the side. Here is a batsman who can play freely, take up the role of a Virat Kohli or a Yuvraj Singh depending upon the requirement, can bat during the power play or slog overs, clear the field with the most amazing shots and most importantly can change a match in five to ten overs. Even the critisism that he doesn't handle the short stuffs well enough can't be held against him in the sub-continent pitches, as here, he is not going to get that many short-pitched balls. He is quickly proving to be yet another match winner for India in the shorter version of the game.You could argue that Dhoni should bat at this position, but then I feel Dhoni could bat at any position, when not batting at his customary number six position.

Number Six: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has looked to bat at this position of late and in probability, will continue to do so as a rule. He is a batsman who can both be aggressive and defensive, can control the game much like Sachin, and most importantly can provide a sense of security to the dressing room. An excellent reader of the game, it only helps that he has the coolest head on his shoulders. He also plays the role of a floater to the perfection, who can bat at any position, when the occasion so demands. This is going to be his first world cup as the captain and expectations are certainly going to be sky high. But Mahi, being Mahi, has never allowed any pressure to get to him or his team, which in itself is a tremendus achievement. He has already been proved to be one of the most successful captains India has ever had, and a victory in the world cup would be just about perfect.

Number Seven: Undoubtedly the most difficult position to fill in, India has perhaps too little options here. Ideally a side needs a genuine all-rounder at this position, which India has been struggling to unearth ever since Kapil Dev hung his boots. Utility players who could do a bit of everything have not been good enough in the international scene as we have noticed in the past. We have tried Robin Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Abhishek Nayar to fill in that slot over the past decade, but Robin was the only one who at least looked like a temporary solution. Others have been far from it. Recently, the team management has backed Ravindra Jadeja for quite some time, to bat at that position, without realizing that the lad is not ready for such a task. At best, Jadeja is a push-and-run player who can succeed only in first class level with the amount of batting talent he has. Dhoni seems to have taken Shane Warne too seriously when he called Ravindra the ‘rock star’ of Rajasthan Royals.

In my opinion, the best man for the job out of the limited options that we currently have could have been Irfan Pathan, who could have provided the much needed fifth bowler option and a more than useful lower order bat, who had the ability to handle the pressure of international cricket. By not selecting him, we are not only demoralizing him, also doing tremendous injustice to Indian cricket.

Since due to some inexplicable reasons Irfan can’t be picked in the side, we must pick his brother Yusuf Pathan in this slot, as we are playing the world cup in India, where the conditions are going to suit his kind of stroke play, and this powerful striker has the ability to clear any ground on his day. Also, Yusuf does provide the option of batting a bit up in the order when spinners are operating. He can even chip in with a few overs to fill in that fifth bowler’s slot, doing almost a similar job with the ball as Jadeja does. To be fair to him, he has not been given a decent run in the side, considering the complexities that come with the role.

More than anything else, he is a far better choice over the can’t-bat-can’t-bowl Ravindra Jadeja.

Number Eight: This position goes to the most experienced spinner of India, Harbhajan Singh. He has hardly done anything great of late, but experience can’t be ignored. And we don’t have too many choices as well. The only competition you can think of for this sardar is Ashwin, who can also be a decent batsman, but when the stage is as big as the world cup, your number one spinner has to be there in your side. Guys like Piyush Chawala don't even come close to be in a second string side, so Harbhajan make it in our team by the sheer strength of his experience. Harbhajan’s ability with the bat too seals the position in his favor, beyond any kind of doubt whatsoever. Of course, as you are goiug to find later, we shall have Ashwin as a back up for this sole specialist spinner in the side.

Number Nine: Zaheer Khan, one of the best quick bowling options that India has, walks into this position. He is everything that a captain needs as his bowling spearhead. Zaheer bowl with a probing line, provides early break-throughs, contains runs, comes back in a second spell to break partnerships to hand India the advantage. He guides the junior fast bowlers and takes off a lot of responsibility from Dhoni's shoulders. His ability to reverse the old ball comes in handy in Indian conditions. The only thing that has been missing in his armory has been that potent yorker that was his main strenght when he broke into the Indian team as a rookie pacer. But he more than makes up for it with his variation of pace and length. He has been amazing over the past few years and there need not be any debate here.

