Sehwag ki captiancy!

But why all the indignation over Sehwag's captaincy, man? Do people actually believe that Sehwag, because of the way he plays, lacks the authority to chastise teammates? Have I interpreted your sole argument correctly, you infidels?

It is all in the mind

The Nawab of Najafgarh has finally arrived. For long, Sehwag has been India's greatest paradox. His seeming inability to string a consistent run of scores in the limited overs format where he ought to be at home while scoring hundreds almost at will in the five day format has confounded his millions of admirers. Is it just good form that has sparked of this run or is there some change in his makeup - technical, tactical or mental which has seen him embrace the one day game with such success recently?

To this writer, the major reason for Sehwag's recent astounding success has been a change in his mental makeup. The presence of India's brilliant batting lineup has in a way liberated him and yet shackled him. Liberated him from the fear of failure and shackled him from the reckless stroke play which had plagued his one day career. For the first time, Sehwag has realized that he serves the team better by playing normally and not by looking for superhuman feats of shot making. Take an eg: - For a majority of his one day career, Sehwag lived or died by the upper cut to third man. There were spectacular sixers and shocking slashes straight to third man. Yet, he would persist in such endeavors again and again, ruining many promising innings. But, now with restraint added to his many undoubted skills, Sehwag waits before pouncing. The scoring rate is still astounding, India are still off to rollicking starts and Sehwag is at the crease, post, over number 10.

So, roll on Sehwag and delight us with more sixers over point and thirdman !

B-Texing a statistical itch

Among the criticism that Sehwag has had to swat away, a significant one is his dismal second innings average. At 28.91, it is easy to see how much it drags down his career average.

As I write this, he is batting at a run-a-ball 45 in an unbeaten opening stand, continuing on a year where he has set out correcting this statistical anomaly. Until 2008, his best second innings year was 2004, when he averaged 37. Since the beginning of 2008 (i.e the Perth Test), he averages 56.

Sehwag's Holy War

The High Priest spat on the face of the heretics.

As he carried his bat, each shot reminded us of the doctrinal principles: no shot that he plays is 'irresponsible'. If they're within the realms of the possible, then they must be played - match situation, pitch and quality of the bowling are not important.

Slap-spit-slap-spit for those who dared to suggest that pulling from above his head and two feet outside off to get caught at square leg was irresponsible. Slap-spit-slap.

And a smack for you Sir Geoffrey.

Significance of the Insignificant

So, yet another meaningless tournament arrives. There is a jaded disinterest as the Asia Cup kicks off in stormy Pakistan. With countless strifes and innumerable controversies adorning Pakistan cricket, the Asia Cup is just a mere sideshow.
However, atleast to this writer, the Asia Cup could answer a few questions
1) India : - Can the much vaunted youth brigade deliver on the big stage. As the Men In Blue seek to create the nucleus for World Cup 2011, the Asia Cup could answer whether we have the correct personnel for the big event. It could tell us whether Consistency and Sehwag can be used in the same sentence without an "in".
2) Sri Lanka : - Is there life after Jayasurya? Or more pertinently who will , get you the wickets and restrict the runs when Murali retires? Also, is Ajitha Mendis a magician in the making?
3) Bangladesh : - Are they finally ready to break into the big stage? They had a storming World Cup, but have done precious little since. In a way, they have had a delicious appetizer but the main course has been bland. But, some encouraging signs with an improved Ashraful suggest that there could be light at the end of the tunnel.
4) Pakistan : - For once, the question is not about Akthar or Asif. It is about Pakistan's ability to organize a big show. A trouble-free tournament could actually be the most important development for Pakistan cricket.
Maybe there is some significance to the insignificant

To Leader, With Admiration

Pollock is the man. The tournament, despite its format lending itslef to youth, has seen the oldies rule the roost. We have seen Mcgrath give his latest impression of Ice-Man, Warne that of Dumbledore and yesterday Pollock showed that he could be Mandela.

The comaprision may be stupid. But, Pollock showed that leaders can pull an entire side with them. He hit 33 runs in quick time. Then took crucial wickets. Brought on Dominic Thornley to pick Sehwag ( a rank long hop full toss admittedly) and clung on to the important catches.
But, the biggest contribution was to make people try their level best. Ashish Nehra diving across at long on to save a Dinesh Karthick shot. Somwhow, Pollock congratulating Nehra soon after the effort made it more special. A big cheer for Pollock and here is a wish that Mr Tendulkar finally plays a game.

