A Common Fan’s Sports Diary

Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya are arguably two of the greatest and most destructive openers in the modern one –day game – the era in which innovations like fielding restrictions enhanced the firepower of opening batsmen. Had they played Twenty-20 cricket in their prime, they would have achieved the same distinction in this form of the game as well.

As cricket fans who conjecture about fantasy situations all the time, we have also often wondered what these two could have achieved together. Would they have formed one-day cricket’s dream opening pair, the way the likes of Jordan and Magic Johnson got together to from the Dream Team?

The two had come together for the Mumbai Indians last year but being well past their prime, we hadn’t found the answer to either question – how they would have played together and how they would have fared in Twenty-20 cricket.

On this day we got an answer to both as SachinTendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya circa 1996 World Cup played as well as any opening pair has ever played in Twenty-20 cricket. It was as if the cricketing gods gave this form of the game their official blessing by granting both Tendulkar and Jayasuriya one day’s worth of their youthful, attacking best to add a touch of magic to Twenty -20 cricket. Blessed are those who got to see it.

The risk of having a foreign player as captain

An IPL side almost always has an embarrassment of foreign riches – they can easily replace one quality foreign player with another one. On the other side, they have a limited number of Indian Internationals and cannot afford to bench them for lack of options. This creates an interesting predicament for teams with foreign captains. Teams are supposed to maximize the returns from their foreign brigade. But what do they do if the foreigner –captain is underperforming.

They have players in reserve to replace the captain but will they actually take that drastic measure, for fear of dampening team morale. So is it a good idea to have a foreign captain if that leaves your side susceptible to such a handicap.

The Pragyan Ojha ‘two overs only’ theory

Pragyan Ojha has arguably been the best bowler in the IPL so far and hence Adam Gilchrist’s tactic of bowling him for only two overs left all of us baffled. When asked about it, Gilly explained, “I probably made a mistake. Gave Ojha only two overs, had a theory in my mind but it didn’t work. I won’t reveal that theory about Ojha”.

The only theory I can think of, is that Gilly probably reckoned that Ojha’s incoming deliveries would be perfect for the left-handed big hitters – Oram and Morkel – to have a go at. And hence he bowled his part-time offies – Venugopal Rao and Rohit Sharma. But then again, Ojha had already dismissed the biggest lefty hitter of them all – Mathew Hayden. The way Ojha is bowling right now, there can never be a bad time to bowl him. Chennai had been rocked by Ojha’s twin strikes and most captains would have gone in for the kill by bowling their best bowler, which in this case happened to be Ojha himself.

Strategic time-outs – persist and innovate further

For all the criticism it has received, the time-outs add an interesting dimension to the game and should be persisted with. In fact it should be improved upon further by giving each team a ten minute time-out at any point in the game, rather than the pre-decided ones at the ten over mark. It will give both sets of coaches a useful weapon to pull the game back, if it is running away from their side at any stage of the match. That is how it is in the NBA and any fan will tell you that it is an integral element of the game. A measure of the coach’s tactical acumen is how well he uses the time-outs at his disposal. It does break the rhythm but what is wrong in that. Treat it as an additional challenge and learn to handle it.

Time to uncork R Ashwin

Spinners have been the flavour of IPL 2009. R Ashwin played the opening game for the Super Kings but didn’t bowl as Dhoni preferred to let his pacers do all the bowling. Since then, Murali has been the only spinner in the Chennai line-up. Other teams had already figured out that when it came to spinners in this edition of the IPL, it was a case of the more the merrier. Dhoni finally grasped this mantra with his successful use of super part-timer Suresh Raina. Ashwin is a class act, who impressed in the one-day challenger trophy and is part of the list of 32 probables for the World Cup in England. Adding him to the pace heavy line-up should be the easiest thing that Chennai can do to return to winning ways.

Dude of the Day – Sachin Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.

Dud of the Day – Brendon McCullum

Read all the IPL Daily Doses so far

The IPL was expected to be different in South Africa, but no one would have expected so many things to change.

The crowd and the atmosphere in the stadium was a pale shadow of the frenzy of the 2008 edition but that was on expected lines. What really took us by surprise, and pleasantly so, was the return to sanity for bowlers of all kinds. The run-rate on day one was a measly 6.68 and atleast half a dozen bowlers had outstanding outings as compared to just three batsmen. The pitches in South Africa are not averse to big hitting but they ask more from a batsmen – it isn’t as easy as the sub-continental wickets to just stand and plunder. Additionally, they embellish the bowler’s arsenal, creating a more even and more honest contest between bat and ball.

