WI Look to Revive Cricket back Home

Team which has seen the highs of 70s look to resurrect the sport back home
With Chris Gayle and a solid middle order with inclusion of Sarwan in the lineup, West Indies may still spring a surprise in the subcontinent, ala 1996.
With the cricket world cup just days away, in the days leading up to the opener at Dhaka, I’ll be analyzing chances of eight top test playing nations for the coveted crown. Today I look at the West Indies.

After a long deliberation and contractual issues surrounding the top brass of the side, the squad from the Caribbean has been announced with the inclusion of all the four members which, either were not part of the contracts or had voluntarily skipped it.

There’s a lot going on with the West Indies at the moment and most of it has been away from the playing field. With IPL contracts coming in way of a few players obliging for national duties and players not being payed there past due match fees, the WICB has faced turbulence like never before. However as the world cup approach and as we look at the squad, all do not seem lost. In fact the side looks a strong one barring a tear away fast bowler, like a Fiedel Edwards. Having seen the exploits of Chris Gayle in India in 2002 and the stunning 50+ average of Ramnaresh Sarwan in Indian conditions were the side plays five of their six group games, I am pretty certain that the team is going to give every top side a run for their money.

Yes off course, they are not one of the hot favorites to be in Mumbai on April 2nd, but I would not be surprised if they come very close of doing so. With the likes of Chris Gayle and Sarwan at the top of the order and a destroyer in Kerein Pollard lower down the order, it will be interesting to look at how the competitors in its group look at West Indies which I believe will carry a surprise package in the tournament. This squad has played the least number of ODIs in the last year or so and that could work firmly in the two time world champions favor, as not many sides would have experienced the torment of Pollard who I feel is even dangerous than even Afridi. He took his Caribbean franchise T&T to a stunning win couple of seasons back in the champions league T20. Same can be said of Darren Sammy the captain and Adrian Barath who, I believe will partner Gayle.

When the premiere event was held in the subcontinent last time around some fourteen years back, no one gave Richie Richardson’s men a hope, things got worse when Kenya produced a most famous upset of the world cup in Pune. But the team fought back and toppled Australia in the league phase before Brian Lara produced a magnificent knock at Faisalabad to rip apart a strong South Africa line up and take his side to the semi finals. They lost by just five runs at Mohali, collapsing from 170 odd for three to be bowled out for 202. Hence, to say that West Indies have got no chance whatsoever this time around, would be a naivety, however it does not by any mean make them the hot favorites.

Weaknesses lie in their spin attack, with pitches in India responsive to finger spinners; I can’t see the likes of Sulaimann Benn or Nikita Miller bringing nightmares to opposing batsmen on the eve of the matches. Similarly the fragility in the lower middle order means that Sarwan, Chandrapaul and Gayle have to fire in order to post high totals which will be required under those conditions. The ideal scenario would certainly be if Gayle can fire on the cylinders in the first fifteen and then likes of Bravo, Chandrapaul and Sarwan carry the side to the last dozen before the team unleashes Pollard and Sammy in the batting power play. But as with everything in this world, nothing goes to script, because if it did then there is no fun in doing anything. And that is where the biggest hurdle of the West Indies lies. I do not see any other players taking responsibility in times of crisis. If Gayle fails to deliver and the middle order folds in a couple of games, the team does not have a Yusuf Pathan, or a Misbah ul Haq to take them out of the mires. Similarly if two of the regular bowlers get cartered all over the park (which is perhaps a strong certainty on Indian tracks), the team do not seem to have aYuvraj or Sehwaag, who can come in and bowl a few overs on dustbowls. Yes they have in Pollard, Sammy and Bravo, three genuine all rounders, however they all are medium pacers and its that monotonous attack that could sink the side.

Taking all these aspects into consideration I believe it will be tough for the West Indies to even reach the knock out stage, but if they manage to do so, then I will not count them out to go all the way as they have the firepower in the batting to topple any side. On a final note as a cricket lover, I would love to see this team does well as the sport needs it. People back home are diverting away from cricket to various American sports, a successful world cup campaign would go a long way in resurrecting cricket in the Caribbean

Kiwis Look To Bounce Back from the Mires

After having faced humiliating whitewashes at the hands of lowly Bangladesh and a grade C India line up, New Zealand will be aiming to turn the tables come 19th Feb.
The most amazing part of playing in the subcontinent in the months of Feb, March and April is that the pitches would be conducive to hit through the line and even batsmen with mediocre technique would look like a million dollar. Hence, players who would struggle in seaming and bouncy conditions say in Newzealand, England or South Africa would end up making loads of runs when they come down to places like India and Bangladesh. This is the reason why I believe Newzealand may still have a slim hope of producing outstanding results in the coming world cup, because otherwise, the side looks devoid of firepower in bowling as well as batting.

