Top Highlights of the ICC World T-20, 2009 by Vivek Atray

Here are the top ten highlights from the just concluded ICC World Twenty 20 Cup, an event that somewhat altered the manner in which T20 cricket is likely to be played in future. Bowlers felt more at home and fielders sparkled but in the end it still remains a batsman’s game.
1. Pakistani resurgence- The Pakistan side came into the World Cup totally under prepared and short of international match practice. A heavy defeat by arch-rivals India in a practice match must have dented their confidence a great deal, and renewed memories of the heart-breaking loss to India in the 2007 final. But despite some hiccups in early matches, they went from strength to strength with Shahid Afridi not only mesmerizing opposing batsmen with his accurate leg spinners but also exploding with the bat when it really mattered- in the final and the semi final. Umar Gul and the rediscovered Abdul Razzak formed a potent pace attack, and Saeed Ajmal proved to be an exciting new spinner.
2. Lankan brilliance- Sri Lanka looked the most balanced side in the tournament and played some dazzling cricket, with Tilakratne Dilshan looking simply superb at the top of the order. They lost early wickets in the final and though skipper Kumar Sangakarra kept his composure to help put up a fighting score on the board, they simply did not have enough runs on the board. Till then they had not lost a single match and and their 4 Ms- Malinga, Muralidharan, Mendis and Matthews had bowled brilliantly. Sangakarra led the side as if he had been doing it all his life and in batting he and Dilshan were well supported by Jayasuriya and Jayawardene.
3. South Africa choke again- They might deny it over and over again, but the fact remains that until they win a World Cup, they will always be known as the best team never to do so! The South Africans were on song and looked really formidable against all opposition until they were defeated by the eventual champions, Pakistan. AB Devilliers has declared that he wants to be the best in the world and he was in awesome touch just as he was in the IPL, but he fell cheaply when it really mattered- in the semis. Jacques Kallis too showed his class and seems to have blended his game beautifully to this shortest of formats. Wayne Parnell looks a good prospect for them in the pace department.
4. Windy Windies- One never could be sure whether the West Indies would blow hot or cold in the event. Their annihilation of Australia on the very first day was magnificent, and Chris Gayle’s batting was a sight to behold. They found some new hopes in Lendl Simmons and Xavier Marshall, and shocked India too, along the way, but they still lack depth in their batting and bowling to be world champions in this era. They would have to find players of caliber to replace the classy Shivnaraine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan sooner than later.
5. Chin music for India- One used to hear about Indian batsmen being a bit scared when facing up to really quick bowling, but that was in the pre-helmet days. Even at that time, Sunil Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath and Mohinder Amarnath took on the fastest bowlers with guts and class. At Lords against England and earlier against the Windies in their crucial super league matches, India just could not find answers to deliveries that were aimed at their chins. The need to score quickly while negotiating bouncers bowled at over 90 miles and hour was too much for them to handle. Defending champions India let the Cup slip too easily from their grasp, and Dhoni’s men would look to come back with a vengeance in next year’s Cup.
6. The Australians were at their poorest- Never before had an Australian team exited a major cricketing event as quietly and quickly as this one did. The whole world knows that they are not the force they were a few years back, and that they have lost players like Gilchrist, Hayden, McGrath and Warne in the recent past, but no one expected them to capitulate as easily as they did. Skipper Ricky Ponting admitted that they haven’t got the hang of the T-20 format yet, and that other teams have adapted much better. The Aussies had better pull up their socks very soon, for T-20 is likely to be more and more prolific on the cricketing calendar in the years to come.
7. Reluctant Hosts- The event was hosted admirably by the English Cricket Board, but their team was almost reluctant to win matches. They lost to the Dutch and to the West Indians in matches that they should have won. The Dutch could not believe their luck as England wasted several chances to run their batsmen out, and were generally butter-fingered in the field. Their win against India was their finest hour, for they played in front of a crowd that was predominantly Indian, and even booed them- at Lords of all places! Ravi Bopara looked their best batsman, while their star Kevin Pieterson looked moody at best. Skipper Paul Collingwood batted too low in the order, and their bowlers were on song only against India.
8. The “Dilshan”- Everyone who has played a bit of cricket knows that it is virtually impossible to hit yorker length balls over the wicket-keeper’s head for 4 or 6 runs, but Tilakratne Dilshan did that with astonishing regularity in this tournament. He batted like a true champion at the top of the order and took the Lankans to win after win, before running out of steam in the final. Dilshan was deservedly declared the man of the series.
9. Captain Cool- The new Captain cool is Younis Khan who led his side with grit and determination, without ever looking hassled and allowed himself a smile only when it was all over- the Cup was Pskistan’s! He batted well too, and in most matches marshaled the middle order brilliantly to take his team to seemingly improbable targets.
10. Unpredictability- If any expert claims that he can predict the outcome of even half the matches played in the T-20 format, he is talking through his hat. There is very little to choose among international sides and the shortest format allows no breathing space for the side that has a bad day. Any team can lose to any other, and in this tournament fancied sides lost match after match.
Vivek Atray is a freelance cricket writer.
vivek.atray@gmail.com

Ten reasons why Team India crashed out! by Vivek Atray

The sudden and dramatic exit of Team India from the race for the semi-finals of the ICC World Twenty- 20 Cup 2009 has shocked onlookers and confounded experts. Being the joint favourites along with South Africa for winning the Cup, the defending champions displayed a lack of innovation as also the absence of sheer desperation that resulted in their amazing success in South Africa in 2007 when they lifted the trophy as rank outsiders.
The ten main reasons that led to their shocking elimination are-

Complacency- There seemed to be an air of ‘nothing-can-go-wrong’ in the team’s approach. They appeared to feel all along that the Cup was rightfully theirs and that no other team had the fire power to gun them down. That they lost to both the West Indies and England, two of the less formidable teams in the draw, indicated a sense of false superiority which did not result in runs on the board or wickets in the bag.

Sehwag’s unavailability- Despite a star-studded line-up, India had no other batsman who could scare the wits out of the opposition bowlers quite like Virender Sehwag does. Yuvraj Singh is India’s batting hero in this version of the game, but the task proved too much even for him, in the absence of the Sultan of Multan, whose shoulder injury cost India dear.