This created the ideal situation for Tendulkar, Dravid and Kumble to make their mark on the game. Suddenly the ‘Icons’ from last time have really started to look like one. I am sure VVS Laxman can’t wait to get to the middle.

This also changes the outlook of the squads. With bowlers becoming more potent, sides with depth in bowling are looking better than ever. The greater challenges for batsmen would have also raised the spirits of the so called solid players – the likes of Chanderpaul in RCB and Collingwood in DD appear quite invaluable.

The other refreshing change was the capitulation of the two finalists from last time. Two well-rounded sides with brilliant leaders were humbled. It would have put to rest the fears that the gulf in quality between the high flying and low lying sides from 2008 would be widened further in 2009, leading to a slew of one-sided games. While it will be too early to throw the form guide out of the window, one can definitely look forward to a more closely fought out league this time round.

First impressions

Mumbai were one of the favourites and look very good with their impressive array of bowlers. The solidity at the top of the order will also come in handy.

Chennai’s batsmen looked very rusty and the side failed to even mount a charge towards the end. The think-tank needs to get the selection right. However, they are a loaded side and have the resources to ring in the changes.

Bangalore benefitted from two of their ‘test’ players and could play a few more. Their bowling looks better than expected with Praveen returning to his best. Playing Uthappa as keeper looks a smart gamble, opening up Boucher’s place for the likes of Ross Taylor, Kallis or Nathan Bracken.

Rajasthan were guilty of some poor shot making and could do with a little more solidity at the top. Unfortunately for them, the foreign quota is already well utilized, and one of the Indian guys (Mohd Kaif) who could have provided stability has already been sent home.

Two leggies and a googly

Leg-spinners hate to get out to another leggie. They pride themselves on being able to read the opposite numbers variations better than the best of batsmen. But, while Shane Warne has never quite managed to master the googly, Anil Kumble has. And the Indian used the perfect weapon in his armoury to inflict the worst humiliation on Warne (failing to read the googly and getting stumped) and win the leg-spinners’ bragging rights.

What makes you pine for Krish Srikkanth, Rameez Raja and Ranjit Fernando

Lalchand Rajput.

Suddenly Arun Lal is made to look like Richie Benaud. Where have all the former players gone? Rajput’s appointment as an expert is either a secret conspiracy by Lal to make himself look good or its possible he won a BCCI sponsored reality show for former cricketers.

Dude of the Day – This goes to the only player who reminded us of the big hitting of the last IPL – Abhishek Nayar of the Mumbai Indians. Can’t think of anyone else who has hit Freddie for 3 sixes in an over.

Dud of the Day – No cricketer stands out. Instead we will hand it to the guys who took an eternity trying to get the black dog off the ground.

Read all the IPL Daily Doses so far

The two most explosive guns in the Indian batting arsenal

India’s batting line-up is currently the toast of the cricketing world. There has been no shortage of superlatives heaped on it, none bigger than Sachin Tendulkar calling it the best batting side that he’s been part of. That set off a chain reaction with various attempts being made to put the feats of this side in perspective.

Comparing this team with most of the older sides is a very difficult task – for the simple reason that the one-day game has drastically shifted in favour of the batsmen – thus enhancing the potency of a powerful batting line-up like this one. Comparing them with any of the older sides is like comparing the serve of a player with a wooden racquet on a clay court in the 70’s with that of a modern day player on a super fast indoor court with a graphite bazooka.

And that is why it will be unfair to compare the mighty batting sides of the 70’s and 80’s with this Indian side, or for that matter with any of the modern day sides whose effectiveness was amplified by smaller cricket grounds, easy paced wickets, better cricket bats and multiple restrictions on the fielders and the bowlers.

Not that I am trying to take anything away from the current Indian side. I am just saying that it is harsh to call them better than, say the West Indian side with Greenidge, Haynes, Richardson and Richards – because there is no way of knowing what they could have done today. Those guys gave us a glimpse of their ability in rattling up 360 against the Lankans in the 1987 World Cup.

Legends yes but never part of an all conquering batting side

The other thing which doesn’t make sense is to compare two sides by matching up the career batting records of the individual players in each side.

What really defines how good a batting line-up is at any point in time is the current form of the players and how well they perform the roles that they are allotted – a great batting side is one where each actor is playing his part exceptionally well.

Once you take that into account it is easy to see why Sachin Tendulkar is right – because although the line-up of Rahul Dravid, Mohd Azharuddin, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly is in a different league statistically, they never quite gelled like the way the current unit has – they never overwhelmed opposition sides with sheer batting might like the way the current team does.

