ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup-2023: India and New Zealand the Most Consistent Teams So Far!

The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup-2023 unfolding in India is not even halfway through as of today, and it’s impossible to say which of the contesting 10 teams are going to make it to the Top 4 in the knockout stage. And there’ve been huge upsets too in terms of the short-format World Champions England losing to Afghanistan and the ebullient South Africa, after they scored in excess of 400 runs against Sri Lanka, falling again to Netherlands. As we write this Pakistan and Australia fighting it out in a very important match for both of them: Pakistan, after making a rollicking start in the tournament, fell apart against India while Australia registered their first win against Afghanistan after three consecutive losses. Therefore, at the current juncture, we can hardly predict which teams are going to stage a fight-back or which teams are going to the top seamlessly, except perhaps for two teams: India and New Zealand. Both of them have won four out of four matches each so far—every win being resoundingly convincing. They are the most consistent teams and seem to be set to make it to the semifinals unless some resurgent teams happen to cause roadblocks for them or effect upset wins over them. In this context, the encounter between them on Sunday, the 22^nd of October 2023, should be the most awaited match of the tournament with exciting and curious prospects.

While New Zealand had defeated formidable rivals like England and Australia in their four matches, India defeated Pakistan and Australia among others. The opening pairs of both teams—Rohit-Gill for India and Conway-Ravindra for NZ— are being looked upon in awe by all rival teams. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli feature in the ten leading run-scorers of the tournament while Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra figure in the list for NZ. No doubt, the top orders for both teams are firing all cylinders so far except for the New Zealand top order capsizing in one of the matches against Afghanistan. After quite a long time, the India Top 4, namely Rohit, Gill, Virat and Rahul, have shown their grit and determination to consistently contribute in each match of the World Cup. Shreyas Iyer has also come in nicely in the order and been making solid contributions so far. There could be only one difference between the top two teams: the middle and lower orders of New Zealand have been tested successfully against Netherlands and Afghanistan; but in regard to India they’ve lost no more than four wickets in each of the four matches, mostly winning those matches hands down; and this factor may or may not figure in the later matches, particularly against NZ. And as per the latest information the injury of Hardik Pandya may cause quite a bit of unease in this regard.

The bowlers, in both the departments of pace and spin, are also doing great for both India and New Zealand. Mitchell Santner tops the list of bowlers with 11 wickets for NZ and India’s Jasprit Bumrah coming close second with 10 wickets so far.  The Indian bowlers, with the exception of Shardul Thakur, have been a revelation giving their team a manageable total to defend in each of the four matches. The peaking of spinner Kuldeep Yadav has happened at the right time while Mohammed Siraj, Ravindra Jadeja and Hardik Pandya have also been among wickets. The prospects ahead are really mouthwatering.

The ICC Men’s World Cup-2023, being played in the round robin format which was introduced in the 2019 Cup after a long break in since 1999, is allowing us to watch the 10 teams playing against each other at the 10 venues across the country. Out of the total of 48 matches to be played there’ll be 45 league matches in the round robin stage and then there’ll be the two semifinals (teams on positions 1&4 to play the first while no. 2&3 to play the second) to which the best four teams are to qualify on the basis of points and net run-rates and the Final to be played in Ahmedabad on Sunday, the 19^th November, 2023. India and New Zealand have been exchanging the top 1&2 positions on the basis of the net run-rates. South Africa and Pakistan are still in the top four positions, but depending on the performances of Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan things may change quite fast.

I think the most positive factor about the tournament is that contrary to the oft-repeated phenomenon of the batting-second team winning almost all the time on the flat slow run-feast Indian pitches we’ve come to see both the toss-losing or batting-first teams winning quite a few of the matches. And there’ve been low-scoring matches too. The greatest thing is that the India pitches have been helping both pacers and spinners, without, of course, putting the batsmen at the bowlers’ mercy. Such high standards of competition and the glorious uncertainties of the game are seen to be playing on the minds of the team captains in choosing whether to bat or bowl first after winning the tosses. And of course, we are sorely missing the West Indies team, the king of unpredictability, in this World Cup as they lost out on the pre-qualifier matches.

(Note: Blogger is not allowing any single photo to be uploaded except in some odd files! Don't know why! Sorry! )

India Vs Pakistan Cricket: The Zing Seems to be Missing!

