Cricket Opens Up

Cricket has always called itself a gentleman's game. And in order to ensure the gentility remains, there have strict regulations on who can play and which matches get "official" status and which don't. All of this reeking of colonial hangover and class segregation. Where every other sport is opening up to new markets, cricket had constrained itself to remain within its own little club. The club was expanded but very gradually. and new members could trickle in, say once is a decade or two! But once inside, no power could nudge them out, whatever their atrocities (looking at you Zimbabwe!) [except South Africa who got banned for over 20 years that too a decade after  they had been thrown out of the Olympic movement].

Once a member gets full status, they stayed in and tried to make life more difficult for the next ones in the queue (Bangladesh and Kenya). Ireland might have bloodied many a Full member nose over the last decade, and Afghanistan were creating an almost unimaginable fairy-tale across all sport. But the two of them couldn't play Test cricket. For a game which talks all about fair-play, the officialdom was making a mockery of fairness where South Africa beating Zimbabwe inside 2 days a 4-day match got the exalted Test status, while a keenly contested 5-day Intercontinental Cup Final between Afghanistan and Ireland is only a First-Class fixture! And to further elaborate the point, recently there was a 10-team qualifier for two spots in the 2019 World Cup. Matches involving Netherlands and Nepal had List A status while all others had ODI status. Different statistical rules for the game in the same tournament! Ironically both these teams "achieved" ODI status by the end of the tournament!

Its in the context of this class-ism and reduction in the World Cup teams came two recent announcements by ICC. One, taken last year to provide Afghanistan and Ireland, full member and Test playing status. And two, just last week to provide T20 International status to matches played between all its 104 members. What a drastic, unexpected and welcome change!

The expanded cricketing world - Hoping to see the coverage go and all in a single colour!

Certainly exciting times ahead for the cricket tragics and statisticians! Imagine the number of new entries which will come up in cricketing databases. And we could go into the era of some really funny stats! Some new landmarks could be broached in a game between Bhutan and Iceland (come to think of it that would be a game of fire and ice!). But that's how expansion happens. And honestly, cricket is over-focused on the arbitrary statistics. [Well, Slipstream Cricket is also guilty of the same. Come to think of it that section will see a boom in entries].

Apart from statistics, there could be a whole new dynamics opening up in the game. This could also create a stronger case for the franchisee/club model which is prevalent in football. The Knight Riders are already creating a multi-country franchisee, maybe some others will also jump in! We already had some top Associate cricketers (and some full member ones too) who had become mercenaries for hire. Given that ICC has also relaxed the eligibility criteria for playing for another country, there could be some interesting career jumps across the globe. Someone struggling to break into a Ranji team might soon jump shores and play international cricket for some other country! This would really open up the game. Retiring cricketers may get a fresh lease of international life through a second passport or having a grand-parent from another place. And finally with 104 country base (split West Indies and incorporate some into Great Britain), cricket could make a serious case for inclusion in the Olympics. 

Good to see ICC finally make real progress in expanding the game. Hopefully, they will also increase the World Cup participants. Maybe they can find new revenue sources, which will not have them dependent on the whims and fancies of the Big 3 and the other Full Members!

Certainly good times ahead for the cricket tragics!

The Twenty17 LineUp

2018 has dawned upon us and the cricketing action continues in full swing with New Zealand completing a demolition of the West Indies and Vidarbha winning the Ranji Trophy for the first time ever. Before the action hots up further, time to take a look back at the Cricketing XI of 2017 (compiled by yours truly).

1. Afghanistan & Ireland get Test Status

After resisting for years, ICC decided to expand the Test arena. And thus we have two new Full members on-board – Afghanistan and Ireland (although both are yet to play a Test). Well-deserved reward for the yeoman service done to the Associate cause. Ireland by consistently upsetting the big teams at the major events and Afghanistan by providing a sporting fairy-tale even the best of Hollywood writers will not be able to script! Now they just need to play a Test each!

2. Women’s World Cup

2017 was the year in which women’s cricket became just cricket! The massive success of the Women’s World Cup provided the ultimate fillip. It also helped that India performed well and finished runners-up in a closely contested Lord’s final. But surprisingly after all the goodwill generated, BCCI hasn’t really cashed in and the Indian team hasn’t played a single game after the World Cup Final!

3. Pakistan 

If there is a team which can be trusted to do the inexplicable, it has to be Pakistan. It was another roller-coaster year (no surprises there!). They won the Champions Trophy in England and managed to lose a Test series to Sri Lanka in their adopted home! But the highlight would be the return of International cricket to Pakistan with a T20 series against an International XI (which inexplicably was given international status) and a one off game against Sri Lanka. Which brings us to…

4. The Sri Lankan Captaincy Revolving Door

Angelo Matthews, Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga, Thisara Perera, Rangana Herath, Chamara Kapugedera, Lasith Malinga – Seven different men captained the Sri Lankan team across different formats this year. Also showed in the overall results where they were hammered by all and sundry, including a series loss to Zimbabwe, who themselves were coming off from losses to Scotland and Netherlands!

5. Performance of the Year 

Will pick two this year. Marcus Stoinis’s incredible assault against New Zealand, which nearly won Australia the game. And Harmanpreet Kaur’s blistering 171* against Australia in the World Cup semi-finals, probably the defining innings for the women’s game in India.