The Paradox

So, the Prince of Najafgarh finally fires. One of the biggest paradoxes in international cricket has been the seeming inability of Virender Sehwag to adjust to the abbreviated versions of the game. For a man whose game is most suited to the slam bang version, Sehwag has been more a Slater than a Gilchrist. Therefore, it was highly satisfying to see Viru fire yesterday.
But, having seen his game over the last several years, he could yet lapse into a spell of mediocrity.

300, starring the V-Bomb

Dale Steyn recieved an education in Test cricket. Morne Morkel troubled him with bounce more not than often. Paul Harris was ineffective at best. Ntini did not play like someone with a bucketload of wickets - either too short or too full.

Of course, none of this really mattered because Virender Sehwag is a Chennai SuperKing (averaging over 150 at the venue now). With nine wickets still to go before SA can bat again, the V-Bomb has made sure India will not lose. If India can keep the run rate up tomorrow, there is no reason India cannot put pressure on South Africa on the last day.

A world record, at a TV screen near you?

Letter to Smith

Dear Grame Smith,

Either you don't know, or if you know, then shame on you. Either you know that Paul Harris is the feeblest of spinners who does not stand a chance against Virender Sehwag, and so you lowered him into the shallow end by asking him to bowl a restrictive, disgraceful line to him, in which case it is okay, but then now we know that you know that Harris is not very great. The other option then, is that you know that Harris is capable of the occasional special ball, but you were shittin your pants scared wondering how much he will leak if he came around the stumps and actually tried to GET A WICKET. In that case, shame on you, Graeme Smith for asking your lone spinner to come over the stumps first thing in the morning, in Chennai. Okay, it is a flat track, but you did have 500 runs to play with.

Frustrated,

Spirit of Cricket Future.

Battle Within The War

Recently, there was an excellent article in Cricinfo by Soumya Bhattacharya regarding the individual rivalries existing in international cricket. (The article can be read here). The article described that special joy which one feels when two champions go at each other. Reading the article, I was forced to think about what constitutes such a rivalry. What are the ingredients which elevate a seemingly insignificant contest to great heights? Here is my take on it.

To me, the primary criterion for an enduring rivalry is the skill of the individuals concerned. You want two men who are at acknowledged maestros of their respective crafts going at each other to bring the crowd to their feat. With all respect to their abilities, a Sunil Joshi having a rivalry with Andrew Hudson would probably enthral a grand total of zero. But, put Allan Donald and Sachin Tendulkar at opposite ends of the field and all of a sudden sport resembles war.
The next criterion ought to be the span of the test series. I feel that a minimum of three tests is essential for the antagonists to fight simply because it gives them ample opportunities to overcome any downturns in form. It also gives a feeling akin to having a great dinner after a good appetizer.
The last and crucial criterion is the playing conditions. Nobody wants to see a pitch which unduly
favours one of the contestants. A fair pitch which offers enough opportunities to all would add sparkle to the contest.

But, looking at world cricket it is sad that there are few genuine rivalries left- Lee v/s Tendulkar, Murali v/s Pieterson, a fit Flntoff v/s Ponting. But, another rivalry fit to stand with these three is sad to find. We are forced to look for the venom spouting variety of Harbhajan v/s Symonds and Sreesanth v/s Nel. A far cry from the 90's and early 2000's when Warne v/s Tendulkar, Lara v/s Murali, Mcgrath v/s Tendulkar/Lara, Inzamam v/s Kumble, Donald v/s Atherton, Waughs v/s Ambrose/Walsh thrilled the senses.

So, as South Africa and India take to the field, there is a genuine wish that we get some more rivalries - Steyn v/s Sehwag and Kumble v/s Kallis anyone ????

The Forgotten Soldier

We have lauded Rohit Sharma, applauded Gautam Gambhir, praised Dhoni and revered Tendulkar in these last five heady days. Yet, we seemed to have missed out one man Virender Sehwag - The forgotten man of the CB series. The strongest argument has been whether Ganguly and Dravid should be slowly pushed to retirement. But, there is a more pertinent question - which seems to have been conveniently forgotten/ignored - should Sehwag be in the team?
From five matches, Sehwag has scored 81 runs and taken 1 wicket. Figures which do not suit a top player. Unlike short three match series, the CB sries offers you adequate opportunities to overcome a downturn in your fortunes. So, Sehwag has been the one failure of India' successful ODI campaign.
This is not to suggest that Sehwag has been a failure in the long tour to Australia. Absolutely no. To me, he played arguably the second most important knock of the test series, from an Indian point of view, at Adelaide. Next only to Laxman's knock at Perth, it was of immense value in ensuring that India didn't go 3-1 down in a series which should have remained 1-1.
But, the sad fact remains that Sehwag has been a highly unsuccessful ODI cricketer. An average of 31 from 183 matches suggests a cricketer bordering on the mediocrity. In an era in which averages touching 40 are more the norm, Sehwag seems to me a more refined version of Afridi, the batsman.
So, what lies ahead for Sehwag? Is it an early retirement from the ODI scene? Or another chance. Will he turn out to be an Anwar or an Afridi? It is upto Sehwag one feels. Hopefully, he will prosper and peform to the levels he should.