 

The cricket matches in all three formats of the game between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan have become a rare variety in the recent years with the ardent discerning cricket lovers waiting for their matches at neutral venues. The matches between them in the one-day World Cup, the T-20 World Cup, and the Asia Cup have always been eagerly awaited. However, in the last two years the fan enthusiasm seems to be dwindling with a sense of listlessness seeping in as regards both Team India and their matches. And risking being rough or grossly unjust I have to point the finger at the Head Coach Rahul Dravid who was appointed in the job in November, 2021. No doubt, he had taken over with the ripe legacies of India—not able to break the jinx of not winning a single ICC title since 2011; India’s group-stage exit in the T20 World Cup played in 2021; Team India management blinded by too many choices of young cricketers (courtesy IPL) thus ushering in the mindless and endless experimentation in the run-up to any international tournament; and the unshakable trust and dependence in the Team India veterans despite their continuous poor show on the field. But Rahul Dravid was appointed with high hopes that being player of legendary status he’d bring in the necessary changes and rejuvenate the team. Unfortunately, the opposite happened.

India lost the Series against South Africa; India’s group-stage exit in Asia Cup-2022; India got ousted in the semi-final in the T20 World Cup played in 2022 and India lost the World Test Championship again this year. What the team managed to do was to win a few scattered matches, mostly against the much weaker teams. All the legacies we mentioned above were continued with unabated energy or even further emboldened. For example, the experimentation-laden team was administered more severe shock treatment bringing in or dropping or inexorably sticking to key or non-key cricketers at mere will or whims or prejudice or favoritism or clout, so much so brazenly that nobody in the Dravid-led management even bothered to justify or make a bid to defend the decisions in some way. The ageing Captain Rohit Sharma followed by the record-breaking Virat and the shifting openers kept on failing the team while the Head Coach kept on looking the other way. The most notable player to gain unjustified faith, apart from the untouchables, is Shardul Thakur while the most-axed but trustworthy players to suffer are Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal at times and even Mohammad Shami and Surya Kumar Yadav who got dropped during the ensuing Asia Cup, in the most crucial league match against none other than Pakistan.

Well, I cannot represent the fans spread globally for Team India, but I can say for myself that I had lost interest in Team India matches played inside or outside, including the most-awaited Indo-Pak encounters. For example, I never even bothered to find out when India was going to meet Pakistan in Asia Cup-2023 that had moved back to the 50-over format which should’ve been matter of keener interest. No doubt, the weather gods too didn’t like the way India prepared to meet Pakistan and the match had to be abandoned. Of course, India successfully moved to the Super-4 stage by defeating Nepal (a Dravidian achievement?). Now, tomorrow, the 10^th of September 2023, India is set to play the arch-rival again, and I’m not seeing any kind of keen interest, far from the usual hype, demonstrated in the fan-fares or in the media for the match. And feeling the guilt somehow I’ve decided to write out my or our agonized frustration.

There is another crucial factor though for the seeming lack of interest—the obstinate rains there in Sri Lanka. Today, I read what Sunil Gavaskar wrote about the organizers not willing to consider changing the venues despite the looming rain threats. He indicated the organizers must be under acute pressure that is most often exercised by the influential players, not just Team India players, but others too. Maybe, this is being my guess; some team would like to play it safe by sharing a point with their rivals rather than working it out in the field and hope for the best. For example, if the Indo-Pak match in Colombo washes out despite having a reserve day Pakistan will get to three points having already vanquished Bangladesh and India just getting one which would mean that to qualify for the Final India will have to beat both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in the coming matches, no minnows by any standard.

I never imagined even in my wildest of dreams that one day I’d not only be upset with Dravid, but would also write about his wrong ways, conclusively in my way only; because I always loved and admired that great Wall of a cricketer who stood for the pride of the nation in the most adverse conditions, more often in the Test arena. If you search for him here in this blog you’re sure to find at least one piece written about Rahul Dravid in his glorious years. Ultimately, this is a matter of sadness only, that, a player of that level of excellence should fail the national team so utterly, so miserably. I was never a pessimist, particularly in my cricket writings. But at the moment, I feel no surge of optimism as regards Team India’s progress in this Asia Cup, or much more importantly in the upcoming One-day ICC World Cup-2023—a tournament that is to be played in the subcontinent, and the Head(ache?) Coach prepares well by axing out Ashwin and Chahal, although it’s presented as only a provisional team which, in a more monstrous way, would mean that experimentation is still a far way off from being finally over.

