The Dhoni Rollercoaster

Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The biggest name in Indian cricket bar Sachin Tendulkar. His rise to the top is nothing short of extraordinary, scaling heights in a manner that would make any rock climber blush. Literally he went from zero to the top in five years, and on the way acquiring magic powers that no other cricketer can boast:

• Choosing when to play (in order of revenue).
• Choosing where to bat (#3 if the score is 200-1, #7 otherwise for a guaranteed not-out).
• Halting a review system that the entire cricketing world embraced.
• Turning a god awful slap into a famous "helicopter shot".
• Starting a hairstyle trend.
• Being immune to criticism and the axe.
• Being the only captain allowed to keep the same IPL team (hence winning).
• Getting umpires fired at will.

There is no denying one thing, Dhoni is a very shrewd character. With well thought out batting promotions, deadpan media interviews and a controversy free life outside cricket, he managed to climb his way to the very top of everybody's praise list. Proudly he stands at the top of Everest while other more worthy cricketers tried and failed at hill tops.

Lets take a ride of the Dhoni Rollercoaster and experience the meteoric rise (and fall).

BANG!

Dhoni announces himself as a young buck with a mullet and a ferocious bat swing, clubbing a fun filled 148 off 123 deliveries, and that too against Pakistan. The very definition of raw batting, and being a wicket-keeper, that's Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik in the dustbin. 

The realist says: Hah check this guy out! If he really can keep wickets, then he'll have a bright career as our own Mark Boucher. Good signs.

BANG!

That same year Dhoni makes mince of Vaas, Murali and friends with a bulldozing 183 off 145 deliveries, including an astonishing ten sixes. Tendulkar made 3 that day, his presence barely registering as Dhoni  scooped up the man of the series award and a contract with the BCCI. He's here to stay.

The realist says: Hmm that was a double century beckoning, thwarted only by lack of runs for the chase. Maybe we have a serious limited overs weapon here, albeit an India-only one.

Dhoni #1 in ODIs! 

After bashing around the Pakistani's yet again, this time in lower order match winners, Dhoni marched onto the #1 ranking in one-day internationals. There is no looking back now for the wonder boy from Jharkhand.

The realist says: What the heck, how did that happen? Boy do these ICC rankings change quickly, suddenly he is a better batsman than Ponting! Lets just mention that out of his first 43 games, a convenient 5 were outside of the sub-continent batting friendly pitches. A few more overseas tours and things will level out.

Captain Dhoni to the Rescue!

The young guns of India rally and defeat the very best of the twenty 20 world and take away their first world cup since the famous 1983 victory. Dhoni was the man in charge, and with the help of Yuvraj Singh's bat, RP Singh's swing and a ridiculously dumb Misbah-ul-Haq shot, a young India won in grand style. Dhoni was hailed a hero, and finally we have a captain!

The realist says: Whoa now hang on a minute, Dhoni contributed little to nothing with the bat, and took HUGE gambles which through sheer luck paid off (Joginder Sharma is rubbish). By a combination of injuries and selection woes, in other words, purely by process of elimination, he got the job. You can't be serious about him taking over as captain? This is T20 cricket!

Dhoni Defeats The Mighty Aussies!

For the first time, ever, India take home the CB series in Australia led by the inspirational Dhoni. He promoted himself on various occasions and chipped in with sensible singles, putting to bed the Dhoni of old who would try and blast the bowling into oblivion. Great maturity and class to help bring down the mighty cricketing empire, in their own back yard.

The realist says: Granted that Dhoni helped out here and there, it was Gambhir and Sachin who really played the crucial hands. This was an impressive landmark victory, but it had a lot to do with the ageing Australia contributing to their own downfall with a tired performance. Dhoni's timing to become captain was truly immaculate, luck!

Dhoni ICC ODI Player of the Year - For Two Years!

There is no better limited overs cricketer than Dhoni in 2008 and 2009, mastering the art of switching between dynamic aggression and controlled finishing, he has become the new Michael Bevan of cricket. Add to that a great test record including four centuries, truly our best wicket-keeper batsman in history!

