Let the good times roll!!

In just a few hours from now, we will witness the opening ceremony of, what can unarguably be called as the longest running festival in the Indian subcontinent. Yes, I call it a festival. Here, we celebrate cricket and the coming together of the world’s finest. The Indian Premier league has cashed in on the growing popularity of the shortest format of the game ever since the summer of 2008. The first installment of IPL has been a huge success and if it is anything to go by, the upcoming season promises to be all the more exciting.

I wouldn’t say it has revolutionized the game of cricket, but it surely been the catalyst that has brought a tremendous change in the way the players approach their game. Batsmen now have the license to go after the bowlers right from the word go, and see every ball as a run-scoring opportunity. Gone are the days when batsmen used to get their eye in, assess the conditions, the nature of the pitch etc. Bowlers too have become smarter and are using the variations to good effect.

The IPL has inspired a whole lot of young cricketers who dreamt of playing at the big stage. For those, who couldn’t make it to the national squad, it was a good platform to rub shoulders with the best in the game. It was also a great way for the legends to give something back to this sport. Shane Warne did exactly that. He inspired confidence in that young Rajasthan Royals team, who went on to win the inaugural edition. Gilly did the same with Deccan Chargers the following year. The big takeaway was that these two teams were underdogs at best but they were able to overcome all odds and get their hands on the trophy. It is this aspect of the IPL that has been the most endearing.

What IPL has done so successfully over the years, and by the way, this was the prime objective of having such a league in the first place, is that it has helped talent meet (the right) opportunity. With only four international players allowed in the playing eleven, it was imperative for the franchisees to make sure that they roped in the best of the domestic talent in their squad.

For the fans, it meant that they could relate to Pollard almost the same way as they could to Rohit or a Harbhajan for that matter. The franchisees were successful in cultivating a popular fan base and people could actually identify themselves as being part of the team, so much so, that they may even support an international player against an Indian player when the international player played for the franchise they were supporting! Deafening chants of MALINGA and ABD are a common sight.

IPL has also changed the whole dynamics of T20 cricket. Players now get found out pretty soon into their careers and with a lot of information being exchanged as a part of franchise cricket, players have to work hard on being up to the mark (always). While on national duty, players from different teams could almost second guess each other’s moves simply because of the fact they had spent so much of time training together in the IPL.

The team owners must also be thanked for actively participating and investing heavily in BCCI’s youngest child. Of course, cricket comes first, but the Indian in Indian Premier League is somewhat incomplete without the glamor and class of Bollywood and Corporates respectively. The way they have taken care of the players is commendable. Even with a lot riding on the team, they always make sure that it is the game that comes first and their commercial interest takes a back seat.

Cricket in India is more than just a sport, it’s an emotion, it’s a way of life, it’s a religion! The current crop of players is as good as any that there has been and the future too looks to be in safe hands. Here’s hoping the eleventh edition of the IPL lives up to its expectations and we get to witness magic on the cricket field for the next month and a half.

To do, or not to do, that is the question!

The week that went by has seen the world turning upside down for two of the modern-day greats. The ‘leadership group’, of which they were a part of in the Aussie camp took a questionable (read: silly) decision, that of tampering with the ball. If given a chance, Steven Smith and David Warner would definitely want to go back in time and undo their wrongdoings.

It was during the lunch break on Day 3 in the Cape Town Test, third of the series when the ‘leadership group’ colluded to roughen up one side of the ball with a foreign substance (which apparently is not allowed on the cricket field). Bancroft was roped in to execute the plan and he made a complete mess out of it. On the field, one is always under scrutiny and it is difficult (almost impossible) to escape from the cameraman’s lens’. Soon enough, there emerged visuals of Bancroft using a yellow piece of paper to scrape the surface of the ball with. The broadcasters played it on the giant screen and the cat was out of the bag.

At the press conference, later in the day, Smith and Bancroft finally spilled the beans on what they had planned on doing. And the news spread like wildfire. The cricketing world was hit with a controversy of this magnitude for the first time since the match-fixing saga which happened at the turn of the century. It’s not that ball tampering was unheard of previously and many players had been convicted of the same. However, this was different.

