IPL 2020 - Passing Thoughts

"It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can create hope where once there was only despair” - Nelson Mandela 

This can be said about the 2020 IPL also. In these most bizarre times, sport by itself does not mean much tangible – after all it does not provide a vaccine or make the virus magically go away but it provide a break from the mad news cycle and yes that tiny little flicker of happiness in these depressing times. Purely coincidental it may have been, and certainly there have been better, factors in play, but since the IPL began the graph of the number of daily cases has taken a downward turn. 

Thanks to entire organizing team, the players and all the support staff for providing this welcome distraction. It certainly looks a herculean task shifting the entire tournament outside with all the covid-19 restrictions in place. 

So just jotting down my thoughts about the events of the IPL 2020 both on & off the field. 

The old order changeth giving rise to new & the more things change the more they remain the same. Two contradictory themes yet both hold true in this IPL. 

• The new boys made a name for themselves. An Indian uncapped XI can certainly hold its own in the international front. Hers is my pick for such a lineup - Paddikal, Gaikwad, Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tewatia, Priyam Garg, Samad, Varun Chakravarthy, Natarajan, Bishnoi, Tyagi. Some of them are knocking on the India doors. 
• Chennai Super Kings failed to make the play-offs for the first time; Delhi Capitals made the Final for the first time and Rajasthan Royals finished bottom of the league for the first time. 
• Shane Watson bids farewell to the cricket – one of the true IPL heroes. Meanwhile Raina & Harbhajan skipped this year’s tournament. Not sure if we would see them again in the field. 
• Aaron Finch played for his 8th IPL franchisee this season. Given his age looks set to be heading to CSK soon! 
• Which brings us to CSK’s side. In this no IPL for old men, poor Sam Curran was given all the jobs, sometimes a finisher, opening the batting and the bowling and even death bowling! 
• Same was the case of his English team-mate Jofra Archer, the tournament MVP. One end he was bowling thunderbolts and at the other end the likes of Unadkat, Aaron & Rajput leaking runs! 
• Raw pace works best – Alongwith Archer the likes of Rabada, Nortje, Shami, Bumrah, Ferguson and Boult all made a mark. Especially heartening to see a couple of Indian names in this list. 
• The Indian finishers are still missing. The big hitters are not consistent enough although the Pandya brothers, Axar and Jadeja do show some promise. 
• However, we can put in a wicket-keepers top 6 –Rahul, Saha, Samson, Kishan, Pant & Karthik certainly makes for a power-packed lineup. 
• Professional sport has fine margins – imagine Super Overs also not yielding results. And that short run called against Kings XI made a difference in them being knocked out. That’s an area where the 3rd umpire should take more initiative. Why have all the technology in place and not use it. Any on-field error which can be corrected by a single replay should be done so. 
• New Zealand can now try using Lockie Ferguson instead of going to Southee for the Super Overs 
• The new star - Rahul Tewatia who made completing seemingly impossible chases, not once but twice! 
• The celebration - Thanks to Riyan Parag for making the Bihu dance mainstream. 
• The new frontier - Chris Gayle was benched, then hospitalized, then batted at No. 3 and breached the mark of 1,000 T20 career sixes. Not for nothing he is the Universe Boss! 
• What could have been – Ali Khan became the first USA player to be picked up by an IPL squad but then got injured without getting a game. 
• What’s with the number of fantasy leagues & gaming apps mushrooming all over. While it is fun and in the legal grey area, the authorities need to be on high alert for keeping the corrupt in check. 
• Finally, Rest In peace Professor Deano – the voice of the Select Dugout! His commentary will be missed 

There is now an IPL shaped void in the daily schedule. The Australia tour can’t come soon enough

Rekindling the Fire in Babylon

After 117 days, international cricket returned. And what a spectacle it was. Showcasing “what is cricket” – on the field and even beyond the boundary over the course of 5 days. It may have been played in front of empty stands but certainly had the eyeballs of most of the cricketing world glued to it.

Cricket (and in general all sports) tend to avoid commenting on social issues. Individual actions are frowned upon (remember Moeen Ali’s wristband, Andy Flower & Olonga’s death of democracy protest), and collective actions are rarely seen (e.g. India’s army fatigue caps). But I guess George Floyd’s brutal televised death has finally shattered bubble. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have seen this kind of support from the administrators or broadcasters.

