A classical shot from Sachin Tendulkar is no big deal. He is expected to do so, all the time. Poor performance from such experts hurts like criminal offence – “Oh damn! How could he do this!” However it becomes a big deal when someone who isn’t expected to face any balls stands through overs and even scores runs – “Wow man! How could he do this!” A tailender could make you feel as happy as a dog is when it is wagging its tail. Interestingly these days tails wag quite often.

Well, this doesn’t have to be a tongue twister of a read. It is a simple observation that lower order batsmen are no more afraid of being at the crease. This courage could be because of the T20 culture which has brought out the pinch hitter in the likes of Harbhajan Singh. The cheekiest remark that he has made in the press was before last year’s India-Australia series – “watch out for my batting” is what he had to say to his favorite rivals. He almost pulled it off along with Praveen Kumar in a recent match.

Praveen Kumar doesn’t only swing the ball both ways but he swings himself too, between the ball and bat I mean. He has been an all rounder for Uttar Pradesh. If I was collecting only Indian specimen then choicest of the current lot would be Amit Mishra for redefining the role of a night watchman. On both the occasions that he has been sent for this task he has batted like a true batsman with some classic shots in his armor. I once asked an old veteran bowler how it feels to be assigned the task to bat ahead of specialist batsmen, to which he replied that only the players with some batting capacity would be sent in as a night watchman and thus it becomes a good opportunity for them to score. Of course no one would’ve asked Courtney Walsh to do so. No matter how entertaining it could’ve been.

Nowadays even the eleventh man doesn’t put up a dramatic display of nerves, except for a little fumble by someone like Ashish Nehra. I think I once saw him take a sigh of relief when he took a single to rotate strike. However in the previous India-South Africa ODI he put up a brave show. Sadly he gave away the runs he scored while defending.

These are just a few instances of substantial efforts by tailenders, that too from recent Indian matches. This makes me question how many of these have translated into wins for their teams. I can’t think of any such scenarios. Contribution of tailenders is at best a bonus for the team’s score. Sometimes it could be a saving grace, but it is far from being the case of a tail that can wag the dog.

This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash

We never considered Bangladesh as competition, and another set of contests with Sri Lanka right after their Indian tour couldn’t have been a much awaited event. But the Indian fan doesn’t mind this overdose. Cricket is like phenergan syrup – addictive, has heavy sedative effects, and is available over the counter.

However India-Bangladesh tests have acted like B-complex tablets for Bangladesh. While the matches gave them valuable experience, Sehwag’s remark effused spirit of challenge in the team. If this helps improve the lowest ranked test team then it in turn enhances the overall quality of test cricket. I hope other star teams would also do their bit and not series with Bangladesh.

Continuing with the thoughts on promoting test cricket, I believe that the upcoming South Africa visit is a significant one. The cricketing world would look forward to the contest where the top ranked teams take on each other and settle the ongoing debate over the numero uno position.

Ever since Indian team achieved number one ranking many critics have doubted whether they would stay at the top for too long. When someone said that the team doesn’t have it in them – ‘it’ being the bowling attack – Zaheer Khan earned “Man of the Series” award. When someone said that India isn’t playing enough tests, the cricket board promptly planned two matches with South Africa, that too at the cost of two ODIs.

If there are anymore criteria to be satisfied then I hope that they are expressed very soon. Because now is the time for all of it to be duly taken care of. This can prove to be a golden era for the test format if India takes it on them to maintain the number one position. I don’t think that the captain would now repeat his diplomatic remarks about not considering rankings while playing. For once they should stick their neck out and say that they are out to silence the critics and camp at the peak for a good while. After all this feat is not just a matter of pride for the country but it could also prove to be a big boom in the falling market value of test cricket.

This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash

It’s that time of the year again when you sprain your neck looking back and crane your neck peeking ahead. However cricket intellectuals have been working out this complicated routine the whole year through. ICC has reached its century and is now working on consolidating its innings. It has been the time to review and analyze the pulse of cricket. Should tests be put on ventilators? How to keep ODIs alive? Should we amputate a few overs? Is there an overdose of T20? These are just some of the big questions for the big people, or so they tell us.