The realist says: Here's a fun fact, only around 30% of his ODI's are played outside of the subcontinent, and less than half the test matches. Here's another one, Dhoni has never scored a century outside Asia, in any format, ever. Definitely a decent player but bit of a stretch to call him number one in the world.

Dhoni leads India to #1 Test Ranking!

For the first time ever India has a formidable test team. Actually managing to win a few overseas tests, they secured some important results in England, New Zealand and South Africa, and of course beating the Australians *once again* at home. Dhoni is the perfect captain with an unbeaten test record, and life is good.

The realist says: Lets not forget that the Australians are falling apart like a house made of hay. Admittedly the Indians are playing good test cricket and deserve their ranking, but the real heroes are the Laxman's and Dravid's who time and again have saved them from the dead. At one time there were four ex-captains in the team with Dhoni, who really is just a happy passenger.

Dhoni wins the World Cup!

Finally, undisputed champions of the ODI world! Dhoni's place in the hall of fame is all but guaranteed as he lifted the World Cup for the second time in India's history. The road to the final included beating defending champions Australia and the red hot Pakistani and Sri Lankan teams. There is no question that in the reins of Dhoni, life is a million bucks (literally). Bring on England!

The realist says: Apart from the final where he stole Yuvraj Singh's job (another shrewd self promotion folks), his other major contributions to the cup was complaining about the DRS system and being the first guy to the podium. For goodness sake can we stop attributing *everything* to him!

CRASH

Dhoni leads an unfit and unprepared bunch to the English shores, chock full of opposition players brimming with skill and confidence, and a hunger to be number one. What followed as a 4-0 drubbing so ridiculous, so embarrassing that not one excuse washed with anybody, even the Indian media. There is a gentle hush around Indian cricket, suddenly Ravi Shastri has nothing to say and everyone sits back in suspended disbelief. All that build up for this massive anticlimax?

The realist says: Feeling the pinch of gravity are we?

What lies ahead?

After that fierce ride up, Indian cricket is zooming back down at breakneck speeds, Dhoni in the front seat. Will it rush back up and meeting more twists and corkscrews? Or will the rollercoaster continue to run its course and come to a crashing halt?

Dhoni is by no means a poor cricketer, he is at best a decent keeper with good temperament and the ability to play a useful innings in helpful batting conditions. Yet instead, he has propelled himself to all sorts of heights and achievements.

Luck my friends, and a lot of it. The true test of his rollercoaster ride is about to begin.


All stats courtesy of Cricinfo.com
All images courtesy of Getty Images and AFP

Chalk and Cheese - Indian Intent 1975 vs 2011

While the World Cup hits a another relatively 'slow patch', lets take a trip down memory lane.

1975. The year of the inaugural cricket world cup, a lot of pressure was on the tournament as this was the opportunity to truly realize the potential of the game.

2011. Present year world cup, facing a time where the ODI game faces a crisis (or does it?). Only time will tell if the game will be resurrected.

The similarity between the two world cups is that the opening match featured India on both occasions. Both matches were highlighted by the performance of their opening batsmen, but for entirely different reasons.

The Chalk

http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/match/433558.html

Virender Sehwag. The opening match was against the fancied underdog Bangladesh, expected to present a decent challenge. As gung-ho as ever, he made some smug claims before this world cup. The result, in an electric atmosphere rained with staunch Bangladeshi support, was an aggressive and calculated destruction of the opposition bowling attack. The intent was absolutely clear, to bludgeon runs, and bludgeon with style.

When the dust settled, the gauntlet had been thrown, and the world took notice. Sehwag had 175 and India had 370. They meant business in a big way, and the world cup was lit up at the hands of one mans exuberance.

The Cheese

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65035.html

Sunil Gavaskar. The inaugural match was against a strong English side, who were up for the occasion with an attacking 334 set as the target (from 60 overs). What followed was the most bizarre ODI innings of all time. Gavaskar gave up the chase before a ball was bowled, but rather than sacrifice himself in pursuit of quick runs, he chose to bat through the innings, turtle style. In an absolute farcical effort, he held the bat, managing 36 from 174 deliveries. Mark Richardson in Sydney was Gayle-esque in comparison.

