India vs New Zealand - Was it Fair?

And so, our humble Kiwi's failed to take off in India, hopes ruined completely by the two Ravis - Ashwin and Jadeja.  The Black Caps found themselves playing on moon surfaces, with the odd exception of a very New Zealand style pitch engineered to turn the underrated Bhuvi Kumar into a swinging menace. 

3-0 later it all begs the question, is it honestly fair that India is allowed to doctor their wickets to suit them?

The answer is, yes, why the hell not.

There is nothing wrong with home advantage, in fact it enhances the game. Winning overseas should be a big deal, the opposition should be walking into a cauldron of alien conditions and jeering home crowds. Victory on foreign soil should be special.

"Definitely a hint of turn out there today".  © edu-observatory.org

This is what made India's drawn 2003 series in Australia so fascinating, then later Australia's 2004 victory in India described as if conquering "the final frontier", near impossible tasks made any shot at victory so compelling. 

India has to exorcise their seaming wicket demons, a subject previously clueless about (poor Tendulkar aside). Anil Kumble had to mine all day tirelessly to extract wickets, Jason Gillespie had to turn in an inspired fast bowling performance on pitches catered for spin. 

Yes we have padded home averages, suddenly Ashwin is a better bowler than Warne and Murali combined we're told. Kohli and Pujara, so hopeless in England, are racking up tons and double tons. Sir Jadeja is the worlds deadliest all-rounder, "The Complete Player" the post-match coverage proudly blares.  

Uh huh.  © Cricinfo.com 

Take these guys to face Jimmy Anderson in his backyard, and things get pretty ugly, but as before, why not? Averages level out, and that is the cost of building a home town team as India were in the 90s.  If you don't adapt, you perish, and fair enough. 

Then how did India climb to number one on the rankings? While a brilliant South African side sits on 5th? Does #1 in the ICC rankings truly mean number one?  Not if the cards aren't dealt fairly all over the world, and therein lies the issue, only India get to play doctor it seems. 

Remember what happened when they toured New Zealand in 2001-02? A spectacular series where tests couldn't reach three days, and ODI innings couldn't hit 50 overs.  Sourav Ganguly and his men let their opinions rip, and next time they came to town around we duly delivered them roads.

What was wrong with New Zealand favouring their own strengths? It was a fascinating series where we appreciated quality swing bowling, and the rare dogged batting that countered it. Shane Bond was near unplayable. Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Javagal Srinath finally had bowling conditions to work with. Rahul Dravid described his 76 in Wellington as one of the best innings of his career. 76, not 276. An inspired Virender Sehwag didn't seem to care at all and clubbed centuries in a series where sometimes 20 was gold.

It was certainly weird cricket, it was nothing like the 'norm' that popular opinion later dictated. But that didn't make it any less fascinating. Had India won that series, they would rightfully have stood tall, just as New Zealand would have if they managed to win this series. There was nothing wrong with a thumping then, and there is nothing wrong with it now.

Instead, we stand in a situation where New Zealand's green seamers are long gone, nobody is scared of touring the West Indies, even Perth has become a flat joke. Other than (perhaps) English conditions, it's become about who can stand and slog the longest. 

It's wasteful to throw away an intriguing element of the game, variety should be embraced not wrested away because one cricketing board says so. A tragic shame, and an unnecessary dilution to our game.

A couple of final musings:

• What happened to excessive appealing, does the law even exist anymore? The last guy who tried to do anything about it was Mike Denness way back in 2001, and got his officiating career destroyed for his troubles.
• How does Sir Jadeja get away with *deliberately* tampering the pitch with a fine equal to 2 minutes of endorsement work? Oh, they handed NZ five runs, I guess...
• In those few occasions New Zealand were fighting along admirably, what do you call the laughable accusation of the 'deliberate drinks breaks' tactics?

Those dastardly cheats.

Throw away the spirit of the game when things go against the script? 

Onwards to more maulings then, Bangledesh next, in a series promised to be fascinatingly ugly.

The Rahul Dravid Tribute

Rahul Dravid, a player Indian cricket has so much to thank for. Equipped with a textbook technique and defence-first strategy, he truly was a rare breed coming from India, a nation that prides on trigger happy flamboyance. They called him The Wall, but I preferred to remember him as The Backbone.