The Australians have always played their game hard which more often than naught has border lined on a rather bullish brand of cricket. So, when an Australian captain makes plans of cheating with the second-in-charge and asks a young lad, who is just a few tests old, to tamper with the ball, it definitely would cause a huge uproar. Not only did international media took it upon themselves to convict and sentence these players, it saw it as an opportunity to grill the Aussies so as to avenge their boorish conduct in the past.

These are fine players, very fine indeed. But as Mike Hussey aptly puts it in his article, ’character first, skill second.’ Of course, it is a sport and everyone plays to win. But at what cost? You must draw a line for yourself and try to not go beyond it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. A paradigm shift in their approach to the game and the culture within the dressing room is the need of the hour. It is okay sometimes to lose to a better opposition. There is no guarantee that you will win every game. But it is totally not acceptable to use unfair means and bypass the law to gain the upper hand.

Having said that, I believe it was a huge error in judgment and it was definitely not well thought of. The consequences outweigh what would have been gained. To see them break down while addressing the press was very sad. They have been good servants of the game and are role models to young kids growing up. It was evident from their interaction with the media that they are deeply rooted family men. Smith broke down talking about how it affects him seeing his mom and dad go through this and Warner too, was teary-eyed when he spoke about letting his wife and daughters down.

What’s done is done. It is something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives. I am afraid that even after all that they have achieved on the cricket field and will achieve after serving the suspension ban, they will still have this blot on their respective careers and wouldn’t find their names taken alongside the all-time greats to have played the game.

It is not just about the numbers and statistics, it is the spirit with which you played your game that accounts for far more than the hundreds you have scored. I hope every young and budding cricketer finds a lesson in this and plays this great game of cricket in the right spirit. As for Smith, Warner, and Bancroft, I hope they find the strength to go through this and I am sure they will come back all the wiser, with an answer to the question posed in the title.

A Final to remember!!

He came. He smashed. He won us the game. That was Dinesh Karthik for you today, ladies and gentleman. Fizz had just bowled the over of the tournament, tormenting young Vijay Shankar who failed to put the bat on the ball and had the wicket of Manish Pandey, who was just about loosening up, on the very last ball of his spell. Many would have believed that Mustafizur had done India in and 34 off the last 12 seemed a rather improbable target to achieve given the batting to follow. Karthik, however, had different plans for tonight and rest, as they say, is history.

The Nidahas Trophy final was played between India and Bangladesh after the latter pulled off an amazing chase against the hosts in a do or die battle. The match was well poised at one stage and kept further going away from Bangladesh if it were not for Mahmudullah’s heroics, who played a couple of sensational shots in the final over to seal a spot in the finals. It was however marred by controversies and ugly scenes in the middle. I will stick just to the finals and will leave it for another post. There is something about India vs Bangladesh encounters going into the final over. India seems to have the upper hand at the moment and they have successfully stretched their unbeaten record against Bangladesh up to 8 games now.

Having won the toss, India invited Bangladesh to bat first and the bowlers got us off to a good start, sending back both the openers inside the powerplay. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals as the result of which, the run rate was always under control, except for the last four where the Bangladeshis were having a swing at everything. A brilliant innings from Sabbir propelled their score to 166, something the bowlers could defend. India started off strongly with Rohit taking Mehidy Hasan to cleaners in his very first over. The Indians showed positive intent throughout their innings until the middle overs arrived and soon boundaries dried up. The Hitman was holed out at long on trying to up the ante and Pandey was finding it difficult to get his timing right.

Vijay Shankar did not have a good night with the ball. He would have hoped to make up for it with the bat in hand though. He couldn’t manage to get going right from the word go and that over from Mustafizur made matters worse. The Fizz was difficult to put away and score off and he gave away just the one run and picked up Pandey’s wicket.

Out walked DK and it seemed as if he had been knocking a few from inside the dressing room. He smashed Rubel all around the park and in no time brought the target within reachable distance. The crowd had something to cheer about and they were rooting for India all the way. With 5 remaining to get off the final ball, the part-timer, Soumya, bowled it wide of off at length and Dinesh sent the ball sailing over the covers region for a maximum!!