Wrong team selection- India bungled by playing an extra bowler in a batsman oriented format of the game. As a result, there was not enough ammunition in the late middle order to test the opposition seriously enough. Dinesh Karthik should have played instead of Ravinder Jadeja in the match against England. Yusuf Pathan and Rohit Sharma could have bowled spin along with Yuvraj Singh to fill the breach. Ishant Sharma could have been dropped in favour of Praveen Kumar whose swing bowling was suited to English conditions. RP Singh should have played all the matches, given that he was the highest wicket taker in the IPL, and the in-form bowler in the team!

Fielding lapses- In the match against the West Indies especially and also on some other occasions, misfielding hurt India badly. Two clear boundaries went through the legs of the fielders against the Windies, and could have made the difference in a close match. More over, India’s field placing was such that the slower fielders in the team found the ball coming towards them on more occasions than did the best fielders. Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan were cases in point!

Easy early matches- A factor that Team India could not do anything about, given their top-seeded billing! They had Bangladesh and Ireland for company in their group and found them to be easy meat. But the lack of serious opposition at that stage meant that they had to suddenly up the ante against better teams in the super-league, which they could not manage!



Jadeja’s dilemma- By pushing green-horn Ravinder Jadeja up the order the team management exposed him to some accurate and hostile bowling from the England pacers in the crucial tie at Lords. Jadeja is a talented player and had claimed two key wickets with his left-arm spin earlier in the match but he appeared to be overawed by the occasion and could not really handle the pressure. In a match that India lost by just 3 runs, Jadeja’s 22 off 30 balls was surely a match-losing effort.

Short-pitched challenge- The manner in which the West Indian fast bowlers, followed by their English counterparts, tested India’s top order with short-pitched bowling was revelatory. Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Suresh Raina just could not get going and were tied down and then forced to find ungainly ways of hitting out or getting out while facing the bouncy stuff. India’s top order has seldom looked as ruffled as it did in this tournament. Perhaps a realization that the conditions in England are such that they require pure cricketing shots in the first few overs may have done the trick.

Dhoni was out of sorts- Captain cool, MS Dhoni kept wickets reasonably well, and marshaled his forces to the best of his ability, but his batting was a let down. Even in the match against England when he and Pathan almost chased down the target, he could not really get the big shots going. His bat seemed to have lost its potency, for his shots simply lacked the explosiveness that they are known for.

Media trouble- Another factor was surely the off-the-field distraction especially the manner in which the Sehwag issue was dealt with. The media flayed the present Captain’s attitude for the first time ever and the foolhardy attempt at displaying a sense of camaraderie by presenting the whole team at a Press conference was most bizarre.

Too much cricket- The current Indian team plays all around the year and big matches obviously lose their aura for the players when so much cricket is played. This was the World Cup after all, but from the look of them, Team India could well have been playing any other international series. Gautam Gambhir, who has been the most prolific scorer in world cricket in the past one year, looked totally jaded, and exemplified the mal-effects of excessive international cricket.

Fans of the Indian team are distraught and shocked at their early exit from the ICC World Twenty 20. Let’s see if the team can re-group from here and win back our admiration in the coming months.

ICC World Twenty20-England should have gone Dutch!

Every modern day youngster knows what it means to “Go Dutch” – splitting the bill at a restaurant. England could have gone Dutch by splitting the match against the Dutchmen on the last ball of their ICC T20 World Cup match last night. A Super Over finish may have ended up in England’s favour.
Stuart Broad tried to save the single by throwing the ball at the non-strikers end while supine on the ground, missed by a mile and ended up giving away an overthrow that landed the match in Netherland’s lap.
What an upset! England could never have dreamt that they would have lost a match in which Ravi Bopara and Luke Wright gave them a flying start at the home of cricket, Lords in the opening encounter of the Cup. Wright’s 71 off just 49 balls appeared to be a match-winning knock, but the team from Holland had other ideas. Imaginative batting TN de Grooth and PW Borren took them close to their target and ten Doescahtte sealed the win off the last ball.
England looked shell shocked after the match and they ought to be! They bowled a lot of rubbish and paid the price for some glaring fielding errors as well.

