Cricket Tournaments

Andrew Strauss

England’s victory in the second ODI against Pakistan lifted them to the No.2 spot in the one-day international ranking. Whether they stay up for there for long is another matter altogether, but for a team considered as perennial underachievers, this is quite a high. Having said that their steady climb shouldn’t surprise any cricket loyalist since this team had left behind the baggage of the 90s — when they were publicly mortified time and again for underperforming — and renewed itself in recent times. With West Indies showing no signs of improvement and Bangladesh and Zimbabwe still languishing at the bottom of the pool, England’s resurgence should see a rise in the number of competitive games.

The most significant change for the English side has come at the top of the pecking order. With two wise men as captain and coach in the form of Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower, the team is in safe hands for a start. And so the turbulent phase that preceded it during the Pietersen-Moores era must be viewed as a blessing in disguise. Both Andrew and Andy are no-nonsense men, a quality evident in their approach to the game, which is slowly but surely gripping the other members of the side as well.

Things haven’t come easy for either Strauss or Flower, which is all the more reason why they are so resolute to their cause. Till a couple of seasons back the England skipper was unsure of his place in the squad. But, he has risen like a Phoenix from the Ashes and now commands the respect of most. Until very recently, the left-hander’s slot in the ODI side too was under question. There were doubts as to whether he would indeed be a part of the World Cup squad. However, Strauss has more than answered his critics, with two match-winning hundreds in three games. His play may not be ideally suited to the shorter format, but the improvements he has made in his game have been proficient.

On the other hand, Flower would have been desperate for something competitive following his county stint, which wouldn’t have presented him with much of a challenge as compared to his international experience. As so, ever since taking over the reigns of England coach, he has looked every inch the proper man for the task. What further binds Strauss and Flower is the fact that they have similar approaches, both to the game and as individuals – that of keeping it basic and simple. And this work ethic has been rewarded by some memorable victories in recent times.

Also unlike Pietersen, Strauss isn’t a charismatic figure and so the others also get their fair share of limelight. This is not to say that the former was a bad captain. However, things can work both ways. In England’s, they needed a steady hand to guide them and, other than Paul Collingwood, he was the best man for the job. Pietersen could lead from the front, but his flamboyance was fraught with risks, which has culminated in him being left out of the side.

Even as the Strauss-Flower partnership has had a major hand in the resurgence of England, there have been a number of others who have played their part too – be it Eoin Morgan as the finisher in the middle, James Anderson as the strike bowler or Jonathan Trott as the calming influence at the top. On current form, this bunch of united men led by Strauss-Flower seems destined for great things. Of course, their biggest test is yet to come – The Ashes. Until then, let them enjoy the winning feeling.

Subramaniam Badinath

Subramaniam Badinath came up with another brilliant performance as the Indian Premier League champions, the Chennai Super Kings went on to trounce the Champions from New Zealand by a mammoth 57 runs in what was the 3rd match of the tournament.

Having won the toss earlier in the day, MS Dhoni predictably chose to bat once again. Both captains seemed to have got what they wanted with Dhoni wanting to bat and How to bowl. The pitch looked a typical early season Durban wicket with a tinge of green on it and batsman having to be weary of the immediate new ball. The Chennai Super Kings went in with a similar team that one them the IPL earlier this year while the Central Stags were forced to do without the services of Ross Taylor and Jacob Oram.

Having said this, the Stags had the super kings on the mat early on in the match as the Super kings who decided to pick Hayden over hussey lost the former in the first over itself as hayden top edged a short delivery of Michael Mayson only to be caught at deep square leg. The Super kings were in trouble straight away as the wicket of Hayden was followed by that of Raina who fell to another ball and managed to fend it away to the waiting slip cordon.

Badrinath and Vijay managed to string a small partnership together before the latter flayed at one outside the off stump and was caught at slip. Dhoni threw in another surprise where he promoted Anirudh Srikkanth, son of former Indian opener K Srikkanth ahead of himself. Fortunately for the Super Kings the duo played sensible cricket aided by the bowling from the Stags as the total raced to 113 where Srikkanth was dismissed for an impressive 42 coming of just 29 deliveries. Local boy, Albie Morkel was promoted ahead of MS Dhoni once again and Morkel did not disappoint.

Morkel with his short cameo (26 of 15 balls) helped provide the impetus to the Super kings total thus aiding them get to a respectable total of 151 on a fast and seaming deck with the pitch offering some spungy bounce.

The bowling from the stags looked impressive early on in the piece but as the innings wore on the zip seamed to deteriorate. One could argue whether their choice of 4 seamers was the right one with a pitch offering some spungy bounce. Having said this, at the first look it looked a very green wicket.

Given a choice at the beginning of the match the Stags would have fancied themselves to get to a target of 152. However, that was not to be as the Stags were bundled out for a paltry 94.