That was a shot of a man in form, of a man high on confidence. He held the nerves when it mattered the most and provided the innings the final impetus that was required to get us over the line. He is in a very healthy frame of mind and would like to carry this into the IPL as well where he has been named the captain of the Knight Riders franchise for the upcoming season. Thank you, DK for giving us one hell of a final to remember.

‘Chase your dreams, they do come true!’

There is no one who has given the billion plus people of this nation as much joy and happiness as this man has. We as a nation were so fond of him that it became nothing short of an addiction of sorts, almost to a point where India slept well when he played well!! Yes, I am referring to none other than Sachin Tendulkar. The child prodigy, as he was once called, went on to become the God of Cricket in this part of the world.

Born in April of 1973, he was only 10 years old when he saw India lift the World Cup at Lords. Little did Kapil and his team knew then that they had inspired a whole new generation of kids back in India and among them was this young curly-haired boy who was probably too young to understand the magnitude of the win, but old enough to dream big. It was then that he took up this sport and pursued it relentlessly. He used to bat for long hours at the nets and almost had no energy left while having his meal at the dining table. Soon people started taking notice of some special talent in this young kid and it wasn’t late until national selectors got him on board. He was fast-tracked into the national side and there he was, making his debut for India in Tests against Pakistan at a tender age of 16!

In a couple of years time, he was a regular in the side and by the mid 90’s he was an established international player and was the go-to man when India was in trouble. It was a time when India was liberalizing its market and with Sachin too coming to his own, it was a marriage made in heaven for the Indian spectators. Sachin was promoted up the order to open the innings and was smashing bowlers all around the park. He impacted the game in more ways than one as he could do damage with the ball in hand as well. Be it leg-spin, off-spin, seam-up, he could bowl it all.

One of the earliest memories that I have of Sachin is during the 2003 World Cup. He owned that tournament. He almost single-handedly took India to the finals and was very close to realizing his childhood dream before it was shattered by a formidable Aussie side who made their Indian counterparts look pretty ordinary in the finals. The highlight of the tournament, however, was the onslaught against top Pakistani quicks. Wasim, Waqar, and Akhtar all were taken to the cleaners by Sachin and his then doppelganger, Sehwag.

India was dominating abroad and had just started winning overseas when the tennis elbow kicked in and he had to sit out the whole season. It was so worse he could not even lift the bat. Was it curtains then, on a prolific career? No. He battled his way out and struck a scintillating century on his return against the Windies. He remodeled his technique. He had to listen to his body and could no longer be the attacking batsman that he once was. He worked hard on his defense and started a new chapter in his career. India had a forgettable outing during the 2007 World Cup. Having being knocked out in the league stage itself, India had many questions to answer and some sweeping changes were in order.

The preparations for the 2011 World cup started way back in 2009 and rightly so. The management had identified certain players that were going to be an integral part of the team going into the 2011 CWC. It was important then for them to have enough matches under the belt so that when it came to performing in tough situations, they didn’t have nowhere to go to.

2011 World Cup was going to be Sachin’s last. He came agonizingly close to lifting the trophy twice (’96 and ’03), but as for many other things in life, some things are only supposed to happen when they are meant to happen. India began their campaign on a winning note and looked set to bring home the cup this time around. There were emotions attached to this tournament and players too were determined to do it for Sachin. India’s road to the finals was not a smooth one either. The QF vs Aus, SF vs arch rivals Pak were as competitive as any could get, both for different reasons though. The final was to be played in Mumbai and it seemed as if puri kaaynaat ne saazish ki hai aur har zarre ne Sachin ko World Cup se milane ki koshish ki hai!! Dhoni hit the winning shot and with that, he brought all Indians out on the streets. Entire Indian dressing room rushed out and there we saw players hugging each other and crying tears of joy.

Finally, their dream had come true. Sachin’s dream had come true. After long, the people of the nation had something to cheer about. Sachin, again, was in the center of it all.