The Indians need to guard against complacency. By Vivek Atray

The Indian cricket team needs to watch out for an unfamiliar enemy in the ICC T-20 World Cup- complacency. They have never before entered a World Cup as clear favourites. Not even in 1987 when they were the defending champions and ultimately lost in the Semis at Mumbai to the Englishmen. In fact the Indian team looks much stronger than in 2007 when they emerged champions, but had some modest players in their ranks.
On paper they look awesome this time, with a batting line up that reads- Sehwag, Gambhir, Raina, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Rohit, Pathan and Pathan. No other team, not even Australia or South Africa, can boast of such batting firepower in this World Cup. Each of India’s top eight batsmen has the ability to clear the field by some distance, the only question being who hits the longest sixes. In that department, Yusuf Pathan is probably the winner, closely followed by Sehwag, Raina, Dhoni and Yuvraj, in no particular order!
India’s bowling looks robust too, with RP Singh having grabbed the Purple Cap in the just concluded IPL, and also having bowled the maximum number of dot-balls in that tournament. Irfan Pathan bowled superbly in the IPL too, and picked up a bagful of wickets, though he tended to go for quite a few runs in his opening spells. Ishant Sharma bowled well in the warm-up game against the Kiwis and though India lost that match by 9 runs, they can take heart from the form of their spinners too- Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha were quite impressive. If Zaheer Khan is fit, then India’s bowling would test the very best. They also have an embarrassment of riches in the batting-allrounders department, with Yusuf Pathan, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virender Sehwag and Rohit Sharma all proving to be capable spinners of the ball.
Their fielding looks impressive too, with only a few of the bowlers being somewhat slow in the outfield. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina are absolute dynamite in the inner circle. During practice the Indians need to focus on getting a few direct hits for these often result in run-outs that could clinch some close matches. India’s running between the wickets has never looked as energetic as is does with this young team.
While the Indians garnered invaluable practice during the IPL, top players of teams like New Zealand, Sri Lanka and South Africa benefitted immensely from the event too. In fact the South Africans are second-favourites given their all round skills and the form that their batsmen are in. Their fielding is still the world’s best, even though the Kiwis and the Aussies run them close in that area. The experience of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith coupled with the firepower of Dale Steyn and Albie Morkel makes them a formidable line up.
The Australians are probably next in the list of likely winners. They can never be counted
out as potential champions and have the ability to raise their game in World Cups. Ricky
Ponting still has a point or two to prove in this format, while Michael Hussey and his
brother David, along with Michael Clarke and Andrew Symonds lend them some real
class in the middle order. Their retired openers Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist, the
two top run-getters of IPL 2009, would have been invaluable assets to them had they
been coaxed into playing this event!
Sri Lanka are next, and have in Mahela Jayawardene, skipper Kumar Sangakarra and old
war horse Sanath Jayasuriya, three of the most attacking batsmen in world cricket. The
bowling looks a little suspect though, despite the presence of the slingy Lasith Malinga
and the ever potent Muthiah Muralidharan in their ranks. They have to watch out against
giving away too many runs off their lesser bowlers.
New Zealand could well be the dark horse of ICC World T-20 2009. They have always
been under estimated by opposing teams and the media at major cricketing events. In
Ross Taylor they have one of the finest batsmen in the world today. Brendon McCullum,
Jesse Ryder and Jacob Oram add some serious hitting-power to their batting. Daniel
Vettori is not only a wily spinner but also a cool captain in the Anil Kumble mould.
Conditions in England are similar to their home conditions and they will come out with
all guns blazing, for sure.
England, Pakistan and the West Indies are still major cricketing powers. But all three
have a lot to prove in the shortest format of the game, on current form. Last time’s losing
finalists Pakistan are inhibited by lack of international exposure, of late. Their bowling
looks reasonably sharp but their stroke-players are suspect when the going gets really
tough.
England would enjoy home advantage but are missing Freddie Flintoff. Skipper Paul
Collingwood remains their best player in this format along with the mercurial Kevin
Pietersen. Their bowling is their strength, with some good seamers in the side, led by
Stuart Broad.
The Windies are looking below par too, as they go into the tournament. Despite having come off a Test and ODI series in England recently, and having an edge over other visiting teams in terms of the need to acclimatize to conditions, they would need some remarkable performances from Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo to be perceived as serious contenders for the title.
It is extremely difficult to predict anything that has to do with T-20 cricket. The very nature of the game is such that one big over can change the fortunes of teams either way.
Nevertheless, the T-20 World Cup in England would be won by the team that combines a large amount of flair with confident execution of plans, and also holds its catches.
Some nail-biting action is in store for sure. Watch this space!

IPL 2009 - He laughs best, who laughs last! by Vivek Atray

After weeks of frenzied action that had most people glued to their TV sets, several nail-biting finishes, and some dashing stroke play, as also some fine bowling from the pace men and the spinners alike, IPL 2009 came to a dramatic end on Sunday night, with a pulsating final between the wooden-spooners from last year- the Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad and the Royal Challengers of Bangalore.
For much of the evening it seemed as if the Challengers had outclassed the Chargers in every department of the game. A moderate total by the Chargers, followed by some spectacular shots by Ross Taylor and Roelf van der Merwe had almost ensured a Bangalore win, but some gritty bowling from RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Andrew Symonds and the remarkable Harmeet Singh coupled with some senseless batting by the experienced Bangalore batters, produced a turnaround that left the Challengers downcast and the Chargers triumphant!
The expressions on the faces of the two wily old skippers, Anil Kumble and Adam Gilchrist, fluctuated with increasing frequency as the match went through its exciting journey. Kumble, the champion spinner, bamboozled his long time foe in the very first over of the match, but Gilchrist had the last laugh! That both men finished second in the race for the Orange cap and the Purple cap respectively is a testimony to their class and fitness even after their retirement from international cricket.
The Deccan Chargers emerged as champions of IPL 2009 due to their resilience and their never-say-die-attitude. That attitude became ugly at times in the final, with Symonds being guilty of intimidating young Manish Pandey when the latter came out to open the innings for Bangalore. But as long as such things stay within the laws of the game, and if the Umpires have no problems, the additional adrenalin may actually spur teams onto great heights, as was the case with the Chargers. All their players seemed to be fiercely determined to do-or-die when they came out to field in the final. An animated pep-talk by skipper Gilchrist no doubt had the right effect!
RP Singh had a superb tournament for the Chargers and it is no surprise that the champion teams of both editions of the IPL till now had the Purple Cap winners on their side- Singh this time, and Sohail Tanvir for Rajasthan Royals last year. Ojha was also high on the wicket-takers list in both editions. Gilchrist led from the front to be named the Man of the Tournament (his semi-final blitz being jaw-dropping stuff!) while Symonds, Rohit Sharma and Herschelle Gibbs came up with stroke-filled cameos at crucial moments for them in match after match.
The Royal Challengers had a spectacular tournament too, and Anil Kumble led them brilliantly. His bowling was controlled and on target each time. There is no doubt that Kumble would have been a consistently dangerous bowler in T-20 cricket had it been played at the time when he was younger. Jacques Kallis, Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor came up with match-winning performances for their team throughout the tournament, and green-horn Manish Pandey became the first Indian to score a ton in the IPL!
The Delhi Daredevils and the Chennai Super Kings were at the top of the table for most of the event, but faltered when it really mattered. Matthew Hayden, another international retiree, was so intimidating at the crease that opposing bowlers would surely have nightmares about him for months to come! His strokes were audacious and bold in their intent as in their outcome. A cartoon in a leading newspaper depicted him holding aloft the Orange Cap in the 2012 IPL! Suresh Raina is turning out to be a world-beater too and has added some crafty off-spin to his already impressive batting and fielding abilities. MS Dhoni had his moments too, but Chennai’s bowling and fielding was below par throughout the tournament. Balaji was under-utilized, and Makhaya Ntini should have been played given his experience of local conditions, and given that Jacob Oram hardly got a chance to bat or bowl!
For Delhi, Glenn McGrath’s absence from the playing XI was the mystery of IPL-2009, especially given the fact that other senior players were doing so well, day after day! Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir were nowhere near their best, but will hopefully be back to their best when it really counts- at the ICC World T-20, in June. AB De Villiers and Tillakaratne Dilshan, along with Dirk Nannes were Delhi’s stars.
The rest of the teams flattered to deceive. Mumbai Indians had a real chance to go all the way, with Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes coaching them, and with Sachin Tendulkar himself in good form. JP Duminy and Lasith Malinga shone for them too, but the rest were patchy, and they ended up second-last! Some of their decisions relating to their batting-order were appalling!
Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals superbly again, and Yusuf Pathan blasted some huge sixes but the team sorely missed Shane Watson’s all round skills this time.
Kolkata Knight Riders were an absolute disaster. Off the field factors were obviously to blame, for they had a talented side. Skipper Brendon McCullum came up with a couple of sparkling 80 plus scores but Sourav Ganguly should have led the team in his place. Dada was below par, as was Ishant Sharma, their main bowler. They lost some really tight matches and looked heart-broken at most times.
The Punjab Kings XI team was the enigma of IPL 2009. They played so well at times that it seemed they would prove unbeatable. Yuvraj shone more with the ball but came up with crucial contributions. So did Kumar Sangakarra, Mahela Jayawardene and Brett Lee. Punjab youngsters Sunny Sohal and Karan Goel showed promise too. Wilkin Mota looked out of depth though, as did the mercurial Sreesanth. Their real star was Irfan Pathan, who clubbed crucial blows at critical times and picked up key wickets regularly. What let them down was the inability of their powerful batting to deliver when it really mattered.
A memorable edition of the IPL thus came to an end with the South Africans proving to be amazing hosts. Matches were evenly fought between the ball and the bat. Spinners were surprisingly potent weapons for their captains. Last over finishes including a super-over ending were thrilling to witness. Some reputations were marred and others were made.
IPL 2010 may prove to be even more thrilling than the first two editions...but for now, there is the mouth-watering prospect of the T-20 World Cup coming up!