Nothing seemed to be going right for the stags. There’s nothing much to comment on about their batting. A lack lustre display to say the least. However, a lot to talk about the bowling of the Super king bowlers. They were spot on, Bollinger up front was supported brilliantly by Albie Morkel who seems to have tinkered a wee bit with his action after inconsistent bowling displays early in his career. Dhoni keeping in mind the conditions refrained from using R Ashwin to open the bowling, something he did quite regularly in the IPL. The other off spinner, the legend, dint seem to look as if he was out of the game for a bit. Murali just went about work candidly, “going through the motions is what they would say” returning brilliant figures of 2 for 15 in his quota of 4 overs.

Laxmipathy Balaji was brilliant as he got seam movement of the wicket more than anything else and bagged another 3 for improving his Twenty 20 record all the time.

The problem with the Central districts is, the resources. As much as they would want to there’s not much that they can do with their team line up. The Super Kings played like champions, in a very professional manner and are huge threat to the opponents. A formidable side, loaded with former international greats and potential ones in the future.

The Central Districts have another huge match coming up, something that could decide how they go in the competition. They play the favourites of the tournament, the Victorian Bushrangers (Champions from the KFC BIG BASH Down under) in 3 days time and have a lot of work to do. The super kings on the other hand will be licking their fingers in anticipation as they go head to head with Wayamba. A loss for Wayamba and they could well be on their way out.

Lots to look forward to in the coming week. Another exciting week of sports.

Jonathan Vandiar

Jonathan Vandiar put on show a spectacular display as the Highveld Lions stunned the Mumbai Indians in what was the inaugural match (second edition) of the Airtel Champion League Twenty 20 competition. Vandiar’s knock of 71 included four fours and 3 sixes at a strike rate nearing 150.

Having won the toss, Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar chose to field on what looked like a green wicket with some pace and bounce in it. Being the favourites not just for this match but the tournament, all eyes were on Mumbai as they took the field with the Bullring buzzing all around them. Alviro Petersen and Jonathan Vandiar got the hosts off to a flier before the duo were involved in a controversial run out as Vandiar managed to ground his bat in seconds before Petersen did.

At that stage, it looked like Vandiar should have sacrificed his wicket. But, the lions will be thanking their starts that, that was not the case as Vandiar lit up the Bullring with scintillating shots all round the wicket. Both Cameron and Van Jaarsveld failed to provide the impetus as the two M’s, Murtaza and Malinga accounted for them. The lions most experienced campaigner and a “test match batsman” (so as to say) , Neil McKenzie walked in. The duo put on 64 for the 4th wicket and took the score to 145 before Vandiar slapped one of malinga straight to extra cover.

Nevertheless, there was no stopping McKenzie who played his trademark pulls, flicks and drives en route his 56. The hosts lost a flurry of wickets in the end but McKenzie’s innings kept the Lions together as they ended up with a mammoth total of 186. Zaheer Khan’s last over cost a plenty as the former looked rusty following his shoulder injury and was carted all over the park by McKenzie and company.

The bowling for the Mumbai Indian’s looked lacklustre to say the least. Murtaza bowled well in patches while Malinga was the stand out. Zaheer looked completely out of rhythm.

Sachin Tendulkar and Shikhar Dhawan came in with a huge task ahead of them. The Indians started of in brilliant fashion albeit lucky as the opening duo put on 83 before phangiso accounted for Dhawan. Having survived an early LBW shout Sachin Tendulkar looked classy as ever en route his innings of 69.

The mumbai team tried to bat around Sachin Tendulkar, but once sachin was dismissed by Burger, the doors were open for the Lions once again. Sachin fell trying to make room for himself as he missed the ball completely and was bowled. Duminy played well until a point where slogging was the only bail out. Duminy is more of a touch player and out right slogging is clearly not his forte.

Once Sachin fell, Duminy got stuck in and failed to farm the strike before he was dismissed by De Bruyn for 30. Once again Mumbai’s fate rested on how Pollard played, whether it was just a cameo or a little more than one. The latter ensuring a win. However, once again Pollard fell after a brief cameo of 19. Pollard fell to a brilliant yorker from Burger. Burger, was the game breaker as his spell in the latter half of the match helped the Lions get rid of the two batting giants of the Indians in Tendulkar and Pollard.

Although the Lions won by just 9 runs, the approach from the Mumbai Indians arguably was wrong. Keeping wickets in hand is not a bad thing but in this format one senses it tend to provide a false sense of security. Huge win for the warriors, while the Mumbai Indians have a lot to look at beginning from the selection of their 11. If Ryan McLaren had to bowl just one over then why not have Bravo instead of him, the latter being more of a batting all rounder. Lot of things for the unit to look at, the usage of JP Duminy and the bowling combination.

The lions would hope to keep the momentum when they play the South Australians in a day’s time. Mumbai would like to make use of the short break that they have so as to come up with a better performance.