6. Play is stopped due to…

Cricket fans are used to rain and bad light or even bees and dogs stopping play. But 2017 saw even more bizarre stoppages. A county game was stopped due to an arrow landing near the pitch, a Ranji game due to a car driving onto the pitch and finally a Test Match interrupted due to high pollution levels!

7. Pay Dispute

Australians joined the world perennially occupied by the West Indies with a bitter long drawn-out dispute which went on for most of the year. However, unlike the West Indies, the Aussies were able to resolve theirs and get back to business of playing the game!

8. The Return of the Unwanted

The India-Sri Lanka matches were back with not one but two full back-to-back tours. Not helping matters was the poor form of the Sri Lankans. Result: A TourSweep with India beating Sri Lanka 9-0 across formats in Sri Lanka, who improved a bit on the return tour winning one ODI and drawing two Tests!

9. Comeback Sledge of the Year

Pakistan discovered a exciting new talent in Fakhar Zaman, who got a match winning century in the Champions Trophy Final. The newbie also showed an innovative way to tackle sledging, leaving Liam Plunkett speechless by calmly saying “No English”. Ironic considering he is one of the more proficient English speakers in the Pakistan team!

10. Play of the Year

Mitchell Starc’s ball to James Vince. Almost a leg-break at 140KMPH. Just beautiful to watch!

11. Colourful Start of the Year

Sunil Ambris had a pretty interesting start to his Test career – becoming the first batsman ever to be hit wicket off the very first ball he faced, then in the second innings smacking a six to score his first runs, hit wicket again in the first innings of the next Test and rounding it off by being retired hurt in the second innings. Quite an action-packed start for the new West Indies keeper. 

And the 12th Man

Geoff Boycott being pranked by Johnathan Agnew on air. Boycott’s reaction on being told by Agnew that one of his centuries does not count as first-class anymore is just priceless.

That was cricketing year 2017. Lets see what 2018 has in store for us!

Wishing all readers a very happy New year 2018!

Pakistan Cricket's New Dawn (?)

3rd March, 2009 

Sri Lankan team is attacked by armed gunmen in Lahore on the way to the Gaddafi Stadium. 7 players and an umpire are injured while 8 Pakistani civilians and policemen are killed. An attack which effectively put an end to international cricket in Pakistan.

12th September, 2017 

More than eight years after the attack, Pakistan hosts a World XI team sent by ICC in the same Gaddafi stadium. Marking the end of the international exile of Pakistan as an international cricketing venue. They did host Zimbabwe earlier and the PSL final. But this was the first big step in the return of international cricket. And could be used as a stepping stone for future engagements.

Just some random thoughts after the first game.

• Eight and a half years! That’s a pretty long period. This blog did not even exist at that time!
• What a feeling it must be for the Pakistani players – many of whom would be appearing for the first time in front of their countrymen in their own country. Also first international appearance for Imran Tahir in the country of his birth.
• How did these games get international status? There are quite a few amongst the World XI ranks who would not even feature in their respective country lineups!
• This was the first live sporting action, I watched on Discovery Sport! Mostly they are showing horse races.
• Pakistan’s uniform looked more blue that green. Reminded me of the Kiwi colours during the late 90s.
• There is a thing about World XIs. This rag-tag bunch always seems to lose.
• Also kudos to the World XI players for braving it out. If things go well (fingers crossed) they would be hailed as pioneers in the days to come.

Overall a great initiative by the ICC and Pakistan Cricket. Hopefully this will herald better days for cricket and life in Pakistan.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - March 15th

The Group Stages of the World Cup 2015 have finally drawn to a close. It was a long-winded affair (but we already knew that). The 8 Quarter-finalists have been identified (with 7 of them being the usual suspects). There were upsets but not as many as we would have liked. There were mismatches, many more than we wanted with the team batting first generally knocking the stuffing out of the bowling. India won all their games (a pleasant surprise) as did New Zealand, Pakistan stumbled along as did the West Indies but in the end both made it, England were punched out by Bangladesh, Australia, Sri Lanka and South Africa duly made it into the knock-outs, while the Associates won the hearts but not many games except for the Irish who also won a few games. And now we are at the business end of the tournament. 7 matches, 7 teams knocked out, 1 winner remains. But before that its time for a look back at the performances of the teams which won't be making any further progress into the tournament.

UAE - a team made up of people who hold regular jobs (like you and me) but have the passion to play the game (unlike most of you and me). Their approach to the games was simple. Try to bat out as many overs as possible getting the runs which came along regardless of how many the other team has got. Only against fellow Associate Ireland did they provide some serious challenge. May not play at the World Cup ever again and probably will not be missed at all. Which would be quite ironical given that ICC has a global academy in UAE and they also play home country to Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

Scotland - This was Scotland's 3rd appearance in World Cup cricket and it is the third time they are going home winless. Another team which has been regularly found wanting at the top level. They never even challenged the big teams. Though they did have a very close game with fellow Associate Afghanistan. The team ran out of steam by the end of its run. Worse, it ran out of team spirit with Majid Haq having to be sent home on disciplinary grounds.

