The Fall of the Master Blaster????

Is it really the end of the master????If one were to browse through our news channels one would very well start believing that.Take Aaj Tak,it seems to have put sachin's dismissal video on a loop.Every time I switch to that channel I see Sachin falling over himself playing a delivery that kept unusally low,and to spice things up we have this extremely "tragic" music playing in the background as if Sachin has been slayed in the battlefield.On Headlines Today,you have an aged Rajan Bala talking about how Kumble,Sachin and all other player past their prime should retire.Mr Bala why don't you stop writing.Even you seem old and some of your articles are not upto the mark.Please leave before your editor chucks you out.If I am not mistaken till last month Kumble was supposedly our most successful bowler who could run through any team.Today he is past his prime.Hmm interesting.And then Star News,well I don't think I have to talk much about that channel.Those who have watched it would know about the kind of shows it broadcasts.Those who haven't kindly do so for 10 minutes(especially after 7pm) and you will realise what I am talking about.And then common to all channels we have the "SMS Poll" where people were being asked whether Sachin's end was near and yes we had the results 78% said yes.There we had it Sachin's career was over.He can't play anymore.Throw him out.Saurav you are let off,Sachin is the next scape goat.

It's another fact that none of the batsmen barring Yuvraj(who was quite lucky) did well in this test match.It's yet another fact that Sachin had quite confidently reached 23 and 26 in this match before losing his wickets to exceptional bowling.

Now I am not a Sachin fanatic who blindly supports his idol.You could ask my friend Ranjith,a Sachin fanatic,who nearly thrashed me once for criticising his idol .Infact of late I have always felt that Sachin was being let off despite his loss of form.If Saurav had to fight for his place the same yardstick had to be applied to Sachin.I continue to vouch for that.But Sachin in this series seemed in much better touch than his scores indicated.But what has appalled me is the way our media has disowned Sachin completely.Just last month these very same news channels were packed with shows singing Sachin's praise.There they were,beaming videos of Sachin's children,his kith and kin,and that of Sachin himself offering prayers and cutting cake to celebrate his 35th centuries.And today,I see shows dissecting his batting style and revealing his weaknesses which had till last month,seemed non existent(despite indications contrary to it).

The fact is Sachin is past his prime and there's no denying that.His centuries are few and far apart.His drought of form is prolonged.We all need to accept that and respect it as well.After all he too is a human being.But that doesn't give our channels the excuse to play with him.They raised him to heavens when he made is 35th century and now when he had a low key series they dropped him with a thud(thud IMHO is an understatement),I guess all that Sachin needs to do is to make a century per series and that will keep the press silent.

The best way Sachin can answer his critics would be to score more runs.After scoring in single digits in 2002 against New Zealand,people had started questioning Sachin's ability.He answered them by scoring more than 600 runs in the world cup.I will just hope and pray that Sachin does just that in the forthcoming ODI series.For that matter let's hope that our entire team has a great series.We can't let the Pakis take it all.They just won't stop bragging about it.

 

End of a Illustrious & Controversial Career??

It was a day when India decimated the Lankan Lions in the second test match in New Delhi,but for one man,it could turn out to be a day he will not forget in a hurry.

Just a couple of hours after an emphatic victory in a test match where Sourav Ganguly played consistently well in both the innings and yet was uncermoniously dumped from the Indian team for the next match.The reasons for this decision are as yet unknown but whatever the excuses that may be given at a later date,this gesture is not only unwarranted but also an indication of the deep bias prevalent in our cricketing community.

Let's take a closer look at the selector's decision.Ganguly has been dropped after the second test match.This could mean only one thing,he didn't perform well in the Delhi test.But the facts & figures tell a completely different story.
Innings 1 Innings 2 Total
1.Sachin Tendulkar 109 16 125
2.VVS.Laxman 69 11 80
3.Sauvrav Ganguly 40 39 79
4.Rahul Dravid 24 53 77
5.Yuvraj Singh 5 75 80
6.Gautam Gambhir 2 2 4

Now going by these scores except saching 4 other batsman have scored almost the same amount of runs in the test match.But Saurav is the only player to have played consistently in both the innings.Now those are not record breaking scores but they certainly don't warrant the exclusion of the player from the team.

So who do the selectors bring in place of Dada?Well it's Wasim Jaffer.Wasim who? Well he was the opener for the Indian team during India's tour of West Indies and England during 2002 and following his failure in those matches he was dropped but of late he has been a brilliant performer for Mumbai and his inclusion as an opener is justfied.Now Gambhir may or may not be dropped for the next match but it's good to see that the selectors have included a back up opener.But forgive me for my lack of understanding,but how could the inclusion of Jaffer as an opener push dada out of the team.

So if poor performance had been the criterion for Ganguly's exclusion he should never have been included in this team.Now that he was included he must have been allowed to play atleast till the end of this series and then if he had performed poorly compared to others then he may have been chucked out.

Now what could be the other reasons for Saurav's removal.Well there are couple of reasons.One,the end of Dalmiya's regime.The other could be Dada's enduring feud with Greg Chappell.Well Ganguly's removal may have been due to the combination of both these factors.Let me explain how.The end of Dalmiya's monopoly,signified the end of the ganugly backers in the Cricket administration.Now the Chappell-Ganguly feud is well known and despite all the talk about the making up between the two players,it was all too apparent that the ego of both these individuals was too big for any of them to concede any ground and it was clear that for the betterment of the Indian team one of them had to go.The selector,I guess,chose Ganguly.Chappell was determined to push Ganguly out at any cost.He felt no matter how well "The Prince" performed his attitude was harmful to the Indian Dressing Room.Papers had mentioned how Chappell and to an extent Dravid had both spoken against Ganguly's inclusion for the Test series.