Is The Dinesh Karthik Riddle Over Now?

Continuing with the Asia Cup-2022 legacy and the experiment-legacy since time IPL the swashbuckling Team India management, the dead- ‘wall’ coach and the devastatingly discerning selectors had once again preferred batsman-keeper Dinesh Karthik ahead of Rishabh Pant in the playing eleven pitted against the T20 World Champions Australia in the first of the three T20Is in Mohali on 20^th September, 2022. Keeping up with the ‘traditions’ Karthik came in to bat after the supposed all-rounder Axar Patel and was still lucky enough to have four overs to play out. Unfortunately, he could not capitalize on this golden opportunity and perished cheaply. Not only that, he failed miserably to read a suspected LBW ball to convince his captain Rohit Sharma to go for a DRS. As the replays showed the ball hitting the leg stump clearly Rohit vented out all his pent-up anger on the poor but experienced Karthik. Rohit’s magnanimously displayed public anger could perhaps also be the result of the ceaseless accumulation of the same thanks to the ‘stakeholders’ described at the outset.

 

During Asia Cup-2022 that the hosts Sri Lanka won magnificently roaring back into tremendous form the stakeholders included both Karthik and Pant in the second league match and then decided to forget about the former in the crunch matches. This time, however, things could be much firmer and more decisive. As we already said Dinesh Karthik had scored an all-round failure-laden outing in the match, he seemingly gave sound enough reasons to the constantly-experimenting-scheming stakeholders to rule Karthik out on a permanent basis thus justifying the esteemed management’s outstandingly long-lasting ‘kindness and understanding’ to ‘experience’ while basking in the spirit of experimentation; this ‘experience’ also has an unmistakable Dhoni ring that surfaced during the times of the devastating (for India) ICC Men’ World Cup-2019. We need not worry at all as far as the riddle called Dinesh Karthik is concerned because it is set to be crystal clear in the second T20I against Australia tomorrow.

 

The dead- ‘wall’ coach has vindicated his age-old preferences very ominously now: Yuzvendra Chahal is to be played in every possible eleven irrespective of how he bowls and to be denied rest at any cost; Hardik Pandya (he displayed tremendous batting in the first T20I against Australia) is now a confirmed batting all-rounder along with Ravindra Jadeja whose injury could well be the ultimate cause of Rohit Franchise’s possible downfall (God forbid!) in the coming T20 World Cup; Jasprit Bumrah is to be kept on indefinite rest till he is ‘exclusively fit’ for the World Cup; the batting order has to be an ever-alterable variable, never a constant; encouraging the captain to insist on bowling the same bowlers (mostly five in number) irrespective of how they bowl till their quotas are fulfilled and to immediately take a bowler who captures a wicket in his first over off the attack; and contradictory contempt for youngsters cum veterans like Ravi Bishnoi or Deepak Chahar or Ravichandran Ashwin while welcoming the other, mostly youngsters, players as the future of Indian-Cricket (read IPL).

 

The unpredictability of the dead-‘wall’ coach is also as glorious as of the game itself. One of the consistently striking bowlers in all formats, Mohammad Shami, was benevolently considered meritorious enough to be included as one of the reserves for the T20 World Cup; but unfortunately, he caught the COVID virus perhaps due to the wantonly liberal ‘rest’ he was conferred with by the omniscient stakeholders. But horror of horrors of unpredictability! Umesh Yadav who was nowhere to be seen in the playing arena for quite some time was not only included in the revised reserves but was also played in the first T20I against Australia.     

 

That the Rohit Franchise lost against Australia despite putting up a formidable total in excess of 200 runs had been a forgone conclusion. Call it the result of the ‘price’ to be paid for the ‘essential’ process of experimentation so mind-blowingly required to finalize the playing eleven in the World Cup or the reign of the glorious uncertainly or the dead-walled team management or whatever. The call is yours as you must bear with the future of Indian Cricket (read IPL). As a vital reminder you have to take notice of the only experiment that Australia made while chasing—asking their rank-new bowling all-rounder Cameron Green to open with captain Finch and the former breathtakingly took the match away from the dazed Indians. Having said all these rather dubious things the final outcome of the T20 World Cup starting in Australia from 16^th October 2022 could still change everything for Indian Cricket (don’t read IPL) for the better, hopefully.

