Team India Franchises on a Winning Spree: Is This For Real?

It has to be termed as a good positive sign in view of the ICC World Cup T20 coming up later this year and the ODI ICC World Cup coming next year that Team India, of late, has been winning in the shorter formats consistently. After Team India-Bumrah franchise lost the leftover 5^th Test against England the various franchises have been blooming in the following matches in the shorter formats. Before the 5^th Test Team India-Pandya franchise had triumphed over Ireland quite easily; then Team India-Rohit franchise won both the T20I Series and the ODI Series against England with the same margin of 2-1; next, Team India-Dhawan franchise swept the 3-match ODI Series against the competitive and spirited West Indies on the latter’s turf 3-0; and at the moment Team India-Rohit franchise has taken a lead of 1-0 in the 3-match T20I Series against the West Indies routing the hosts in the first T20I match. Before this winning spree Team India-Pant franchise managed to draw the ODI Series against South Africa back home. The problem here is as to why exactly we’re using the word ‘franchise’ for the true-blue national team. This, of course, can be interpreted as ‘in the glorious spirit of the IPL franchises’, because after that mind-blowing deal the IPL had accomplished in terms of revenues Indian cricket as well as international cricket are bound to undergo a paradigm shift from ‘proud national cricket’ to ‘businessmen’s franchise cricket’.

 

We’re not saying this out of any outraged hurts or feelings, we’re saying this based on hard facts. The surprise announcement of retirement from ODI cricket by England Test captain Ben Stokes immediately after the hosts lost the ODI Series 2-1 to India brought the ‘burnout of players’ syndrome into deep focus. This syndrome has quite a lot of validity behind it. After the Pandemic-induced break for well over a year the International Cricket Council (ICC) decided to rush through as many pending tournaments/bilateral series as possible and the cricketers started complaining of continuous ‘bio bubble’ fatigue which also has a lot of humanitarian validity. Besides, some exceptionally capable cricketers play cricket in all formats for their respective national teams and therefore they are the worst hit in this ‘burnout’ syndrome.

 

As far as Indian cricket is concerned the supposedly prompt counter to the ‘burnout’ issue had been in operation well before the Pandemic; naturally because the IPL was raging here since times immemorial. The exceptional players or the superstars who must figure in all formats of the game plus obviously the IPL were being ‘rested’ or ‘put in the unfit or injury list’ quite regularly. However, there is a glorious exception to rule here: superstar players must not be ‘rested’ at any cost for the two months when the IPL franchises chalk out the encounters. This is now being further accentuated by the fact that the IPL, as the second-highest earning sports tournament of the world, is going to last for around two and half months from next year and the formation-in-line of various other T20 Leagues in many countries across the globe including South Africa, Australia, UAE and others the replacement of ‘national cricket’ by ‘franchise cricket’ has to become immensely imminent.

 

Therefore, the ‘burnout factor’, accentuated by the mushrooming T20 Leagues, has become a vexed international phenomenon. Former India coach Ravi Shastri and famed ex-cricketer of Pakistan Wasim Akram have in fact bluntly asked the ICC to cut down drastically on the bilateral fixtures, and if possible, to eradicate the ODI feature from international cricket schedule altogether. While they are being very righteous about the enveloping ‘burnout crisis’ they miss the basic point that the ODI Cricket World Cup still commands more interest than any other T20 or other tournaments. They also justify that this is absolutely necessary to preserve Tests Cricket, supposedly the original and the traditional format of the game. Unfortunately, cricket mandarins of this kind would be the last to be genuinely concerned about the future of Test Cricket.

 

Coming back to Indian cricket, we’ve already seen that the emergence of the Team India franchises cannot be prevented for practical reasons. Former India captain and the horribly cum consistently out-of-form Virat Kohli has been getting the much needed ‘rest’ very frequently along with the most delicate superstars like Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami and others. Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed regular captain in all formats, has been exemplary as far as the ‘rested’ or ‘injured’ factors are concerned, and as a result of that various stand-in captains have been emerging in Indian cricket, very regularly too. And therefore, the inevitable ‘franchise’ phenomenon. Shikhar Dhawan was left in the wilderness for a long time without any suitable justification, but had to be brought in now for the ‘franchise’ issue.

 

Now, the Indian franchises are winning the matches cum series, but not India as such. ‘Bench strength’ and ‘experiments’ are the buzzwords now. No issues, it’s always good to have multiple choices. Some players like Deepak Hooda, Samson and many other youngsters are playing exceptionally well. But the problem is about the final eleven that was going to figure in the forthcoming World Cups. The ICC has been judiciously providing many T20 bilateral series to enable the national teams prepare well. But, when the key players are ‘rested’ from these preparatory matches and they come back to oust the promising and practicing youngsters from the playing eleven in the World Cups what would happen!

 

For example if KL Rahul, the regular stand-in captain in the shorter formats, comes back from a long injury break whom he is going to replace? Further, if Virat Kohli is given a permanent rest it would augur well for the final eleven in World Cups, because if he comes back too without any match practice he would oust another cog of the winning combinations and his performance in the eliminating matches would also be highly unpredictable. Why veteran Dinesh Karthik is being played in the final T20 eleven, coming to bat after Jadeja or Axar Patel, is another pertinent question. Or does it matter anyway how the India final eleven perform in the international tournaments? Other countries are joining in the chorus too for sparing their ‘national’ players to play and earn big money in the franchise leagues!