Number Ten: Ashish Nehra, too, seems to have done enough in the recent past to grab this position, due to his ability and experience. He has been excellent for the past one year or so and it would be really difficult to ignore him. Ever since he started to get back his rythm bowling for the Mumbai Indians, he has pretty much looked the potent bowler of the past. The fact that he was one of our main bowlers alongside Zaheer in the 2003 world cup where India made it to the final, also makes a strong case in his favor. In recent times he has spearheaded the Indian pace attack, whenever Zaheer has been out of the side due to either injury or was given rest to manage work load. Nehra has accepted this challenge and has come out with flying colors.

Number Eleven: We have to choose between Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel for this position and we would stick to Ishant to start with, more due to the steely resolve that we saw in his character in the recent Mohali Test. He is a handy customer to have, when he is disciplined and this is something he seems to be working on. We have been hearing a lot of positive feed back about Ishant of late, and even if a part of that is close to true, we have a much improved fast bowler in our side. Even otherwise, he is the only one bowler we have who could be called a fast bower in its real sense and it worth a risk to have him. In event of his leaking runs or proving ineffective, we will have back up in Munaf Patel, who could be brought into the side.

That completes the playing eleven. We have seven batsmen and four bowlers in the line-up. As has been seen in the past, the fifth bowler’s quota has to be shared between the part timers. In this eleven, we have Yusuf, Yuvraj, Raina and Sehwag who could share the work load. In spinner friendly conditions of the sub-continent, they should prove more than sufficient for the job.

Having selected the playing eleven, the next task is to select five back up players. That doesn’t look too difficult though. Gautam Gambhir, who could not find a place in the first eleven walks in here in strength of his invaluable experience, whereas Rohit Sharma comes in as a back up to the middle order due to his class. We need to have Dinesh Karthik as the backup for Dhoni, who could also be used as a batsman at any position. A spinner in Ashwin and a medium pacer in Munaf Patel would complete the lineup.

One could notice a couple of important omissions here. Murali Vijay is one such batsman who has performed superbly in the recent past, but Gambhir’s experience and Dinesh’s wicket keeping are too hard to ignore, especially when both these guys can be played as openers. Similarly, Praveen Kumar might look another notable omission, but to me, he is a very hittable bowler in Indian conditions. He is good when the ball does move around, which is rarely the case in India.

Well, that, in my opinion, is arguably the best line up that we can field for the forth coming world cup and I’m sure we are not going to see too many deviations from this list when we do see the actual squad being announced.

We just hope, all of them are fit at the end of the South African series

Cheteshwar Pujara.....a well deserved break

We  had been hearing about Cheteshwar Pujara since time immemorial, or so it seems.

Finally, we got to see him in action during the recently concluded Bangalore Test. Well, to be honest, I was quite curious about this young lad from Saurastra Ranji team. And by the sheer volume of runs that he had been scoring over the past four seasons, he was attracting head lines in all sports columns. But I had my doubts, I always wondered if Pujara was good enough for international cricket. I have followed domestic cricket from close quarters and have seen many a cricketers of legendary status in the domestic circuit coming croppers in the international scene. Ajay Sharma, Vijay Bharadwaj, Dinesh Mongia, Jacob Martin and Hemang Badani come to my mind whose international careers were cut short for whatever reason and there are a few like Amol Mazumdar and Jitender Singh, whose career never took off. All these players are heavy scorers in domestic cricket, but could never do well in the international platform.

A few years back, when I was a student, I had bumped into Jitender Singh, who used to open with Ajay Jadeja for Haryana. He was in Chennai to play a match here against Tamilnadu. Being the cricket fan that I was, I ended up inviting Jitender for dinner at my place and he obliged.

That one night of conversation with him over dinner provided me quite a bit of insight of what goes through in a domestic cricketer's mind at different phases of his career. He said that the first thing that strikes you hard when you play somebody like Andy Bishop or Glenn Mcgrath as against a domestic bowler is the amount of bounce these guys generate. You always end up playing above your waist and sometimes in front of your chest. This, more than the pace, creates a lot of inconvenience for Indian batsmen, as invariably they grow up playing deliveries below their knee level. And if you wait for loose deliveries to score your runs, you just keep waitiing, they never come your way. Which essentially means, batsmen who can adjust to this change can prosper, others will fade away like the few names mentioned  above.