IPL-2022: Dhoni Finishes Off Mumbai As The Two Bottom Ranked Champions Produce A Thriller!

It was a rare moment. It was vintage Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the firebrand yet cool former India captain, in his long-forgotten role as the Finisher. The match between the bottom ranked Champions, the defending Champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the five-time Champions Mumbai Indians (MI), played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 21^st April went down the wire with CSK needing a four in the last ball to win. And MSD was at the crease. In that momentous last over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat and CSK needing 17 runs to win, the first ball gets the blast-away Dwaine Pretorius (22 off 14) out LBW; Dwaine Bravo comes in and takes a single to let Dhoni take over; 16 runs to get now in 4 balls; Dhoni hits the third ball to a towering six; next ball a four; the fifth ball Dhoni hits the ball and scampers desperately back for the second run to be able to face the last ball, a feat that he missed in the historic semi-final against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup-2019; now a 4 needed in the last ball in an epic situation; and Dhoni (28 not out in 13 balls) gets it in style leading CSK to win by 3 wickets. The Finisher stages a rare comeback to the ecstasy of his fans and the fans of CSK. MI captain Rohit Sharma and the last-over bowler Unadkat look devastated as their team crashes to its 7^th consecutive defeat, almost eliminating them from IPL-2022.

 

Both the bottom-ranked teams were justifiably desperate to win, MI needing their first win and CSK wanting its second in 7 games each, and as a result the match had been intensely fought all throughout with crisis situations thrown in for both. CSK wins the toss and as usual puts MI into bat. CSK rookie pacer Mukesh Chaudhary in a fierce burst as the first new-ball bowler mops up the top three MI wickets: Rohit Sharma for a duck and Ishan Kishan for 1 in the very first over of the innings, and then capturing Dewald Brevis for 4 in his second over, finishing the Player of the Match figure of 3-19.

 

Mumbai could never really recover from those early blows. It was thanks mainly to Tilak Varma (51 not out in 43) and the ever-needed Suryakumar Yadav (32 in 21) that MI crawled to a somewhat respectable total of 155/7. Pollard failed again with the bat and was never bowled a single over in the match. Among the other bowlers Mithchell Santner was good, but others including prominently captain Jadeja failed to impress.

 

Desperation acted as some kind of stimulator for Mumbai as they acted like tigers hungry for prey on the field and put CSK in dire straits. Daniel Sams in a burst like Mukesh earlier getting four scalps, the two by Unadkat and one severe blow by Meredith separating CSK captain Ravinda Jadeja from Dhoni which could’ve been an ominous partnership reduced CSK to 106 for 6 wickets. With 50 runs needed in four overs Mumbai seemed to have the match in their pocket and again with 35 needed in the last two overs. However, Pretorius became the first predator for MI and the rest was history as MS Dhoni re-established his role as the Finisher. And unfortunately again, main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah failed to get wickets still.

 

MI and CSK continue to give company to each other at the bottom positions—CSK with 4 points now in the 9^th position and MI with no win in the 10^th spot. In the meantime, RCB has been doing very well amassing 5 wins out of 7 to rise to the second position with 10 points while GT retains the top spot with 10 points due to their better run-rate. RR also rises to the third position with 8 points in 6 games while LSG slides to the fourth, also with 8 points, but in 7 games. Resurgent SRH rises to the 5^th position with 8 points in 6 games. DC had thrashed Punjab to make amends to their poor stats and is now occupying the 6^thposition. KKR has been fighting very bravely, but losing matches recently and sliding to the 7^th position with 6 points in 7 games. PBKS is in the 8^th position, but also with 6 points in 7 games.

 

With 7 games each left for 7 teams and 8 for the 3 teams a see-saw battle for the top four spots is still very much on the anvil. Unfortunately, it seems almost over for MI unless they win all their remaining 7 games only to remain in contention. It’d be interesting too to watch what CSK does next with that huge morale-booster delivered by MS Dhoni.

The Warner-Marsh Duo Gifts Australia Their First Ever T20 World Cup, New Zealand Remains Runners-Up Again!