 

If only the T20 Leagues are given preference over the ICC fixtures we’ll always be the first to protest. National and International cricket cannot be sacrificed for the money-spinning entertainment shows like the T20 Leagues. But it’s going to be a battle where the genuine cricket lovers are going to be the most likely losers. This is definitely unfortunate, but what can we do when confronted with the ‘popularity’ and the ‘money’ associated with the short-cut cricket! Our hopes in the new coach Rahul Dravid, the Wall in Indian glorious Test cricket, have been a huge disappointment thus far, sadly.

Cricket Movie ‘83’: A Nostalgic Trip Back To The Moments Of Glory!

The movie aptly titled ‘83’ is really worth reliving Team India’s glorious World Cup victory at Lord’s in 1983 defeating the mighty West Indies, thus stopping the latter’s hat-trick moments after victories in 1975 and 1979; and in fact, the West Indies team is yet to win their third World Cup since then. I missed watching the movie on the big screen as moviegoing has been effectively stopped since the last two years, particularly for the elderly people like me. I grabbed the opportunity as soon as the great cricket movie was premiered on television yesterday. The movie too has suffered due to the pandemic: first it was slated for release in 2019 which, unfortunately, was postponed due to post-production reasons and after that the COVID-19 recurring bans and restrictions never allowed to make the movie reach millions of cricket fans. Finally, though it could be released in December 2021 its shows were again affected by the Omicron wave. Therefore, as it were, the movie could not recover its huge budget so far and technically was not a success at the box office.

 

During the time, June 9-25^th1983, we were living in the beautiful hilly town of Diphu in Assam and television sets, not even to mention telecasts, were totally absent. As avid cricket players and fans I along with my younger brother and occasionally my father always used to tune in to the radio commentaries whenever India played, since the early seventies. We used to stay awake late night and huddled around the radio set as and when the overseas Test matches demanded. I remember staying awake almost the whole night with my brother relishing one of the greatest Indian Test victories against the West Indies in 1976 as India managed to successfully chase the target of 405 runs batting last.

 

The ICC World Cup-1983 was another huge event not to be missed at any cost for us despite India’s laughable performances in the 1975 and 1979 and the general feeling that India had no chance at all in 1983 too. Such emotions were played in the movie beyond a measure, obviously to boost up the spirit of nationalism. However, this kind of cricket nationalism is okay as cricket is indeed a unifying force irrespective of caste, religion and languages in a diverse country like India and in light of the divisiveness of the present days. So, we were eagerly following the radio commentaries and expected India perform under Kapil Dev like the diehard optimists we were and always are.

 

The early Indian victory against the West Indies in the double round-robin Group-B matches really set us up and we never believed that Indian victories were flukes. That defeat for West Indies was their first ever in the World Cups. We sensed that this Team India, known as Kapil’s Devils, was indeed capable of winning and so it proved. Despite the huge losses against West Indies and Australia subsequently India again regrouped to annihilate Australia and made a historic entry into the Semi-finals winning against Zimbabwe with that record-breaking innings of 175 not out by Kapil Dev that put India back after being reduced to 17/5. And then the Semi-final victory against England in their own land to enter the Final. Therefore, the fluke-theory was never there for us, and I’d say again that this theory has been a bit overemphasized in the movie.

 

The Real Moment!

The hilly town naturally went to sleep early and the matches played in England and Wales were on till late hours (that time one-day matches were of 60 overs each) we continued to huddle around the radio set, playing it at a low volume to not risk waking up our parents. On the monumental day of the 25^th June 1983, we were indeed disappointed when Team India was bundled out for 183, but still believed the team could come back as wont to our optimism. As the West Indies chased the target during the night, we kept on with the radio commentary in our usual way and celebrated the fall of every wicket between us brothers. When the final moment of victory came, we exchanged wild-spirited high fives giving out suppressed battle cries. And then, we went to bed quietly. There were no celebrations at that period the way we witness nowadays.

 

The Reel Moment!

The task of playing the living legend Kapil Dev who is still the first cricketer of the world having more than 400 wickets while scoring more than 5000 runs in Test cricket and the Wisden Cricketer of the Century (2002) was not at all an easy one for Ranveer Singh. A terrific actor who is known for his roles of Peshwa Bajirao (2015) and Alauddin Khilji (2018) among many others has done a lot of labor to follow Kapil Dev’s batting/bowling style, his mannerisms and even the way he talks, and finally has delivered a memorable performance which is lapped up by the legend himself. All other members of Team India-83 have also done very well, picking up the details about the real cricketers.

 

The Reel Team!

This speaks volumes for the kind of research and training done by the director Kabir Khan, known for his critically-acclaimed blockbuster movie ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ (2015), in making of ‘83’, choosing the characters with some physical resemblance and then building on those. Particularly Jiva who played K Srikanth capturing all the nuances and the humor stands out as a highlight. Not only for Team India, but also the choices for the international cricketers, namely of West Indies, with suitable actors. He also recreated the Lord’s environs with immaculate authenticity and mastery looking for details all the time. No doubt, the budget of such a movie would really shoot up.