IPL II - A photo finish is on the cards! by Vivek Atray

Seven of the eight teams in the fray still have a chance to make it to the semi finals after 40 matches have been played in the IPL Season II T-20 extravaganza. Of these, the Bangalore Royal Challengers and the Mumbai Indians need to win almost all their remaining matches to do so, while the top five teams have to guard against complacency and win some tough games ahead.
Sanath Jayasuriya has rightly stated in his column that this competition is even more intense (though obviously not as prestigious) than the ICC T-20 World Cup. While top teams get some easy games in the World Cup, with Bangladesh and Zimbabwe around, the IPL teams are all top drawer.
What has separated the men from the boys is the team-work on display as also the management skills on offer. Clearly, teams like the Rajasthan Royals have benefitted from a highly professional approach under the tutelage of the wily old fox Shane Warne, while some comical gaffes by John Buchanan, the Kolkata Knight Riders coach, have left them hopelessly at the bottom of the pit. Kolkata must be wishing that Sourav Ganguly had been given charge of the team and not ‘Mr’ Buchanan, who seems to have done inexorable damage to his erstwhile reputation as the brilliant coach of an all conquering Australian team.

The plusses and minuses of the teams look like this at the moment-

Chennai Super Kings: Brilliant batting led by Matthew Hayden who is looks to be miles ahead of everyone else in the competition. Suresh Raina has been magnificent too, and a certain Mr Dhoni is coming into his own now. Their spin bowling is looking good too- Muralidharan and Jakati make a formidable pair. The pace bowling looks shaky though, despite the presence of Albie Morkel and Jacob Oram. Their fielding is atrocious!

Delhi Daredevils: The best team on view thus far. Excellent batting by AB De Villiers and Tillakeratne Dilshan has not let the team feel the absence of Virender Sehwag and the iffy form of Gautam Gambhir. David Warner has been explosive. Tight bowling by Dirk Nannes (who’s keeping Glenn McGrath out!), Pradeep Sangwan and the resurgent Ashish Nehra has kept them on top. Amit Mishra has been so good that Daniel Vettori is on the bench!

Rajasthan Royals: They have not quite reproduced the magic of last year, and are missing Shane Watson badly. However Mr Warne has been sensational as skipper once again, and not bad with his leg spinners either! Yusuf Pathan continues to be their match winner. Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha will have to show consistency as will the all rounder Ravinder Jadeja if they are to make the last four. Munaf Patel looks a bit too ineffective this time.

Deccan Chargers: Last year’s wooden spoon finishers topped the table after the first four matches and despite some losses, are a formidable force. They could go all the way! Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Rohit Sharma have been powerful and prolific, but need to keep going till the very end of the event. They are missing the fiery Fidel Edwards now, and should play Chaminda Vaas, who is warming the bench. Rohit Sharma has been the surprise package with his bowling, while RP Singh and Pragyan Ojha have been outstanding.

Punjab Kings XI: Yuvraj Singh is having an excellent tournament, both with bat and ball, but his team has underachieved till now. With Brett Lee back now, they have added some potency to their thin bowling resources, but the batting looks very classy, with Kumar Sangakarra and Mahela Jayewardena looking sublime when on song. Simon Katich needs to get going and Irfan Pathan needs to do more with both bat and ball. Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar have not enjoyed the kind of success that spinners from other teams have.

Mumbai Indians: Any team with Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya in the ranks should have been near the top of the table. In one match they were outstanding together, but both stars have sparkled only intermittently overall. Captaincy seems to have bogged Tendulkar down a bit, but with JP Duminy and now Ajinkya Rahane in superb touch, they still have a chance! Harbhajan Singh seems to have rediscovered his rhythm too, but they need Lasith Malinga to keep on slinging with telling effect and they need more contribution from Dwayne Bravo and their Indian talent like Abhishek Nayar and Chaitanya Nanda.

Bangalore Royal Challengers: Vijay Mallya’s team has shone in patches but is still second last on the table, like last year! Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble have put in some fine performances for them, but Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher need to do more. Their pace bowling looks week, with Kallis and Vinay Kumar being military-medium only. Mark Boucher is batting too low down the order, as is Rahul Dravid. They need to keep playing with the same fire that they showed in the first two matches after Kumble took over as skipper.

Kolkata Knight Riders: A pitiable performance by a very talented team. They have won only one match out of ten, and should now look only to redeem their pride. Ganguly needs to be given a bigger say on the field instead of cooling his heels at sweeper-cover! Brendan McCullum has let captaincy clog his mind so much that he looks only a fraction of the batsman he actually is. Ishant Sharma has been inconsistent, as has Ajit Agarkar. Murali Kartik has looked a bit dazed at times. With Chris Gayle gone, and Brad Hodge having slowed down, they are looking even weaker now than when they started off.

