Ten From 2011

Another year goes by. And leaves behind some memories. Here are the 10 cricketing "events" to remember 2011 by.

1. India win the World Cup

A long 28 year wait for cricketing glory ended and a nation celebrated when MS Dhoni hit the World Cup winning shot. Just curious - Where is that ball now?

2. The Wall Rises Again

As comebacks come nothing can beat the year Rahul Dravid had. Had to announce his retirement from limited overs international cricket because the selectors had panicked and picked him up. And as if there weren't enough cliched headlines about the Wall, he gave an altogether new dimesion - Creaking Terminators

3. The Quest of the Year - Like Godot we waited for HIS 100th 100.

Would it come at his favorite ground Chepauk? No. Against his favorite opponent Aussies? No. Arch-rivals Pakistan? No. World Cup final at home? No. Lords - the home of cricket? No. Trent Bridge? Headingley? Oval? No. Home tests - Kotla? No. Eden Gardens? No. Has to be Wankhede. Almost there. No, out for 94... 

The Indian fan awaits... It has to come at the MCG in the Boxing Day test (:D) 

4. KO'd by Kevin

The Irish beat the collection of nationalities playing for England. The chief architect of the victory Kevin O'Brien certainly got a story to tell, which he did as well with his book "Six after Six".

5. 47 all out - Madness at Newlands

How do you describe a situation in which Australia are at 9 down for 21 and still rated as the favorites to win the match? Quite a few unwanted records (from the batting perspective) were shattered while more were seriously threatened as a crazy match ended with Smith & Amla calmly guiding the hosts to victory. (Special mention for the spectacular implosion by the Lankans against England)

6. Zimbabwe re-enter Test fold and actually play Test cricket
Zimbabwe played a series of one-off Tests to mark their return to the Test arena. Beat Bangladesh, a losing fight with Pakistan and finally a close finish in a loss to the Kiwis, Zimbabwe certainly showed lots of spark and fight.

7. A run of close tests to end the year
Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, Australia vs South Africa, Australia vs New Zealand were all pretty tight. But none came as close as the seemingly dead India vs West Indies test at Wankhede. A final day which began with a draw as the only likely result ended in a photofinish. Just when you were about to say all 4 results were possible, the teams managed the 5th one - "We flippin' murdered 'em.



8. Spot-fixing verdict - Arrested for literally crossing the line

If you play with the feelings of the games lovers, you end up losing your freedom. Period.

9.  The Speakers

Sangakkara spoke. Dravid spoke. But the speech of the year was made by Virender Sehwag. At the post-match presentation after the World Cup opening game against Bangladesh. "This was a revenge match. Bangladesh can't play test cricket. Everyone except Sreesanth had a good game".
Special mention - Zaheer Khan's Quote - "As a bowling unit, I think I am doing well"

10. The debut Michelles
A clutch of bowlers got 5-fors on Test debuts. Bracewell, Ashwin, Philander, Elias, Cummins, Pattinson - best time to make your bowling debut.

A bonus 11th one - Norman Gordon of South Africa became the 1st cricketer to hit a century against Father Time. Well played Sir. 

Slipstream V - Cricketers of the Year - 2011

On the lines of Wisden Cricket Almanack, Slipstream Cricket has decided to announce its selection for the Cricketers of the Year. The list will comprise of 5 cricketers whom this blog believes to have had the maximum impact on the game in the year 2011. The selections are made solely on this blogger's bias. So the Slipstream V (Five) for 2011 (as they will be referred to) are as follows

1. Rahul Dravid (India)

The year started with Dravid's future under some cloud. The Test contributions had become average and calls were coming for infusing younger blood into the test lineup while he wasn't part of limited overs setup for quite some time. India went on to win the ODI World Cup and calls became louder. And then happened the West Indies tour. Another Kingston masterclass set up India's only test victory and the series victory. This was followed by a horror tour of England over the summer, where India were cleanly swept off the ground. Well, all of them except the man called "The Wall". 3 Test centuries in lost causes, carried his bat while opening the innings, became the 2nd highest run-getter in Tests, recalled to the limited overs setup (which prompted him to announce his retirement as well), debut and farewell in the same T20 match (his 3 consecutive sixes are my only T20 internationals memory of 2011) and then the 69 in his last ODI innings. At home against the West Indies another century followed. The Indian cricket fan learnt to respect Rahul Dravid once again. The oldest active Test player was also the highest run getter in this calendar year  with one test still to go. And if the on-field achievements were not enough came the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals for next year's IPL and the Bradman Oration. The Wall made every one sit up and listen as he delivered a master class with his speech. The "Creaking Terminator" was certainly back.