His Test Match Legacy
India's overseas record in the nineties was a joke. Out of 39 test matches outside of Indian borders in the 1990s India won one test match, one single match in a full decade and that too in the sub-continent facing Sri Lanka. They were nothing short of flat track bullies who were ritually reduced to rubble when away from their comfortable dead wickets.

The resurgence of the 2000's largely came through a quintet of batsmen, however those other four would not have been enough alone. India needed Rahul Dravid.

Deliverance. © Getty 

His polished technique, unflappable temperament and unbreakable determination is what first got India on the cricketing map as a real threat, particularly overseas. Whether it was against McGrath or Murali, whether in Peshawar or Perth, he proved himself as the most important piece of the puzzle that pushed them to an eventual number one ranking.


The Cruel Limited Overs Fate
As an ODI player he was sorely misunderstood. Idiotic selections and favouritism ensured he missed a good fifty games for his country and didn't even play a single match in 2008 and in 2010. 'Too slow' they would say, and they would banish him in favour of hot shots who couldn't hold a candle on a bowling wicket. He was cautious at worst and he never cost India a match because of a poor strike rate, this was nothing but a myth.

For a period he was also unfairly given the wicket-keeping duties when they never belonged to him, and fought through a turbulent cyclone as captain fuelled by the egos of Ganguly and Greg Chappell. If that was not enough, he was cruelly denied the chance to be part of the 2011 World Cup victory, despite 12 centuries, over 10,000 runs and more rescue acts than Michael Bevan. A crying shame for he deserved far better, and yet he still managed to carry himself through it all with grace.



The 5 Best Test Performances:

1. Scored the most runs in England 2002 when India first started competing overseas.
2. He was there with Laxman during the Eden Gardens miracle with an equally important 180. No Dravid, no partnership, and the series would have been lost.
3. His 233 and 72 double in Adelaide 2003 gave India their first real success in Australia, and an honourable drawn series.
4. His 207 in Pakistan 2004 sealed a first ever series victory there.
5. Was the only Indian batsman to make runs in the embarrassing 2011 England tour.

The 5 Most Memorable ODI Performances:

1. Amongst the Sehwag carnage played a classy 99 only to be denied a century by Shoaib Akhtar.
2. Smashed 50 off 22 balls against New Zealand to prove that he too can play the slog game.
3. Top scored when eliminated by Sri Lanka in a horrendous 2007 World Cup.
4. A hard fought 76 was the only fight India had when eliminated by Pakistan in the Champions Trophy in 2009. He fell tragically to cramps and a run out. 
5. Bowed out with style in 2011, with a typically solid innings of 69 against England.

That was just a sampler of the number of times Dravid was left last man standing among a crumpling heap of Indian batsman. He earns many compliments from critics and opponents alike, however he will never experience the blind worship and respect Tendulkar and Dhoni get back in his home country.

Perhaps for the better? India needed a better class of hero, and Dravid answered the call and delivered for more than fifteen years. A career and an individual that every Indian should be proud of.



Goodbye Rahul Dravid, and thanks.

2012 - The End of the World (For Indian Cricket)

The recent years could be described as the zenith of Indian cricket. A world cup, the number one test ranking, an assortment of batsman averaging above fifty. For a while all was rosy for Indian cricket as they had all the money and the silverware. The problem is though, the higher you climb the tree the more gravity laughs at you, and awaiting this Indian team in the coming year is a crash course face down in the mud.

As we speak Australia are mauling India in a manner reserved not even for Zimbabwe. The so-called best batting line-up hasn't delivered, and we all know India has nothing else up its sleeve apart from the odd Zaheer Khan spell. The fielding is a joke, the bowling a gun loaded with blanks, Gambhir and Kohli (the 'future') are nowhere as good as they think they are, and special mention to the unimaginative and dire captaincy of the most worshipped man in Indian cricket. He may be a lot of things, but as a test captain Dhoni is a disgrace.

Unfortunately for India, the problems do not end here and it won't be long before we are back in the dark days of the 90's. Yes the days when Devang Gandhi was in the team and Agarkar was the king of ducks.