Having said that, kiwis have always had a team with no big players in it, barring Richard Headlee, so anyone counting them out can do at his/her peril. But a lack of genuine all-rounder, someone like a Chris Cairns or Chris Harris (remember that 131 against Aus in 1996 WC), could mean that there long tail be exposed against the spin and guile of Murali, Mendis and Harbhajan.

Off course they have in Jacob Oram, a hard hitting all rounder down the order, but over the years injuries and form have taken a toal on this lanky 2metre giant. I was going through his performances in the last couple of editions of the premiere event, and that conspicuously tells me that a lot would depend on him if New Zealand have to go deep into the championships. He took 14 wickets at an average of 21.07 in the ICC CWC 2003 and then scored 165 runs at an average of 33.00 and took 10 wickets at an average of 25.20 at the ICC CWC 2007. Apart from him, the team will be more dependent on the likes of McCullum brothers, Taylor, Ryder and Vettori. Also I am impressed by the pace and aggression of Hamesh Bannett who resembles Shane Bond in more than one ways.

So where does New Zealand look weak if the side has decent batting and bowling. Well the weakness lies in the application, or lack of it shown by both, the batsmen and bowlers while playing in the sub continent. They start decently against pace on flat decks, but go in their shells even against part time spinners which puts immense pressure on the lower order to up the ante come the final straight of the innings. As is termed in athletics, the race is won and lost from the final bend onwards to the finish line and that is where kiwis are faltering. If they do not apply themselves and keep playing as if this is a T20 big bash, then the results would continue to be dismal.

Fifty overs today is a long time, a span in which you can lose early wickets and still rebuild to a sizeable total, or a period in which you can get hit for 90 in the first ten and still bowl out the opposition for a meager target. Hence John Wright, along with Vettori and company need to strategize in a manner through which, the team can play at a nice pace and yet preserve wickets for the batting power play and the final assault. I always believe when sides play in subcontinent, it is the batting which makes the difference.

Another aspect of their game which I am sure any kiwi supporter would be frustrated with, is the continuous shuffling at the top of the order. India toured down under in 2009 and the way Ryder played then, showed that he is born to open and smash from bowl one, more so on the featherbeds in the heat of Mumbai and Bangalore, than anywhere else. Yet, the team management is trying out different players at the opening slot. If Brandon McCullum is not keeping and you have Ryder in the eleven, will have no doubts in my mind to open with both of them in the world cup. Also I do not see a place for Jamie How in the side, as apart from one blistering knock against England in 2008, have not seen him either, score briskly or stay at the wicket like a Kallis or a sedate Dhoni, major part of the innings. The selectors could have looked at other batsmen for the middle order as opening would require the players to score quickly in world cup conditions.

Looking at their group, I see that they will face tough opposition with Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Kenya to content with, apart from Australia. The first three sides have got top notch to decent quality spinners in their ranks and hence it would be interesting to watch the kiwis tackle all these teams. As for the match against Australia, it sounds strange but I believe Newzealand have their best chance in this one with Hauritz getting injured and no Hussey in the ausie lineup, kiwis might just topple the kangaroos.

After taking all these considerations, I believe the team is devoid of a genuine bowling all rounder and has a slightly longer tail than others. If the top 3, that is McCullum, Ryder and Taylor do not fire, I see them struggling against quality spin. Hence for me, they will do well to reach quarters, similar to the West Indies.

The National Predicament of Holding Sporting Events

With the commonwealth games just days away, Authorities in India shiver after shambolic pre games preparation efforts that have been protracted over half a decade.

It was a day of elation and celebration as the biggest democracy of the world got hold of, what was thought at that point, a giant step towards holding the Olympics or the soccer world cup. But, that was more of an ambition of a nation looking to be a world power by 2020, today; this all seems a fairytale turned into a nightmare. But being from the same part of the world, this has not come as a surprise for me. Except for Cricket, which is more of a religion in India, the nation lags miles behind the world in terms of facilities and infrastructure. So much so, that few of the world events before this fiasco were on the brink of being shifted to Europe or Australia.
If anyone has interest in field hockey, he would remember the kind of administrative struggle IHF (Indian Hockey Federation) faced earlier this year in holding the world cup. So much so, that the federation was dissolved and elections were held in lightning speed to bring a sort of transparency at the helm. An infrastructure failure lead to a disastrous badminton world championships a few years back with water dripping at the indoor stadium . Hence this is not the first time and with the things the way it is, this does not look like the last time.
So, what is wrong with a nation that has got world class sportspersons, scholars and business minds? Someone alien to conditions in India would be asking why is the nation so much obsessed about holding world events when it struggles to do so? The answer lies in the kind of commitment organizers, administrators and the national government shows in something that do not directly impact them in person. Well, then how come the same country boasts of two successful cricket world cups and the path breaking Asian Games of 1982. Again, the answer lies in the level of commitment.