 

The Real Team!

‘83’ is indeed an achievement for Kabir Khan in all possible respects. He can be pardoned for his filmy fictional dramas/melodramas, background songs and the ‘nationalism’ spirit we already mentioned, because all such elements are needed to make an authentic bio-pic click as a film too, particularly among the modern generation of today. The movie has also been lauded by all the real cricketers involved including another living legend Sunil Gavaskar and the celebrities from almost all fields of activity. The movie opens with a condolence note to Yashpal Sharma, one of the star performers of the team, who expired last year and is the first one to go from the Team-1983. We miss him too and love the inherent niceties of his character played so ably by Jatin Sarna. And more importantly, it’s not a hero-centric film like the Bollywood customs with every character coming out on its own and thus keeping the team spirit that is so typical of Kapil Dev.  In all, a hearty thumbs up for the entire team of ‘83’. 

Rohit Sharma Named Test Captain: Pujara And Rahane Dropped For Sri Lanka Test Series!

The Chairman of the BCCI Selection Committee, Chetan Sharma, has today announced the India squads for the upcoming Test and T20I Series against the visiting Sri Lanka, naming Rohit Sharma as the Test Captain with Jasprit Bumrah as his deputy. The out-of-from batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been dropped along with the experienced pacer Ishant Sharma and reserve wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha—the last being dropped on account of his age (37) as he did not figure in any of the matches in the South Africa tour. This announcement is on the expected lines. Chetan Sharma said that Rohit has emerged as the unanimous choice for Test captaincy while future captain materials like KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Bumrah are to be groomed under the leadership of Rohit which we speculated about in one of our earlier posts.

 

If it was an apologetic gesture or not the Chairman said further that Pujara and Rahane have to be left out to make room for a new-generation Team India, adding that the doors are still open for the experienced duo as this selection is only for the two test matches against Sri Lanka. The chances for their possible comeback look bleak though considering the new blood being injected in terms of opener Priyank Panchal, top order batsman Shreyas Iyer and middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari. It is indeed sad to see Rahane, only 33, and Pujara, 34, go, as they have been an integral part of the India Test team, particularly Rahane who crafted a glorious away Test series victory over Australia only last year as the stand-in captain. Both of them are currently playing the Ranji Trophy matches; in the IPL-2022 Rahane finds a franchise while Pujara has remained unsold.

 

Ravindra Jadeja who missed out on the South Africa tour and the West Indies matches due to injury has come back in both the squads as well as Mayank Agarwal and Shubman Gill. Wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav who had been largely ignored by the Kohli-Shastri combine also finds a place along with spinner Sourabh Kumar who has played in the World Cup winning India Under-19 team recently. KS Bharat has been included as the reserve wicket-keeper replacing Saha. Ravichandran Ashwin is selected subject to his fitness. While KL Rahul and Washington Sunder have been ruled out due to fitness issues Shardul Thakur is rested.

 

In the T20I squad rookie opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson are selected and bowlers Deepak Hooda, Avesh Khan and Ravi Bishnoi have been retained from the team playing against the West Indies. Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant are granted rest from the bio-bubble for the final ODI against the West Indies and the three T20I matches against Sri Lanka. Experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is retained in the T20I squad only. The Chief Selector has also asserted that the play-n-rest policy would continue in future too for the overall fitness of the players.

 

If there were any doubts in the minds of the selectors about Rohit Sharma those have been put to rest by his victories over the visiting West Indies in both the ODI Series (3-0) and in the T20I Series (leading 2-0) apart from his winning record as India’s stand-in captain on various occasions. At least till the World Cup-2023 he seems to be the logical choice for India captain in all the formats.

 

The final ODI is to be played against West Indies in Kolkata tomorrow and their batsmen must deliver at least a saving grace by registering their first win. Defeat of the once-mighty West Indies in the second ODI yesterday is really pathetic as they failed to win with 7 wickets remaining and after restricting India to 186. No doubt, the target was challenging and the Indian bowlers have indeed put their hard efforts under an attentive Rohit, but the consistent failures of the WI batsmen must be questioned. With the WI spinners bowling very well on the Indian slow tracks the visitors had a great chance to upset the hosts in their own grounds.

 

The Sri Lanka Tour of India starts on the 24^th February with the first of the 3 T20I matches in Lucknow, and the two other matches to take place at Dharamsala on 26^thand 27^th respectively. The First Test starts from 4^th march in Mohali and the second and the final Test to take place in Bengaluru during 12-16^th March. The T20Is will start from 7 PM Indian time. The first Test match starts from 9,30 AM on all days while the second Test will be a day-n-night affair in Bengaluru starting from 12.30 PM all five days.

 

Test Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Mayank Agarwal, Priyank Panchal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Hanuma Vihari, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, R Ashwin (fitness), Ravindra Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar.

T20I Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan.

India Vs West Indies: Bowlers Help India Seal ODI Series Leading 2-0 Against West Indies!