The West Indies team taking the knee and doing the Black Power salute with the English joining them. It certainly made a statement, even bigger than the fact that the game itself had returned after such a long gap. And there was Michael Holding’s impassioned speech. Yes, the right education is needed to remove the centuries of systemic prejudices and biases that have become imbibed in all of us. It was great to see that the right noises are being made now.

Coming to the cricket. Remember, there was a time not too long ago, when Holding was not interested in commentating on West Indies games. But in Southampton, his words seemed to have rekindled that dimming Fire in Babylon. Holder & Gabriel both stepped in to knock off the English innings. Funnily, both were injury worries prior to the game. And then Blackwood coming in to play a most un-Caribbean-like knock to ensure a victory despite the early 4th innings wobble.

To be honest, this match had everything for the neutral (or not so neutral) follower

• Cricket can secure itself against Covid-19 through a bio-bubble but how do we deal with our old enemies - rain & bad light.
• A game meandered along to a riveting finish in the last session on the final day. What more could you ask for?
• An English lineup comprising of Rory, Sibley, Denly, Crawley! Sometime during this summer, hope to see Stokes, Foakes, Woakes! Even nursery rhymes do not rhyme so much. 
• Captains knocking out each other
• A spell from hell by a riled up Jofra Archer after a Twitter spat with Tino Best (Toothpaste is a sledge)
• Jermaine Blackwood who scored more runs in the second innings than the number of Twitter followers he had at the beginning of the innings. [Lesson - real world performance gets you social media following]
• John Campbell living the opener’s dream – Hitting the winning runs in a chase. (albeit he was missing from most of it nursing a smashed toe)

Thanks to all the people who made this game possible in the times of corona. Just to give a scale of the preparations, over 700 people were tested regularly to keep the venue bio-secure! Thank You!

P.S. Lewis Howard Latimer – Remember the Name of the Inventor of carbon filament! (a first step in our collective education)

World Cup 2019: Endgame

14th July 2019, Lords 

To borrow from Dickens - It was the best of times (for some), it was the worst of time (for others). 

It was also sport at its cruelest!

There was the jubilant English squad with members incorporated from across the cricket playing world. And on the other side was New Zealand, led by Kane Williamson, who could still smile despite the apparent (to the rest of the world) injustice of it all! 

The neutral cricket viewer was sad. The greatest game of ODI cricket ever played (move over Edgbaston 1999) had resulted in not one but two ties. And yet we had to somehow contrive a winner because there was only one trophy. And what a weird way to find a winner, boundary count (where 4s & 6s are counted as equal!). Couldn’t they have at least let both captains pose with the trophy together? 

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. And like all sport its always a matter of the finest margins. There were so many “What Ifs”. What if Trent Boult had not stepped back or just dropped that catch? What if Martin Guptill’s throw from the boundary was not so perfect? What If Kumara Dharmasena had interpreted the overthrows differently. So many ifs & buts. Come to think of it, the same Trent Boult had caught Carlos Brathwaite’s final heave at the boundary, and the very same Martin Guptill had produced a magical throw to run-out Dhoni in the semi-finals. You win some, you lose some, but it still doesn’t make the result feel right. 

The neutral cricket viewers were sad. There was a sense of injustice. Yes, it was all within the rules and those rules had been around for a long time but still. The sadness and injustice of it all was exacerbated by the complete calmness of Kane Williamson! 

And a final word for England. Congratulations on being crowned the Men’s ODI World Champions. What a remarkable turnaround for a team which did not even make it to the Quarter-finals last time around. 

Now for a truly Arbit Stat (#70): England have become the first ever chasing team to win the game inspite of being bowled out. 

And a final word for Jofra Archer’s twitter account – The man had a tweet for all remarkable events taking place in this World Cup! 

And thus, comes to an end the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup. A remarkable tournament with a stupendous finish to be also remembered for a bit of rain, bails not coming off, Pakistan’s 1992 comparisons, and also some decent cricket with the best games having 230-250 targets! What a throwback to 1990s!

For me, after many years did an India exit hurt so much. We were close, but the semi-final swung away in a few overs, then there was hope which was finally dashed! It just did not feel good!

Till next time!