Quack.  © AFP

The powers are about to shift away, and the coming year will be a telling one for Indian cricket. Here are the events The Cricket Musings predicts for 2012:

The IPL Will Start Dying
This won't be the last we see of it, but it will be on its way down. The corruption is already exposing itself with teams having to drop out and players reportedly not being paid. The already poor quality of cricket will only get worse, especially when key players will retire and or opt out altogether. Audiences will wake up worldwide, and realise that Test cricket is the only true form, and that India are hopeless at it.

The previous IPL had a lot to thank Chris Gayle for.

Tendulkar Will Get His 100th 100
But by the time it comes nobody will care any more. Except maybe cricinfo who probably have tribute articles saved up and gathering cob-webs.

Dravid and Laxman Will Retire
A sad ending, because its tragic to watch Dravid miss straight deliveries and Laxman scoring less runs than Chris Martin. What the BCCI will do is rig a home series against a Zimbabwe and give them easy centuries to bow out with. I hope so because they deserve a farewell more pleasant than James Pattinson screams.

The DRS Will Live
Eventually the ICC will wake up when the credibility of the BCCI and Dhoni will decline. Common sense will prevail in the end, even though it was years too late.

More 200's
Sehwag and Sachin only completed the inevitable. For years many got mighty close, and others would have sailed to a double had the chasing target been larger (see Shane Watson). With flat pitches still not easing up, there will be more of these on the way.

A Return Australian Series
To restore dented batting averages and the pride of Virat Kohli. They did it against England, and with India having planned next to nothing in terms of forthcoming tours, they are (as usual) free to do what they like.


A plea to the cricket gods, please save us all.



Related Reading:
Australian Cricket In Trouble
Why Dhoni Is A Fluke
Why The IPL Is Ruining Cricket

Shoaib Akhtar Speaks (The Truth?)

Autobiographies really are something. It is a time when self important sporting celebrities get to wave their creative pencil and indulge themselves in a self-made ego trip. Most of them are ignored as they lack the creativity, or the writing skill, or are just plain boring outside of the game. Then you get the select few personalities who carry off interesting laughs and anecdotes and make the experience a pleasure to read.

And then there is Shoaib Akthar.

Anything less than borderline insanity from this man would have been a let down, and lo and behold he has delivered. When it comes to stirring up a storm in a tea cup, he is a natural. Unlike Afridi though, Shoaib is articulate, and his points dive into grey and debatable areas instead of being dismissed as tripe.

What did he have to say in the aptly titled "Controversially Yours"? Does he make a point or is he simply a bag of wind?

1. Sachin and Dravid Are Not Match Winners

In Dravid's case, total nonsense. He single handedly won games for India in both forms of the game and was often the last man standing amongst dominoes. To suggest that Dravid "didn't know the art of finishing the game" is nothing more than a cheap shot at the great man. Credibility 0/10.

Above the belt pelase. © Getty Images

In Sachin's case though, maybe he has a point. Sachin through the nineties was a frustrated lone figure who got nil support from his inept team mates. You can't fault him for being unable to do it all alone, everybody else were looking after their own pockets. The Sachin of the 00's was a different figure though, he finally had adequate batting backup and was allowed to pile up the runs carefully. Guilty of being a run glut, yes. Guilty of not winning matches, it can also be argued. He has far less Dravid's and Laxman's in his innings vault. Credibility 5/10.

2. Sachin Was Scared Of Him.

Rubbish. This is the guy who manfully fought Wasim & Waqar, Lee & McGrath, Ambrose & Walsh, Steve Bucknor... the list goes on. While not always coming off the winner of the battles, never ever backed down, be it 16 or 36 years old. Why should he be scared of Shoaib? Has he forgotten the 03 World Cup? Credibility 0/10.

3. The IPL Cheated Him

Believable, and he won't be the last. The IPL is built on a foundation of masses, greed and corruption. He joined a team run by an arrogant Bollywood star in a tournament run by an arrogant nobody Lalit Modi. With a set-up like that, it was inevitable. A paint job will only cover the cracks in a dam, soon this whole circus will be flooded by a crashing wave. Shoaib should have known better than to take part. Credibility 8/10.