Gavaskar had hell to pay for, and to this day has not come up with a logical reason. Angry fans ensured their disapproval was heard, and some even invaded the pitch to directly question what the heck was going on.  

India went nowhere in that tournament, and the world cup copped an harsh blow at the hands of one mans madness.

The lesson is simple, half of cricket is mental. Positive intent and a strong mindset can add up to so much more.

Strength in simplicity. © Associated Press

How To Fix The World Cup

Time for an admission. As much as I have been rooting for the ODI game and the 2011 world cup, it has failed to address the same problems every world cup has had since 1996. I do enjoy watching minnow teams take on the best, but unfortunately the proportion of one-sided games is far too high. Unlike most pundits and journalists though, I wont simply put the boot into the game, I am going to offer a solution.

The Current Format
Two pools of seven, therefore a total of 21 games per pool, and a total of 42 pool matches.

I prefer this format to the super sixes/eights format which added a lot of bloat to the tournament. The point of the super format was to eliminate the minnows politely and focus on the big teams for a longer part of the tournament. Of course this backfired when Kenya and Zimbabwe (2003), and Ireland and Bangladesh (2007) advanced unexpectedly. Not their fault at all.

The problem now is that out of the pools of seven, lets say four are 'top level' teams. They will play 6 games among each other in a pool, and 12 in total. Out of 42 games, having only 12 'big team' games is ridiculous. Having one game a day also means that the tournament runs for nearly a month and a half.

The ICC took action and has reduced the number of teams for the 2015 edition. A typically blunt and poorly thought out answer, treating the symptom but ignoring the cause. Canadian captain Ashish Bagai rightfully pointed out that the associate teams need the world cup event as an aspiration.

Damned if they do. Damned if they don't. © Reuters

My Proposed Format
Too many teams the problem? I disagree, in fact I think there should be more teams. Consider the format I would like to see:

• Two pools of eight teams
• Pool A contains the eight highest ranked teams 
• Pool B contains the next eight (the minnows)
• The result is 28 games per pool, and 56 in total
• Every day there is one match from pool B and one from pool A, pool play will end in approx. 30 days
• The top 6 teams of pool A qualify for the playoffs, along with the top 2 teams from pool B
• They will participate in a standard quarter finals format which runs for approx 8 days

This format works for me on many levels. It shortens the length of the world cup, greatly increases the number of competitive matches, and also increases exposure to the smaller cricketing nations. There is incentive for every team to play hard as teams will be eliminated from each pool. 

Lets Try It

I am going to play god for a moment. Say that the West Indies and New Zealand play poor cricket and don't make the top six cut, while in pool B Bangladesh and Ireland have strong showings and come out on top. The final pool standings looks something like this:

Pool A

1. Australia
2. India
3. South Africa
4. Pakistan
5. Sri Lanka
6. England
7. West Indies
8. New Zealand

Pool B

1. Bangladesh
2. Ireland
3. Zimbabwe
4. Netherlands
5. Kenya
6. Canada
7. Afghanistan
8. Scotland

Like most playoff formats, the top team (Australia-A1) will play the bottom team (Ireland-B2), A2 will play B1, and so on. I'd then split them up in such a way the top two teams (Australia A1 and India A2) are on either side of the playoffs draw, and converge to the final. The quarter finals will then become:

• Australia vs Ireland (A1 vs B2)
• Pakistan vs Sri Lanka (A4 vs A5)
• South Africa vs England (A3 vs A6)
• India vs Bangladesh (A2 vs B1)

You would then (probably) get semi-finals looking like:

• Australia vs Pakistan
• India vs South Africa

Alternatively you could have an elimination round where the two bottom placed pool A sides (West Indies, New Zealand) face the pool B winners (Bangladesh, Ireland) to decide the remaining two quarter final spots. 

Your thoughts? Do leave comments.