Australia added to its feathers the first ever T20 World Cup by prevailing over New Zealand by  8 wickets in the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup-2021 in Dubai today. The final match has also turned out to be not as absorbing as the two semi-finals with the Australian chase seeming quite easy and the inevitable ‘toss advantage’ seemed to have sealed the match in their favor. As we have seen the team winning the toss invariably chooses to field first, restricts the opposition to less than 180 and wins the match by hauling up the target chasing with the dew or any favoring factor. Of course, in the semi-finals it was Daryl Mitchell’s charge at the death that won it for New Zealand against England and a similar finishing act was carried out by Matthew Wade for Australia upsetting a shocked Pakistan at the death. However, we had said earlier that the chasing team always overhauls the target, somehow, as has been observed throughout this tournament. This important final of a World Cup truly turns out to be another strong cause for tossing away the toss. This is not to deny Australia the credit for its professionalism and aggressiveness  whenever needed in crunch matches.

 

As in the semi-final against Pakistan Australia lost captain Aaron Finch early in the final too, but the team accelerated thanks to some real hitting by David Warner and Mitchell Marsh. Australia hauled up the first fifty runs in the sixth over while New Zealand took as many as nine overs. Thanks to the duo the ‘big brother’ fully dominated the proceedings as no Kiwi ‘kid’ bowler could control the free flow of runs all around the park. Warner raced to his 50 with a towering six off Neesham in 34 balls at the team score of 95/1 in the 11^th over, almost cruising to victory at that stage. As a huge relief for the Kiwis Warner (53, declared the Player of the Tournament) fell soon to Boult in the 13^th over, perhaps a tad too late for a comeback. Mitchell Marsh (77 not out in 50 balls) joined by Glen Maxwell (28 not out in 18 balls) treated the Kiwi bowlers with disdain hauling up the target with 7 balls to spare, Maxwell hitting the winning boundary.

 

Earlier, put into bat and thanks to Williamson’s masterful innings of 85 off 34 balls, the highest individual score by a captain in this World Cup, New Zealand set a target of 173 runs to win for Australia, and it was only a fighting total which their bowlers were miserably unable to defend. Except for Guptill (28) and Phillips (18) no NZ batsmen could contribute much while they had the launching pad for a 190+ total; the hero of the semi-final Daryl Mitchell could only score 11 runs in 8 balls and was the first to go. The last two overs were real dampeners for NZ despite the big-hitting partner of Mitchell in the semi-final, James Neesham, being very much around, finally remaining not out with just 13 runs. For Australia Hazelwood found his touch and captured three wickets for only 16 in 4 overs while all other Aussie bowlers were hit around the park, most surprisingly strike bowler Starc was hit for 60 runs in his 4 overs.

 

The jinx of ‘so close yet so far’ remains for the most deserving and the World Test Champion team of New Zealand still without any of the ICC World Cups in the shorter formats. They came very close to winning the ODI (one-day international) World Cup Finals of 2015 against Australia and of 2019 against England, but finally losing under controversial circumstances in the latter. Today, in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup-2021 final too New Zealand failed to prevail over big brother Australia. They again turned up as the runners-up yet again in an ICC World Cup tournament.

 

Thus, curtains on the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup-2021, a tournament scheduled to be held in Australia in 2020, venues changed twice and finally unfolding in Oman and UAE, after nearly a month of competitive cricket involving national pride, but impacted to some extent by low-scoring slow pitches and the advantage for the toss-winning team. There’d be another T20 World Cup in Australia in 2022, and hopefully, the pandemic permitting, that will be much tougher, competitive and absorbing. For the moment New Zealand is coming to India this month for 3 T20I matches and 2-match Test Series. Rohit Sharma will lead the team, several star players rested including Kohli, in the T20I matches starting from the 17^th of November 2021. It is not yet clear about the captain of the Test series; if Kohli continues to be rested then Ajikya Rahane who led India to a spectacular victory against Australia in Australia is likely to be given the cap.

India Win Canberra ODI: No International Cricket Series Should Immediately Follow The IPL!