West Indies has been historically prone to batting collapses, and in the first two matches of the 3-match one-day international (ODI) series the team without any of the famed stalwarts and without even their unfit regular captain Kieron Pollard batted true to their tradition thus conceding the Series to India as the latter has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead. In the second ODI match played today in Ahmedabad India have won comfortably by 44 runs overcoming a late charge led by the spinner duo of Akeal Hosen (34) and Fabian Allen (13), and later by pacer Odean Smith (24) who replaced Pollard with the stand-in captain being Nicholas Pooran. India Team management’s faith in pacer Prasidh Krishna over an experienced Deepak Chahar was justified for the second time as Krishna took an incredible 4-12 in 9 overs and was the Player of the Match. Rohit Sharma, the newly appointed regular ODI captain, had taken up the assignment for the first time and kept his winning record intact whenever he captained India in absence of Virat Kohli earlier.

 

India made one inevitable change bringing in KL Rahul who missed the first match due to family commitments in place of opener Ishan Kishan despite the latter not doing quite badly in the first match. It was p that resumed that Rahul was brought in as an opener. But surprise! Rishabh Pant came out to open with Rohit after being put in by the visitors! It has been utterly unpredictable as to what team management wants to do with this star player.

 

India started badly as Rohit got out early and West Indies fast bowlers, Roach and Smith, kept India in a tight leash reducing them to 43-3 in 12 overs. But then, coming at No.4 KL Rahul built a 91-run partnership with Suryakumar Yadav (64) to bring India back into the match. They were seemingly cruising when Rahul got runout in a horrible mix-up at an agonizing individual score of 49 runs. Suryakumar notched up his second ODI fifty, and Washington Sundar’s 24 and Deepak Hooda’s 29 runs helped India to a respectable total of 237/9 in the allotted 50 overs. For West Indies Roach took 4/24 in 8 overs while the spinner duo shared 4 wickets between them.

 

Shai Hope and Brandon King started well for the West Indies chase, but the tradition took over and the team got reduced to 76/5 in the 22^nd over. Thanks to the charge by the lower order the visitors reached a score of 193 all out in 50 overs. Shamarh Brooks scored the team’s highest of 44 runs in 64 balls. Compared to the West Indies spinners Indian spinner duo of Chahal and Sundar who shared 7 wickets between them in the low scoring first match was not effective today accounting for only one wicket each. Of course, part-time spinner Hooda also took a wicket. Shardul Thakur was expensive, but captured two wickets.

 

The series has been won, but the Indian batting hangover of the South Africa tour seems to have been continuing with the top order or middle order not delivering as expected. Rohit Sharma, true to his potential, scored a delightful 60 runs in the first ODI, but all other batsmen did not do well except for Suryakumar who saw through till the end of the chase. Virat Kohli failed in both the matches and still seems to be wandering in his emotional wilderness after the captaincy controversy. Of course, today he took a lovely catch in the long on boundary. KL Rahul batted tentatively and was let off by Hope in what could be called only a regulatory catch. Then, there is the opening pair issue. The recalled opener Shikhar Dhawan is out with COVID-19 infection after the South Africa tour and has reportedly fully recovered now. The question is who’d get the axe if he comes in next.

 

The expansive and beautiful Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad continues to remain empty due to the COVID protocols. All the 3 ODIs have been scheduled in Ahmedabad to limit the travel requirements of the players. The third and last ODI is scheduled on 11^thFebruary. For the same reasons all the tree matches of the T20 Series will take place in Kolkata with the first T20I on 16^th February, and the two remaining matches on 18^th and 20^th respectively. There are no test matches scheduled for this West Indies tour of India. It is also to be noted that India have won all bilateral ODI Series against the West Indies since 2007.

Test Cricket: Skipper Virat Kohli Hopes For India!

Virat Kohli recently made it clear that he should never be compared with legendary Sachin Tendulkar, but it must be said that after Tendulkar he seems to be the main Indian contender to make or break records. In 48 Tests so far Virat hit 13 centuries including a double ton and 12 half centuries having a batting average of above 45. In 2012 Virat was made vice-captain of the Indian test team and since then he had been in the reckoning for the skipper’s post consistently with one of the most outstanding Indian skippers Mahendra Singh Dhoni having both cricketing and non-cricketing ups and downs.

However, Virat Kohli’s entry as India’s Test captain was quite dramatic. First, he was named captain for the Adelaide match against Australia in December, 2014 as Dhoni pulled out due to an injury. He made two centuries in the two innings in that match and nearly pulled in off in favor of India.  Virat showed his positive frame of mind by going for an outright win instead of laboring for a draw. He became the fourth Indian to make a ton on test debut as captain. His second innings century was hailed by Australian commentators as the finest fourth innings performance ever witnessed by them. After the two losses in the series came the dramatic twist—MS Dhoni retired suddenly as Test captain and left his team in the lurch down under.

Virat Kohli was then formally announced as Indian Test skipper from the Sydney test in January, 2015. He hit 147 in the first innings of that match and became the first batsman in Test cricket to hit three centuries in his first three innings as test captain. The Sydney test ended in a draw.