World Cup 2011 - Why I Don't Like Warm Up Matches

The 2011 World Cup, like others before it, features a series of warm-up matches over almost two weeks. In these games, participating teams play each other with unlimited access to their squad of fifteen in the particular match (i.e. the team can be chopped and changed as the match progresses to give everyone a go). For a number of reasons, this approach is bizarre to me.

1. Good Game Guys... But It Doesn't Count
Australia were edged out by the Indians in a thrilling warm-up match. I got excited before realizing that the match means nothing at all. I am sure I am not the only spectator in a state of confusion as to what to do with these matches. What if Canada managed to pull off victory over England (which they nearly did). It will cease to exist in the cricketing records. Dhoni's century the other night would have been the second fastest by an Indian, if the match was officially recognized. It's a real shame to the individuals.

It Never Happened © Getty Images

2. Lets Give The Opposition A Free Look
If a team has a new ace up its sleeve that not many have seen before (e.g. R. Ashwin), why give the competition rivals a free dummy run against him? They will get to watch him carefully and prepare for him in the pool matches.. If you lose your off stump, the batsman can just say "meh, won't happen again". An unfair advantage.

Note To Self. Remember That Inswinger. © Getty Images

3. But If Not The Top Teams, Then Who?
In a regulation tour, a team usually plays state or regional teams for the warm ups, which makes sense as the opponents are of a reasonable but not overly challenging standard. Why not do the same in World Cups? India and Sri Lanka have a number of domestic teams and huge pool of talented players. These players get good exposure and the big boys get the practice run they want. A win-win.

4. Lets Waste More Time
Already we have enough people bemoaning the length of the event (Stuart Broad quoting "it goes on for years"). The World Cup right now seems to be in an awkward 'has it started?' phase. Why not cram the warm ups into one week instead, while still giving every team two warm up games. Pile the games on, have five in a day. They are just warm up matches after all.

I'm just glad the limbo is nearing a close.

World Cup 2011 - Interpreting The Big Talk

And so less than a week away from the opening of the world cup, we have the inevitable bravado and tough talk coming from the various camps. Some of it is justified, some just laughable. Lets take a look at what some of the big boys of world cricket had to say, and how far up in the clouds they are.

Shahid Afridi
"Realistically, with the kind of team we have, we should really make the semi-final and of course we want to play the final and win it - everyone does - but we should make the semi."


Rarely is there a weak Pakistan team on paper. In every World Cup it is the case where they *should* get there, so that point is just media talk according to me.
Cloud Score: 6/10


Virender Sehwag
"This time I'll try to bat 50 overs if I can. I have been trying for 10 years, I'm still trying."

Sehwag is aiming to break the individual 250 barrier. Maybe against the Dutch.
Cloud Score: 8/10

I declare this world cup free of useless cameos. © AFP

AB De Villiers
"We are not focusing on what happened in the past. We have a different look now. In recent times we have been the opposite of chokers."


Oh dear. Look at http://www.espncricinfo.com/south-africa-v-india-2010/engine/match/463151.html. This was a pretty decent sized choke if you ask me. Don't say these things before a world cup. De Villiers could do with a bit of media training.

Cloud Score: 9/10

Daniel Vettori
"There is not much you can do about what's happened in the past but hopefully we can reflect back on the last game, which was a win against Pakistan, and bring that confidence over to the World Cup."

Poor Vettori, only he could scrape up a positive from a streak that reads 14 losses from 16. The man handles the media well, managing to massage the journalists sound optimistic in a team resembling fish in a barrel. 
Cloud Score: 6/10

Hey we won the toss didn't we? © Getty Imanges

Yuvraj Singh
 "It was a tough phase, I've gone through it, definitely my body is feeling better and I'm feeling 100% fit at the right time, which is the World Cup."