Even though the Indian Premiere League (IPL) is basically a T20 club-cricket tournament with multinational cricketers, the stakes involved in the tournament are immense. There is the great promise of moolah for every stakeholder: from the richest cricket board of the world BCCI to the national cricket icons or superstars, little-known domestic cricketers and international cricket stars. Every club or franchise is sort of produced by a business group or a rich investor, and all of the investors not only want their money back, but also shares of the net profits. The fantastic popularity that the IPL enjoys brings in the advertisers and commercial sponsors/co-sponsors. So, for obvious reasons nobody would ever like to give up on this annual bonanza, at any cost. No doubt, the BCCI had been desperate to organize IPL-2020 despite the pandemic, and finally grabbed the anticipated slot that was vacated by the ICC as the Cricket T20 World Cup-2020 could not be held. Not to speak of the other benefits that the domestic cricketers are expected to get in their careers.

 

The BCCI has long termed the IPL as a must event. The Indian cricketers, on the flip side, are the worst sufferers in this tournament: like the underworld there is no point of return for them once they get in; even injured players are forced to get fit in no time; the icons or the superstars are always the biggest attractions assuring the flowing advertising money; the rising or little-known domestic players have everything to gain from this tournament; the international players do not ever mind it because of the money and cricketing practice. With the industrialists and business tycoons breathing down their backs the Indian players cannot even think of quitting the tournament mid-way whatever be the reasons/grounds.

 

Naturally, the nearly two-month long tournament leaves the domestic players drained, and what they desperately need after is rest, at least for a fortnight, with families and friends. Therefore, whenever an international bilateral series or a world cricket event immediately follows the IPL the Indian cricketers hardly get enough time to regroup and reenergize. While the international cricketers participating in the IPL can leave the tournament early to attend to the call of their respective national duties the Indian counterparts have to go through to the last ball, despite the ‘national duty’ on which even the BCCI always takes an ambiguous stand.

 

The ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 was a glaring example in this context when the Indian players had only about a fortnight to prepare for the most prestigious world event that comes only once in four years, not annually. The international players got their precious practice and confidence-building in the IPL-2019, and left early to participate in their respective training sessions. And, the Indian cricketers, including skipper Virat Kohli toiling for a lost cause, had had to suffer through the full tournament with no training camps to follow. What happened? Perhaps the best Indian team ever fielded for World Cups could not progress beyond the semi-final, with topsy-turvy performances in-between. The IPL becomes a clear liability under such circumstances, and therefore, we strongly and in agony appeal that scheduling of international series or events must not ever be done immediately following the annual IPL.

 

The India Tour of Australia-2020-21 has been suffering directly from the scheduling with India already losing the ODI Series. With a host of restrictions and quarantine procedures the Indian players participating in the IPL-2020 in UAE since September had been both physically and mentally drained. Yet they had to proceed to Australia the very next day after the IPL final, and had again to undergo isolation for 14 days without any practice matches or sessions. It is only hoped that the Indians would gradually get acclimatized and be somewhat ready by the time the Test Series starts.

 

On the third and final ODI match in Canberra today India made a few changes in the team. Why? Perhaps only the winning Australian team enjoyed this prerogative. Since it has been widely reported in the media that ‘India now play for respect’, why then the management did not field the same team that they did not bother to change even for the decisive second match! The retained star batsmen of Team India for the Canberra match could do no better than on the earlier two occasions, and the pair of Pandya-Jadeja had to bat out of their skin to restore some of the ‘respect’. While Australia registered three centuries there was none from the superstars of India, and only Pandya, an all-rounder who never really bowled, reached the 90s twice.

 

India did get back the ‘respect’ winning a close match in Canberra by 13 runs, and lost the Dettol ODI Series 1-2. Mind you, this was a second Australian team thanks to Warner’s injury and experimentation with reserve players. Can Team India come back at least for the 3-match T20 Series that starts from the 4^th of December, based on the benchmarked IPL-selection procedures exercised since the last few years? Perhaps the Canberra win would make them a little more spirited.

IPL 2020 Highlights: Recalling Vintage Tendulkar!

 

After getting over with IPL 2020 played to empty stadiums of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah, and the rather loud virtual audios continuously fed in perhaps to enthuse television viewers, some of the true cricketing elements are catching our attention in all of their elegance or the lack of it. Last evening while watching the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Vs Chennai Super Kings (CSK) duel in Dubai, the passionate display of India captain and RCB captain Virat Kohli somehow reminded me of cricket’s living legend Sachin Tendulkar in his evergreen one-day international innings, famous as ‘desert storm’, against Australia in Sharjah under the Coca Cola triangular cup in 1998. The images of the two greats got somehow juxtaposed: Kohli, with his team in a precarious state batting first, running like a hare, desperate for every single run, diving and rolling over on the ground, his spectacular shots all around the park in the most visible display of controlled aggression to his crucial 77 not out innings; and Tendulkar, with a bigger national mission to see India through to the final, covered with dirt from head to foot, running like the blood hound thirsty for runs, falling and tumbling on the ground, his roaring boundaries and sixes and to that definitive 143-run innings.