Afghanistan - They have been the fairy tale story of the cricketing world. Their rise is well documented. The players are icons in their own right. And they can actually play cricket. They won a game against Scotland and gave Sri Lanka a mighty scare. They might have been well beaten by the others but they also provided the heart-warming story. There might not be a more impressive sight in cricket than Shapoor Zadran running down to bowl. This is a team with the potential to be competitive. And ICC better make sure that they stay so and not let them drift away like Kenya.

Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe had provided the template for growth of a modern cricket nation. Repeatedly qualify for the World Cup. Win the occasional big game. Get Test status. The wins then start coming in more frequently. Reach the knock-outs of the World Cup. And then the story changes. However it wasn't cricket at fault, it was the country itself imploding. Cricket bore the collateral damage and they have been a mere shadow of their former self. And since the last ten years they have been trying to make the best out of limited resources which keep ever depleting. Brendan Taylor joins a long list of cricketers who couldn't carry on any further due to the various constraints. However he might well be back. In the Cup, Zimbabwe weren't outclassed and were far more competitive than expected. Can we expect better days for them? Maybe or Maybe not. They might miss out if ICC does implement its 10 team format in 2019.

Ireland - On the Irish shoulders fall the responsibility of not just carrying the hopes of their own nation but also those of the entire Associate cricketing world. A responsibility which they have carried gamely but would certainly wish would be shared around a bit more. They played well, won three games adding two more full nation scalps into their World Cup collection. And yet were finally knocked out after the last game on the basis of net run rates. This is a team which deserves more chances to improve. Should they be the 11th test playing country? Certainly. Should ICC amend laws to prevent England poaching their players? Definitely. Imagine Morgan and Rankin in their ranks. Well played Ireland, You deserve better.

England - The butt of all jokes. In a format designed to ensure that the big boys are through to the quarter-finals, somehow England have contrived to not do so. Last World Cup, they were the entertainers, losing to Ireland & Bangladesh while beating South Africa, West Indies and tying with India. This time there was no such roller-coaster ride. They beat Scotland and lost to everybody else (heavily). So heavily that Malaysia, Singapore & Japan are trolling them with challenges. Yet England will be there lining up as hosts in 2019. Important question - Are England still the best limited overs team in Europe? Probably yes, though many would disagree, most certainly Ireland. Or if you were Peter Moores, you would first be looking into the data.

Arbit Stat#42

Wins against Test Playing Nations in ODI World Cup

Ireland (since 2007) - 5 wins - 2007 (Pakistan & Bangladesh),  2011 (England), 2015 (West Indies & Zimbabwe)

England (since 2007) -  4 wins - 2007 (Bangladesh & West Indies), 2011 (South Africa & West Indies), 2015 (0)

Head-to-Head - 1-1

Well the "data" says Ireland are better.

Now awaiting the knock-outs where the real action begins.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 2nd March

With a 14 team tournament and going at the rate of 1 game a day, somehow the World Cup schedule has found a rest day in the group stages itself. How did the scheduling committee achieve this tremendous milestone? All the teams get enough days to rest between games, yet there is a day without a single game. For what purpose one may ask? To give the fans a chance to detox from cricketing or to let the world focus on the biggest cricketing battle - BCCI's presidency.

Anyways the 1 day break in the matches gives a good chance to evaluate the tournament gone so far.

The Qualifying Scenarios

• All the teams are still in contention, however minuscule their chances. And no team has booked its quarter-final berth. There is a very tiny chance that the likes of India and New Zealand can still miss out.
• The ones with cent per cent winning record - New Zealand, India & Ireland
• The ones with cent per cent losing record - Scotland & UAE

The patterns to the madness

• When Associate plays Associate - Great Game.
• When Associate plays Test playing team - Good game. Generally the Associate runs out of steam by the end of the game
• When 2 Test playing teams play - Boring one sided game with the team batting second generally getting hammered.
• When New Zealand play - Knock out the opposition for a smallish score and try to chase it down in under 20 overs while losing wickets in a bunch, thus boosting their run-rate, while at the same time making their fans very nervous.
• Old formula - Double the score after 30 overs. New formula - Triple the score from the 25 over mark.

ICC doing things

• Tweak the World Cup format. Get egg on the face. Where every other orgnization is going for globalization and expansion, ICC is looking at shortening the World Cup for making it more "competitive".
• Keep tinkering with the playing conditions -  Powerplay overs, field restrictions, number of balls, Duckworth-Lewis, DRS - basically making the game more and more impossible to comprehend.

How the teams are stacking up

• India, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, Sri Lanka- looking good to march into the knock-outs.
• West Indies, England, Pakistan - There might be an embarrassing early exit. 
• Bangladesh, Ireland - should be looking to repeat their 2007 top 8 foray.
• Zimbabwe, Scotland & Afghanistan - may have just run out of steam by now, but can create havoc for some others' qualification chances.

Now awaiting the second half of the group stage before the actual tournament begins. It should still be an interesting exercise with some teams jockeying for positions while others fighting for survival and the rest waiting to trip them up.

World Cup 2015: Short Notes - 27th Feb

Its the World Cup. And there ought to be some madness. But even the madness has its own patterns.