All in all, the teams with consistent performances and contributions from the lesser known players are more likely to go through to the last four. At this stage, Chennai and Delhi look sure to make it while Punjab, Deccan, Rajasthan and Mumbai will battle it out for the remaining two slots. Let’s look forward to some more last-over finales and a photo finish race for the semis!

Spinning some magic… IPL2- Days 2,3 by Vivek Atray

The Royal Challengers of Bangalore scaled ecstatic heights and then plunged into the depths of despair as they first outclassed the Rajasthan Royals and then crashed to defeat against the Chennai Super Kings, as IPL’s season 2 warmed up in exciting fashion.
Kevin Pieterson’s team was totally outclassed by MS Dhoni’s men who had themselves been outsmarted by the Mumbai Indians in the first match of the season.
What has emerged from the games on show till now is that matches this year may be relatively low scoring and the bowlers may seem to be on top, but the cricket on display would certainly be just as engrossing as last year.
Destructive batsmen like Virender Sehwag, Matthew Hayden and Yuvraj Singh haven’t played record breaking innings yet, but they have shown some glimpses of their firepower. Magicians like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have played a match-winning knock each and are looking good for more.
Wily spinners Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Mutthiah Muralidharan and Daniel Vettori have been the flavour of the season though. They have all mesmerized batsmen with their varied talents and have proved that the magic of spin is hale and hearty in this 20-20 era!
Rain may yet play a significant part in this South African edition of the event, and well placed teams might suddenly find that the Duckworth-Lewis system puts them out of the reckoning!
Will we see the first super-over ending in this competition? My guess is that last over finishes will be likely as the tournament progresses and we could see some tied finishes. Mouth watering stuff awaits us at IPL 2!

The day of the artistes- IPL Day 1. By Vivek Atray

The IPL took on a new avatar on day 1 of season 2 as the artistic and classy performers outshone the sledgehammer hitters. There was a complete reversal of fortunes for the bowlers, as they stifled and outwitted one batsman after another to ensure that IPL 2 would not be remembered only for the big hits.
I for one have been proven wrong for the first two matches saw the teams on display dish out intense fare, with canny bowlers like Anil Kumble and Shane Warne putting paid to the lofty designs of their destructive opponents. One hero after another fell as the champion duo bamboozled leaden footed batsmen. The problem for Warne was that Kumble was playing for the opposition and not bowling in tandem with him! Kumble picked up 5 wickets as against 2 for Warne.
In a post match interview, Kumble joked about the fact that he took 5 wickets for 5 runs, 5 months after retiring from international cricket! Defending champs Rajasthan Royals were totally outclassed on the day by the Bangalore Royal Challengers.
Rahul Dravid had a point to prove too as he stroked his way to a classy 66 off only 48 balls. He played like a man possessed, and even hit Munaf Patel for a monstrous six over mid-wicket to show to the world that he is not just a wall, he is a champion!
Sachin Tendulkar had earlier steered Mumbai Indians to a famous win over last year’s finalists Chennai Super Kings. The manner in which he played was just what the doctor ordered for the Mumbai team. Tendulkar stood like a rock as wickets fell about him and in the process he destroyed myths that a batsman has to bludgeon the ball to succeed in a 20-20 match. By carrying his bat he ensured that the team got to a score of over 160, which in South African conditions might prove to be like 200 runs on Indian pitches.
The old guard of Tendulkar, Dravid, Kumble and Warne thus stood out on the day. Each an artiste in his own right, they proved once again that form may be temporary but class is surely permanent!

The IPL is about the big shots! By Vivek Atray

Season 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) commences in far off South Africa over the weekend, and for the next few weeks we shall all undoubtedly be treated to some unfiltered and undiluted big hits on TV. In the ultimate analysis, cricket remains a batsman's game, and in the 20-20 format, even more so. A bowler who can emerge from the frenzied action over 180 minutes of an IPL match, with figures of 4 overs, no maidens (this statistic needs to be removed from here!), 28 runs and 1 wicket, can count himself lucky to have done so!
Players like Virender Sehwag, Sanath Jayasuriya and Yusuf Pathan, who could have made a living as fearsome warriors some centuries back, start belting the ball from the very first delivery, and do not stop till they hole out or are castled. Sheer mayhem could result in the meantime and the field would probably resemble a battlefield where a dreaded destroyer had scathed down everything in sight. When Sehwag hit the first three balls that he faced on the Kiwi tour for sixes, he was only raising the bar a notch higher. The time shall surely come when 36 runs shall be scored off the first over of a 20-20 game!
Players like VVS Laxman, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid would be more likely to use fewer big shots and more invention to score rapidly. The fact that their strike rate would still only be about half that of the afore-mentioned destructive trio is more than likely. The 20-20 game is for the big hitters, make no mistake! Sixes shall always out-do fours and a lightning 39 may be of more value than a merely quick 56.
The other kinds of big-shots on display at the IPL would be the owners and the organizers! The glamour quotient of the IPL is surely what causes casual observers of the game to glue themselves to the TV along with the avid cricket fans.
Pure cricket-ainment is what we are in for, and I for one am glad that I shall be a TV spectator and not a bowler at IPL 2!