 

Sachin Tendulkar ensured India’s entry into the final at a better net run-rate over New Zealand, also made sure India win the final against Australia with another superlative century knock of 134 and deservedly going on to win the Player-of-the-Series award. Last night Viral Kohli also ensured a win for his team, and from here how he goes about in the coming matches is to be seen. Although the comparison may not be justified considering the stakes, it came to my mind spontaneously, obviously for the cricketing delights, brilliance and the spirit of competition.

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Coming to the vanquished team last evening, CSK is not performing to its potential so far in IPL 2020. The main reason being the MS Dhoni syndrome: he is no longer the revved finisher by way of his performances in the last two years including that of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2019. In fact, as I maintained earlier, his selection in the World Cup team thanks to his experience was a huge mistake leading the team to absurdities with four wicket-keepers in the playing eleven several times, and his performance very predictable, struggling even for singles and the big shots entirely missing. Therefore, his being still the captain of CSK along with several veterans like him in the team makes it very difficult for his team to fight competitively. Only expert wicket-keeping cannot inspire a team, Dhoni will have to re-discover his shots to lead the team from the front, much sooner than later, as CSK has lost five of its seven games and cannot afford to lose any more to remain in contention.

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The biggest and the most lamentable surprise of IPL 2020 so far is Chris Gayle, who has been rested in all the seven matches played by Kings Eleven Punjab (KXIP), is reportedly suffering from sickness, the latest of which being food poisoning. He continues to be rested despite Nicholas Pooran and Glen Maxwell doing almost nothing for the team. It seems too late now for a re-think, because KXIP is virtually out of the tournament losing six of the seven games. Ironically, the team showed a lot of promise from the beginning despite losing its first match that should have been won comfortably. The main reason for its poor performance is as much inadequate cricketing application as bits of pure bad luck.

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Another highlight of IPL 2020 has been the captivating performance of Delhi Capitals (DC) who are sitting pretty at the top of the points table with 10 points at the moment. This is in sharp contrast to the lackadaisical performances of its earlier avatar Delhi Daredevils throughout the IPL versions. Under a performing leader Shreyas Iyer, ably backed by national and international players, DC is set to give the toughest competition to its rivals.

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Even though Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has started with its Karthik-Russel hangover of last year it has somehow managed to show its grit in winning four of the six games played so far, and is currently in the third position on the points table. While Russel is yet to show his muscle Karthik has played only one solid match-winning knock so far. Both of them must deliver on the field if KKR were to be victorious for the third time after 2012 and 2014.

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Defending champions and four-time winners, Mumbai Indians (MI) has been progressing steadily winning four of their six games. With captain Rohit Sharma in full form and star players like Jasprit Bumrah, Pandya Brothers, Trent Boult and so on MI is always on the rudder for its potential foray into the play-offs. Sunrisers Hyderabad and Rajasthan Royals, in the 5^th and 7^thposition respectively, are volatile as always, and can make a comeback from any situation. IPL 2020 is set to go on giving the cricketing highlights as it unfolds further, for sure.

Cricket of Whitewashes: New Zealand Hammer India 2-1!

Photo: latestly.com

The cricket mandarins of India, if as short sighted as the shorter formats, might as well gloat over India’s 5-0 whitewash over New Zealand in the shortest format that is the T20I Series, and might as well reason that the process of experimentation has finally given a team for the T20I World Cup coming up in October this year. However, the said team is yet a team of probables only, and the IPL starting later this month might as well throw up again a plethora of new ‘talents’ for the ‘choices’ of the worthy Indian selectors; therefore, the experimentation is far from over yet.  In the second test match played in Christchurch New Zealand has beaten India by 7 wickets in just the third day today thus achieving the third whitewash of the tour of 2-0—the second whitewash being the Kiwis’ triumph of 3-0 in the shorter that is the ODI Series. New Zealand had earlier won the Wellington test by 10 wickets. India had had their chances though in both the Tests—in the first in Wellington the Indian bowlers failed India come back into the match while in the second after the bowlers ensured even a lead for India, though the slenderest, the batsmen failed miserably to drive home the advantage. In totality, India just couldn’t cope with the three-pronged and then the four-pronged pace-attack of the Kiwis on their home turf with fast-bowler Kyle Jamieson towering above all.