Sachin Tendulkar

With the champions league all set to kick off in less than 2 hours, what really do the player’s stand to hold from this?

If you look at it from the outset, their’s nothing to lose as far as the player’s are concerned.
Be it getting to rub shoulder’s with international players, sharing the dressing room with greats like Sachin Tendulkar, exposure to brilliant conditions or the glamour, this promises to be the best opportunity that youngster’s could get to showcase their talent. We spoke about all this in the IPL 2. However, what seems to be the difference here is that the pool of international player’s surpasses that of the Indian player’s which is contrary the case with the IPL.

Let’s look at this in a bit more detail:

Getting to run shoulders with international players: Having played at a domestic the youngster’s are used to a certain way of going about things with the people they know coming from the same culture and background. However, with the ACLT20 coming in, player’s now plan more professionally, there is a certain professionalism in the way they go about their scheme of things. Getting to play their idols and learning from them is an experience that cannot be matched. In all of this it’s the experience of such a thing that matters, it’s this experience that will help bring out the best in them.

Sharing the dressing room: There’s a lot to like about this , as for any cricketer, sharing the dressing room with living legends in Sachin Tendulkar could only do them good. More than a cricketing perspective, there’s a lot more to learn, the intricacies of the game for example. How to prepare for a match, certain routines a player goes through. All of this is beyond an experience for a player.

The conditions: As far as the conditions go, no youngster could have a better experience than playing on brilliant outfield’s, fast-seaming pitches. This especially is a great exposure for Indian youngster’s who don’t seem to fancy themselves with quick bouncy wickets. Something, that certainly prepares them for the test that lies ahead in the future.

Platform: If ever you had to have a youngster establish himself on the international arena, it had to be the ACLT20 for me, even if it means surpassing the IPL. This is largely due to the fact that, the ACLT20 is not just played in one country. Also, the number of foreign nationals is considerably much more than what is to be seen in the IPL or any other domestic league for that matter. All in all, an ideal platform for young guns to knock on the doors of selectors and prove worthy of a place in their respective national side’s.

However, the question we are asking here is different.
Do the youngster’s really need all this at such a young age?

After all the Tendulkar’s, the Lara’s , the Ponting’s weren’t made of all this. In an age where gym-ing and other modes of training seem to have made fast bowler’s weaker, one fears this could do the same to the upcoming youngsters. All fast bowlers did in the past was run in and bowl and bowl their heart out. That was and remains the best form of training once could ask for. However, in this age and in the advent of Twenty 20, things seem to have changed. Another influencing factor is the huge money that these lucrative cash rich leagues offer. It is a debatable issue and it remains to be seen whether in the future generations one will be able to differ between the good and the great or whether the two terms end up to be synonymous with each other.

Only time can tell whether this would really be the case or not. As an advent follower of cricket one wishes otherwise hoping we to witness better quality cricket with time passing.

Asif

The recent allegations of spot-fixing as well as match-fixing on the Pakistan cricket team have taken away the sheen from what was an otherwise intriguing Test series. It was a shame to see players from both sides (Pakistan and England) just going through the motions on what turned out to be the last day of the Lord’s Test, owing to the clouds surrounding the game. It wasn’t Test cricket, and if the current storm isn’t dealt with an iron hand, the game will never be the same again.

The one-day series between Pakistan and England may be going ahead as scheduled, but one wonders how many will have the trust to watch the matches, believing cricket is a ‘clean’ game. Yes, that’s the gigantic task the ICC and PCB have in front of them at the moment.

Leave the game aside, first and foremost, a thorough (in the true sense) investigation needs to be conducted into the happenings in the Pakistan dressing room, as well as on and off the field during the notorious period. And once they get to the bottom of it, the harshest punishment needs to be given. Pakistan failed to do this when the ‘inaugural’ match-fixing scandal broke out in 2000. It was out in the public very soon that the judge and the PCB weren’t lenient towards certain players and allowed them to get away lightly. As a result of which, apprehensions remained over whether the game was indeed cent per cent clean.

Now, with the latest accusations on the Pakistan players, a lot of fingers will be pointed at what transpired in 2000… if only they had dealt with the situation in a more transparent manner. But then, one must also remembered that there were big names involved, without whom it would have been difficult for Pakistan cricket to move forward. As such, there would have been immense pressure on the authorities concerned to do the fine balancing act. And so, a couple of scapegoats – one at the end of his career and the other whose international journey was over as soon as it got underway – were quickly identified.

Pakistan Team

The crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time for Pakistan. No team is willing to tour the nation owing to security concerns. The one team that did show some bravado in the recent past, were greeted with bullets and returned home injured and hurt, apart from realising how foolish their decision was. Following the gloomy incident, the country also lost its right to host its share of World Cup games. This was succeeded by the now revoked life bans and fines, a result of the disaster Down Under. The only high point for Pakistan in recent times was their Test win over the Aussies after a mighty 15 years. But even that has faded into distant memory what with the catastrophic loss in Sydney also coming under scanner.