Let’s look at cricket, a sport run by an autonomous body, BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India). Jagmohan Dalmiya, the head of the BCCI during the mid 90s vowed to make cricket a marketable commodity. He was the kingpin in bidding and winning the right to host the 1996 world cup cricket jointly with neighboring Pakistan and Sri Lanka. A path breaking event, which showed India as a nation which means business and which is second to none. But, all this did not happen in matter of days. From the day the vision of an event of such magnitude was thought off, till the day the first ball of practice matches were bowled, BCCI did everything to make the event, one of a lifetime, and by the time the final was held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, the board and the world cup organizing committee received unprecedented praise from all over the world. Yes, in 1996, the infrastructure was more or less ready, but how? It was because in 1987, with the world cup looming, Raj Singh Dongarpur marketed the event to the corporate world from which a clothing and warehouse firm came forward to sponsor the event. Again a kind of effort that the commonwealth games of today yearns for. Imilarly, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister of India, took the things in her hands in order to make the 1982 Asian Games a showcase to show the world where India stands after three and a half decade of independence. Hence if we look closely, the one thing common to these three organizational success is a sense of pride and a level of sheer commitment on the part of the government and administrator in order to showcase the best they have to offer.

Now, let us analyze how India went about the commonwealth games. The nation bid for the games as it had done a few times before, may be having a notion that the bid may fail again. Ironically and should I say against the expectations of the bid committee the only other nation reaching the final bid stage was Canada. Since the North American nation wanted to host the winter Olympics, it did not go full fledge for the other bid and hurray, India gets the chance to host the second largest games in terms of nations after the Olympics.

This clearly shows the fault start to a marathon of hosting a global sporting event that started about six years back. The marathon turned into a 100 meter dash which is now right at the home stretch and probably that is a real life proof why a fault start means a fresh start for any athletic event. But in the case of CWG 2010, it transformed into an ordeal which I fear may end up marring the image of a nation which is aiming to be shanghai by 2015.

Hence I believe, unless administrators, like the sports minister who compares this event to a typical Indian wedding in which everything is haphazard before the main ceremony but on the D Day all falls in place, are replaced by event management gurus, India will remain an aspirant of hosting an Olympics.

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Tendulkar, The bradman of ODI

December 1989, national stadium, Karanchi. A one day international, which was turned into an exhibition match because of poor light conditions turned out to be a turning point in not only the cricket history of India, but, the sport as a whole.

Sachin Tendulkar, at the age of 16 years took on the might of the Pakistan bowling attack, with the likes of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan, and Abdul Qadir, with such ease and authority that for once Imran Khan complemented the young boy by suggesting that he is the only tiger in a team of lambs. For a player Pakistan to shower such accolades on an Indian player was thoroughly unprecedented, most of the cricket fraternity took notice of that particular innings and a star was in the making. Just for those who do not know, Tendulkar smashed Abdul Qadir for three consecutive sixes, and that was after he took apart Waqar and Imran. India lost the match by just five runs but Tendulkar won a billion hearts.

I have been following the cricket as well as the life and times of Tendulkar from this very day, and I had no doubts in my mind that one day this prodigy from Mumbai would break Sunil Gavaskar’s records, but I had no idea as to the zenith of his achievements. Last week, he did what many thought was beyond him.
When you think of someone who has been a stalwart in his discipline over two decades, who has mystified the world with his eloquent behavior of the field and has mesmerized the world by his stroke making on it, you would say, what is left for him to achieve? What drives him to go all out each time he is on the field. I guess the answer lies in his passion for the sport. The drive and urge to just play for India, no more and no less.

It has been months since last time I wrote anything on this site, and am as lazy as the fat lady to write these days, but it’s a pure pleasure when it comes to putting thoughts together for a person who has been the epitome of success for over two decades. Today Sachin boasts of innumerable records in both forms of the game. If there were no bradman, tendulkar would have been the king of cricket by a long way. It is just unfortunate that we cannot have the great Don and the Bombay bomber playing in the same era. The debate over who is better between the two has again got momentum with Tendulkar smashing 200 in a one day knock. I feel there should not be any debates over matters which are generations apart. Bradman played in an era when pitches were uncovered, matches use to take place under what we call today, bad light and poor field conditions, add to that the bodyline series which caught, all accept the great bradman, by surprise. Apart from that there was a small matter of the Ausie playing without any protective gears. This all leads me to think that if he were playing today, even with brilliant fielding, analytical tools, enhancement in bowling skills, Sir Don would have scored with the same rate and average as he did about seven decades back.

Think of it, if we look seven decades further, we may get someone playing akin to Sachin and then there would be a further debate as the one doing the rounds today, hence I believe these comparisons would continue eternally.