Hence this my theory.It's quite clear that guru Greg enjoys considerable clout in selection matters and the new BCCI president made it all to apparent in an interview.Hence Chappell may have decided to stay quiet till there was a change in regime at the BCCI,and I am pretty sure he was quite aware of the imminent change.And when the transformation was complete and known Dada backers had been thrown out,he,I guess decided to make his move.And Dada's exclusion was the culmination of these events.

So where now for Mr.Ganguly.Well there are two choices.
1.He can go back to playing Ranji Trophy and again wait for a change in fortunes and hope he gets selected again.
2.Or he could announce his retirement from all forms of competetive cricket and instead concentrate on his coaching institute in Salt Lake City.

Many would cleverly choose the second option.But having seen Ganguly for so many years,I wouldn't be surprised if "The Prince of Kolkata" choose option 1.

 

A Day of Records!!!!

It was a day when records tumbled all around in cricket.Cricket is among the few sports that gives immense importance to records and statistics and today must have been a field day for the staticians.

First of all the records at home.A nation went beserk as the Master blaster,our very own Sachin Tendulkar finally put an end to his long enduring jinx.Of what turned out to be the last ball of the first day's play at New Delhi the champion from Mumbai scored his 35th hundred,nearly a year after he scored his 34th century against Bangladesh.He obviously was elated as was evident from his uncharacteristic reponse to his effort.

Equal credit should be given to Prince of Kolkata,who thankfully,finally seemed to find some touch.He provided excellent support to Sachin.Though he was a bit tentative initially and also had a life at 11 he managed to reach 39.Towards the end of day's play one could see glimpses of vintage Ganguly as he played some breathtaking shots through offside.

One will only have to hope that both continue the good work tomorrow and the "the person next to God on the offside" makes a good score tomorrow.

Now on to the ODI between Australia & New Zealand.Australia made 331 in 50 overs helped primarily by Ponting's 75,Hussey's 88,Clarke's 71 and Hodge's 59.They scored 106 in the last 8 overs that must be record.In reply the kiwis who deserved to win the other day were toterring at 256-6 and needing 78 of 48 balls came up with a stunning performance to win with an over to spare.Scott Styris and in the end Brendon McCullum were the wreckers in chief.Especially McCullum's innings was stuff of the legend especially the inside out shot he kept playing again and again.

There's another ODI going on between Pakistan & England with Pakistan chasing 327 and seem well on course to yet another record breaking chase.As I am about to make this post,Pakistan is 240-4 in 40 overs requiring 88 from 60 balls with Mohammed Yousef holding the key.

A clear treand from the above mentioned ODI's and to an extent the test match is the continuing domination of the bat over the ball.It's all the more conspicous in ODI's where 350 too doesn't seem a safe score.The bowler has become a non entity.His job has been reduced to that of the bowling machine where he delivers the ball and watches it being smashed to all parts of the ground.All these chases are thrilling and exciting but at what cost?There needs to be a even contest between the bat and the ball.A perfect example for this would be the legendary 1999 world cup semi-final between Australia & South Afria.

One must only hope the better sense prevails and arrangements are made to bring greater parity between the bat and the ball.

For those interested in statistics here are a few links you would find interesting

Tendulkar's journey in numbers

ODIs – Highest Team Totals Batting Second

 

Emphatic Victory!!!!!

India won a ODI series at home after 3 years.What was even more special was the fact that they almost made it a no contest by winning 6 out the 7 ODI's against Sri Lanka.With Emerald nation ranked at No 2 prior to this series,this victory would be all the more sweet.

So what has been the difference this time?First there was no Ganguly.That,according to me, is the most prominent reason for this sea change in India's performance.Had dada been in the team more noise would have been made about the happenings in the team's dressing room than on the field.Next has been the return of Sachin.Sachin is one individual who can lift India's from any sort of doldrum.Third was the crowning of Dravid as Captain.For some time Dravid seemed the natural choice for the captaincy but due to board politics he being prevented from formally taking on the mantle.But thankfully things have been sorted out and Dravid seems,atleast for the ODI's,to be the new Captain.Last but in no way the least the superlative performance of everyone in the Indian team has led to this great comeback.

We also need to commend the selectors for not playing politics.They chose the team on merit and not on nepotism and favouritism.

However behind all this there is one man who has been silenty orchestrating this stupendous comeback.That man is none other than Greg Chappell.I will be candid.I am Greg Chappell fan.When he was chosen as the team's selector I felt that was the best thing to happen to Indian cricket.However his sincere efforts were in danger of being hijacked by an insidious captain in the twilight of his career.For some time it seemed that Greg would certainly resign and leave for his country.But being the determined,dilgent,tenacious man that he his Greg decided to stay on and was single minded in his approach to change our team.I am not sure how but for some reason or the other Ganguly got dropped from the team.If it was because of Greg's Vision then kudos to him.

So is this the beginning of the end of India's cricketing miseries?Have we found the right combination to do well in both forms of the games.Well it's too early to comment.A 6-1 win in a 7 match series is good in the short term but not sufficient if one is aiming for World Cup victory.I think Greg realised this long back and is certainly working towards it.We have a long gruelling season ahead.First there is South Africa which is riding high on it 5-0 whitewash of the kiwis.Then the boys from ceylon return for a test series which would be a totally different ball game all together .And then we go to to the land of Pakis.We beat them last time but the Pakis have improved since then but the Indians seem to be returning to top form.Let's just hope India keeps up this good performance and continues to scale new heights.Till then Ganguly can cool his heels in Kolkata.