The Team to beat!!

To term this ODI series win as an emphatic one would be an understatement. India has demolished South Africa 5-1. It took its own sweet time coming (25 years) but finally, India did manage to seal a bilateral ODI series victory against the Proteas in their own backyard. It is not just this opening of an account of sorts that is fulfilling, but it is the way in which we have done it that makes it even more special. After suffering humiliating losses in the first couple of Tests, it has been a remarkable turnaround in fortunes for Team India. They have gone from strength to strength from thereon. They justified the numero-uno tag and put up a performance worthy of it.

Our bowlers have had a great run and they have massively contributed to the series win. The young spin twins seemed to enjoy themselves while making a mockery of the South African batting line up. Together, they accounted for 33 wickets in the series. Like in batting, partnership in bowling is equally effective in denting the opposition’s spirits. Both, Kuldeep and Chahal have announced their arrival onto the scene and the team management too sees them as a potent force going into the 2019 World Cup. The captain has got their back and that was evident in the way they bowled. They were fearless, tossing it up to them, inviting the batsman, who failed to read them, to go big and were always attacking. Bumrah was impressive and he provided crucial breakthrough’s with the new ball, making up for Bhuvi’s okayish performance in the colored clothing. Hardik failed with the bat but played the role of the 5^th bowler quite well, chipping in with some wickets here and there, and of course, he almost manufactures a wicket with his athleticism on the field, be it taking blinders or effecting run-outs.

The batting unit looks solid and the top order is having a dream run. Dhawan was fluent, Rohit looked good in patches before coming to his own in the penultimate ODI and Kohli has been his usual self. He did what he does best in the limited overs format. He comes, scores hundreds for fun, breaks records, chases targets and sets higher standards in batting. In years to come, he could well go on to own every batting record there is. Speaking of records, Dhoni is set to reach 10,000 runs in ODI’s. Quite a milestone for someone who has batted lower down for a major part of his career. He has been simply outstanding with the bat and behind the stumps, no one comes close to matching his skills, however unorthodox they might be. The hand-eye coordination while stumping is peculiar to him. He has this amazing sense of timing while whipping the bails off.

In shorter formats, ours is the team to beat. This team is destined for greatness. We have a pool of 25-30 odd players who can play at the highest level and the quality of benched players is what sets us apart. The bowlers have been brilliant in this series and that is why I talk of them before the batters. To have potential is one thing, to cash in on that is another. The current team is not only rated high on potential but is paying equally rich dividends (with performances on the field) as well. And it is the skipper who is leading the way. Be it fitness, commitment towards the game, and passion, he is inspiring everyone, young and old alike. The support staff also deserves a special mention. They do all the work behind the curtains and it is easy to skip them while rolling out credits for the win. Here’s wishing the team more success in the forthcoming tournaments.

Chak De!

The Indian Women’s Cricket team has achieved a historic feat. Today, Indian women’s team registered it’s first ever ODI series win against South Africa, in South Africa, in the opening round of ICC Women’s Championship. Indian women were playing an international series after a gap of six months, however, they never made it look that way. It seemed as if they picked it (momentum) up right from where they left at the ICC Women’s World Cup which was held in England last year. We were worthy finalists and the way Mithali led the team through to the finals was nothing short of inspirational. And yet again, Mithali and her team have delivered the goods and we could not be more proud.

This Indian team has got a pretty good mix of youngsters as wells as seasoned campaigners. Smriti Mandhana surely tops the list as many have proclaimed her to be the next big thing in Indian Women’s Cricket. She has definitely matured as a cricketer beyond her age and this gives her an edge over her contemporaries. Deepti Sharma is another prime example of someone oozing with talent and it is only a matter of time before she creates a niche for herself in women’s cricket. The batting department looks solid led by the captain, Mithali Raj, who also happens to be the highest run scorer in Women’s ODI Cricket, besides having several other batting records to her name. She is the epitome of consistency and has been the lone flag bearer for long. Harmanpreet and Veda look almost set to take the baton forward and the flair and flamboyance with which they play their shots is what is most pleasing to the eye. Ever seen Harmanpreet dancing down the track, with her big backlift, coming down hard on the ball sending it over the boundary ropes and into the stands? It is a sight which cannot be matched.