In his less than two years tenure as Captain Virat Kohli won 10 out of 17 test matches played so far having the best winning rate as compared to other Indian captains. Although this is far too short a period for that it may still hold a lot of promise for future considering his performances, strategy and aggression. He had two away series—in Sri Lanka and in West Indies and two domestic series—against South Africa and New Zealand and, a one-off Test against Bangladesh that ended in a draw. India under his leadership broke the jinx of never winning a Test Series in Sri Lanka by winning 2-1 in 2015 and this year won 2-0 against the West Indies. In his two domestic series India beat South Africa 3-0 with one match drawn in 2015 and whitewashed New Zealand 3-0 this year. In the recently concluded Test series against New Zealand Kohli also became the first Indian skipper to hit a double ton in the third and final Test in Indore. However, his string of domestic Test victories has been marred by the controversy of providing tailor-made spinning tracks to the host team.  On his series win against New Zealand Virat dismissed the controversy by defending his spinners, R Ashwin and R Jadeja, as two of the best spinners of the world who utilized the conditions much more than the opposition.

The acid tests for Virat Kohli as skipper would be the away Test series, particularly in Australia, England and South Africa, in near future. However, with his extraordinary batting prowess, his strategically positive leadership and all the cricketing years left in him Virat Kohli may well usher India into a new era of winning more and losing less matches in the years to come. The unique record of his big individual scores almost always translating into wins for his team could also augur well for Team India.  

Cricket: India Win ODI Series Against West Indies! Dhawan Posts His 5th Hundred Of The Year As India Register 6th Successive Series Win!

Shikhar Dhawan Blazing Away

India beat West Indies by 5 wickets in the final one day international in Kanpur today and won the three-match ODI Series 2-1. The Indian victory came largely thanks to opener Shikhar Dhawan who scored a magnificent century (119 off 95 balls)—his 5^th in the year 2013. Team India has also achieved the 6^thsuccessive ODI Series victory in 2013 (January to November) starting with the India-England Series (3-1), ICC Champions Trophy in England, Tri-Nation Series in West Indies, India-Zimbabwe Series in Zimbabwe (5-0), India-Australia Series (3-2) and this India-West Indies Series (2-1). Team India has kept the victory momentum going despite stalwarts leaving the team in a phased manner and the consistent weakness in the bowling front. What India do next in South Africa will be both expecting and exciting.

In this day match that started in hazy wintry conditions the first hour was going to be crucial. Indian captain MS Dhoni elected to bat first after winning the toss mainly due to this reason and also because of a very healthy Indian chasing record. The Dhoni gamble gave him just one wicket despite fact that the Indian pacers put West Indies batsmen under a lot of pressure for quite some time. Continuing his good form of the last match Powell (70 off 81) crafted a fast-paced partnership of 117 runs with Samuels (71 off 93) and West Indies looked good for a huge total. However, Indian spinners Ashwin and Jadeja turned the tide in India’s favor taking three quick wickets. West Indies yet again averted a habitual collapse as the heroes of the last encounter DM Bravo (51 off 53) and Darren Sammy (37 off 38) helped their team to attain a competitive score of 263/5 in fifty overs.

The Indian chase looked rather easy as Shikhar Dhawan blasted away with magical boundaries and Yuvraj Singh (55 off 74) found his form to the delight of his fans.  Raina made it easier still playing a cameo of 34 in 43 balls without any kind of pressure. Although both settled batsmen, Yuvraj and Raina, got out with India still needing more than fifty runs captain Dhoni and Jadeja ensured a victory without any fuss reaching 266/5 with nearly four overs to spare. Dhawan deservedly won the man of the match and Virat Kohli the man of the series awards. The Scorecard:

Cricket: West Indies Salvage Lost Pride, Beat India To Draw Level!

Man of The Match Darren Sammy

West Indies desperately needed a win after being brought in and butchered for celebrating Sachin Tendulkar retirement. Their deposed captain Darren Sammy kept his cool finally leading his team to victory on Sunday, the 24^th of November, 2013. Salvaging their lost pride and overcoming their suicidal tendencies twice during the match West Indies managed to beat India by 2 wickets in the second one day international (ODI) in Visakhapatnam. For once, both teams matched each other in terms of ups and downs, flip-flops, dropped catches and fielding blemishes. Of course, in bowling West Indies managed to block India effectively midway while Indian bowlers were lackluster except for Ashwin.

West Indies won the toss and maybe due to the dew factor elected to field first. This time Rohit Sharma could not take his dream run forward and got out early with Shikhar Dhawan too unable to stick on for long. But Virat Kohli gave the momentum needed and was poised for his 18^th ODI hundred thus creating a record of scoring five centuries each in two consecutive years. With good support from Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina he took the score to 194 for 3 in the 35th over. At that stage India seemed to be on course for a 300 plus total. However, inspired bowling by Rampaul, Holder and Sammy deprived Kohli (99 off 100 balls) of his hundred almost choking India. Raina this time too could not go on for a longer innings and perished to a bad shot. But for a late charge by captain Dhoni (51 not out) India could not have reached an imposing total of 288/7 on a slowish pitch. The match was evenly poised because of the heavy dew.