Coming back to Cheteshwar Pujara, he had scored over four thousand runs in four seasons with fourteen hundreds and fifteen fifties. But as I had mentioned earlier, I never judge a batsman by the number of runs, but the manner in which he scores them. I had seen Pujara briefly during the IPL, where he turned up for the Kolkata Knight Riders. What he proved there was, his game was not cut out for the T20s, not for that season at least. And I was breathlessly waitng to see if Pujara is able to make that required adjustment for international cricket.

Could not get to see much of him in the first inning of the Bangalore test as he got a shooter of a delivery early in his knock, but when he took guard in the second innings at number three, under the most trying circumstances, he looked a different player all together. I closely watched the replay and was kind of satisfied with what I saw. I didn't see any silken grace there, but a tremendus amount of grit and determination was on display. At one end Vijay was his usual self, driving and punching with lyrical smoothness and at the other end, this twenty two year old debutant was courageously attacking world class bowlers like Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz.

Pujara has got an upright stance, he looks comfortable both on his back and front foot, he is quite a natural driver on either side of the wicket and hee did look good against short stuff, though only a few short balls were bowled to him. You have got to say that he has a good technique, but he doesn't look as copy-book-like as Rahul Dravid. As Sunil Gavaskar rightly pointed out, his body language has some similarity with yester year batsman Navjot Singh Sidhu. He plays like a work-man. His huges scores indicates that he has got that penchant for playing long innings. So overall, a pretty satisfactory candidate for test cricket, you could say at this moment. He has a bright future no doubt, but still I would like to see him on a bouncy wicket against quality fast bowling.

All said and done, something tells me that Pujara will succeed in the international level. As they say, its not the most talented man who comes good, it is the one who belives he is good.

And Pujara certainly believes he is good enough for the big stage.

Vijay has got it in him to make it big, really really big!!

The more I see of this lad from Tamilnadu, the more I grow an admirer of his. He has got this natural gift of easiness in his shots that makes you feel you are watching another VVS Laxman in action. Well, this is not to compare the young Vijay with the classy Hyderabadi, but there are certain subtle similarities in their strokeplay for sure. Both these right handers do not seem to hit the ball, but just caress it while playing down the ground. Both these batsmen have got amazing timing, that makes the ball speed off the surface after it crosses the infield. Talking of the differences, Laxman certainly exudes more class than Vijay, whlie the later seem to have more power at his disposal, as we have witnessed in his spectacular T20 knocks for the Chennai Super King.

Vijay is light on his feet and quick in his movements, has got a tight and solid defence and above all his balance on the crease is exemplery. Where I would like to see him improve though, is at his backfoot play. He could certainly work on his pull and hook shots. And he needs to realize that he is indeed a special player and must capitalize on the limited opportunities that he is going to get as Indian cricket is full of superstars.

I never judge a player by the volume of runs he scores or number of centuries he hits. What I look for in a player is the manner in which he gathers those runs. That's why I feel Vijay could serve Indian cricket for long alongside Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina.

I truely believe that we are going to have these three and in all probability Vijay as the fourth as the next batch of heroes of Indian cricket. The talent of Raina, the class of Sharma and the mental toughness of Kohli are almost certain to take them a long way ahead. If you cosider them to be the next Sachin (Rohit), Dravid (Virat) and Ganguly (Raina), then Vijay has every chance of fitting in that line up as an equivalent of Laxman. That could  be the batting mainstay for the next decade or so.  

As I write this post I take a glance at the television and I find Vijay charging down the track to Nathan Hauritz and lofting him for a tremendus six over long on.  I just hope, he doesn't give it away after yet another 30 plus knock.

Fortune favors the "Dabangg" !!!

Salman 'Robinhood' Khan is back with a big bang.

I finally got to see the much talked about movie last night and boy, what an entertainer! 'Dabangg' had all the ingredients that one would expect in a typical bollywood masala movie, in the right proportion which would have certainly made it a success anyway.

But then Salman Khan, having this dubious distinction of being the most unpredictable actor of the industry to his credit (or should I say debit!) decided to breathe life into the character of a certain Chulbul Panday and single handedly elevated this decent movie to an entirely different level. Whether it was his sun-glass tricks, or his mind blowing one-liners, whether it was the fight sequences or his comic timing, he looked in awesome touch all along. And as we all know, when it comes to playing to the gallery, Salman stands second to none.