• There seems to be a grand conspiracy by all parties to put egg on the ICC's face. The Associates are putting on a tough fight on the field. The Full time nations are hammering each other in one one-sided game after the other. Meanwhile ICC is still looking at taking the World out of the World Cup by restricting the entries to ten.
• Ireland nearly choked and then managed to sneak through against UAE in a close encounter. Afghanistan were down for the count but showed some amazing resilience to win an even closer encounter.
• After the India defeat, AB de Villiers wanted to go to his room and feel sad. Then he decided to take out his sadness on the West Indies. And what followed was countless records getting broken one after the other.
• Jason Holder - 1st 5 overs - 9 runs, next 5 overs - 95 runs. So he comes back and scores a 50 in a losing affair.
• The luck of the Irish - Ed Joyce and the dancing bail. (Video)
• In other news - Pakistan are behaving exactly like Pakistan - losing heavily, rumours of rift against the fielding coach and the chief selector has been sent back for being found in a casino.
• Australia haven't had a game in two weeks now. Almost forgotten that they are still playing.
• The Indian fans are already walking about like World Champions. Well the real World Cup begins only after the group stages.
• Prediction time - Pakistan-Ireland and England-Bangladesh to be the deciding games for this World Cup.
• Side Note - As if a World Cup game is not enough incentive, Australia and New Zealand will also be playing for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy.

P.S. In case you want to feel like doing something about the World Cup size for the next tournament and haven't done it yet, feel free to sign this petition here. [Current Count - 13960]

Mankading & "Spirit of Cricket"

Mankading - the act of a bowler running out the non-striker batsman before bowling the ball has always been a source of needless controversy. 

In fact for some weird reason it has become a test of the "sportsman spirit" of a bowler who does not do the "Mankad". Cortney Walsh has received a medal for not running out Salim Yousuf. But if the bowler does Mankad, like Sachitra Senanayake did to Jos Buttler, all hell breaks lose. The bowler and the fielding captain are accused of having destroyed "the spirit of cricket" - the greatest crime imaginable in the gentlemans's game.

Well here are my two bits on Mankading.

It is within the laws of the game. In fact there is a specific law for the situation, hence no ambiguity is possible. Law 42(15) states - "The bowler is permitted, before entering his delivery stride, to attempt to run out the non-striker. Whether the attempt is succesful or not, the ball shall not count as one of the over. If the bowler fails to run out the non-striker, the umpire shall call and signal Dead ball as soon as possible". 

So if there exists a specific law which states what are the consequences of a bowler breaking the stumps with the non-striker outside his crease, then why the hue and cry? The "spirit of cricket" has already been murdered many a time (Fixing, Corruption, Walking/Not walking etc.) by different sets of players, officials and administrators. Guess that is why it exists in "spirit" form.

Here the batsman was wandering outside the crease and with run-out decisions sometimes become a matter of TV frames, then it does become an advantage for the non-striker to back up as far ahead as possible. In this case, Buttler had been warned twice by Senanayake in his previous over. (Which is where the matter of cricket's spirit should rest, which seemingly is not the case). And when Buttler was found wandering out again he was run-out. A result very rightly deserved. 

So the right decision was taken on action justified and well within the laws and more importantly the previous over Senanayake having shown the proper "spirit" also, guess Buttler should have nothing to complain about. Don't see any justifications for the hue and cry it has raised.  Nor do I see why the batsman is being portrayed as a victim, when its his own actions which are to be blamed for his fate.

To me its clear, Senanayake and the rest were well within their rights to run-out Buttler. And no harm was caused to the so called "spirit of the game".

Closing Notes - a couple of interesting exhibits on Mankading

Exhibit A - The original report on Mankading

Exhibit B - Chris Gayle showing "spirit" of game. Again the dancing might not be agreeable to the believers in the Gentlemen's game.

Now its up to ICC to either (a) tinker with the laws, which they love to do a lot; OR (b) tell the players that Mankading does no harm done to the "spirit of cricket" 

Regain the Faith

"You are blinded," said Dumbledore, his voice rising now, the aura of power around him palpable, his eyes blazing once more, "by the love of the office you hold, Cornelius! You place too much importance, and you always have done, on the so-called purity of blood! You fail to recognise that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be! Your dementor has just destroyed the last remaining member of a pure-blood family as old as any - and see what that man chose to make of his life! I tell you now - take the steps I have suggested, and you will be remembered, in office or out, as one of the bravest and greatest Ministers of Magic we have ever known. Fail to act - and history will remember you as the man who stepped aside and allowed Voldemort a second chance to destroy the world we have tried to rebuild"

- from Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 36- The Parting of Ways

Very wise words indeed from one of the wisest men in fiction. Also totally contextual when you think of the current IPL spot-fixing scandal. Replace Cornelius Fudge by the current cricket administrators and Voldemort by match-fixing and you have an apt parallel. Unfortunately with the slew of allegations & rumours flying around, we haven't identified the sane voice of Dumbledore around whom the true cricket lovers can rally and attempt to save the game they love.

This message is intended not just for N Srinivasan and the BCCI but for all the cricket boards, ICC and FICA. They have to work together to weed out the corrupt. And the faster it  is done the better for the game. ICC removing Asad Rauf from the umpire's panel for Champions Trophy due to him being under investigation is a good step towards regaining the paying public's faith.