West Indies, this time without Chris Gayle, started badly losing two wickets for 23 runs. But then Powell (59) and Darren Bravo (50) brought up the first hundred run partnership of the tour and they had the first breath of win at 123 for 2. Unpredictability took over as both fell quickly despite being let off several times. Simmons (62) kept hope alive still and at 185 for 4 West Indies were cruising. They let it go too and struggled losing wickets till the end. Finally Darren Sammy (63 not out off just 45 balls) overcame his team’s suicidal instincts and reached 289 for 8 winning the match by 2 wickets with 3 balls to spare. He was rightfully chosen the Man of the Match.  The Scorecard:

With the three-match India-West Indies ODI Series locked at 1-1 the third and final encounter in Kanpur on 27^thNovember looks interesting. The final will be a day match and therefore the dew factor affecting mainly the bowlers of the team fielding second is being ruled out. The early wintry morning conditions could of course help fast bowlers though and the toss could still be tricky.

Cricket: Indian Demolition Of West Indies Continues!

Rohit And Virat

Team India made a perfect gift of 2-0 sweep in the Test Series—suitably called Tendulkar Farewell Series—to the retiring legend fully at the expense of a clueless West Indies for whom the only consolation could have been the historic moments of Sachin Tendulkar retirement. The first one day international (ODI) of the three-match India Vs West Indies ODI Series in Kochi today continued or rather heightened the same demolition parade as India won easily by 6 wickets with over 14 overs to spare. India lead the ODI Series 1-0.

West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first on a seemingly batting track. They faced disaster immediately as they lost prime ODI player Chris Gayle run out in the very first over. Charles (42) and Samuels (24) generated some hope by taking the score to 65 in the eleventh over. Sensing the tricky nature of the wicket Indian captain Dhoni introduced spinners from both ends and that spelt the end of the West Indies batting challenge. Jadeja who came back to Team India after injury that left him out of the Test Series, Ashwin and Raina accounted for 8 wickets between them. West Indies got all out for a paltry 211 in the 49^thover with just a solitary half century by DM Bravo (59).  That was hardly a challenge for the strong Indian batting line-up.

India lost Shikhar Dhawan early, but that hardly deterred Rohit Sharma (72) and Virat Kohli (86) both of whom continue to enjoy a dream run of terrific form from taking the match away in matters of overs. They took the score to 150 in the 25^thover and after that it was just academic. Barring a brief flutter when two wickets fell quickly India romped home at 212/4 in the 36^th over. The second day-n-night ODI will be played on November 24 in Visakhapatnam. West Indies, particularly Gayle, must produce some extraordinary tricks out the sleeves to stay afloat in the Series. The Scorecard:

Perfect Finale For The Retiring Legend: Sachin Tendulkar Awarded Bharat Ratna, Team India Gifts Him 2-0 Series Win!

Mumbai, Day 3: All shades of emotions were in spontaneously glorious display at Wankhede Stadium this morning as Sachin Tendulkar took the last bow out of cricket after India thumped West Indies by an innings and 126 runs in the Second and Final Test of the Tendulkar Farewell Series within the first session of play. There were cheers and tears; standing ovation and absolute adulation; ecstatic outbursts and pain of parting and unbridled show of pride, love and affection. Not only in the stadium where at least 25,000 people were there to watch their hero one last time, but everywhere across India and the world of cricket. Our newsroom was no exception as all of staff forgot to mind their work for one rare occasion and crowded around the television sets to watch and listen to the master-blaster. After all presentations and mementos the God of Cricket spoke to the whole of the world of cricket for nearly twenty minutes thanking his mother, his wife, his coach, his Wankhede where he started his cricket career exactly 24 years ago, his cricket Board, his team mates and colleagues, his therapists and doctors, and of course his millions of fans and cricket lovers. A man rooted to his culture Sachin walked to the pitch and did his prayers for the last time. Then his triumphant team mates who felt ecstatic being able to gift him a 2-0 Series win against West Indies carried him on their shoulders marching around the ground in gratitude and affection.   The final golden touch of the day was yet to come.

Just about two hours after the match the President of India announced the Award of Bharat Ratna(The Pearl of India) to Sachin Tendulkar. Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honor of the country and Sachin becomes the first ever sportsperson to get this. Whole of India, particularly his home state Maharashtra, celebrated across homes, offices, streets and markets. Scientist CNR Rao was also conferred Bharat Ratna for his contribution particularly in the recent Mars Mission.

Thus an illustrious career lasting exactly 24 years and a day in which he played 200 Test Matches, 463 ODIs and a lone T20 scoring 34,357 international runs came to a glorious end today. The 40-year-old maestro, who had rarely let emotions show on his cherubic face, began to break down after being presented a souvenir stump by his teammates. Wiping tears, he trudged back to the dressing room but not before acknowledging the fans and shaking hands with the West Indian cricketers at the boundary line. Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar retired from international cricket quietly, so did Dravid and Laxman holding their customary press conferences. Ganguly and Kumble got a farewell but it was much muted by those standards. But when it came to Tendulkar, who has truly transcended all boundaries, it was only fitting that a billion people would be swayed by emotions.