We, the smaller people are busy with the toad of small things. We that is – me and Buffie – Candy’s frog prince. I introduced them to you in the previous post. I could’ve told you again but I am feeling lazy or assume that I just want to make sure that you didn’t miss reading it. If you are a TV audience then you wouldn’t mind this replay. Buffie doesn’t. He dedicatedly follows every ball and all its replays. His patience often irritates Candy who would rather have him watch EPL or a grand slam. She thinks it’s cool and classy unlike cricket which is very janta. Can’t blame her, she has a second hand link with cricket – through TV. But Buffie doesn’t miss an opportunity to be in the stadium. He wears team jersey and paints his cheeks in tricolour. TV cameras hunt for him. He lets his emotions rise and fall with the ball. Radio commentators speak for him.

Buffie is the rare die-hard breed. Not all fans have such immunity. Most of them have had their passion contaminated by various scandal viruses. They have developed cynical antibodies. When a settled player gives away his wicket they think that he has been bought. When a team loses a close match they say that it has been fixed. They were betrayed once. Innocence was lost and now they’ve learnt not to trust. I wonder if this disillusionment figures anywhere on the list of big challenges.

Perhaps it doesn’t. Otherwise the demigods would be careful about their image and their institution will open its lavishly carved halls to public. They would clarify the reasons that keep the wasim-zaffars from being selected. They would operate transparently. They would own up to their answerability to the billions. They would give back to the community. They would do the needful for increasing the quality of cricket. They would respect the people who visit the stadiums and not look at them as extra-actors gathered to create an exciting atmosphere for TV viewers.

Could any of these be New Year’s resolution for cricket administrators? Do we, the small people figure?

This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash

Today is a national holiday. The neighborhood boys are making the most of their free time and the pleasant winter afternoon. They are playing cricket – the original gully cricket. This is different from the cricket I watched yesterday at Kotla, in scope and essence. The local noisy bunch is enjoying a break from work, while the players at the stadium were at work.

On any given day you reach the workplace, take stock of matters, gear-up, and get on with the job – that’s how the routine commences – team meeting, warm-up, pad-up, and get on with the match.

My first impressions of watching two of the top ODI teams at work were that they could be any other crew. The teams were engrossed in warm-up almost oblivious of the countless awed eyes. The most visible in the Indian gang were Ishant Sharma because of his height and Suresh Raina because of his agility. MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, and other stars stood out as they would’ve in any part of the cricketing world. And, one placid gentleman could be tracked for what he is – Sachin Tendulkar. Ask Sachin if his genius comes in the way of his job. Or just watch him fielding in the deep, swinging his arms and looking around in between balls. He would seem to be just another guy switching off in between tasks, instantly readying up as the boss rolls in. “Is it coming my way?” – the boss, i.e. the bowl. The younger lot fielding in critical positions could well be bankers dealing with massive cash transactions. They must have their eye constantly on the money.

The bowlers could be Quality Assurance testers meticulously inspecting the worth of their subjects with test cases contrived for each batsman under various conditions and scenarios. They have to be unsparing and persistently hunting for a loophole, aiming for the blockhole. Its just their job, they have nothing personal against the batsmen. You can even see some easygoing blokes kidding a batsman between deliveries. It could be Yuvraj Singh whom Kevin Pieterson doesn’t take seriously. Or it could be Ashish Nehra the awkward joker who could seem like Batman’s Joker to his victim batsmen. Why so serious? But you better be serious with Harbhajan Singh, especially if you hail from the kangaroo land and ever sported dreadlocks.

The batsmen could be stockbrokers following the rise and fall of bowls and trying to capitalize on each. The experienced ones can judge the bowls better and invest smartly. That’s why teams still rely on experienced players like Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, and Jacques Kallis. On the other hand there are some aggressive investors like Virendra Sehwag going for small cap funds. Batting style depends on an individual’s temperament just the way investment portfolio depends on a person’s risk taking appetite. All in all, there is as much technique involved as instinct.

Bankers, testers, stockbrokers, any other workers, or cricketers, all work according to the demand of their jobs. People queued up in a bank or spectators on a cricket field look on with their own expectations and perceptions. While bankers or cricketers take to the job like another day at work.

This post was published on my blog HOOKed! at Cricket Aakash