There are two views being taken -
(a) by the "breaking news media" & the "trigger-happy" social media - everything is fixed and
(b) the official line of just three rotten eggs.
The truth, as it always happens, lies somewhere in between. Not everyone is corrupt and I would be quite surprised if the entire racket involved only the three players. BCCI lost one chance to come clean a year ago. It has been given another chance. It MUST conduct a proper enquiry into all charges/allegations while working along with the government agencies. But with allegations now hovering around the BCCI chief itself, it maybe quite difficult for anyone to accept the results of such an investigation.

The Spot-fixing scandal in the IPL has hurt. Despite all the murky goings-on in the past few years, there is a corner in my heart which still believes in the game. However with every new scandal that space is getting smaller and smaller.  Because the fixers take out the one element which makes sports  glorious - its uncertainty.

Personally I have been taking out my angst on the broadcasters by not watching the live telecast and doing my bit to lower their TRP (still following the IPL though). With lower TRPs, sponsors are unlikely to pay the huge amounts to come on board specially given the financial troubles the world is already in. Lack of sponsors will make the television rights less lucrative further lowering revenues. Stadium attendances world-wide are anyways going downwards. With lower revenues, BCCI loses its financial muscle and the power balance in the cricketing world shifts again.

A scenario which is quite likely to happen in the long run if the game does not clean itself. The paying public has enough other entertainment avenues. Hence its very important from the board's perspective to ensure that the fans who love the game keep the faith. It is a very difficult task to regain the faith once lost. And only concrete visible steps will ensure that people may want to trust again.

Act Now and then hope that you regain the cricket fan's faith

T20 World Cup - 2012 Review

Apparently a T20 Champions League is currently underway in South Africa. Quite a misnomer given that some of the Champion teams had to play in the qualifying while a 4th place finish gets a direct entry for some one else. BCCI be a little less greedy. Get 4 IPL teams but restrict direct entry to only two.

Also this is a perfect example of cricket overdose, coming as it does close on the heels of the T20 World Cup. I have hardly been following the Champions league. And am sure there are many other ardent fans who are also suffering from this excess.

Now for the main agenda for this post. Here are some thoughts on the T20 World Cup with a little focus on the Indian performance.

West Indies winning was liked all around. They certainly brought joy to all the cricket followers  through the "Gangnam style" cricket. But will this mark a turnaround in their fortunes. I don't think so,  given that most of the current West Indies lot is more interested in performing in one T20 league or the other across the world. Will the likes of Pollard, Gayle, Bravo, Sunil Naraine show the same commitment when matches of West Indies clash with the Big Bash or IPL etc?

Sri Lanka again lost in a major final (4th in last 5 years). But they have certainly been the most consistent of all teams in the limited overs format.

There was a strategic decision by Mahela Jayawardene to handover the captaincy to Kumara Sangakkara to avoid getting a ban. A move which raised a few eyebrows about the slow over-rate rule. Tony Grieg, the Cheerleader-in-chief of Sri Lanka went all gungho hailing this "tactical" move by the Sri Lankan team management. I don't have any issue as all this was not illegal. But what about the "Spirit of Cricket" nonsense which Mr. Grieg had harped on about earlier this year at the MCC lecture. In my opinion, Mr. Greig if this is not hypocrisy, then I wonder what is?

Shane Watson was a deserving Man of the Series. One player who certainly owes a lot to the IPL

A pattern has been observed in the tournament winners. They generally have very bad starts to the tournament. In fact, 3 of them have gone on to win the tournament without even a single win in the first phase. Here are the opening round performances of the 4 winners

• 2007 - India - 1 No result, 1 Tie (win in bowl-out)
• 2009 - Pakistan - 1 loss, 1 win 
• 2010 - England - 1 Loss, 1 No Result 
• 2012 - West Indies - 1 Loss, 1 No Result

ICC needs to review the necessity of a Super Over in League stages. Use it in the knock-outs, but why is required at all in a League game? A tie is after all a perfectly acceptable result in any league format across sports.

England, I am worried about you. If you could make Piyush Chawla look like Shane Warne, then a 4-nil thrashing is in the offing in India. Have to admit that the better players of spin (Pietersen, Cook, Trott, Bell)weren't in the squad. Which begs the question, why weren't they there?

Now for India. The team doesn't give the feeling of a team at all. A few thoughts on the Indian performance.

• Batting has become Virat Kohli + support. Only if, just in case, Kohli might have an off day (an increasingly rare occurence), the batting collapses completely. 
• There were some very strange team selections. The presence of Piyush Chawla, absence of Umesh Yadav/Praveen Kumar. Manoj Tiwary being forever benched. Rohit Sharma getting game after game. Irfan Pathan opening when there are 6 other specialist batsmen waiting in the dug-out. Quite logic defying.
• One highlight was the return to fitness, though not complete form of Yuvraj Singh. His return from cancer is certainly more than just cricket.
• Dhoni is looking weary. Its said captains have a shelf life. He seems to be at the end of his. All this non-stop cricket is certainly taking a toll. But no replacement seems to be ready to take over the mantle from him.
• Yet insite of all this, India did win 4 out of the 5 games they played. So there is hope.
• And yes, we continue our DOMINANCE over Pakistan in the World Cups (:D)

So these were my thoughts on the Gangnam style World Cup.