In the second innings there was just one half century by D Ramdin (53 not out) as West Indies crumbled to a pathetic 187 in 47 overs giving India a huge victory margin for the second consecutive time. Pragyan Ojha was declared the man of the match for taking 10 wickets (5 for 40 and 5 for 49) and debutant Rohit Sharma the man of the series for two consecutive and brilliant centuries. Ashwin took 4 wickets and one by Mohammed Shami. The Scorecard:

Sachin Tendulkar euphoria is not going to subside soon. After the announcement of the highest award for him fans would expect him to speak to them again and an endless of stream of felicitations leading finally to the Award Ceremony.

Tendulkar Farewell Series: Sachin Dazzles Short Of Century, India Poised To Wrap It Up Tomorrow!

Mumbai, Day 2: The morning session of the 2^nd day of the 2^nd and final Test between India and West Indies perhaps has beaten even an India-Pakistan cricket thriller in terms of viewership, suspense, expectations and excitement. And the fans, ex-cricketers or organizers, Bollywood superstars, Chief Ministers, central ministers, political bigwigs and business tycoons who thronged the Wankhede stadium or millions of television sets were not disappointed by the God of Cricket. The master-blaster almost found his golden touch delivering glorious straight drives, elegant square cuts, lofted shots—he tried even the flick over the head of the wicket keeper that was made official by Virender Sehwag in one-day cricket. He added 36 more runs to overnight 38 crafting a partnership of 148 solid runs with Pujara to lift India out of the woods. He got out for a majestic 74 falling to Deonarayan and although fans wanted him to go on for a memorable century they were not disappointed either. It was a standing ovation for the cricket legend all the way back to the pavilion. In all probability this was the last of Sachin Tendulkar as far as playing cricket is concerned. It is still painful though to think that he will never be seen playing with his heart out hitting all around the park.  

The Indian cricket Board officials and curators were perhaps rather too eager of presenting a winning farewell series, because like the first Test this one is also set to get over in two and half days tomorrow. Inspite of the Tendulkar nostalgia and show of tremendous passion the strong-ever Pujara (113) kept his end in perfect order and notched up his 5^th Test century crafting another momentous partnership with Virat Kohli (57). After the heroic knock of 177 in Kolkata Test Rohit Sharma (111 not out—two consecutive centuries in his first two Tests) proved again how useful a cricketer he has become for India by achieving another century off just 118 balls. The Indian first innings throughout had the perfect one-day cricket look and style (495 in 108 overs). With all these healthy knocks India gained a massive lead of 313 runs and captured three West Indies wickets for 43 runs at stumps on second day. Ashwin struck immediately with two victims and hopefully for West Indies Gayle is patiently not out at 6. West Indies off spinner Shillingford made it a fifth consecutive five-wicket haul in Test cricket and this is indeed a great plus for the definitely weaker team in this Series. The Scorecard:

Finally it is going to be a very happy ending for Sachin Tendulkar and his fans with India poised to wrap it 2-0 tomorrow with a huge victory margin once again. Do not lose heart; you can still watch your God of Cricket in action tomorrow too.

Mumbai Celebrating Sachin Tendulkar!

The retiring cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar fever has consumed his home city Mumbai with temperatures increasing as the second Test between India and West Indies after which the legend is to make the final goodbye to cricket nears. Everywhere fans are talking about him, the media channels producing special programs on him and the newspapers carrying special features on his achievements and glory. At different levels of cricket organizers and the state government felicitation programs are being held routinely or planned during the next few days.

The Maharashtra Government had already formed a special felicitation committee with the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Ministers as members. Last evening a grand naming ceremony was organized at a Mumbai suburb where the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) dedicated a sprawling world-class sports facility as Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana. In a colorful and vibrant function the legend participated expressing his deep gratitude and genuine cricket emotions. Union Ministers, state Ministers including the Chief Minister, cricket biggies, celebrities and fans were present on this great occasion.

Side effects of the raging fever were also visible. Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium where the historic second Test is scheduled to start on 14^th November is much smaller than Eden Gardens in Kolkata and has a 32,000 capacity. Out of these possible tickets 17,000 were given to the cricket fraternity including associations and clubs all over the globe,: 8000 were given to sponsors and government officials and after some more adjustments just 5000 tickets were offered online for the general public. Imagine, Mumbai alone has a population of about 14 million. To make things worse for the fans the website selling tickets crashed yesterday due to unprecedented hits and this drove irate fans to the Wankhede Stadium in hope of finding tickets there. But there were none. Today morning online sale opened and immediately the sold out sign came on.

The master-blaster, rather unexpectedly for the fans gathered at the stadium, came out for net practice with most of his team mates today afternoon and the crowds were gratified beyond words. Members of the West Indies team had their session too earlier. The atmosphere at the Wankhede Stadium has got electrified already.

In the first Test in Kolkata India defeated West Indies by an innings and 51 runs and it was all over within three days. The fans there enjoyed their idol running around the field, bowling a few overs too and taking a wicket. However, they could see him bat only once and that too was cut short by an umpiring error. Apparently the curator of Eden Gardens wanted to make it sure India won that match as a mark of gratitude for their legendary team mate.  Fans in Mumbai are hoping Sachin Tendulkar bows out finally with a thundering batting performance at his home ground to make the ‘cricket’ part of the celebrations too as memorable as ever. A full five-day Test will also be the right finale for a historic event.