Why Team India, on top as far as Test matches are concerned in the last few years, did so miserably having the advantage of batting first on both occasions? The reasons are not far to seek. The ‘inducted’ veterans couldn’t perform as instantly as the team management wanted, you know, putting them up on green pitches suddenly out of the wilderness. Second, the consistent failures of Captain Virat Kohli contributed majorly for the batting blues. Third, injury to Rohit Sharma and the new openers not quite up to the task, particularly Mayank Agarwal, contributed to the consistent batting collapses. Fourth, India failed to have a proper pace battery to match green pitches (Jasprit Bumrah not in top form yet) and still going for the spinners who, obviously, just proved to be ornamental. And lastly, again, the selection blues: even God wouldn’t have an idea as to why the top-form KL Rahul was not considered for the Tests whereas he had proved his worthiness in Tests too earlier; why Wriddhiman Saha was not preferred as the wicket-keeper over Rishabh Pant in whose case, of course, no logic applies as far as selection (perhaps the greatest cricket talent of the millennium) is concerned.

This tour doesn’t augur well the for the away series that India is set play in the near future with even day-and-night or Pink Test matches being planned in Australia. The worthy selectors must justify their ‘endless experimentation’ saga with players rested at will, dropped at will and the seasoned campaigners not even considered most of the times. But for the looming IPL, a veritable T20 bonanza of cricket, glamour and cash, the team management would’ve learnt a few precious lessons from India Tour of New Zealand-2019/20 to prepare for the T20 World Cup-2020 which, on the earlier occasion too, they couldn’t realize in time, again thanks to IPL, to prepare well for the one-day World Cup-2019. Alas!

Cricket Of Whitewashes—Now New Zealand ODI-Swamp India 3-0!

Photo: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

After India whitewashed New Zealand by 5-0 in the T20I Series now New Zealand whitewash back with a 3-0 triumph over India in the 3-match one-day international (ODI0 Series. In the third and final match today at Mount Maunganui New Zealand thrashed India by 5 wickets, despite a challenging target of 297 put by India. With NZ openers Guptill and Nicholls going-great-guns the Kiwis overtook the target with relative ease. In the first match the hosts assailed India’s target of 347, the stiffest and highest of the series, with quite a few balls to spare exposing the visitors’ bowling woes. Some Indian commentators have once again played with the word ‘complacency’ saying that perhaps the Indians were a bit complacent after the T20 whitewash! Well, over the decades this writer has been utterly unable to understand how a professional team affords to be complacent against another professional team in very competitive international matches. The hyped products of experimentation like the Sainies or the Thakurs hardly able to do anything to justify the exclusion of Test pacers. We’d also like to know what has happened to Khaleel Ahmed and others who were experimented relentlessly in a two-year countdown to the ICC World Cup-2019.

Of course, you can say Team India is depleted with both the openers—Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma—out due to injury. Of course! But if you’ve been experimenting consistently over the years where are your performers then? This proves again that the selectors have been just blindly trying to help the IPL youngsters without getting into the ‘performance’ track. The set No.4 batsman Ambati Rayadu was banished into oblivion before the World Cup and thus artificially creating the No.4 syndrome. Moreover, why are Test-tested batsmen like Ajinkya Rahane and some of the bowlers are permanently dropped for the shorter formats? Again, if we look closely into the ODI series it is more of bowlers’ failure than batsmen’. I still stick to my view that excellent Test performers can always excel in any format of the game. As for New Zealand, they have set in order the inexplicable batting blues displayed in the T20 series.

Now with the two-match Test Series between Indian and New Zealand coming up, the same ‘dropped’ veterans will be inducted into the team, and the selectors would want them to perform instantly while depriving them of good exposure in the shorter formats. If you’re doing experiment which you’ll continue doing since the T20 World Cup-2020 is coming up, then why restrict it only to IPL ‘talents’, why not open it up to veterans too? Anyway, now over to Test cricket! Should we expect the hat-trick of whitewashes? Nothing wrong in having great expectations!