P.S. More than the Champions League, what I have been following is the ongoing Duleep Trophy. To be covered in the next post.

Cricket & Olympics

The Olympics are over. The India-New Zealand Test series is still 10 days away. And there is no India-Sri Lanka series to fill in the vacuum that has been created.

Cricket's involvement in the Olympics has been bare minimum. It was part of the Paris Olympics in 1900, with Great Britain beating the Gentlemen of France (?) to win the Gold. Silver went to the French team. And there was no other participant due to withdrawal of cricketing powerhouses like Belgium & Netherlands. Easiest medalists ever in my opinion.

There have been a few cricketers involved in Olympics through other sports e.g. Johnny Douglas, The Nawab of Pataudi Sr. etc. But still cricket has such hasn't had much to do with the Olympic movement as such.

This time around there was a big involvement. Though not many would have noted that. And I am not talking about Lord's the home of cricket being used as an archery range. It was the England-South Africa 2nd Test at Leeds underway at the same time. Olympic movement has had quite a few sports as Demonstration sports which are not counted in the final tally going on in parallel with the main event. Though ICC or IOC may not be acknowledging it, but this was a perfect example of a Demonstration Sport as a sideshow to the Games.

MCC Lecture - 2012 & Tony Greig's India Obsession

The annual Colin Cowdrey Spirit of Cricket Lecture was held on June 26. After a highly impressive oration by Kumara Sangakkara last year, I had begun to look forward to the annual Spirit of Cricket Lecture. On learning that Tony Greig had been asked to deliver the lecture, was certain that somehow BCCI and IPL would be mentioned in his speech as being responsible for all the evil in the world. And he certainly did not disappoint. Where did I get this surety? From following his twitter account. Mr. Greig never misses any chance to take potshots at the Indian board in the limited to 140 characters medium and to provoke caustic remarks from Indian followers. And he certainly wasn't going to miss this hour long opportunity.

To his credit, he has acknowledged the financial power of BCCI and the good use which has been put through it (e.g. the one-time benefit package to past cricketers, bonanza for boards hosting India, Indian TV viewership rights etc.). However at the same time he is saying that BCCI is taking the spirit out of cricket. Well, to be honest, BCCI is not the only wrong-doer in this regard. And for the "Spirit of Cricket" business, in my humble opinion, it is a concept without any actual basis, based purely on an individual's judgement and applied arbitrarily as and when required. So lets not tread into such waters.

Tony Grieg makes a point about BCCI having sold off part of cricket to private investors. Point taken but   hasn't all sporting activity been funded through private investors for their entertainment. I mean if there hadn't been private investors, how would anyone make a living playing any sport. Ignoring this global point, lets say BCCI commited this crime. But does selling off franchisees in IPL compare to selling off your entire T20 tournament to a private investor (West Indies & Alan Stanford). Given that the West Indies board is poor, they didn't have any option, what about the English board who got swayed by the sight of Stanford landing in Lords with suitcases full of dollars? Greed is present everywhere, why just blame BCCI?

Then he has an issue of BCCI promoting T20s over Tests. I can only say one thing. Come to your sense Mr. Greig. Check India's schedule and compare it with any other Test playing country. You will find that India plays the least number of T20 matches. And they have the most heavy international schedule. Post 2011 World Cup, India has played 14 Tests and 6 T20s. For the 2012-13 home season 10 Tests are scheduled. Does it show lower priority for Tests? Even the domestic calendar is being revamped with emphasis on getting more first class matches for the state teams. Yes there is a 2 month long IPL, but beyond that there is hardly any T20 participation from Indian players.

IPL is referred to as the main killer of the "spirit of cricket". Players are not choosing to play for IPL franchisees over their countries. Fair enough, everyone would want to have more and easy money, thats just human nature. Mr. Greig himself did the same when he went to Packer's side, which he was very honest about in acknowledging.. And when he chose to be part of the now-defunct Indian Cricket League, was it for any "Spirit of Cricket" business or just money?

Tony Grieg takes on his favorite point of beating BCCI by raising the DRS issue. I do not support BCCI's stand of opposing the DRS implementation. With different models of DRS operating in different series, it gets weird for the watching fan. Uniformity should be there across. However, I would leave the DRS to umpires and not to the players. Let 3rd umpires have a more pro-active role and review howlers rather than the challenge coming from the players. Guess would be better for the so called "spirit of cricket". Wonder why none of the esteemed commentators including Tony Greig raises this point.

Tony Greig does put some interesting ideas like expanding IPL into an Asian Premier League with teams from Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka (Hangover of ICL which had Lahore & Dhaka teams???). SImilarly including the Kiwis in the Big Bash, having an African League & a European one with West Indies included. But will this not be contrary to his own statements on Tests getting less and less priority.

In short, to sum up my understanding of Tony Greig's speech. "BCCI, we want the money you bring to the game. But we do not want you to control the game". Mr. Grieg Sir, Is that even possible?

Lets see what all, if anything comes out of this speech.