2. Brendan Taylor (Zimbabwe)

Zimbabwe had been a team in disarray since the highs of the 1999 World Cup. The multiple player walkouts and  the political environment had led to the team suspending its own Test status. The period also saw them drop below Ireland in ODI rankings. 2011 was the year they took baby steps back into the Test environment. A victory against Bangladesh, nearly pulling off a sensational chase against New Zealand and a battling loss to Pakistan, Zimbabwe cricket certainly showed that they still had the fight in them. And leading the way for them was the captain Brendan Taylor. His stupendous form with the bat certainly propped up the team. An unbeaten 2nd innings century to setup the victory over Bangladesh was follwed by some great performances against the Kiwis. Became the 1st Zimbabwean to hit back to back ODI hundreds against the Kiwis, followed by a 4th innings century in the close loss. With Taylor at the helm, some fresh talent coming up and some old hands returning, Zimbabwe cricket is certainly looking up.

3. Misbah-ul-Haq (Pakistan)

In 2011, Pakistan cricket threatened to their usual tragi-comic self. A good World Cup campaign (losing semi-finalists) was followed by the typical mess. Players chopped and changed, the captain Afridi retired and then unretired, ditto for Younis Khan, coach resigned, the spot-fixing accused were put in jail, there were whispers of a few others being involved, one Akmal replaced the other behind the stumps. In the meantime the on-field results were pretty good. The fast bowling supply never dried up, batsmen with a calm temperament also came into the picture. Misbah-ul-Haq was the man who presided over this on-field period of calm. Certainly his good batting form also helped (15 international 50s across formats in 2011), but it was his adept handling off the most unpredictable team in the world which picks him in the Slipstream V.

4. Hasim Amla (South Africa)
There is something about Amla. The bearded wonder personifies a sense of serenity all around. Certainly the best No. 3 in Test cricket (and he beats pretty stiff competition in the form of Trott, Sangakkara and Dravid for this title). Amla somehow seemed misfit for the limited overs cricket (maybe it has got something to with being a classical batsman), yet by the end of the year, a run of big scores at an average of 55+ at a very quick 90+ strike rate saw him captaining the South Africans in ODIs and T20s as well.

5. Vernon Philander (South Africa)
The man with a surname made for headlines (Philander bowls a maiden over :P). The newcomer of the year. He made his Test debut in 2011 and after a total of 3 tests has 4 "Michelles" and some 24 wickets at an average from the 19th century. The games may have been in his pace-friendly home conditions in South Africa but he managed to outshine his far more illustrious teammates Steyn & Morkel. Thats one great start to a career.

So this was the Slipstream V for 2011. More reviews of 2011 coming up.

Ranji Trophy 2011-12 - Jharkhand Update -2

Sometime back had written about Jharkhand's performance in the first 2 rounds of Ranji Trophy. Since then 3 more rounds have been held. here is a small piece on the team's performance. Jharkhand had collected a total of 3 points after the 1st 2 rounds and were placed at the bottom of the pile.

In the 3rd round Jharkhand took on Maharashtra at Nashik. Maharastra batted first and got to 460 with good contributions from their top order. The captain Shahbaz Nadeem picked up 4 wickets, while keeper Shiv Gautam had a good outing with 6 catches and a stumping. In reply Jharkhand were all out for 283 with Rameez Kemat & Gautam scoring half centuries. Following on Jharkhand managed 1 run less in their 2nd outing with opener Manish Vardhan getting 88. Maharastra was set a victory target of 106 runs which they achieved in 21 overs for the loss of 1 wicket. Points - Maharastra - 5, Jharkhand - 0.