We've seen this before

When Sehwag was dropped from a squad that included underperforming Yuvraj - who had the blind faith of his captain, it was enough to set the tongues wagging. What these morons did not realize was that it was not a fair comparison. Sehwag is a top order batsman now, and as such, has to outperform one of Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar. To replace Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary are the candidates. And these people have not been good enough to repace one of the best ODI batsmen of 2006-07.

I hope that he continues to score big in the few opportunities that remain in Australia. But I also hope that will not be a reason for the selectors to pick him for the Test squad - stunting his education again. We have seen him dazzle us before, and we have patiently continued to expect the very best. Soulberry says it best:

This is why I would keep Yuvraj for the ODIs for at least two-three years from here despite his periodic blackouts. Test matches are a different game. What I'd work on, as regards Yuvraj , is try and help him maintain concentration and confidence (not bravado) over longer intervals of time.

Consider this:

North Zone are 230/5, trailing West Zone by 44 runs, at lunch on the second day of the Duleep Trophy final. The new ball is due soon. These are circumstances which he should experience in the Indian Test team in future. And a Yuvraj Singh in top nick is exactly the sort of batsman, one would want at the crease to push for a huge lead.

So please, let him have an opportunity to push that first class average closer to fifty. Surely, for a man of his abundant gift, that should not take too long.

Another one?!

Sehwag was caught at slip off a superb Lee delivery. It was a no-ball and Billy did not see it! And as far as no-balls go, this was a pretty big one. Somebody has got to do something soon, about these wrong no-ball calls.

All's well with the world

Right now, life seems to be clothed in a mellow light, there are birds singing outside my window and they aren't annoying, and the weather in Delhi is just the perfect mix of cool, breeze and sunshine. Also, India have just won themselves the most signifcant match since I started watching the game.

Even if India go on and lose badly at Adelaide, to script the first half of a turnaround from 2-0 down, is remarkable for a touring Indian team. Forget the events at Sydney. Forget that it was Perth. Forget that the legendary Hayden was sitting out. This match is one for the ages, simply for the confidence-injection that it will give the likes of Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Dhoni and Sehwag. Here is a team that can now create its own winning streaks, provided they continue to look forward.

Ishant Sharma will leave Perth knowing that he made the best batsman in the world today, look like a tailender. Pathan and Sehwag know that they belong in the international arena. Arpy knows for sure that he can lead an Indian attack in years to come. Dhoni hasn't messed up with the gloves all series.

Can we forget the role of the Chief? Lead kindly Kumble. Credit to him for lifting the team from Sydney. Hope he lingers as captain for more years. What a champion! Nineteen wickets in the series already. Talk about leading from the front!

Pathan has become a very smart cricketer, and I suspect he is fast turning into what Uncle J Rod calls a Probot. When asked to bowl when the ball is flying around, even a television viewer is arrested by the sense of calm that he brings in. You can almost see him make an assesment of the situation, and quitely determines the line and length that is largely required. That he had evolved into someone who could look beyond the storm, was clear in the T20 World Cup itself. In Tests, he is not only a bowler who can make the new ball talk in helpful conditions, but also someone who can be relied upon to keep it tight when the strokemakers are set, and perhaps induce an error. With such an abundance of left arm swing bowling options, he may not always make the team, but his presence will make Zak and Arpy persevere for improvement. Man of the match in the T20 finals, a hundred in his comeback Test match, and now another MoM performace when it counts.

Sehwag should go forward from here and he should not give anyone a reason to question his spot at the top of the order. His contribution to this team cannot be measured in terms of his runs, wickets and strike rates alone. "Work ethic" was one of those sound bytes floating around when he was dropped and it is up to him to make sure that not even demented selectors and BCCI mandarins have a reason to say that again. But what a bowling performance, na?

Jaffer remains the only one to have not made a contribution in Australia, and the knives are out. I hope they persist with him, but I have no words in his defence. But I will stick by my point that as a team looking to challenge Australia consistently, a settled opening partnership is important, and that means identifying openers who will do the work for you over the long run and then sticking with them through good times and bad.

