Of Sanjay Manjrekar and L.Sivaramakrishnan

The new Indian cricket commentator in English. 

Of the second tier of Indian commentators in English, comprising mostly of cricketers who played for India since 1990, Sanjay Manjrekar and L.Sivaramakrishnan have the most exposure.

Of course Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Navjot Singh Sidhu all appear in the commentator’s studio from time to time, but none of them have done series after series consistently. In case of the first three, mostly it seems like that they are recently retired and still value the family time that they have been able to get, and that having being been some of the highest paid Indian cricketers of the last decade, they do not need the remunerative aspect of commentating. VVS also makes mistakes in English, but its hard to dislike that or make any issue with that because his enthusiasm comes through and makes you smile (and of course its not our first language so grammar can go take a hike).

Sidhu of course, was the original star of the this 2^nd generation of commentators, the progenitor of bad jokes; he has had to pay a huge price for his popularity as TV studios have swooped in to put him up in reality TV in a big way – almost to the extent of ruining his political career.

Akash Chopra and  Murali Kartik have recently started appearing in Ten/Neo sports cricket coverage – but those are basically cut price outfits which are not willing to pay anything for a decent producer to direct the show - the conversations don’t seem go anywhere, and the quality of coverage suggests that it had been recorded on second hand 80s equipment.  Akash Chopra of course also now taps into the Cricinfo mega network, and now Murali has managed to get into 2014-15 Border Gavaskar commentary.

But Sanjay - he is really maturing as a commentator. I think the best thing is that he has been given the hard task of introducing each random commercial segment of the pre-post match shows. Where he has to say Lava Super Fours. And he is almost apologetic when he has to say - with a twisted smile, and an odd way of putting it forth. He is self effecaing enough about his own record, especially when Ganguly and Dravid are around (though he is much more senior a cricketer). And he is not pompous. Thats what I hate about Ganguly. Sanjay and Dravid together are a delight - both probably the most technically correct batsmen ever produced by India, and both are the least likely to fault any other batsmen on technical aspects; always leaving space in their comments to be not absolutely hard on anyone.

What helps Sanjay is I think his years of producing cricket compilation videos. He learnt the art of looking directly into a camera and speaking to a viewer, which is not something the rest have mastered yet - maybe Ravi Shastri and Harsha Bhogle. The rest want to talk to each other. In their living room.

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Siva - I am thankful that Siva is not doing as much commentary now  as he used to. What a terrible speaker. If his accent wasn't bad enough, his descriptions, his manner - everything. Am sure we have more English speaking ex-cricketeers than him. W.V. Raman and others who do Ranji games are so much better. Worst. Piss offs.

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[To be completed]

Spin of the dice

Is there any such thing as a pecking order for India's emerging spinners? Or is it a game of chance, the selectors picking names from a hat?

Not so long back, in fact a very short while ago, Piyush Chawla was the next big thing - successor to Anil himself. Today, he is a discard - no rhyme, no reason, but a certain Younus Khan might have had something to do with it.

Prgyan ojha watch his step, no saying when the dice will favour Mishra. Piyush will now learn how to deal with the slog sweep before he gets back.

Murali Kartik's been emerging for a decade, but it is certain now that he will only get a call when he least expects it.

Quick office reflections on the test squad

I have not blogged here for an inordinately long time. Combination of factors. Can't say work, though it has contributed. Boredom too, to a large extent, with the endless cricket being played out everywhere. I missed switch-hits, Collingwood's ethical diemma and subsequent just desserts, Zimbabwe, CWB in the Wisden, Ajantha Mendis... basically a load of crap. Or that is how I have been thinking, and it is a reflection of the direction in which cricket is heading - when a confirmed cricketaholic starts thinking this way..

Anyway, chuck all that..

Once again, there are not too many surprises in the selection of the Test squad. With most of the team selecting itself, the only points of contention concerened Jaffer and the reserve batsman. Jaffer, a giant of the domestic game, has not captured the same kind of rhythm internationally. Yuvraj Singh, a giant of the one-day game, has not been able to utilize his outrageous talent in the Test arena with any kind of consistency. The question before the selectors was first, whether to let matters drift and allow Jaffer and Yuvraj another shot in the squad. Secondly, if not them, then who?

In Yuvraj's case, it did not make sense to carry him along in the squad. Only an injury to any of the top and middle order would allow him into the side. With Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman very well rested, the chances of Yuvraj spending some time in the middle were close to nil, and it made more sense to send in someone who had more to gain from spending time in the same dressing room as Laxman, Dravid, Dada and Kumble. Rohit Sharma was an obvious candidate, though Badri's fans will claim that the Tamil Nadu domestic colossus continues to be ignored. Fair to say though, that Sharma was quite clearly ahead in the pecking order, having seen success in the one-day game. Such an argument does not sit easily (even when Veeru was dropped after the SA tour, there was the whole problem of using ODI form to measure Test selectability), and Badri's backers will cry until they are hoarse that his game is more suited to the longer version than Sharma's or Raina's.

In Jaffer's case, the selector's had to make a decision of greater importance. On the cards was a clean break with the past. With DK no longer in contention for the opener spot (unless India play Irfan as the fifth bowling option), Jaffer's departure signals the end of the opening combination that made gains in England. With Gambhir coming in, two men who have walked out together innumerable times for Delhi and for India, will do so again. It is not difficult to feel sorry for Jaffer, but the hopeless waft outside off has to leave his game. But more than Jaffer's shortcomings, it is Gambhir's incredible hunger for runs that has seen him make this comeback.

In the bowling department, Zak, Arpy and Ishant can be an uncomfortable three-card trick. My guess is that Zak and Ishant will get picked first, with Ganguly chipping in with a few overs. But on heartbreakingly benign Lankan tracks, the backup would be crucial. Sreesanth misses out and it is not clear if injury is the reason, and Munaf makes the cut. Kumble and the recently shamed Harbhajan will do the bulk of the bowling. Piyush misses out and in comes Ojha the left arm spinner. In case we decide to carry three spinners, there is great variety that might just make up for the lack of bite in Harbhajan's bowling, or the lack of experience in Pragyan's. However, we need to consider Murali Kartik for a moment. After years of being in the shadow of Kumble and Harbhajan, it is one of his own kind that has upstaged him this time. The question of pecking order, that is crucial to Rohit's presence in the squad today, is probably meaningless to Kartik now.

Finally, does Dhoni backing out mean anything more than a stopgap arrangement for DK or Parthiv? I would assume that DK gets to be in the team ahead of Parthiv, and if he is able to play Mendis and Murali with authority, the selectors would be in a spot - and might have to consider a situation where the vice-captain is not able to find a place in the squad. Dhoni who is now one of the most consistent ODI batsmen, has not set the world alight with his recent performaces in Tests.

Irfan gets dropped as well, which after his horrendous run in the Asia Cup should not come as a surprise for many. On the other hand, his Test form has not been too bad of late, if we would just cast our minds at the last two Test matches in Austalia. What is clear is that in the subcontinent, once the ball stops swinging, he finds it difficult to pick wickets. What we will miss though, is the option of playing five bowlers.

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.