The Jinx & The Request

Writing a 2-in-1 blog, i.e. 2 remotely related posts in 1 post :)

The Jinx

This is every sports fans boo-boo. When a game of their favorite team/player is on, the true sports fan will try to avoid doing anything which might get the stars misaligned and the team's performance gets affected. It might be wearing the "lucky" shirt, ordering the same food, not shifting from your seat during an important passage of play. I remember, while watching in hostel common rooms, we used to immediately throw out anyone whose entry resulted in a fall of Indian wicket. These days, there is a new dimension added to the jinx. Facebook and twitter networks fall relatively quiet when some milestone is approaching. People try not to post anything related to the approaching milestone.

Today I tried to test this theory. 2 wickets down in Perth on 1st morning. Sachin Tendulkar batting. And not a single post about the 100th 100. So I posted the following message -"Sachin batting and no one talking about his 100th 100. Weird." This was with Gambhir on strike. Lo and behold, within 3 minutes of posting, of the first ball he faced, Sachin Tendulkar was out lbw to Ryan Harris. If this was not a jinx then I dont know what is. :D

The Request

Dear ICC

It seems (though there is no proof except faith) that the milestone of 100 international centuries is weighing down Sachin Tendulkar.  He doesn't look out of form. He just gets out in the vicinity of the 100 (it could be 100 runs away also). The only solution would be to find some match in which Sachin has got a hundred and declare it as an international match. Thus adding to the tally of Sachin's hundreds. I have a couple of suggestions on the subject.

Mumbai vs Australia - in 1998, SRT got his 1st double century.

Diana Memorial match, at Lords, in 1998 when Sachin scored 125.

I'd recommend that 2nd game, which would also give SRT an international 100 in Lords.

Yours sincerely

An Indian cricket fan

ICC's World Test XI for 2010-11

The ICC yesterday announced it Test Team for the year. The players selected are as follows, in batting order:

Cook, Amla, Trott, Tendulkar, Sangakkara (captain/wk), de Villiers, Kallis, Broad, Swann, Steyn, Anderson with Zaheer picked as the 12th man.

Some very deserving names in here. But I have a couple of issues with this team.

Firstly, how has Kumara Sangakkara been picked as the wicket-keeper of the team, when he does not keep wickets for Sri Lanka in Tests? Also if I remember correctly, Dilshan was keeping wickets in a couple of tests last year, with Sangakkara in the team. Given the options and performances over the last year, I believe Matt Prior, Brad Haddin or even Mushfiqur Rahim as a better choice for the keeping duties.

And then there is a minor issue of choosing the openers. Seems Cook is the only opener selected in the team. Amla opens in ODIs but in Tests he generally comes in at 3. Now here I don't have any alternatives though. If there hadn't been the debacle in England following the absence in the West Indies, Sehwag & Gambhir would have been the front-runners here. But given the context its better to have Amla open in this fantasy exercise like Dravid did for India.

Otherwise looks a good all round team though I might have gone in with Zaheer ahead of Broad.

The Decision of Madness

ICC has restricted the World Cup to only 10 teams in 2015, and then shut down all doors for Associates by restricting it only to the Test playing Nations. A decision which makes no sense at all. It has almost ensured that cricket doesn't expand beyond the 10 countries. And we are not likey to see the 11th Test playing country emerging anytime soon.

The decision has been met with large scale indignation. I am yet to come across any forum where there has been a single comment in favour of this decision. Yet it has been done. I am specially feeling bad for the Irish cricketers who for 2 World cups have provided the story of the tournament. And been my second favorite team in this one. To top it all they are actually ranked no. 10 as per ICC's own rankings ahead of Zimbabwe (who are a Test playing nation but don't play any Tests). I am not much aware of the economic situation but Ireland would certainly provide a better market than Zimbabawe.

As Graeme Swann rightly put, "This decision is like taking the World out of the World Cup"

P.S. The biggest beneficiary from this decision is likely to be England. Now the Irish & Dutch players can play with them without any guilt.

There is now an online petition doing the rounds against the ICC decision. Here is the link in case you are opposed to the decion. http://www.petitiononline.com/wc2015/petition.html.

World Cup Thoughts - March 2nd

Here are the thoughts after one of the best games in the World Cup history. 

• The English have taken upon themselves the task of making the World Cup worth watching. A struggling win against the Dutch, a crazy tie against India and now a high scoring defeat against the Irish. The winter Ashes thrashing of the Australians already seems like a lifetime away.
• You always tend to support the underdog (except when the underdog is thrashing up your team). But the Irish really dug a big hole (it was more like a crater after a meteorite impact) for themselves, letting the English score 327, then got 5 down for 113 before going for victory.
• Kevin O'Brien was AWESOME. Pure and near chanceless slogging. And he had great support from Alex Cusack and John Mooney.
• The Irish today showed how to use the Batting Powerplay, unlike most teams. They used it as a shock value, did not wait till the end or even the change of ball. And it changed the momentum of game.
• Unfortunately, the best Irish player in the world was not playing for either side today. Wonder how Eoin Morgan must be feeling today.
• Funniest Comment - From the BBC text commentary "Could this match also be seen as a recruitment opportunity for England? Is it considered bad form to steal the other team's best players during a tournament? Or a match?". The ICC qualification rules are weird but it seems England can actually pick an Irish player as a replacement in case of injuries but the Irish will have to wait 4 years to take him back. 
• ICC still planning to allow only 10 teams in the 2015 Cup?
• Ireland/ICC should immediately take steps for Test status. Nobody really wants anymore cases like Ed Joyce. (A really nice of Ed Joyce is here)
• Group B has been thrown wide open by this result. Some team is going to miss out big time. England face off against South Africa, West Indies & Bangladesh. Certainly not going to be easy.
• India need to be very worried about Ireland now.