Australia will need to reconfigure their bowling attack, and in all probability, so will India. But Mitchell's skills as a swing bowler are under some doubt, and Wasim Akram keeps criticizing his new bowling action on air. Ponting needs to do something about that fast, or find a better third seamer. He also needs to ask himself if he got carried away by the hype. Why did he not include a spinner at Perth? Was it because the part-time spinners did better than Hogg in Sydney? Or did he believe that this Perth wicket required a four-man pace attack? He will need to question how he arrived at that conclusion. It is strange when a visting team assesses conditions better than the home team.

As for Adelaide, expectations are already sky high. Mather Hayden will be back, and India have a chance to level the series. I cannot wait.

The long rope

How do you deal with someone like Yuvraj? Or Afridi or Sehwag? Even Gibbs and Gayle. These players have promised so much at several points in their careers, threatening to need just to turn up to become a legend of the game, but never delivered consistently enough to merit that badge. So much so that at several other points in their careers, they are accused of blocking another cricketer's spot in the national team. Are there any managment dicta that work with such players? At what point does the managment say, yes you have shown us that there is promise and we know you can stop bullets and we have persisted with you, but increasingly we get the feeling that you may not necessarily be the One, the Oracle was on crack most of the the time, and Morpheus should have been in a staitjacket - also there is a must-win match in four days, so please if you could make it easier for us and get injured or something...

These players make captains age faster than a racism hearing. The teams have invested a lot of faith in them and carried them around the globe for close to ten years. And when carrying such a player starts to hurt the team when they should have been at the peak of their careers, it casts doubt on the foundations and future of the team. When the Fab4 leave, are we going to rely on Yuvraj for solidity in the middle?

How long is a long rope?

Why Jaffer needs a media guy

Wasim Jaffer came to Australia on the back of a very good year. He made runs against Ntini, Pollock, Nel, Mashrafe Mortaza, Syed Rasel, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Tremlett, Shoaib Akthar and Mohammed Sami. In 10 Test matches in 2007, he averages 46.55 with three hundreds that include a double against Pakistan at home.

This means that he has batted at least as good as Alastair Cook and Jayasuriya have for the last couple of years. He has been much better than Grame Smith and Chris Gayle have. The only opening batsman who has done better than him over the last ten Test matches has been Mathew (Alone at the Top) Hayden.

Jaffer has failed thrice this series and there is a clamour for his exclusion from the side at Perth. Apparently we need to take the attack to Australia and Jaffer is incapable of doing so. Not only that, he is said to lack the technique required for horizontal strokeplay, which is so important to flourish in Australia. And the conclusion that the experts are only too easy to arrive at is that Jaffer is keeping Sehwag out of the side.

Jaffer's double at Kolkata came off 270 balls.

Life has been tough on Veeru and it was unfair to drop him from the Test side when he was. However, cricket selection is not about correcting historical wrongs. Having already unfairly glossed over the claims of his Delhi mates Gautam Gambhir and Akash Chopra, everything should not be given to Sehwag on a platter. Not when Jaffer and Karthik have been a prolific opening combo over the past year. It was a mistake to break them up, but that does not justify an even bigger one.

Jaffer's problem is that he does not give off the "confident vibe" which Yuvraj seems to ooze without effort, or Sehwag is rumoured to bring into the batting order, and is an easy scapegoat. He needs to start wearing shades and start talking more maybe. Or at least louder and in better English.

What about Chopra??

If Gautam Gambhir had a sore shoulder and could not be picked in the sixteen, should not the next choice in the 24 probables have had a better at the squad to Oz, than someone from outside the 24?

What impact will such a decision have on Chopra's career?! One act of selectorial stupidity (that of dropping Veeru) does not justify such contrivance.

Number 3

I doubt the Ganguly-Sachin opening combine would be broken just yet. The plan, for all to see, is to drag it on a little longer. So we move on to the number three position.

The number three position though, is far from settled. Even though conventional wisdom points to a batsman settled at this spot, India, over a period stretching even prior to the Chappell years, have approached the spot with some amount of flexibility. Of course, on some occasions such fluidity has been forced on the managment. On others, Dravid and Chappell pursued it aggressively as strategy. Quite surprisingly, it is VVS Laxman who has walked in at the fall of the first wicket, the most number of times since 2003, having done it 28 times. Ever since he was dropped from the squad to South Africa for the '03 World Cup, it was clear that Laxman would never cement his spot in the ODI team. Nevertheless, India kept going back to him. This is just one more instance of muddled Indian selection. Not only has this held up the development of another ODI batsman, it probably affected Laxman's Test batting as well.