Fitness doesn't include being overweight and hopelessly out of form apparently.
Cloud Score: 8/10


Ricky Ponting
"Our lead-up couldn't really be much better, having just beaten a pretty good English side 6-1 at home"


Actually, this is a bad omen for the Aussies. They usually go into world cups with issues and a string of losses. (Last year it was a 3-0 loss to New Zealand). 
Cloud Score: 6/10


Chris Gayle
"The West Indies have a legacy of winning and I want to give my best to win matches for us" 
"I'm going to give it my all, give it my best shot. I am looking to try and dominate the World Cup"


That "winning legacy" ended in the 80's Chris. He may dominate the world cup, the real problem is getting his boys to follow suit.
Cloud Score: 7/10


Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive

'Confident of corruption-free World Cup'

In the land of the IPL? Seriously?

Cloud Score: 10/10

The Black Caps - Why Rotation Fails

Just weeks away from the 2011 World Cup, the New Zealand cricket management decided to enforce the rotation policy and give a wide pool of players a trial run in various batting positions.

Come again?

Lets reel off reasons why this won't work.

1. The selectors appeared to have settled down their batting lineup at least, and despite the horrible ODI losing streak, there was no doubt that these were our best batsmen. Tells us a fair bit about the state of NZ cricket though. 
2. We do not have the depth to afford such luxuries. India can find a dozen street cricketers who will make our bowlers look silly. Australia can drop and forget cricketers like Bichel, Bracken, Stuart Clark (and Bevan... and Blewett... and Mark Waugh...). We can't.
3. After spending months grooming Brendon McCullum as an opening batsmen, they suddenly decide he is our new lower order enforcer? Dumb, remembering that our lower order bats quite well anyway.
4. It doesn't look like either the captain, former players or newly appointed coach agree with it.

"You'd imagine the purpose of the exercise with this series is to be as well prepared as possible to play in India for the World Cup but after four games you'd have to say that hasn't been achieved in any way, shape or form." - John Morrison
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/cricket/news/article.cfm?c_id=29&objectid=10703661

To highlight Vettori's confusion about this whole fiasco, he was quoted to be "fiddling with the guys" during the toss in a recent match. Oh dear.

So why? Maybe heads had to roll after being constantly drubbed in the ODI format of the game (but isn't that why we sack coaches). Maybe New Zealand just took it one step further to really shake up the hornets nest.

Rotation didn't help these guys. © Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images

So lets play selector. My chosen XI reads:

1. McCullum
2. Ryder
3. Guptill
4. Taylor
5. Styris
6. Franklin
7. Nathan McCullum
8. Vettori
9. Southee
10. Mills
11. Milne

12th Man. Grant Elliot, who is a good utility that can slot in anywhere in the middle to lower order. Decent batsman and a handy bowler. The ideal stop gap.

Unlucky. Kane Williamson. He has the technique, and looks like a long term no.3 or 4 to me. He just looks a confused about his role in the ODI game at the moment, and the top four places are already stable.

Why Milne? Give him a shot, he is an unknown factor who can get it up at 150km/h. Could be a real surprise package and there are no other decent seam bowlers that demand a spot. Remember Bond was a gamble too when he started out. If he fails, we have plenty of backup bowling.

Why not Oram? Just looks too rusty after all those injuries. Harsh luck for him, but he doesn't bring enough to the table at the moment.

Five Ridiculous World Cup Collapses

With the 2011 World Cup counting down, one could not help but look back at some of the highlights of previous editions. There were great run chases, innings, freak dismissals. But what really stood out for me were some spectacular batting collapses that took place.

Pictured: Collapse

Here are the top five:

5. Sri Lanka vs New Zealand, Semi Final 2007

http://www.espncricinfo.com/wc2007/engine/match/247505.html

A strangely gung-ho New Zealand outfit got to the semi finals in 2007 claiming that they knew how to beat Australia, and that the World Cup was theirs to lose. Jayawardene's breezy century took the real cup contenders to 289. The Black Caps were going along nice and healthy at 2-105 in the 22nd over, with the West Indies specialist Scott Styris looking in prime form.

But then... Styris mistimed one off Dilshan, and the rot began. In the space of four overs the game was over as the spinners helped themselves to batting that belonged in the nets. Once an angry Vettori departed, Sri Lanka romped home, proving that they were the *only* team who were even remotely close to Australia in that world cup. 