The Indians are now unstoppable! by Vivek Atray

There was a time in world cricket when losing to lowly placed New Zealand was considered sacrilege. Those were the days when Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and even Sri Lanka did not play Test matches. In fact India and New Zealand were almost always fighting for the wooden spoon.
Not much has changed today for the New Zealanders in terms of their world ranking, which still stands at eighth best in the world, but India is well on the way towards becoming the numero uno team in all forms of the game!
Notwithstanding the Indian team’s inability to force a win in the third Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, in match that they dominated entirely, their 1-0 win over the hapless Kiwis who were playing on home turf, has clearly underlined India’s potential to be the world’s number one team in the near future.
The Test series was so hopelessly one-sided that most pundits had predicted a 3-0 win after India’s dashing performance at Hamilton in the first encounter. Apart from three days of ascendancy at Napier in the second Test, the Kiwis looked all at sea against the marauding Indians.
Gautam Gambhir showed throughout the series that India has unearthed a rare talent in him, and that he has the ability to be the world’s very best opening batsman in all forms of the game. His marathon century at Napier to save the match followed by a brilliant 167 at Wellington underscored his amazing batting ability in different conditions and in any situation.
The old guard comprising of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman was in superb form too, and they collectively amassed almost a thousand sublime runs in the series. Tendulkar was close to his very best, and followed up his scintillating 163 in the third ODI with a magnificent 160 in the Hamilton Test to take India to their series- clinching victory. Throughout the series, he repeatedly stroked the ball to the fence off the awe-struck Kiwi bowlers with shots that were precise in their placement and truly resplendent in their glory. Dravid and Laxman were on top of their games too, with each excelling in his selected role. Laxman’s artistry resulted in outcomes that were like a painter’s masterpiece, while Dravid not only broke the world record for the most catches but also for the most century partnerships. A staggering performance by any standard!
MS Dhoni was looking more and more like a champion of champions by the end of the series. His wicket keeping was outstanding (he broke the record for most catches by an Indian keeper in an innings- six), his batting was solid and powerful, and his leadership aspiring. Harbhajan and Zaheer Khan displayed their wares with aplomb, to the obvious discomfort of the opponents. Harbhajan was in total control at Hamilton and also at Wellington, while Zaheer proved in the third Test that he is getting better and better as the years pass by.
For Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh in batting as also for Ishant Sharma and Munaf Patel in bowling, it was not the best of times. While Yuvraj played well in at least two innings, Sehwag tried to over-dominate. Sharma and Patel lacked consistency and did not bowl to a plan except in a spell or two. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble may have been missed by the Indians to an extent, but this Indian side does not let adversity come in its way. No way!
Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor played a couple of astonishing innings each and even skipper Daniel Vettori and Brendon Mc Cullum scored centuries to bring some cheer to the Kiwis in a series which they were lucky to come out of with a 1-0 score line.


Daniel Vettori would feel himself to be extremely fortunate to have escaped with a draw at Wellington, with eight wickets down and only he with tail-ender Iain O’Brien standing in India’s way when the rain came. Next man in Chris Martin at number 11 had not scored a run since October in any of the 23 matches he had played before this one! It was only Martin’s lofted straight drive off Harbhajan Singh in the first innings that would have given Vettori a glimmer of hope! It did not help that Ishant Sharma dropped O’Brien at backward square leg off Sachin Tendulkar (who could there by have grabbed his third wicket of the innings and sealed the win!)
India’s dashing skipper Dhoni proved to be a little less enterprising at the Basin Reserve by delaying India’s declaration by at least an hour, and has rightly been advised by Martin Crowe through his web-column to watch out for weather reports in future!
All in all the Indians have provided sufficient evidence to indicate that they have the capacity to excel in world cricket with a team that has men who are ready to put in their best efforts in each and every situation. The IPL in South Africa beckons the Indians cricketers now and then the ICC World 20-20 tournament in England. Never is there a dull moment in international cricket!

Tendulkar is batting better than ever! By Vivek Atray

Sachin Tendulkar is batting better than ever before...and that takes some doing! He has been the pre-eminent batsman of his generation, without a doubt. He has conquered, blasted, mauled and even devastated the best of bowlers in the world for the past 20 years, and he is still at it! For a batsman so dominant and breathtakingly strokeful, it is a wonder, even a miracle, that he has not only endured for so long, but has even grown better with age.
There was certainly a period in the last few years when his batting, especially in Test matches, was definitely on the wane. He seemed tentative at times, though flashes of brilliance were always on view. Injuries did not help and there were long periods when he had to keep out of cricket, thereby making a comeback of sorts many a time, not an easy task in cricket, even for the very best.
For the past two years though, and certainly as of now, Tendulkar has been delighting us again with the panache of old. His sublime centuries on tour in Australia, both in the Tests and in the ODI finals, followed by a brilliant match-winning knock in the historic Chennai Test last year against England proved that he was on song once more. The collective down turn of India's batting in Sri Lanka notwithstanding, 2008 proved to be the year when Tendulkar looked to be near his best.
In New Zealand, and one has been watching very closely, he seems so much at ease at the crease, and also with himself, that he has unraveled one magical stroke after another, with consummate ease. He has caressed the ball and he has seduced it to the boundary with such sheerness of class that Kiwi commentators (all former Test players) have often been left awestruck, dumbstruck and speechless, all at once.
In a career that has given us many a moment to relish and cherish, Sachin Tendulkar seems to be on top of his considerably spectacular game, and seems more at peace with his batting and his unending talent than he has ever been before.
Those who were chanting END-ulkar had better think again...here is a man who is likely to become the first to score a hundred international centuries...truly TON-dulkar! Bat on, Sir...we are watching with bated breath.

Will Sachin get to century of 100s?

Now that Sachin has scored two centuries back to back, the chances of him reaching a century of 100s in tests and ODI are looking better. However, I wonder if he can really get there if he is going to play only till 2011 World Cup.

Sachin scores an average of one test century per 3.7 tests or 6 innings and one ODI century per 10 innings; though he hadn't scored one till he turned opener in his 84th ODI. By just looking at averages, he will need 60-70 ODIs to get to 7 more ODI centuries and 29 tests to get to 8 more test centuries--assuming he gets to 5o each in both tests and ODIs. Looks tough given this.

But great men don't just go by averages. They do better when it really matters. Sachin had scored 20 centuries in a 1.5 years stretch in 1998-99. So he can indeed get that to the so-thought improbable 100 centuries mark if he plays at his best.

Sachin stats from 1998-99
ODI: 56 matches 2737 runs 186* 55.85 avg 12 centuries
Tests: 15 matches 1735 runs 217 highest 72.29 avg 8 centuries

Go for it Sachin.

Nostalgic feelings...the 1983 World Cup win!

