Slapper and slappee

The slapper has since prospered, the slappee (also known as the weeper) has seen his fortune go downhill.

Where Bhajji has seen a revival of fortunes, and wickets in the bag, Sree has been asked to "prove himself in domestic cricket after a fitness-enforced break. Ouch.

When Brats Collide

"Harbhajan banned, Sreesanth censured" - the decision at the end of the Sreesanth-Harbhajan slapping saga. I am not here to pass any comment on the decision nor am I going to pass judgments on the slapping issue. To me, the whole incident has been a comic relief from some hectic IPL action, which has seen some of international cricket's heavy weights pull their weight.
The whole incident, which has seen Sreesanth physically affected and Harbhajan financially, is a sign that big bucks don't bring in discipline.
In an event, which has been lorded by the Bollywood, the epsiode was a replica of the
tear-jerkers seen on the small screen. Sreesanth, and his teary face, resembled Tulsi and Harbhajan resembled the strict father-in-law. But, to me it was Gabbar Singh v/s Mogambo. For once, Bollywood was rampant on the cricket field.

Bhajji begins his eleventh year

Harbhajan Singh has the perfect opportunity to cement his spot as the second-choice spinner and heir apparent to Kumble's role as first choice. The venue is the Chepauk where he averages 23.31 from five matches including the phenomenal fifteen-wicket turn against the Aussies seven years ago. The opposition are the South Africans, traditionally reckoned as poor players of spin bowling.

He came into the attack with the opening partnership motoring along nicely and promised immediately with flight and bounce off the track. The doosra was kept aside for the special occasion - and McKenzie was its first victim. The turn-and-bounce accounted for Kallis, and it was good to see Harbhajan getting rewarded for flighting the ball.

In June 2007, I had lamented the tragedy (yes, J Rod, I like using "tragedy") of Bhajji, and the situation has not changed much. But for a sprinkling of good performances (the last time we hosted Sri Lanka for instance), his career has not lived up to the expectations of his incredible show in 2001. Bhajji's been getting a bit of flak of late (for close to three years actually), not least from bloggers who have beamoaned his lack of form and is always taking punches from Sanjay "elephant" Manjerekar. Nine months back, I said Chappell had some explaining to do, because the decline in Bhajji's fortunes coincided precisely with his reign. And everyone knows how much of a spinner's efficacy comes from a supportive managment. Also, there must have been the initial period of resignation after realizing that there was scant chance of him displacing Kumble as first choice spinner.

Enough water has flown under the bridge. And if the series in Australia proved anything, it was Bhajji's contribution to the side, outside of the bowling department. One desperately wanted him to be able to completely justify his spot in the team. Getting Ponting out a few times was not enough to address the claims of Murali Kartik - of whom I am a huge fan, and would have loved to see him in the team ahead of Bhajji - and Piyush Chawla.

I may be calling it a little too early, but despite a clear lack of rhythm in his bowling, he was in a mood to attack and get wickets that was quite heartening. I will wait for the series to get over before considering whether Kartik can replace him when India play at home or on spin-firendly venues.

Appropriate marijuana reference

The same obnoxious little weed

Talk about being provocative

Hayden just referred to Bhajji as an "obnoxious little weed".
Is "little" racist?

What's your ideal Indian ODI atack?

Okay, the assumption here is that Pathan is not an all-rounder, and if he needs to fit in, has to be one of four bowlers. And I am not including Praveen Kumar, Munaf or Powar in the equation. You are welcome to question that. I am also assuming that we will very rarely be in a position to play both frontline spinners together. Here are the options:

A. Zaheer, Arpy, Pathan, Bhajji
B. Zaheer, Arpy, Pathan, Chawla
C. Zaheer, Arpy, Sreesanth, Bhajji
D. Zaheer, Arpy, Ishant, Bhajji
E. Zaheer, Arpy, Sreesanth, Chawla
F. Zaheer, Arpy, Ishant, Chawla
G. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
H. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
I. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Chawla
J. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
K. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Chawla
L. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
M. Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
N. Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Chawla
O. Arpy, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
P. Arpy, Pathan, Sreesanth, Chawla
Q. Arpy, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji
R. Arpy, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
S. Zaheer, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji
T. Zaheer, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
U. Pathan, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
V. Pathan, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji


Have I missed a permutation? In fact, I am certain that there are more.