The bowlers too have been up to the mark. We have, amongst our ranks, the top wicket-taker in ODIs and recently she became the first woman to breach the 200 wicket mark. Jhulan Goswami is a force to reckon with and has single-handedly won us matches on many occasions. Shikha Pandey is learning by watching her from close quarters and is growing by leaps and bounds with every game. The slow bowlers have done equal damage. Poonam and Rajeshwari have supported the new ball bowlers quite well. This looks a good package and they have been mighty effective. The bowlers have brought us back or turned matches in our favor on many occasions.

The onus is now on BCCI to promote women’s cricket. The team is doing their bit. Their performance over the past couple of years has been exceptional. It is the right time for the board to cash in and make the most of this uptick that is seen in women’s cricket these days. They can take a cue from their Australian counterpart on how they roped in players to get WBBL started. BCCI sure has the resources to do so and there have been talks doing the rounds of having a Women’s IPL but that’s about it. For now, it seems to be a distant dream. Till such a time comes when women’s cricket gets as much recognition and acceptance, let us come together and applaud the efforts that these women put in day in and day out.

Young Achievers Club

Right, so India brings home the U-19 World Cup Trophy. They have been invincible all throughout the tournament and their performance on the night of the final was a testament to how dominant a side they have been. Boys in Blue lifted the title for the 4^th time, most by any team, in their record appearance in the final. Speaks volumes about the kind of work done right from the grass-root level. Harsha Bhogle, the voice of Indian cricket, rightly points out how BCCI invests heavily in making sure that talent meets opportunities at the junior level. How well it has translated into winning at the world stage is an indicator of the amount of work done by them, the authorities, in setting up the right environment for them, the players, to blossom.

All said and done, it was the hard work and commitment of the young Indian brigade that bore the fruits last night. We went into the tournament with possibly one prospective future star, Prithvi Shaw. He was making headlines, whenever and wherever he played. By the end of the tournament, we were looking at a minimum of 5-6 players who looked ready to play at the highest level. The likes of the Gills, the Kalras, the Nagarkotis, all announced their arrival and showcased their abilities in front of the whole world and how. India had a good all-round balance to the side. We had explosive openers right at the top, followed by Gill at no.3, who I believe has been the find of the tournament and will make it to the senior division sooner than later, well supported by the wicketkeeper in the middle order. More often than naught, it was the bowling department which set it up for us or brought us back in the game. Kamlesh, Shivam, and Ishan put up an exquisite exhibition of fast bowling and that really got Ian Bishop pretty excited. It was not just fast bowling which caught everyone’s attention, it was the discipline with which these young pacers were hitting the right line and length which troubled the batsmen. Anukul Roy also deserves a special mention, returning as the joint highest wicket taker of the tournament.

One cannot rule out Dravid’s, or even the support staff’s contribution for that matter in India’s World Cup triumph. They have been with the boys from the start, grooming them, nurturing them, and most of all, making them believe in themselves that they are worthy of becoming world champions because oftentimes, nerves get the better of people, and they are still under 19s mind you, on big occasions. And it was very important for someone like a Dravid to be with this young group because he embodies everything we attach goodness to. He was probably the last one to play the sport, the Gentlemen’s game as it is called, with the spirit it echoed.

This has been a fantastic achievement by the boys, winning the U-19 World Cup, but they must remember, it is just the beginning. They have a long way to go and if this tournament is anything to go by, the future of Indian cricket looks to be in safe hands. It is a wonderful stepping stone for many and they would be full of confidence going ahead having defeated the best of the teams to become world champions. It must be overwhelming for most of them to create history and be at the forefront. However, it’s only a matter of time before we see some of them playing for India at the highest level. For now, we must let them have their moment. It must take a lot to soak it in, to let it sink in before they bask in the glory that comes with this win and enjoy the richly deserved success.