In fact forget just Indian batting line-ups; few sides in the modern era (the period when 300 run scores became a regular feature) have had all the critical elements required to cook up the perfect batting storm.

The Australian and South African sides have dominated the one day game for long stretches but they have never done it on the back of an explosive all conquering batting unit. Their bowling and fielding units have made an equal and often more significant contribution in getting the victories.

The Indian bowling has also come up in leaps and bounds but few will argue that it is their batting which has made them such an imperious juggernaut.

But they are still not the best batting side in the modern one-day game.

Mad Max and the Matara Mauler - aptly named

That distinction still lies with the Sri Lankan side of the period around the 1996 World Cup.

That team opened with Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana and they were followed by Asanka Gurusinghe, Aravinda De Silva, Arjuna Ranatunga, Roshan Mahanama and Hashan Tillekratne for most part.
Like the current Indian side, most of the players in that Lankan side reached a major crest in their batting lives almost at the same time, creating a batting machine which for a period of around 3 years mowed down everything that came in their way.

They also happened to be a flexible unit where each batter was performing a certain role which seemed tailor-made for their abilities. The Lankans have had great batsmen before and after but never have all the pieces fitted in so perfectly. They were so good in the one-day game that they had started harbouring hopes of becoming the best test side by 2000.

The height of their achievement was obviously the 1996 World Cup where they romped to the title without breaking sweat. Other than setting the then highest one-day score against the Kenyans, they also achieved the unique distinction of becoming the first side to successfully chase down a target in a World Cup final.

Like in the case of the current Indian side, critics will argue that this side did most of the damage on flat tracks against mediocre bowling sides. But every one day side in the last 15 odd years has had similar opportunities – very few one matches have been played on difficult wickets in this period and everyone gets to play everyone – yet no other side has demoralized opposition bowling attacks with such amazing regularity.

So what does the current Indian side need to do before they can stake a claim to being the best batting side of this generation?

They will have to do what the Lankan side did and more.

The Lankans stretched their hot batting form for more than 2 years and won the World Cup in the sub –continent.

The Indians can emulate their feat by riding this rich vein of form into the World Cup and then going all the way. Incidentally the next World Cup will also be held in the sub-continent and that will give the Indians a fair chance of matching the Lankans.

Till they manage to do that, the title of the best batting side in the post modern one-day game will continue to rest with Arjuna Ranatunga’s Sri Lankan side.

India Today has come up with a list of the 10 biggest controversies in Indian sports. I agree with most of them but there are a few that we don’t find worthy of this list. I think somewhere there was a predisposition towards the controversies that had been well covered by the magazine. Never mind. We decided to come up with a list of 10 other important controversies from Indian sports, some of which were worthy of being in the first list itself.

Here goes in no particular order.

What gender did it bring more shame to?

The girl who was a guy

This was completely bizarre – so much so that it found a mention on ESPN’s US website. Santhi Sounderajan won a silver medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games and then failed a gender test. She was found to be missing the sexual characteristics of a woman. The medal had to be returned and this incident brought us shame and disrepute. Things like this were common in the 1930’s and 40’s but there is excuse for something like this happening in today’s times. The government in the athlete’s home state of Tamil Nadu added to the controversy by refusing to recognize the verdict and felicitating the athlete in the same manner as the other medal-winners.

Kerry Packer revisited -The ICL controversy

This one has a strong case to be in the India Today list. Subhash Chandra emulated Kerry Packer by setting up his own cricket league after losing out on the broadcast rights, in spite of having the highest bid. The broadcast bidding is quite a controversy in itself. The BCCI wasn’t ready to play along –they banned the League and all its stakeholders and then upped the ante by starting a far bigger league of their own. Since then the BCCI and the Zee group have been at war and have sucked the entire cricket world into their dispute. The controversy looks like dragging on forever with both parties engaged in a war of attrition and there being no resolution to the matter in sight.

The monkey and the ugly Australians

This one surely had to be in the India Today list. It almost caused India to withdraw from the series and led to a public outcry against the Australian cricket team. The events leading up to it were truly inflammable – first the Aussies took gamesmanship to a new level and then rubbed salt into India’s wounds by accusing Harbhajan Singh of racism. It almost became a case of the white man’s word against the brown man’s. Insults were traded between the two sides and matters had almost come to a point of no return. Thankfully India was captained by an honourable man in Anil Kumble who got together with Ponting to iron out the issues between the two sides.