Pathan has batted at number three sixteen times, and is second only to Laxman. Surprisingly,
of the 142 matches he has played since 2003, Dravid has batted at this position only thirteen times. Dhoni has done it eleven times, Kaif ten, Sehwag nine, Yuvraj eight, Gambhir seven, Tendulkar five and Uthappa and Raina have each batted there four times. and surely there are a few more.

Contrast this to Australia. Of the 134 ODIs Ricky Ponting has played since 2003, he has batted at number three in 126 of them. I don't want to use this statistic to extol the virtues of a settled number three position. In the 2003 World Cup, Saurav Ganguly batted at number three for all but two matches of the tournament. Even that does not settle the obvious superiority of this approach. Especially for the Indian captain. After all, is he not a product of the flexible approach that allowed him a platform for creative expression?

Now, assuming that the managment stays predictable and opts for Sachin-Saurav Inc to open, we have the following candidates for the spot.

- Gautam Gambhir
- Virender Sehwag
- Robin Uthappa
- Yuvraj Singh
- S Badrinath
- M S Dhoni
- Irfan Pathan
- Rohit Sharma
- Pravin Kumar

And if Dravid is back after two ODIs, then of course, him too.

It would be surprising to see any of the last five at the position. Such a ploy may work, but it won't sustain itself over a series or more. Of the rest, one has to say that all of Sehwag, Gambhir, Uthappa and Yuvraj have a claim on the spot. Yuvraj is used to coming in a little later, but there is no point in worshipping the dharma of youth if the ultra-experienced and uber-talented Yuvraj still does not or is not allowed to take responsibility for the batting. Gambhir is the man riding a purple patch. Sehwag should be given a chance to storm back, and Uthappa has proven just as destructive at the bottom of the lineup. Since this is such a tough choice, one is likely to see more shuffling. A couple of failures could see Sehwag either sit out or move to the lower middle order to make space for Gambhir or Uthappa.

Method in the madness

That was almost perfect limited-overs batting from India. An almost old-fashioned assault on English bowling, it was an exhibition of how, when batting first, wickets in hand can be converted into runs on the board. Top marks to Sehwag, Gambhir, and of course, the man of the moment, Yuvraj Singh for a clinical batting display. Of course, we could crib over how Uthappa was foolish to lose his wicket, but the 21 year old has hopefully learnt his lesson.

Sreesanth hasn't learnt anything! Of course I could keep heaping blame on Prasad, but if Sreesanth cannot clean up his act now, there is real danger that he could be the next Agarkar. Agarkar has been the one constant in India's fast bowling over the last decade. Nehra, Mohanty, Tinu Yohannan, Harvinder Singh, T Kumaran, Balaji et al have all come and gone. He has bowled alongside Srinath and also with Pathan. A man of immense promise like Agarkar, he will always be on the fringes of national selection, because of an athletic disposition that makes him less likely to get injured - like Agarkar. Going on with the comparison, both of them had dream starts to their careers, Agarkar becoming the fastest ever bowler to reach fifty wickets. Sreesanth had a sensational tour of South Africa. However, very early on their careers, both of them also displayed an inability to stick to a plan. Neither seems to believe in the notion that when things are not going your way, drying up runs can produce wickets. It comes as no surprise then that Agarkar's golden run in Australia in 2003, was a result of fantastic attacking bowling, built on a foundation of simple line-and-length. He was the most economical and also the only one among himself, Zaheer, Nehra and Pathan to play all four Test matches and that says a story.

Sreesanth has a lot to learn from Agarkar's career. For a person on the selection radar for ten years now, Agarkar has only played 26 Test matches. In contrast, an injury and inconsistency-ridden Steve Harmison, has already played 54 in the six years that he has been around. And for those who think Harmison is not an appropriate comparison, Mohammed Sami who had a glittering start to his career in 2001, has played 30 Test matches. Irfan Pathan, despite being in the wilderness for a year, has played 25 Tests since his debut in 2003.

And finally a word on a man who I have always looked at suspiciously. I never thought he looked the sort of bowler who could cut it at the international level. Arpy Singh did really well to pull the Indian bowling back into some kind of rhythm yesterday, continuing an impressive run over the last couple of months. Hopefully he can remain fit, and continue bowling with the same sort of accuracy. It is always useful to have more than four fast bowlers to pick from.