Tendulkar Farewell Test Series: Rohit Debut Ton Rescues And Puts India Ahead!!

R Ashwin and Rohit Sharma Unbeaten at Stumps Day 2

The fans in Kolkata just about managed to have everything they wanted of their idol. They saw him jumping and running around the field, enjoyed him bowling and reveled as he took a wicket too on the first day of the first cricket Test between India and West Indies. On the second day today they wanted to see him bat early and therefore even cheered the fall of the first two wickets. Sachin Tendulkar came in to bat within the first hour of today’s play and he seemed to be in a good nick hitting two beautiful boundaries. But this wish of the fans to see him have a long innings was cut short by 'Llong'--umpire Nigel Llong to be exact--who ruled him out leg before even as the ball that hit his back thigh seemed to be going above the off stump. Problem is off spinner Shillingford—the wicket Tendulkar captured yesterday—actually beat the retiring legend and the best batsman of the world has in fact been beaten around his leg consistently over the last one year. Apart from the focus of the Series cricket in the first two sessions was abysmally poor with the Indian top order caving in meekly basically to the spin of Shillingford who took four huge wickets.

Reverse swing and some amount of turn were visible on the pitch right from the morning today with the ball keeping low most often run making was difficult. Combining his skills of having an unpredictable bounce and a perfectly disguised doosra Shillingford troubled all the batsmen reducing India to 83 for 5. It could have been worse if a catch of Dhoni was taken at that stage. Debutante Rohit Sharma then took full charge and with his captain laid the anchors for a much needed partnership. At lunch the score was 120/5. However soon after lunch Dhoni fell to Best for 42 at India 156/6 and it was still an uphill task with not even a half century till then by anyone. Fresh from his double ton in the final ODI against Australia and inspired by the Test cap achieved after nearly three-year-long wait Rohit got to the first fifty of the innings and with able company provided by R Ashwin rescued India to 229/6 at tea. The second session was the better as nearly hundred runs were added with the loss of just Dhoni.

Rohit-Ashwin partnership went from strength to strength crossing hundred runs in the last session making it the best session of the day and a lead over West Indies was slowly and steadily growing. Rohit made a magnificent debut of an unbeaten 127 with 16 fours and 1 six while Ashwin who made his only Test century against West Indies played elegantly and fluently to remain unbeaten on 92 with 10 fours at stumps on Day 2. The duo rescued and made India strong with an unbeaten 198-run partnership for the seventh wicket. After having India in a tight corner WI captain Darren Sammy seemed to have lost the plot completely. He did not even utilize the known slow bowlers like Gayle and Marlon Samuels, under bowled Permaul and almost over bowled himself. What is significant for the future course of the Test India already amassed a lead of 120 runs and at 354/6 look to add more tomorrow. Considering the behavior of the pitch this lead could well be decisive.  The Scorecard:

Tendulkar Farewell Test Series: Shami Debut Destroys West Indies!

Mohammed Shami

West Indies got dismissed cheaply for 234 runs just after tea on the first day of the first cricket Test between India and West Indies at the majestic Eden Gardens, Kolkata today. This was brought about largely by a tremendous burst of swing bowling by Mohammed Shami who made his Test debut too being preferred over Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav due to his good performance in the recently concluded 7-match India-Australia one day international Series. Shami took four wickets for 71 runs and was also instrumental in a run-out. The second debutant for the first Test was Rohit Sharma who was finally given the Test cap thanks mainly to his Series winning innings of 209 runs in the final ODI against Australia in Bangalore. Test specialists Murli Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, spinner Pragyan Ojha, and of course Sachin Tendulkar featured in Team India.

West Indies (WI) won the toss and elected to bat first on the slow pitch at Eden Gardens. The pitch hardly helped the bowlers—be it pacers or spinners—but WI openers could not take advantage as the danger man Chris Gayle (18) got out early to Bhuvaneshwar Kumar while Kieran Powell (28) gave Shami his debut break. However, the uneven bounce in the pitch held something in store for the bowlers and it happened sooner than expected. After forty overs the umpires changed the ball and immediately the pacer duo got some reverse swing. Even then, it was not the bowling but the suicidal mindset of the WI batsmen that contributed largely to the debacle. A big partnership was in the making between Samuels (65) and DM Bravo (23) when the Shami burst had the former bowled. Bravo complicated matters by getting run out in a horrible mix-up. West Indies were reduced to 143/5 when Ramdin’s stumps were uprooted by Shami getting his third scalp. For a team used to unaccountable collapses there was no fight back and the full team got out for 234. Chanderpaul (36), the consistent tormentor for India, did linger on and was the ninth down at 233.  

The Scorecard:

Sachin Tendulkar, the legend for whom this cricket Series has been organized, was prominently visible throughout on the field giving encouragement to bowlers and running around fielding with zest. To the delight of the crowd he took his 46^thTest wicket too trapping Shillingford leg before. With this wicket Sachin increased his international tally of wickets to 201 (154 in ODIs and 1 in T20I). At stumps on the first day India reached 37 for no loss in 12 overs with Shikhar Dhawan on 21 not out and Murli Vijay on 16 not out. Fans eagerly wait now for tomorrow when their idol comes out to bat.