Hence its better to concentrate on the present. Today and arguably till now, there has been no batsman apart from Tendulkar, who have taken the one day cricket by storm.He is growing in stature and performance with time. After the catastrophe of the 2007 world cup, it seems the genius have found a motivation in adversity to perform at the helm and lead India to what many see his only uncherished dream, a world cup win. One of the television commentators once said, statistics are like short skirts, they reveal more than they could hide. Same goes for the man who currently holds the record for most number of centuries, most runs, most half centuries, most man of the match awards, and the most recent, highest individual innings score in one day internationals, he is simply the best the one day game has seen and may remain the best for a long time to come.

Today, as the world of cricket has been taken over by the Lalit Modis and the IPL, there are very few batsmen who would attract more than capacity crowds to test matches, Virender Sehwaag is one and to an extent Gilchrist or Hayden in their prime may have done the same, but is their a better sight than watching Tendulkar go on the front foot to a seaming delivery and punching it down the ground for a trademark boundary? Would anyone care if that shot is played in a test or a twenty -twenty? I guess not, and that’s what makes greats like Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, special.
People struggle to come to terms with his balance on field and in life. Carrying the burden of more than a billion people, Tendulkar has been a true ambassador of the sport. I hope that in the remaining career of his the batting genius would continue to bedazzle the world with his master class on the field and his humility of it.

Sachin Tendulkar, The greatest Cricketer from India

On becoming the highest run getter in test cricket, I present before you as to why he is regarded one of the gentleman of sport.
15TH November 1989, a 16 year old boy took to the field in a pot boiler of a test match at Karanchi. At that point of time, no one would have imagined that nearly 19 years later, he would be regarded as one of the greats of the sport.
At the PCA ground in Mohali this week, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar would be looking to overhaul perhaps the most coveted record that cricket has; of being the player to aggregate most runs in test history. Although, the fact that he was to reach this feat was pretty evident years ago with the way he has been batting over the years, now that he has reached that milestone is auhas been a consistent perform throughout his career. Apart from that, Tendulkar has been a magnificent ambassador for the nation as well as the sport. And that’s exactly what makes him a legend. There have been players of similar if not better talent and performance than him, but what sets him apart is his ability to conduct himself on and off the field.
There has hardly been any controversy related to him, the Mike Dennis saga was the only time his name came to the forefront, when he was accused of tampering with seam of the ball and thereby bringing the sport to disrepute, but he came out of that with flying colors. We have seen the likes of Brian Lara, Ricky Ponting, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne, but when it comes to a complete champion, none of them can match this Mumbaikar. He has been a picture of concentration on the field and a true gentleman off it. I have never seen him show any sort of reaction to umpiring decisions, and he has had some horrendous shockers in the long career of his.
Even after amassing nearly 30,000 international runs and smashing over 80 international centuries, Sachin has been a player who has always come up and helped the youngsters. He has been polite and down to earth like an ordinary person. Everybody knows what he has achieved on the field, but what sets him apart is his tremendous conduct and respect for people and the sport. During one of the tours abroad, he went to the venue riding on the floor of the bus. The reason for that can be anything but for him to agree for that was amazing.
He has opened the batting order in one day internationals when Navjot Sidhu was ill on a seaming track at Eden Park in Auckland and smashed the bowling to all parts of the ground for a magnificent 82 off 49 balls. After that there was no looking back. People have said time and again that Sachin plays for records, but I feel most of his two decades in the national side has been spent when the team lacked strength in the batting order and he had no option but to play his part. I do not think that he played selfishly at any point, its just that after playing over 150 tests and 400+ ODIs, you are bound to speculate on some of his innings.

Talking about Innings of his, I would like to point out few of them which shows why he is a master with the willow. Five of his best knocks over the illustrious couple of decades. Top of the ladder remains an innings of substance that launched Tendulkar into limelight. 114* at Perth in 1992, an innings that was played against the tide, batting on arguably the fastest track in the world at that point of time, against a bowling line up of Hughes, McDermott and Reid. That was arguably the best knock I have seen him play. Next in line would be 136 against Pakistan at Chennai, just like the previous one, this one also could not help India win the test but they were parrelesly close in doing so. India lost by 12 runs and Tendulkar was weeping in the dressing room, most of his innings, the maestro was nursing a back spasm.
Another test knock of his is of course 116 against the Ausies at Melbourne in 1999. The boxing day test went to the hosts but Sachin stood out tall amongst the ruins. Edgebaston 1996 is another occasion when Tendulkar tried his level best to take India out of a hopeless situation with a well compiled century on a treacherous track. Last but not the least is the century at Newlands in Cape Town. 169 and a tremendous partnership with the then captain Mohammed Azharuddin.
I hope in the remaining days of his career, he can rewrite the history books further.

Author: Asif Islam, A dedicated sports lover since 1989, following closely the various aspects of popular sports worldwide. Writting articles and analytical reports on players and events since 2003.Email - asif2311@rediffmail.com