The 4th round was a home game at Dhanbad against Assam. Assam racked up a big score of 502 in the 1st innings with 3 centurions. Shahbaz Nadeem was once again the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets for 170 runs in 61 overs, while Samar Quadri picked 3 for 158 in 51 overs. In reply, Ishank Jaggi scored a daddy hundred (188) while the keeper Shiv Gautam scored 82. The duo was involved in 200+ partnership. There were hardly any other contributions though and the team  conceded a big 1st innings lead. In the 2nd innings Assam's Dheeraj Jadhav scored his 2nd hundred of the match. Points: Assam -3 & Jharkhand -1.

The 5th & final round saw the team take on Goa at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur, the only ground to have hosted international cricket in the state. (India has probably their poorest home ODI track record in this ground, 1 win against 7 losses). Jharkhand batted first and managed 218 runs with Manish Vardhan top scoring with 84. In reply Goa were knocked out for 189 with Quadri picking a 5-for. 2nd time around Jharkhand scored 204 with Vardhan again top scoring with 67. Chasing a victory target of 234, Goa were seemingly cruising at 133/1 before collapsing to 188 all out. The spin duo of Nadeem & Quadri was once again in action with Nadeem taking 5 & Quadri 4. The 45 run victory gave Jharkhand 5 points for its only outright victory of the season while Goa got 0 points.

Overall Jharkhand finished with 9 points from its 5 matches and finished 4th in the group, thus failing to reach the play-offs. Absence of Aaron was definitely felt, though it was the poor form of the Saurabh Tiwary which hurt the team most. Manish Vardhan, Shiv Gautam & Ishank Jaggi were the regular contributors with the bat while Shahbaz Nadeem & Samar Quadri were good with the ball. 

Bad luck this time around, hopefully will do better next year.

P.S. Only 5 first class matches for the entire year sounds too little cricket to me. And all this within a 6 month period. Maybe a 3 level league with 9 teams each could be a better solution. That would ensure at least more matches for all teams. The Duleep Trophy & Deodhar trophy can be done away to ease out the calendar.

P.P.S. Once again thanks to the operator of the twitter handle @ranjiscores for doing a stellar job of providing regular score updates from across all matches happening in the Plate & Elite leagues. Something which BCCI should be doing through their own account.

Sir Rahul Dravid

"Not everything of value has a price"

If you are a cricket fan, listen to Rahul Dravid giving the Bradman Oration. 

If you are not a cricket fan, listen to Rahul Dravid giving the Bradman Oration. And you will become a cricket fan.

I thought Sangakkara's wonderful speech at the Colin Cowdrey Lecture would be the gold standard for speeches made by cricketers. Seems I had underestimated my own hero, the Wall. 

He spoke as one of the seniors of the game (him being the oldest active Test cricketer). His speech covered a wide range of topics. He talked about India's link with Australia (cricket and the British empire), their common enemy (?, England), India's romance with cricket, its love for records, the Indian player, the state of World cricket and problems facing it (balance of the 3 formats, overkill, spectatorless grounds, match-fixing), his own experience. It was well researched with just the dash of humour (Warne's eating habits, his own "slow" batting).  

The speech just showed what the man is all about. CLASS. 

Is 2011 going to be year when the cricket fans finally give Rahul Dravid the respect he has always deserved. (Slipstream Cricket would like to confer the title of Sir to Rahul Dravid)

Audio & text of the speech is available here. http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/545355.html

P.S. "Creaking Terminators" - WOW. Probably the best phrase to describe veteran sportspersons. Expect this to be overused in the days to come.

The Sign - Manoj Tiwary

After Ian Bell & Napolean Einstein, its the turn of Manoj Tiwary to take me into the cricinfo commentary section. (A bit narcissistic to keep a record of such things, but its always nice to read your name in print).

India in trouble at 1 for 2 (i.e. 2 wickets down for a single run) after 3 balls in the Chennai ODI. In this uncomfortable situation walked in Manoj Tiwary. The text commentator says Manoj Tiwary, making a comeback, walks in to face the hat-trick ball. Me sends in a feedback, which gets published before the start of the 3rd over.