But that is quite a few options if everyone is fit. It will be quite lovely if one of Pathan or Praveen Kumar is able to fit the Hopes mould, in which case, Yuvraj Singh will never have to bowl. Yay!!

When cricket experience just ain't good enough

Quite unfortunately, the match refree has almost always been asked to adjudicate on questions which a lawyer or a judge will be more comfortable dealing with.

Most evolved criminal justice systems rely on that "golden thread" - the presumption of innocence. In England, Australia, India, USA and New Zealand for instance, the judiciary will try its utmost to insist that an accusation is merely that; that an accused is considered innocent until proven otherwise, beyond "reasonable doubt". Any question involving misdemeanour on the field, whether it involves racial connotations or not, has to be dealt with using a procedure that mirrors the criminal trial systems of constitutional democracies. As insignificant as sporting disputes may seem when compared to cases of murder and rape, there is an accused who stands to lose something if a charge is proved. In Harbhajan's case it was three Test matches and his reputation.

This means that questions of admissibility, reliability of evidence(s) and burden of proof will automatically arise. Of course, these need not always be complicated questions that require the particular expertise of a trained lawyer, but the point is that if there is one case in five that requires such expertise, that is reason enough.

For anyone with half a brain, it was clear when the shit hit the roof that there was no way anyone could prove the racism charge on Harbhajan "beyond reasonable doubt". There simply was not enough proof to deprive Harbhajan of three Test matches and call him a racist.

But we must not be too harsh on Procter. All evolved judicial systems allow for judges to make mistakes, and do so without fear. Any criminal trial can be appealed against and if a superior court annuls the trial, the lower judge in question does not automatically become a wrongdoer. But all evolved judicial systems will try to minimize damage caused by incompetence. We must give Procter the benefit of doubt. We must try to believe that he was not malicious - merely incompetent.

It is time the ICC clearly defines the role of the Match Refree to those instances where an ex-cricketers particular set of skills will be useful. Malcom Speed is a lawyer. He should know better.

Brett Lee is a stud

Saw some highlights of the action that happened today, before I woke up to find Bhajji and Kumble batting.

Tell you what, if you go to sleep dreaming of Tendulkar's triple ton, and you wake up to find Kumble and Bhajji managing to survuve at the crease, you start to think negative. How much worse could the day get?

But the Kaptan and his Crazy Spin Twin, with a little help from Ishant, did what I thought was impossible. If India lose from here, it will be because of inept second innings batting and horrendous umpiring.

Coming back to those highlights, I am convinced that there is no better bowler in the world than Lee. If bowling is about sustaining pressure till the batsman breaks, Lee is its premier exponent.

Bowling at Perth

Unc J Rod reminded me that there was a Test series being played, and here are my thoughts on the bowling attack at Perth.

We don't need five bowlers. Sharma, Arpy, Kumble and Bhajji were able to take close to 25 wickets at Sydney, and my guess is that four bowlers will be more than adequate. Question is, do we need to go in with both spinners or do we need to shore up the pace attack with Pathan/Pankaj Singh? This is Perth. Oz will be throwing all four pacers at us.

Obviously, if one spinner had to sit out, it would have to be Bhajji since the other guy is a captain and a legend. I almost thought Procter had done us all a favour, and made the decision much easier. But now, it is not so simple - Ponting's been in Bhajji's bag for two matches now. I can't make this decision, I really can't.

So please people, for the fourth spot in the bowling line-up. Between Bhajji, Pathan and Pankaj Singh, but really it is between Bhajji and Pathan, isn't it?

Bent elbow blah

During the television coverage, we all saw Shoaib - and Bhajji too, let it be said - bend and unbend his elbow at the time of delivery. Superslomo had revealed it, and Rameez could not hide his mirth trying to deadpan.

I think this fixation with the bent elbow is frustrating, and frankly unfair to the bowler. I have not seen any scientific inquiry to what precisely a bowler gains from bending his arm. More spin for the spinner, more speed for the pacer, but in terms of an increment on the speed/spin he would have recieved anyway, we know nothing. Also, the cameras see everyone chuck, some perceptible to the naked eye, all perceptible to cameras if you could just slow them down enough. Even Zaheer and Kumble extend their arms at the point of delivery, just that we don't see it. This easy identification of 'unbent elbow' with a 'beautiful action' is somewhat simplistic. Bedi, he of the most beautiful action the game has known, unbeknownst to us, was also, what you may call, ahem, a 'chucker'.