THE SUMMER OF 1983
By Vivek Atray
The silver jubilee anniversary of any event of significance is
a noteworthy milestone. India’s victory over the domineering West
Indians in the final of the Cricket World Cup on a balmy evening
at Lords on June 25, 1983 was a momentous occasion in more
ways than one. 25 years later memories come flooding to one’s
mind.
India as a nation was not really known for its killer instinct at
that time and even less so on the sporting arena. We were used to
losing. Even so, I remember weeping uncontrollably as a child
when India lost to New Zealand in the 1975 World Cup. The
victories over the West Indies at St. Kitts and over Australia in
their triangular series a few months prior to the World Cup in 1983,
were to mean much more on the day of reckoning than we had
anticipated. The upswing in our fortunes had begun back then.
This was a team of believers that somehow broke the mould
and rubbished prevailing theories that Indian teams could not be
world beaters. The Tournament began for India with a stunning
win over the Windies in a league match and was followed by wins
over Australia and Zimbabwe. That particular victory against
Zimbabwe is probably as much a part of folklore, as anything
before or after, accomplished by the Indian cricket team. Kapil
Dev’s magnificent 175 after he walked in when India were
precariously poised at 17 for 5 took the team to an astounding win.
Those were the days when we would thirst for a glimpse of a
ball or two, of the action on television and indeed Kapil Dev’s
innings is still part only of the imagination as no video of it is
available. Apparently the British TV Channels did not consider it
to be a match fit for telecast.
The final and the semi-final were, however, telecast in some
detail on Indian TV screens and despite the very basic technology
used in those days we could make out that our team had come of
age despite all odds.
It was, perhaps, the ease with which Yashpal Sharma hit Bob
Willis for a slog-pull over the mid-wicket fence and the searing
shots which Sandip Patil displayed that made us sure of victory
over hosts England in the Semi-finals.
The West Indians of those days were akin to the Tiger Woods
and Roger Federers of today. India’s opponents in the Finals were
awesome in all respects. Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gorden
Greenidge, Malcolm Marshal, Michael Holding, Joel Garner and
Andy Roberts were fearsome figures on the cricket field. Pitted
against them were India’s military-medium-pacers Roger Binny,
Madan Lal and Mohinder Amarnath along with some classy
batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar, K. Srikkanth and Sandip Patil. Kapil
Dev was the one outstanding one-day player in that line-up.
One remembers a familiar heart-sinking feeling as India
struggled to get only 183 runs, falling like ninepins to the dreaded
West Indian pace-quartet. We were all resigned to our fate, as
Syed Kirmani also admitted on TV last week, and to having
accomplished more than we could hope for just by reaching the
final of the World Cup. Fate had something else in store, however,
as arrogance coupled with failure to take on some steady swing
bowling led to the West Indian down fall.
Three memories that stand out from that West Indian innings
are Balwinder Sandhu’s ball-of-the-millennium to an armshouldering
Gordon Greenidge, Kapil Dev’s unparalleled
athleticism in catching the dangerous Richards and celebrated
commentator Richie Benaud’s high-pitched remark “Gone !” when
Clive Lloyd fell to a catch at point.
Amarnath’s little in-swinger accounted for Holding’s wicket
to end the match and a delirious country erupted with joy. At that
moment it seemed to every Indian that he or she was a World
champion too.
The victorious team visited Chandigarh soon after their
success and one recalls the simplicity with which each of them
conducted himself in that hour of glory. Wide eyed at finding
myself, an impressionable 16 year old, amongst my heroes at the
inaugural ceremony of Kapil Dev’s hotel, I realized that India and
its people were second to none.

Ishant Sharma gets NZ reeling at 60 for 6

Cricket is the greatest of all levelers

By Vivek Atray

Cricket is such a great leveler that fortunes can soar or plummet, careers can be made or marred, opinions can fluctuate like the sensex and reputations can be enhanced or left in tatters, within a matter of days. The Indian team which had been flying high with three consecutive victories in the one-day series against New Zealand was brought rudely down to earth by a devastating defeat in the final encounter on Saturday. The same opponents, who had looked bedazzled, wonder-struck and clueless in the previous matches, came up with such a tour-de-force at Hamilton that it was India’s turn to look out of breath as a unit.
Not that one defeat should halt the march of one of the most exciting Indian teams in history. It is just that the euphoria over the brilliant performances of Dhoni’s team was so exuberant that certain basic weaknesses were overlooked. The Indians have undoubtedly been blessed with some of the most aggressive and destructive batsmen of our time at one go. Sehwag, Raina, Yuvraj, Pathan and Gambhir could destroy any bowling attack on their day, and they have indeed done so with amazing regularity. While this approach should lead to victories in most 20-20 matches for sure, they have to plan better for the 50 over game. Even though they lost both 20-20 games and won 3 out of 4 of the completed 50 over games that they have played on the current tour, their approach suggests that they are more likely to scale unprecedented heights in the shortest version of the game than in the 50 over version. In the 20 over format, even if quick wickets fall, there is not enough time for a team to collapse without utilizing their full quota of overs, unless they play really terribly! The world champions are thus well poised to retain their ICC World 20-20 title in England this June, given the extent of the firepower they possess.
India’s best ODI game of the just concluded series was the third one, in which they scored 392 (thanks to Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina) and won, in spite of the fact that the Kiwis ran them quite close in the chase. The other satisfying finish was the Sehwag-Gambhir show in the fourth game, wherein the master destroyer blasted India’s fastest ever ODI century while Gambhir played the waiting/supporting game.
The fact that winning cricket matches does not just depend on the slam-bang approach, is well known. Strategy, technique and playing according to the state of the game are important elements of cricket too. Dhoni has shown great acumen and understanding of the finer aspects of the game and he would have realized that the Indians took their foot off the pedal, to their peril, in the final match on Saturday.
While the impact of that crushing defeat, on the Test series, would be known soon enough, what India must realize immediately is that the difference between a great team and a good team is simply the fact that true champions never give in without a fight. All in all, with 3 matches lost and 3 won on the tour so far (with one no result), India have a lot to play for in the Test Matches. The addition of specialists like Dravid, Laxman and Balaji should bolster the Indian line-up significantly in the five day version. Tendulkar, after his injury-break, following his magnificent knock of 163 runs in the third ODI, would be raring to go, as would Sehwag who, strangely enough, has always looked even more at home on the Test Match stage than on any other.
The manner in which Virender ‘the Destroyer’ started the tour, with sixes off each of the first three balls he faced in the first 20-20 game, left us gasping in awe. Even the great Vivian Richards would have been proud of the way in which Sehwag goes about spanking perfectly respectable bowling attacks. His form continued in the ODI’s too, with good length balls disappearing into the stands with alarming regularity. Those who think that his 60 ball century will take a while to be bettered in ODI’s, better think again, for Sehwag has the power and panache to break his own record many a time over in the coming years.
Another star performer in the series was Yuvraj Singh, who seems more at ease at the crease nowadays than he has ever looked in his career. His imperious presence not only uplifts the morale of his batting partners but also instills the fear of God in the hearts of the opponents. His clean hits could clear any ground in the world, but he is particularly devastating on the small Kiwi grounds. Suresh Raina too looked in such sublime touch that he couldn’t play a false stroke till the final match, when the Indians fell like a pack of cards.
Dhoni, Gambhir, Harbhajan and Zaheer came up with useful performances too, and Yusuf Pathan pitched in with a few important wickets. The Pathan brothers better watch out however, for they may be labeled only as 20-20 players, if their current performance-level in the ODI format continues. Overall India’s fielding and bowling were below par and it was only their batting which really flourished in the limited over games against the Kiwis. Time and again the Kiwis threatened to stage as effective an onslaught as the ones affected by the Indians with their hell-for-leather batting approach. They would be equally dangerous in the Tests, with the best left arm spinner in the world, skipper Daniel Vettori, along with exciting players like Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor in their ranks.
All in all though, the Indians are on a roll under the tutelage of the wily Gary Kirsten, aided by Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh. But they would have to tighten their fielding and their bowling in the coming months. Sterner tests await them on their road towards becoming the best team in the world. We shall be watching very closely!