He fought, danced, laughed, cried like only he can and we soaked all of it like only we can, whispering under our breath, 'Gimmie more, gimmie me more....'. And he did. He thrashed them more, he danced like crazy to 'munni badnaam huyi', he laughed and cried his heart out. If he had entertained us with some southern India flavor last Eid, it was UP's turn this time around. But 'Dabangg' is as different from 'Wanted' as Lucknow is from Chennai. If names like Vinod Khanna, Mahesh Manjrekar and Saijid-Wajid make you feel nostalgic, blame it on continuity of brand Salman(genre).

That Rahat Fateh Ali spells magic with his 'tere mast mast yeh nain' only adds to the already soaring popularity of this movie. That Sonakshi Sinha looks very much the part as a village girl, adds vibrant colors to the frames. That Sonu Sood and Arbaaz Khan put in their best, helps completing this pot-boiler in all respect.

Make no mistake, 'Dabangg' in no 'Three Idiots'. That it has run neck-in-neck with this all time great movie of Raju Hirani in the trade circuit till now, is purely coincidential. Unlike 'Three Idiots', there is no place for under-play or subtlity here in this loudish movie. But to its credit, it never claimed to be a movie for the class. Salman always was a hero for the masses. He has done it yet again. Hopefully 'Dabangg' will prove to be yet another turning point in his career.

We wish to see more such stuffs from him, and guess what, we are not going to be dissapointed. Arbaaz Khan has already announced 'Dabangg 2' with the same director Avinab Kashyap, who has done a pretty good job with the current version. We just hope that Kashyap takes a little more time to tighten up the script before he hits the floor.

This serial kisser is indeed a serious actor!

Yesterday I happened to watch "Once upon a time in Mumbai(OUATIM)". This flick had been declared a hit a few days back. In fact, all the news channels were flooded with programs showing how strong dialogue centric films of seventies were back. I personally did find this movie a pretty decent one. Performance wise, all the actors were very good. But out of the lot, I really liked how Emraan Hasmi has interpreted his character. Watching him act, I mentally browsed through his career so far and was kind of surprised to find that this (in)famous "Serious Kisser" of bollywood has quietly built on an excellent body of work over the past six-odd years, without any body really taking serious notice!

My early  memories of this new generation leading man was synonomus to that of an acting Himesh Reshammiya for quite sometime. Seriously, I always felt that he was a Himesh look alike. Blame that on the famous aashiq banaya aapne track. 'Murder' did come prior to that, but then I'd kind of missed that movie during those days.

I was discussing about this actor with a few of my friends and almost all of them thought nothing about him. Which essentially meant, " They neither loved him nor hated him, but just ignored him." Its not too difficult to understand. They say, this guy is in movies only because of his family connections (Bhatt camp) and he is more famous due to his bad boy image rather than his acting abilities.

But haven't we seen far worse actors making it huge in bollywood? Suniel Shetty is almost completing twenty years in the industry. Today's hot star Akshay Kumar and Saif Ali Khan were disgusting actors when they started out. But they hung on, slogged it out and improved by leaps and bounds. Emraan after all is a far better actor compared to the initial days of the above mentioned stars. In fact, I secretly believe that he may even be a better actor than quite a few of them on present day!

Take a look at his notable performances. He did a pretty decent job (of acting!!!) in Murder. He was quite good in Aashiq banaya aapne. He was excellent in Awarapan, Tum Mile, Jannat and Kalyug. His chemistry with the great Irrfan Khan in The Killer was simply superb. And in the latest movie OUATIM that I saw yesterday, he was at his best.

Just come to think of it. In such a small time frame of six years, if he has managed to accumulated such great body or work, and still going strong, his future looks nothing but bright. For record, he has already signed a movie Dil toh bachcha hai Ji with non other than Madhur Bhandarkar. He is also to be seen in Raj Kumar Santhoshi's untitled  mega project.

With his forth coming movie Crook getting ready for release, he needs our good wish and here is wishing him all the best for his career. 

Make them bat higher up the order please!!!

The most difficult positions to bat at in limited over cricket are undoubtedly the number five and six positions. Either you get in only with a few overs to spare, or else you get to bat with your team in a most precarious sitiuation with four or five down for a low total. You have to play under pressure all the time and if you are not an all rounder your place in the team is always up for the grabs as you are bound to put your team's interest before your own all the time. Not that players in other positions don't do that but they get a fair amount of time to score their runs. And in modern day cricket quite a few big hitters have played quite regularly in the number five and six  positions. To start with, Shahid Afridi of Pakistan, MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan of India and Keiron Pollard of West Indies come to mind.