There is blood on their hands

The sportsman’s widow and her lover

Almost 20 years ago, one of India’s best badminton players, Syed Modi was shot dead by unknown assassins. His badminton playing wife, Amita, was rumoured to be having an extra-marital affair with noted politician and much married father of two children Sanjay Singh. A case was lodged against Sanjay for arranging  the killing but as it happens in our country, the well-connected politician, also a royal and a close friend of the Gandhi family, got away scot-free. A little later Sanjay divorced his first wife and married Amita. There are no witnesses and no legal proof – Just a simple matter of putting two and two together.

The cricketing god and his free chariot

Another one which India Today totally missed. India’s biggest cricket icon was gifted a Ferrari car by his sponsors FIAT on equalling Don Bradman’s record of 29 centuries. It was a 75 lakhs rupee gift but there was also the small matter of paying the customs duty of 1.15 crores. The controversy started after it was reported that the batting maestro had requested a custom duty waiver on the car despite getting it as a gift and not winning it as a prize in any tournament. That he was well capable of paying for it added to the steam and matters came to a boil when the Union government decide to oblige. There was a hue and a cry and Tendulkar’s demigod status took a hit. Finally FIAT decided to end the controversy by picking up the tab.

Indian hockey – of what happened after the Olympic failure

The qualification failure is already in the first list. But what happened after makes for a far bigger storm. The union sports minister, Mani Shankar Aiyer shed crocodile tears but failed to take any action citing the Olympic charter (which calls for autonomy of sports bodies). Thankfully, he was replaced by M.S Gill who showed more gumption by sacking the IHF chief. Then the IHF secretary was caught accepting a bribe on camera and he was also duly removed from his post. An ad hoc body was put in place but soon the power battle begun with the likes of Sahara’s JB Roy mobilizing the support of the state bodies. Ex- chief KPS Gill also refuses to let go and keeps sabotaging the activities of the ad-hoc body. And the former secretary is now flexing his muscles in his home state’s association by setting up a parallel body with the support of the district chiefs. This one also continues to rage on

All the good work undoes the Mary Kom episode

When the champion of rights was the perpetrator himself

Milkha Singh has always trodden on a moral high ground and never shies away from speaking his mind – mostly it has to do with the government’s apathy and disrespect towards non-cricketing sports and sportspersons. He caused a furore by refusing the Arjuna Award and makes the India today list based on that controversy. And then the same gentleman, in his capacity as the chairman of the Arjuna Awards selection committee, strikes of the name of female boxer MC Mary Kom from the Khel Ratna award list. His excuse – he didn’t know which sport she competed in. Where does that rate on the scale of hypocrisy? The World Champion boxer was hurt and aggrieved at the ‘Flying Sikh’s’ lack of respect and complete ignorance. For the record, she has 4 World Championship crowns, which is 4 more than what Milkha Singh has.

The over-age controversy

This controversy raises its ugly head every time we participate in a junior event, especially in cricket, football, hockey and athletics. The most famous or rather most infamous instances are the times when we won the junior hockey world cup and finished runners-up. Numerous complaints have been registered against us but we are so driven in our efforts to capture glory at the junior events that we continue to court controversy and infamy. If only we had the same drive to win things the right way

The other cricket controversies

There are three other cricket controversies which deserve an equal mention. First the ban on Sehwag for excessiveappealing in South Africa which led to a protest by the Indian side and the final test had to be played as an unofficial one. Second is the Harbhajan slapping Sreesanth episode which remains the gold standard on how things should be brushed under the carpet. And finally the Vengsarkar – Ganguly fracas, where Ganguly claimed to have been unjustifiably dropped after a good season and the former chairman of selectors promised to explain his act and give Dada more than what he had bargained for. This event caused, as many Dada fans would claim, Sourav Ganguly to make an early exit from the game. As for Mr. Vengsarkar, we are still waiting for his reply. But as it happens in Indian cricket, a few wins and everything is forgotten.

Wardrobe malfunction?

Sania Mirza and the Beijing Olympics

Another case of a victim in the ‘India Today’ list switching roles. Sania Mirza’s mom caused a major storm when she was accommodated in the Indian contingent for the Beijing Olympics as one of the officials of the tennis squad. She was not accommodated as a one member cheering squad but as one of the coaches and her inclusion was at the cost of dropping a ‘real’ coach in Rick Leach and a couple of physios, including South African Heath Mathews, whose eventual inclusion in the squad played a crucial role in the outstanding performance of the Indian boxers. And that was not all. Sania Mirza then turned up wearing trainers and not the official uniform for the opening ceremony. Some claimed she didn’t know how to wrap a saree and the official word was that she didn’t get time as she was trying to get in some additional practise. Whatever it was, it didn’t make for a pretty picture as the Indian contingent marched in and obviously the country was incensed.