4. Everyone Ball Tampers

Correction, Pakistan ball tampers. And no it shouldn't be legal, where do you draw the line, a maximum fingernail length in the ICC code of conduct? My only hope is that the pioneers of swing such as Imran aren't exposed to have resorted to dirty methods in the past, although I get the feeling it just may happen. Credibility 8/10.

Michael Jackson impersonations are perfectly legal though. © AFP

5. Shoaib Malik Shouldn't Have Been Captain

A stab at his own team mate? Only he would dare, but again he actually has a point here. Malik was an above average ODI batsman at best, with a shaky test career and a dodgy bowling action, with an eye for female tennis players. Why was he made captain? On paper it looks like a nothing decision, possibly influenced by those that favoured Malik. But in reality one must also consider that Pakistani teams were often unstable and a logical choice for captain was not always clear. Again debatable. Credibility 7/10.

6. He Was Humiliated

Shoaib didn't spare anyone, even lashing out at Wasim Akram and partially blaming him for not fulfilling his career to its potential. I'm not sure how big a part politics played, but they were certainly present as he was inexplicably robbed of a swansong finish against India in the World Cup semi final. It must be said though that despite whatever corruption and vendettas he may have had to face, he was an unlikeable and destructive person to begin with. Most of what we had to put up with was a result of his own actions and he has nobody to blame. Credibility 5/10.

Surprisingly all in all, the points Shoaib Akhtar made in his autobiography were not entirely a load of pies. While dealing out low blows to Indian batsman, he dealt to his former team mates and management with equal measure and venom. Will it have an impact? Probably not, Shoaib Akhtar lashing out is really about as credible as...

This. © Getty Images

England vs India - Series Review

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear.

No words necessary. © Getty Images

The Cricket Musings can be pretty pessimistic, but I don't think anybody on earth saw this coming. What transpired over the last month was a performance so pitiful and even the West Indies and Bangladesh would go home crying in shame. Make no mistake, it was nothing short of an atrocious performance with no excuses. One would even feel sorry for the Indians, if not for their overly smug and brash attitude (jealous are we?).

The Numbers Don't Lie:

• India were bowled out every single innings, that's 80 wickets lost. They made it to 300 once, their average score being 256.
• England only had to bat six times, and were only bowled out twice, and one of those was a total of 554. Their average score? A whopping 468 and that too with four declarations.
• Only Rahul Dravid managed more than 300 runs for India. He was nearly 200 runs shy of the next best in Tendulkar, and his series average 76.83 made him a man among toddlers.
• Only Praveen Kumar operated at a bowling average under 30, England had three.
• Of the ten centuries scored, three belonged to India, all Dravid. 
• The last time India was white-washed was 11 years ago in Australia. 

And don't forget those were the days when India would bat like rag dolls anywhere outside the batting paradises of the sub-continent. This Indian team came to the English shores boasting a #1 world ranking. They go home as #3.

Doing a report card on the players would be an utterly pointless exercise, as every Englishman deserves at least 8 and every Indian who is not named Rahul Dravid deserves at most 2.

So what the heck happened? 

Is it even possible to pinpoint how a team can suddenly be so abysmal? A team only putting up a show in one match only for Tim Bresnan to blow them away? Perhaps surprisingly, the answers were always there, the cracks were merely invisible under the shiny gloss of big talk, the world cup victory and the so called world number one ranking. 

The truth is:

1. India were always unfit. For many years a number of key players were constantly breaking down with injury. Previously slim players are suddenly lazy, paunchy and tired. Handling this for fifty overs was possible and made it look like there was no issue. When it becomes 450 overs, it becomes painfully clear.
2. India never could field. The number of dropped catches, misfields and lumbering chases for the ball has been nothing new. Only Suresh Raina had any sort of energy and ability.
3. India have 1.5 bowlers. And one of those was Zaheer Khan, who's injury sealed the fate of the 'attack'. Praveen Kumar is the 0.5, who deserves special mention for his tireless and lionhearted efforts out there. Bhajji was always dead wood. Ishant and Sreesanth only bowl one or two good spells a series. Mishra and RP Singh never had the experience or the tools to do anything meaningful. Without a McGrath or Steyn, we will always be behind.
4. India don't win much. Perhaps the harshest reality of all. "But, but we are number one!" you say? Look at the recent results, in the past five years, India have drawn a ridiculous 19 matches, nearly equalling their win record of 22 matches. These draws came about with their gun batting line-up flaying the bowling on dead pitches, and an inability to take 20 wickets. 
5. The batting machine had to fail finally. How often did Laxman or Dravid (or even Bhajji!) bail them out of embarrassing situations with the bat. With any number one team, there will always come a time where the bowling and fielding will be tested, and India were never up to standard there. A team built on batting alone can only go so far.