"You say Manoj Tiwary on a comeback. Isn't he always. 6th match across 5 different series" Well said, Nishant

6th ODI across 5 different series. He was actually making a comeback in his debut as well. The first of the current generation to be selected for the Indian squad post the 2007 World Cup fiasco, Tiwary got injured in practice the day before his scheduled debut against Bangladesh. Rohit Sharma took his place. The debut came much later and then he was pushed back to the fringes with players like Raina, Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, Murali Vijay et al. Now having made a comeback in the fringe category he is getting the odd game in every series. This time around though he has made it count with a well compiled century. It was a shame that he couldn't go on and had to retire hurt due to cramps. But it was a pleasant surprise to see him field after retiring hurt.

Now, wondering if my comment was a "sign". Probably the comments publication had something to do with the hundred. (I am pretty superstitious when it comes to cricket)

P.S. Virender Sehwag must have become the 1st player to appear in a post-match presentation without playing in the match concerned. Surely a new record. ;)

Arbit Statistics - 15

Virender Sehwag plundered 219 runs over the hapless West Indies attack (ok... wrong word) at Indore to record the highest ever score in ODI cricket. Chris Gayle even described it as "child abuse" on twitter. And at the end of this innings, his career records present interesting numbers.

319 - Sehwag's highest score in First Class & Test cricket.

219 - Sehwag's highest score in List A & ODI cricket.

119 - Sehwag's highest score in T20 cricket

Unfortunately, the highest in T20 wasn't scored in an international game, where his highest is barely 68. Now if only he manages to get a 119 in T20I. Then the highest scores would present a neat reading.

Arbit Statistics - 14

The big event did not take place at the Wankhede today but another very rare event did take place.

R. Ashwin scored a century to follow with his Michelle becoming only the 3rd Indian ever to do so. The two prior ones being historic legends Vinoo Mankad & Polly Umrigar. (Pretty sure a five wicket haul wouldn't have been referred to as a Michelle then, Michelle Pfeiffer not having been born :P). Surprised to see Kapil Dev missing from that list. Full list of such happenings is here (Thank you Statsguru).

More Arbit Stats - India & West Indies batsmen have combined to score 11 50+ scores in the 2 innings between them, which is a new record for most 50+ scores. Here is the Statsguru evidence.

And also the 1st time ever all the top 6 batsman on both sides have scored a quarter century. Talk about a batting beauty.

200 Not Out

Rahul Dravid reached the milestone of 13,000 Test runs.

Sachin Tendulkar is more than half way in the attempt for the 100th international 100.

Darren Bravo is looking more and more like the man he is often compared to, Brian Lara.

Meanwhile, almost unnoticed, Slipstream Cricket (formerly called The Crickiblog) has reached its own special milestone of 200 posts (this being the 200th one). The 100th post milestone had been reached on the  blog's 1st birthday. Since then the strike rate has improved considerably and the 2nd 100 took less than 11 months.

How do I explain this improved strike rate? The cricket world cup happened for one (India won :D), which kept the months of February and March quite busy. My posting ability improved (:P). Or maybe I had nothing better to do and becoming a bigger cricket tragic than I already was. (But my other blog seems to have hit a writer's block and frequency of posts has deteriorated quite rapidly).

In the past one year, the blog has undergone a little bit of design changes. The Arbit Statistics have got a fully dedicated section for themselves, though they keep updating pretty fast. Also the blog has made acquaintance with fellow blogs on the matters of the gentleman's game. (Point to be noted -  the blog and not the blogger). It feels good to be mentioned around here and there.

As for the content, have decided that this is not a newspaper or a review site. And I do NOT have to cover all the goings on in the cricket world (but still follow up a lot). A lot can be left unwritten. But whenever there are some thoughts assembled they ought to be jotted down and posted. So these posts are becoming the random musings of a die-hard fanatic.

Nowadays, also being occasionally published at DHCF (Die Hard Cricket Fans). The posts get published as the editor wishes.

Finally, time for a dedications.

• To The Sledgehammer of Eternal Justice, for being the catalyst for the blog's genesis and its name.
• To BCCI, for making our team play non-stop, so that the lack of posts can never be blamed on the lack of cricketing events taking place. Laziness will take the blame here.
• To Pakistan cricket, its board and its players, for providing most of the off-field drama.
• To South Africa, for continuing their proud choking traditions.
• To Australia, for not being the dominant force that they were, so that sadist fans across the non-Australian world can gloat.
• To England for being the most entertaining team in the cricket world (so damned good in Tests and absolutely lousy in the ODIs).
• To Jharkhand for winning its first ever domestic trophy. Your deeds will be followed. (Aside - Can't think of any other blogger writing about Jharkhand cricket).
• To Rahul Dravid. Just for being Rahul Dravid.