Now for some other thoughts.

• Post the spot fixing scandal, anything even remotely out of ordinary is being treated as a suspect. ICC investigating into slow Australian start against Zimbabwe, while some Sri Lankan TV channel has accused Jayawardene & Samaraweera of deliberately losing against Pakistan. Some are also questioning Shane Warne's tweet about India-England match getting tied. Cloud of suspicion is never good. And the ICC/Boards must act if anything untoward is found.
• And finally to Lasith Malinga. Does not play when I make him my trump player, but on getting dropped from my team, makes a comeback and taakes a hat-trick.

World Cup Thoughts - Feb 20th

The ICC has decided to reduce the number of particpating countries to 10 in the next World Cup. A decision which has been universally slammed. Today Kenya & Canada did everything to justify ICC's stand.

Kenya crashed to 69 all out which the Kiwis chased in 8 overs and the match got over before lunch. In the 2nd game Canada got thrashed by 210 runs. Two heavily one-sided games on a Sunday.

Thoughts for the Day

• Tournament Scheduling - Why couldn't we have 2 big teams playing on a Sunday rather than such lopsided encounters.
• I hardly watched the games today. Not much off the Kenya-New Zealand game (there wasn't much on show either). And the Sri Lanka - Canada i saw 2 balls off the Canadian innings. Rizwan Cheema faced off against Murali and hammered one big six. So at least I did get to see somethingcome true.

Now hoping Australia - Zimbabwe is not as lopsided as the other games. And I expect Australia to run over Zimbabwe though hoping for Zimbabwe to show some fight.

No Balls - The ICC Acts

Post the "Spot Fixing - No Ball" scandal there has been a lot of reactions. Most of them have been on predictable lines.

The concerned players (Butt, Aamer, Asif) have been proclaiming their innocence.

PCB taking no real action.

ECB wanting the trio to be taken out of the ODI leg of the tour.

Pakistani fans protesting.

Ex-players calling for life bans if guilty.

Pakistan government officials claiming it to be a conspiracy to malign Pakistani players. And blaming it on India as well.

The trio withdrawing themselves from the rest of the tour blaming it on the ongoing "mental torture". This in itself was a good sign. At least the heavy scrutiny was gone from the remaining matches.

ICC suspending the trio till further notice. Now this was one development which was not really anticipated. ICC has never shown any inclinclination to take a firm decision on any matter till date (chucking issue,Darrel Hair controversy at Oval, Zimbabwe come immediately to the mind in this regard). However this time they have acted very firmly. Match fixing is really the biggest crime for a sports lover as it takes out the element of uncertainty from the game. ICC has acted tough in this regard. Have to applaud the actio. Hope to see such decisive actions in the future as well.

The No-Ball

August 16, 2010, Dambulla

India vs Sri Lanka, Micromax Cup, Game 3

India win comfortably by 6 wickets with almost 15 overs to spare and also earning a Bonus Point in the process. The game would however be remembered for the deliberate no-ball bowled by Suraj Randiv to Virender Sehwag with India needing just one run for victory. Sehwag, who was on 99, hit the ball for a six. But given the current laws of the game, the game was deemed over with the no-ball as India had got the run needed for victory. The runs were not awarded to Sehwag and he finished with 99 denying him a well deserved century.

The no-ball was deliberate. No doubts about that.The runs were not counted. However the ball was counted in Sehwag's tally. Sehwag's career tally is now missing a century, a six and has an extra ball. There was a big hue and cry over the incident, specially in the Indian media. The issue might come up again if the qualifications boil down to net run rates. The 6 runs could make a big difference then.

Now just consider this hypothetical scenario. 1 run is needed off the last ball. The batsman hits it in the air and the fielder takes a catch. However during the time the ball was in the air, the batsman have completed a run. So what happens now? Shouldn't the match be over as soon as the first run is completed. Even if the ball had crossed the boundary the batsman would only have been awarded one run. So would he given out? My opinion he is out. But the law is vague enough to keep lawyers busy for ever.Just goes to show the Law is an Ass.

P.S. It seems Sri Lanka Cricket and Suraj Randiv have apologised for the incident. But this was a golden opportunity missed. Enough outrage has been generated to call for banning cricket ties with Sri Lanka, But alas this does not seem to be happening.

World Cricket Day

Since morning have been reading up this news/rumour. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is believed to have decided to name Schin Tendulkar's birthday as "World Cricket Day". However all reports are still in rumored to be stage. And as such havent senn any credible reports on this.

Well, this certainly is a great honour. And without doubt Sachin is the greatest player in my lifetime at least. 

More on this topic later...