Now because of their reputation and ability, their team almost always try to save them for the last five overs or so of the game, so that they can blast their team to a good total. If you examine carefully this is not such an intelligent idea after all. More so, if these palyers happen to be more talented than those who are given chances to bat higher up in the order.

Let us take the case of Pakistan. They have been repeatedly playing Fawad Alam and Azhar Ali ahead of Shahid Afridi just because Afridi scores at a faster pace than these two batsmen. Eventually what happens is the team leaves a bit too much to do for Afridi in a very few balls. That lands him in a position where he has to go for the kill from the very first ball he faces and accounts for his failures most of the time. Good for him that he is an indispensible player in limited over cricket also due to his bowling abilities.

Same is the case for Keron Pollard and Yusuf Pathan. They bat so much down the order that it leaves hardly them with any other option other than wild heaves at whatever delieveries they get to face. Yusuf has already paid the price for it and is out of the Indian side.Now had their teams given them a chance to bat higher up, they would certainly have got more deliveries to get their eyes in. That aspect in cricket is still so much essential. At least Mumbai Indian have realised this after losing a couple of matches, putting in Pollard up the order and reaping rich dividend recently. In this particular Champions League match Pollard scored almost the same amount or runs single-handedly  in the last five overs, what his entire team had managed in the first fifteen overs!

MS Dhoni, of late has stopped promoting himself up the order irrespective of the situation and India has sufferred quite a few losses because of this. Though it can be argued in his favor that in such an inexperienced batting line up, he wants to keep some experience towards the end of the innings, I don't subscribe to this idea by any means. A set Dhoni is harder to dis-lodge and he still could stay there till the end. And whenever he has batted higher up the order he has managed to put India in such strong positions that eventually lead his to victory.

Goes to show that the old world concept of "The best batsman of your side should get the maximum number of overs to play." was not such a bad idea afterall. Which means these players should get to play before batsmen who are less talented than them.

Hope, teams realise this sooner than later for their own good.

A new dawn beckons....Part V

I came across this e-book called, "A book of infinite possibilities" by Melody Bass yesterday.  It's a small book and takes round about half an hour to read. It certainly is a feel good book. You can take a look at it here.

It talks about the art of "Living the question" which is a bit complex to get, but looks like it works. It also talks about letting go, the art of surrender, the art of receiving, gratitude, self awareness exercise and a few other concept.

The style of this book is like going through and experience, there is nothing much you can reproduce as summary. I liked reading it, you can try yourself and see if it works for you.

Thought for the day, "THE ONLY REAL FAILURE IN LIFE IS NOT TO BE TRUE TO THE BEST ONE KNOWS"

A new dawn beckons....Part IV

Last evening I completed another fine book, which was part of  my collections for quite some time. I loved it, to say the least. I should have read it much earlier, it was such a well known book. The title is "Who moved my cheese" by Spencer Johnson. I'll quickly share the important messages that you get from this wonderful little book, you need to interpret it in your own suitable way.

The characters in the book:

1. Sniff: - Who sniffs out changes early
2. Scurry - Who scurries into action
3. Hem - Who denies and resists changes as he fears it will lead to something worse
4. Haw - Who learns to adapt in time when he sees changing can lead to something better

The environment:

1. The Cheese - A metaphor for what one wants in life, e.g. a good job, a loving relationship, money etc
2. The Maze - Where you look for what you want

The lessons:

1. Having cheese makes you happy
2. The more important your cheese is to you the more you want to hold on to it
3. If you don't change,you become extinct
4. What would you do if you were not afraid?
5. Smell the cheese often so you know when its getting old
6. Movement in a new directon helps you find new cheese
7. When you stop being afraid, you feel good
8. Imagining yourself enjoying your new cheese leads you to it
9. The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese
10. Its safer to search in the maze than to remain in a cheese-less station
11. Old belief don't lead you to new cheese
12. When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course
13. Noticing small changes early, helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come
14. Move with the change and enjoy it

Enjoy life....Thought for the day: BE READY FOR CHANGE.