BCCI, IPL and ICL saga

I saw the news story on BCCI objecting to Ravi Shastri doing commentary with Craig Macmillan for the India-NZ test matches. The reason is that Craig plays in the "rebel" cricket league ICL. Now this reminds me of a new form on apartheid: stop interaction with a few cricketers completely because they play in ICL. Soon BCCI may be saying to Indian cricketers--don't take this airline flight because ICL player is on the same flight or don't go to this restaurant because ICL player eats there. 

More on BCCI, IPL, Lalit Modis soon...

How the mighty have fallen

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN!

By Vivek Atray

The sudden and unprecedented decline in the performance of the Australian cricket team in all three formats of the game at the international level has set the cat among the pigeons, literally. All of a sudden, India and South Africa have started to lick their lips at the prospect of becoming the undisputed world champions in the coming months. Even Sri Lanka, England and New Zealand have probably started entertaining visions of being the world’s best team in the near future. Pakistan, because of lack of match practice, and the West Indies, because their re-birth is still too recent, may be the only ones among the top teams who are not in a position as of now to harbour such thoughts.
This situation has come to pass simply because the hitherto invincible Aussies, have started faltering more often than not in all three avatars of the modern game. They have lost to India, to South Africa, and very nearly to New Zealand in recent series that they have contested. Their defeats at the hands of the effervescent South Africans, led by the resolute and doughty Graeme Smith, in both the Test series and the ODI format, and that too in their own back yard, must have sent shivers down the spine of the Aussie selectors, players and fans alike. Not for decades has Australia suffered at the hands of any team in this manner.
The reasons for this fall from grace, and from their once lofty pedestal, of the awesome Aussies, are not difficult to seek. Never before has any international cricket team seen such an exodus of talent class and experience from the scene, almost simultaneously. Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martin and Justine Langer bid adieu to their beloved team in the recent past, thus totally exposing their greenhorn replacements to the mercy of resurgent opponents like India and South Africa. Meanwhile the likes of Brett Lee and Andrew Symonds, for reasons related to injury or otherwise, also became largely unavailable to the already beleaguered Australians. The sheer quality and class of the aforementioned group of players was the reason for the unfathomable run of successes that the Australians enjoyed for years. This was coupled with excellent preparation for each series and a never-say-die attitude that pulled them out of seemingly impossible match-situations to come out triumphant in the face of all odds, time and again. McGrath and Warne were among the greatest bowlers ever to play the game and they led their team to one famous victory after another without ever seeming to lose steam. There was even an sms joke after the 2007 World Cup, and Australia’s third-straight triumph at that level, about a plan for simply handing them the Cup in 2011, even without a ball being bowled! How things have changed since!
Perhaps another reason for the decline of Australian cricket could be the lack of foresightedness in blooding younger players one by one while the greats were still around. For example it would have been much easier for new talents like Peter Siddle and even David Warner to settle down nicely, while the likes of McGrath and Gilchrist were still around on the field and in the dressing room! All through cricket’s history we have seen that when the experienced players were around to pass on their magic to their successors the transition had been smoother.
Imran Khan passed on the magic to Wasim Akram, Steve Waugh did the same to Ricky Ponting, and the incomparable Sachin Tendulkar is still around to follow suit with the likes of Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. It is another matter that Tendulkar had already mentored another generation in Yuvraj Singh and Virender Sehwag, who are world class players in their own right today! Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman are still batting superbly at the Test level, even as the younger lot takes over from them gradually. Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble have just retired, but then by now, skipper MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh are highly respected players on the world stage. India has somehow been able to soften the blow of the transition, either due to a glut of available talent, or due to better planning. This is the way to go! Not the Aussie way, where the cupboard suddenly looks bare.
Is all lost for the Aussies then? Not really! If one looks back, the West Indians suffered a much steeper fall from the top of the cricketing world during the nineties. That they have still been unable to recover from that shock is as much a reflection of the sheer greatness of players like Viv Richards, Clive Lloyd, Gordon Greenidge and the fearsome fast bowlers that they possessed, as also due to the sheer lack of interest in the game among the youth in that part of the world today. However, under Chris Gayle, the Windies seem to be in the process of rekindling that spark once again and their recent annihilation of the Poms is a case in point.
The Aussies themselves suffered severely in the eighties when Kerry Packer took away most of their greats. Kim Hughes, followed by Allan Border, was left to pick up the pieces. The fact that Border went on to become the world’s most prolific batsman at one time and that under his leadership (followed by that of Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting), Australia scaled great heights, must give hope to the Australian selectors in the current hour of crisis.
All the same, the mighty have indubitably fallen and while they may not be out just yet, they are surely down! Much like the once impregnable Roger Federer, who is now struggling to come to terms with Rafael Nadal’s game, the cricketing Aussies must re-group at the double. Else India and South Africa would be the teams to look out for, not only during the ICC 20-20 Cup later this year, but also in the longer versions of the game. The menu on offer could not be more mouth watering for us cricket-lovers. Let’s keep that remote-control handy!