To the next century.

P.S. Hoping I haven't jinxed it (You-know-who's You-know-what )

P.P.S Hobbies can be addictive

Vinod Kambli's allegations - Now is the time to speak out

As any cricket follower in the country would have been aware by now, Vinod Kambli has made some serious claims about the 1996 World Cup semi-finals. He claims that captain Mohammed Azharuddin went against the team's collective decision of batting first and chose to field instead. The match was later to be abandoned due to crowd trouble in India's innings and a crying Vinod Kambli leaving the field.



Any match-fixing claim has to be taken very seriously. These things have happened. Players have been banned, fined and now even jailed for such crimes. But its also very easy to make allegations about past events, where only the word of one person against the other stands.

In this case the credibility of the allegations is a bit low. The events happened 15 years ago. Given Vinod Kambli's recent antics, his trust level is pretty low. He was a case of talent truly wasted as a player. Thrown out of team on disciplinary grounds, making controversial TV apppearances (Sach Ka Saamna & Bigg Boss), announcing his retirement from cricket some 7-8 years after being dropped him from the Mumbai Ranji team, Going on proclaiming his friendship with Sachin Tendulkar on all possible forums. Sounds like a person who is despearate to be in news always.

Here the allegations have been made against a former India captain who is under a life ban from cricket for match-fixing based on evidence collected by CBI. So Azhar provides an easy target for such allegations.

If I remember correctly, all the analysts during the World Cup had agreed that Sri Lankans were very good at chasing down targets Performances against India, England certainly justify this claim. Even in the final they chose to chase against Australia knowing fully well that all the previous winners had batted first in the finals. So putting Sri Lanka into bat first seemed a logical decision. There was also talk of using a spinner to counter the marauding Sri Lankan openers in the inital overs. So Kumble opened the bowling with Srinath. Then there was the evening dew factor. Taking these factors into account bowling first does seem to be a logical decision. The one error was misreading the pitch. The pitch had become an unknown quantity due to opening ceremony fiasco. Given all these factors Azhar would have been roasted if he had decided to bat first.

Now coming to Kambli's remarks. He says Navjot Sidhu was all padded up to open. The toss hadn't been held till then. What if Rantunga had won the toss. Then there are claims of this being his last game when the truth is he played on and off for another 4 years. Also the timing of the allegations make no sense. He could have come out in the open then or when the match-fixing scandal came up in 2000. Why did he keep silent all these years?

Is there any truth in Kambli's allegations? I don't know. The only people who can answer are the other members of the 1996 campaign. So far the manager Ajit Wadekar, and other players like Sanjay Manjrekar, Nayan Mongia and Venkatpathy Raju and Azhar himself have already rubbished Kambli's claims. But it is very important that the other players like Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath et al, whose credibility cannot be questioned speak out. This is certainly not a time of maintianing a dignified silence. Its time to come out in the open and speak out. You owe this to the Indian fan.

Arbit Statisitcs - 13

India beats West Indies by an Innings & 16 runs at Eden Gardens. With this loss Shivnaraine Chanderpaul has now taken over from former team mate Brian Lara as the player with most test losses of all time (64 and counting). Says a lot of the quality of the recent West Indies teams and Chanderpaul's longeveity and importance to West Indies.

It was a bad day for Lara in statistical terms in general. Kallis has crossed him to be the 4th highest Test run getter on the opening day of 2nd Test vs Australia.

And in further Lara news, his heir apparent & cousin Darren Bravo has got the same runs (941) and average (47.05) after 12 Tests as Lara.

Update to Arbit Statistics
Arbit Statistics - 9 : With 2 sixes in his innings of 117, Rahul Dravid has broken his run of never having hit more than one six in a single Test innings.

 

Arbit Statistics - 4: West Indies by scoring 463 have broken India's record of most runs in an innings in an innings defeat.

 

These statistics are changing pretty fast now :)