3-105 (Styris, 21.5 ov),  4-114 (Oram, 23.5 ov), 5-114 (McCullum, 23.6 ov), 

6-115 (Fulton, 24.3 ov), 7-116 (Vettori, 25.4 ov)

4. India vs Zimbabwe, Pool Match 1983
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65083.html
These were the days of 60 over matches, and India went into this match expecting to walk all over a largely unknown and harmless Zimbabwe unit. The team boasted big names like Sunil Gavaskar, Kris Srikkanth and Kapil Dev, too much for the minnows on paper.

But then... Well thank goodness for the latter of that trio. Dev smashed a brilliant 175, one of the greatest one day innings in history, to raise them from oblivion. India were 5-17 at one stage, and later 7-78, and probably utterly shell-shocked. Two thirds of the eventual score of 266 belonged to Dev alone, and when chasing Zimbabwe managed a commendable 235. What a top order collapse that was.

1-0 (Gavaskar), 2-6 (Srikkanth), 3-6 (Amarnath), 4-9 (Patil), 5-17 (Yashpal Sharma),
6-77 (Binny),7-78 (Shastri), 8-140 (Madan Lal)


3. Sri Lanka vs India, Semi Final 1996
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65190.html
This was probably inevitable, after India inexplicably choosing to bat second on a pitch expected to crumble (see: corruption). Sachin Tendulkar, as he so often did in those days, led the one man crusade chasing a difficult 251. At 1-98 with Sachin on 65, it was an even game.

But then... Sachin was stumped down the leg side, and the madness began. A period of frantic, and laughably idiotic batting (including a run out for good measure) led the capacity (and very angry) Eden Gardens crowd to riots. The clueless shots matched the expressions of the batsmen, and the match was embarrassingly called off to leave Vinod Kambli (and the nation) weeping like a child.

2-98 (Tendulkar), 3-99 (Azharuddin), 4-101 (Manjrekar), 5-110 (Srinath), 
6-115 (Jadeja), 7-120 (Mongia), 8-120 (Kapoor)

Some chose not to weep. © EPSN Cricinfo Ltd

2. West Indies vs Australia, Semi Final 1996
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65191.html
And if that wasn't bad enough, try this. After a flaky campaign so far (including losing to Kenya), Ambrose and Bishop helped ruin the Australian top order, and the target of 207 was being easily negotiated by Chanderpaul and Richie Richardson. At 165-2 with plenty of time, it was as good as done.

But then... One of the earliest, and most ridiculous Calypso Collapso's began. The batting imploded in a manner that resembled lemmings and a cliff. It was as if Warne was bowling grenades, and the batsmen were batting with toothpicks. It was utter chaos and one can't decide whether to laugh or cry. Poor Richie Richardson was left stranded on 49, and probably needing to see a shrink.

3-165 (Chanderpaul), 4-173 (Harper), 5-178 (Gibson), 6-183 (Adams), 7-187 (Arthurton),
8-194 (Bishop), 9-202 (Ambrose), 10-202 (Walsh)

Winning is overrated anyway. © Getty Images

1. India vs West Indies, Final 1983

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65090.html

Business as usual. Having already won the first two world cups, the (then mighty) West Indies were set a meagre 183 by a struggling Indian outfit. With Viv Richards operating in Viv Richards mode, it seemed like a formality as he raced to 33 off 27 balls with seven boundaries (remember we are talking 1983 here).

But then... as if out of nowhere, the Indian seamers turned the match. After losing Richards, each of the following batsmen were confused whether to play shots or occupy the crease. Most of them managed neither, and this became one of the great underdog stories of cricket. Was it stage fright? Who knows, but from this match onwards, the West Indies never quite looked the same.

2-50 (Haynes), 3-57 (Richards), 4-66 (Gomes), 5-66 (Lloyd), 6-76 (Bacchus),

7-119 (Dujon),8-124 (Marshall), 9-126 (Roberts), 10-140 (Holding)

Looking more like this instead. © ESPN Cricinfo Ltd