When everything else in the game is going the batsman's way, I don't see why the bowler should not be allowed a little leeway - if research proves that it is indeed, little. Fifteen percent extension is what is aloowed now. Shoaib is well within the rules, and snide remarks will not bring back any un-bent utopia.

Bhajji the prude

Bhajji has complained about 'vulgar' Australians. That's surprising considering it doesn't take a trained lip-reader to figure that the Punjabi equivalent of 'sisterfucker' is always on his lips. Perhaps he could have been more specific. After all, common law has developed for centuries without adequate resolution of the problem of 'obscenity', and detail always helps.

For a minute there, he had me thinking of Priyaranjan Dasmunshi. Apparently our Hon'ble Minister for Information and Broadcasting stays up late at night to make sure no 'obscene' content is being broadcast.

Spin

Why were Harbhajan-Powar not half as good as Hogg-Clarke? Going by talent and pedigree, the Indian duo should have performed better. But they did not. Or did inept Indian batting make the Aussie twinsome look much better than they actually were?

In B'lore and in Kochi, India had Australia in trouble but could not keep them down because our spinners were ineffective. Against the Aussies, it is no good trying to limit the damage. The spinners need to be able to hunt and gather wickets. Yesterday, Powar was only allowed five overs and did not get any wickets. Harbhajan also had barren returns and was almost as expensive. Unlike the English, who were tied down by Powar's subtelty, the Aussies look extremely comfortable. He had an amazing first over maiden at B'lore, but as soon as the batsmen started using their feet, he came under some serious pressure. And like yesterday, did not finish his quota. Harbhajan on the other hand, gives the impression of having kept things tight, but if you look at his figures, the word that springs to mind is "toothless". Quite apparently, there were always singles on offer. All the great spinners will agree that wicket-taking spin bowling is all about the gradual application of pressure, and that can come only with the complete confidence of the captain.

So what next for Harbhajan, Powar and Dhoni? And the injured Piyush Chawla? Powar is returning from a succesful tour of England, and he is immediately saddled with thoroughbred competition for the possibly lone spot for a genuine spinner. Qutie clearly he is not the same bowler. Dhoni should seriously consider the option of picking only one spinner, and perhaps strengthening the batting lineup. If he needs to pick two spinners, he might want to give Pathan the new ball, and rest Zaheer/Sree. Whoever he chooses as spinner must have the freedom to ply his trade. As if Clarke, Symonds and Hayden weren't enough, Powar has to worry about his spot in the side. Similarly, Bhajji needs to worry about cementing a place in the side.

In the long run however, things seem to look fairly rosy. In Bhajji, Powar and Chawla India have three seriously good spinners to pick from when Kumble decides to call it a day. Hopefully the decision will be made on the basis of genuine wicket-taking ability.

Dhoni also needs to think long and hard strategically. Four bowlers or five? Has Pathan done enough with the bat to qualify as an all-rounder? Two spinners or one? If he decides to go with the lone spinner, do we have the resources in Tendulkar, Yuvraj and Sehwag (I hope it is only a question of when he gets picked.) to back him up?

The Harbhajan tragedy

With nineteen five wicket hauls in 57 Test matches, his ability is hardly in doubt. A reading of his stats since 2005 does not make for very happy reading.
His average over this period (37.40) is significantly higher than his career bowling average (29.86). During this period, he has gone through three wicketless Test matches, and barring a sterling effort in the last home series against the Lankans, he has not had any significant impact on the outcome of a series. He also had a truly horrific series in Pakistan: no wickets at an economy rate of 4.38. This was followed by an unconvincing series against England at home, averaging 48. The tour of the Caribbean saw what could be a return to normal service: two five wicket hauls and a series average of 24.

Since then, he has not played in too many matches with Anil Kumble making a return as the spinner of choice where there is not enough room for two. Prior to the Bangladesh tour, it was made clear that Harbhajan was being dropped: not 'rested' like Sachin and Saurav.

Harbhajan's travails over the past few years are the true tragedy of the Chappell reign. The bright part is that he is still only 26, and just entering that phase of a spinner's life - as popular wisdom would have it, when he matures like fine wine, finding new subtleties where previously there were none. What he needs now is a truly supportive coach: someone who will permit him the freedom of the whole range of his artistry.