The saddest part is that a promising youngster, and the future hope of Pakistan cricket, Mohammad Amir, finds himself in the middle of the storm among others. The other Mohammad’s (Asif) name cropping up was least surprising since he has proved his notorious streak plenty of times in the past. However, all the names either need to be cleared or indicted. This investigation and its outcome cannot go the way of 2000. Else, the crowds would slowly but surely start doubting the credentials of this beautiful game. On the contrary, the harshest punishment needs to be meted out if anyone is found guilty. They should never be allowed to step on to the cricket field for their country ever again. After all, they knew what they were getting into and cannot feign ignorance.

It would also be in the interest of the game for those under suspicion to be kept away from the international arena till the matter is completely sorted out. One isn’t pronouncing anyone guilty as yet. However, if the players have a clear conscience it would be in their interest as well to step back and allow the law to take its course. Certainly, they wouldn’t be able to concentrate on their cricketing expertise under such a volatile atmosphere.

A famous saying goes, ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. The opposite holds true in context of cricket’s latest controversy.

Sri Lanka India

Yet another final, yet another defeat. The surprise victory in the Asia Cup final notwithstanding, the Indians continue to struggle at the final hurdle. As if this perennial problem wasn’t enough, the woes of Team India were compounded in the series courtesy yet another below par performance by the youngsters. With just over five months to go for international cricket’s most prized competition, India have plenty on their plate to ponder upon. Crucially, the decisions taken in the aftermath of the Dambulla loss should not be in haste, and must adhere to sound cricketing logic.

I am saying this because the easiest scapegoat could be, and perhaps will be, Dinesh Karthik. When Gautam Gambhir returns to the team, he might not be needed. However, it will be unfair to discard him solely on the basis of his disappointing scores in the recently concluded tri-series. It must be taken into consideration that he is primarily a middle-order player and was opening only to fill in for his more illustrious team-mate. He even recorded a match-winning score in the Asia Cup final. However, when it conditions got tougher for batting, his technique was found out.

A utility player like Karthik, and a complete team man, deserves a fair chance to prove that he is good enough to represent India consistently at the international level. And for that, he needs to be played in the lower-middle order. The question then arises is can be afford seven batsmen. Well, the problem should all but solve itself owing to Ravindra Jadeja’s uninspiring efforts with the bat. It isn’t great news for India that they can’t find an all-rounder a la Angelo Mathews. However, that’s the truth and they need to make do with it. And unless they want to give Yusuf Pathan another go – which would be worth a try — it wouldn’t be illogical to slot Karthik in at number seven. He could even keep wickets and relieve some pressure off captain MS Dhoni’s back.

Even as the Karthik dilemma needs to be solved in right earnest, India need to look beyond Rohit Sharma and possibly even Virat Kohli for occupancy in the middle-order slots. Both started off in international cricket in highly promising fashion, but haven’t shown the consistency to be trusted upon, unlike Suresh Raina, who too took his time to blossom, and is now one of the backbones of this Indian side. Also, some of the shots the two played in the tournaments were shocking, and they could be axed for that purpose itself. Of course, Raina too had an unsatisfactory. But, it has to be taken into account that his debut Test series must have taken a toll on him.

Considering the uncertainty in the middle-order, it would be logical to give the veteran Rahul Dravid one final go. He did pretty well when recalled for the Champions Trophy in the absence of Virender Sehwag, only to be dropped for reasons best known to selectors. The argument here could be that the great man had a torrid time in Lanka. However, knowing Dravid the cricketer, it shouldn’t be long before he has sorted out his batting flaws, unless his powers are on the wage.

The brightest spot for India from the ODI series in Lanka was performance of Virender Sehwag. Had he not been tragically run-out in the finals, who knows what might have transpired, considering the murderous form he was in. Anyways, let bygones be bygones. What Sehwag needs now is some stern support from the other end. The return of Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar should help, but having their names on the scorecard alone won’t transform into runs. Everyone needs to battle it out in the middle.

Call it a surprise or what you might, the bowling that was expected to be India’s Achilles Heel turned out to be rather reasonable, although they would have liked to do better in the finals. Praveen Kumar, especially, was below par in the summit clash. He is one of those curious cases for India. When the ball moves around, he is lethal even at his pace. But when he delivers the same stuff on an unresponsive, he is easy meat for the opposition batsmen. As such, while it will be a good idea for India to have him around, he shouldn’t be a certainly for all games, considering the flaw in his game. The other three pace bowlers were impressive at various phases in the tournament. However, they have far from achieved their desired consistency.

All of this means Dhoni faces his toughest test as captain in the months building up to the World Cup.