Time to cut down on the Pakodas son. © Getty Images

The Bottom Line

If you look at the facts, India only really made it to the top as a place-holder for the declining Australians. A heavy weight of drawn series and matches is definitely an improvement from the 90's, and they are rightfully third on the ladder. But its time to stop being delusional and pretending this team was good enough to hold down the top ranking for very long.

It is a harsh wake up call, but a necessary one. You cannot take test matches for granted, a champion team is built on eleven players forming a batting, bowling and fielding unit with the mental fortitude to outlast the opponent over five days.

England, in other words.

World Cup 2011 - The Ignored XI

Squad selection is always one of the most debated points preceding a World Cup, usually boiling down to defending the selection of overrated cricketer X, or wrongfully omitted cricketer Y. The latter is more interesting. Hence here is my ‘Ignored XI’, the selection of players who should consider themselves unlucky not to be taking part.

1. Imran Nazir

Capable of doing freakish things with the bat, it seems like he has been completely ignored for some years. The first of my openers.

2. Fawad Alam

An in-form Pakistani batsman who has been consistent and has good temperament under pressure. 

Enough said © Associated Press

3. Irfan Pathan

The ‘Genuine Indian Allrounder’ search was thought to have been finally complete somewhere in the early 00’s. Yes, Irfan lost his way with his form, but that was when the management should have taken initiative, given him some time to rediscover himself, and come back stronger (a la Zaheer and Ganguly). Not to be. 

4. Rahul Dravid

Maybe I was the only one who dreamt that Dravid would make a comeback and boost the technique and temperament of the middle order. After being discarded some time ago for utterly ridiculous reasons, they will regret that when it comes down to the crunch, and a cool head needs to get them home.

We'll take pretty 20's over fighting 70's thanks © Getty Images

5. Mohmmad Yousuf

If you forget the politics just for one moment (as hard as that is), he is their most technically correct and experienced batsman. On paper, this was a truly daft decision. Leaving him out is Pakistan’s loss, and the ‘Ignored XI’s’ gain.

6. Grant Elliott

Given New Zealand’s lack of depth, and how many bits-and-pieces cricketers they are taking to India, this is a weird omission. He has an ODI hundred to his name batting in the middle order, and a match winning knock in the 2009 Champions Trophy. Handy with the ball too. “He was poor in Bangladesh” they say, find me a Black Cap who wasn’t.

7. Albie Morkel

Maybe not so useful with the ball lately, but definitely would be picked on his batting ability. Particularly after proving to be a useful performer in the IPL (given that the cup will take place in India, this is a factor, probably the only time it will be).

8. Peter Siddle

After being one of the very few Australians to come out of the Ashes with his reputation intact, this is a strange omission. At the very least he should have made the XV on backbone alone.

9. Nathan Bracken

Not so long ago, he was regarded as the number one ODI bowler in the world. To be constantly overlooked for the test team was baffling, but not unexpected given Australia loves to segregate in this fashion (Langer, Katich, Bevan). But given that their ODI bowling is fairly depleted, surely an experienced and economical bowler is on the top of the wish list?

10. Sreesanth

Granted, he is a show pony and can leak runs like nobody’s business. But when he does get it right (and lately he has been), he is a proven performer who bowls with pace and penetration, something that almost every Indian bowler in the squad lacks. If Munaf Patel is a bigger threat, you must be joking.

A circus with talent © Associated Press

11. Chris Tremlett

 ‘The Terminator’ has become a favourite of mine. Apparently having the Australians hopping about with good pace and bounce is not enough to make the squad. That too the English one of which only Anderson is a given. From stature alone he’d have the opposition quaking in their boots.

Looking at that squad, my wicket keeper would have to be Dravid, not exactly ideal. But that aside, I think that’s a strong line-up that would challenge any of the other participating teams.