India Beat New Zealand By 7 Wickets, Win Paytm T2OI Series With 2-0 Lead!

India have won the Paytm 3-match T20 International Series beating New Zealand by 7 wickets in the second match in Ranchi today thus taking an unassailable 2-0 lead. In a rather funny contrast to Virat Kohli making a hat-trick of losing tosses in the T20 World Cup-2021 the new captain Rohit Sharma won his second consecutive toss in this series after Jaipur so far; however, this evening the dew factor was already there with winter season setting in the eastern region and it did not give India an undue advantage while chasing. India made one change bringing in IPL-sensation medium-fast bowler Harshal Patel replacing Mohammed Siraj while New Zealand made three changes—bowling all-rounder James Neesham, pacer Adam Milne and spinner Ish Sodhi, replacing Rachin Ravindra, Todd Astler and Lockie Ferguson.

 

Put into bat, New Zealand openers Martin Guptill (31 off just 15 balls) and Daryl Mitchell (31 in 28 balls) made an explosive start scoring 52 runs in 5 overs and 64 runs in the powerplay of 6 overs, of course losing the wicket of Guptill to Chahar at the team score of 48 in the 5^th over. The first over was an eventful one: the first ball going for a four through the slips nearly caught; the second ball hit for another four; in the third ball a high but easy catch dropped by KL Rahul who later made amends by taking a good catch to dismiss Mark Chapman off Axar Patel; and 14 runs were scored by Guptill in that over by Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. The second over by Deepak Chahar was hit for 12 runs. The spinners, Axar and Ashwin, had to be called in along with Harshal Patel. As New Zealand tried to keep up the momentum they started losing wickets at regular intervals thanks to some tight bowling by the trio and also Chahar coming back to take a wicket in his third over. Thanks to Phillips (34 in 21 balls) the Kiwis finally was able to put up a rather not-good-enough total of 153/6. Big hitter Neesham was a huge disappointment as apart from just 3 runs in 12 balls he only managed to break his bat before getting out. Harshal on his debut captured 2/25 in four overs while all four other bowlers took a wicket each.

India too made a solid start with their openers Rahul and Rohit putting up 50 runs in the 7^th over and at 63/0 in 9 overs it was a tad slow and time to speed up the scoring to which Rohit responded immediately with a huge six off Santner, plundering 16 runs in that over, Rohit being also dropped off a skier by Boult in the 5^thball. Dropping catches has been a feature of this series affecting both the teams in Jaipur as well as in Ranchi. There was no looking back from that point as Rahul raced to his half-century and Rohit not far behind. The duo put up the 100-run partnership in the 12^th over, threatening to make the match a one-sided affair. Rahul, trying to hit another six, fell for 65 in 49 balls to captain Southee at the team score of 117/1 in the 14^th over.

 

Venkatesh Iyer came in to join Rohit and it was a good move to give the former a kind of grooming for batting with the hosts having an easy equation for victory. Rohit, in full flow, reached his half-century in 35 balls with a huge six off the Milne, and in the next over the India skipper fell at the same score of 55 to Tim Southee offering a rather tame catch with India needing just 20 runs in 28 balls. Suryakumar Yadav came in went for just 1run to Southee again giving him all the 3 wickets to fall. Suddenly there was a twist in the tale, India needing 17 in 24 losing 3 wickets quickly. Rishabh Pant settled the issue in the 18^th over bowled by Neesham by hitting 2 sixes of the first 2 balls and India cruising to victory by 7 wickets with 14 balls to spare. In all, a healthy beginning for the new skipper Rohit Sharma winning a series leading from the front, regrouping after the disastrous World Cup under a new coach Rahul Dravid. Now, the 3^rd T20I in Kolkata this Sunday will be a mere formality and more rookies are likely to be tried, but Dravid aims at winning every match which is the right spirit.

 

A point must be made here about the crowds. As the pandemic seemed to have stabilized in India the BCCI has allowed 100% capacity crowd to be allowed inside the stadiums after checking vaccination or RT-PCR negative certificates at entry both in Jaipur and Ranchi, and like in Jaipur the  Ranchi stadium was chock-a-block with spectators most of whom did not bother wearing masks. It becomes a joke to expect social distancing once you allow 100% capacity crowds. In fact, a worried advocate filed a PIL in Jharkhand High Court for the postponement of the Ranchi match demanding 50% capacity crowd to be maintained for entry. This worry cannot be dismissed easily due to the behavior patterns of the COVID-19 virus and the experience of Europe under a heavy surge of infections again, particularly Russia, Germany, Netherlands and Austria. Due to a careless Covidiotic behavior in the beginning of the year saw India suffer from the most horrible second wave and one cannot yet be certain about more waves in future.

England Vs India: Finally COVID-19 Makes A Mess Of The Final Test!

The fifth and the last Test match between hosts England and visitors India was awaited by cricket lovers with much excitement with India taking an unbeatable 2-1 lead winning the fourth Test at the Oval, because the Indian fans wanted their team to seal the series win while the England fans wanted their team to bounce back and win the Test to share the final honors. All of them were in for a huge disappointment though. As soon as the junior physio of Team India tested COVID-19 positive on Thursday, the 9^th of September 2012, a day before the fifth Test was to start at the Old Trafford, total and clueless uncertainty enveloped the match; head coach Ravi Shastri and possibly one or two members of the team management including the senior physio (not confirmed) were already in isolation testing positive before the fourth Test. The practice session for India on that day was cancelled.

 

Since a physio is obviously to get involved with the players ‘physically’ there were risks of players getting infected if the match was allowed to go on, and many cricket mandarins of India had the prospects of the IPL-2021 starting in nine days in their minds. Perhaps getting concerned for the health of the English players a few of whom are also going to play in the IPL to be followed by the ICC T20 World Cup, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) asked the Indian Board BCCI to forfeit the fifth match which meant that in that eventuality the Series would be considered as drawn at 2-2. It was also instinctive on their part as nobody would want their team give up, as it were, the Series without a fight. The two respective Boards got into a seemingly endless bout of deliberations with no communication to the players.

 

On Friday, the 10^thof September 2021—the day the match was to start—the ECB changed its earlier statement slightly, now saying that India was unable to field a team due to the physio’s infection and that the match was cancelled. The Indian Board also said that fearing a rise in infections among the playing members the match had to be cancelled. Meanwhile all the Indian players were tested and found COVID negative. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma reportedly objected to the match being called off; although some other report said that they secretly wrote to the BCCI expressing their concern of more infections, because they felt the present status of ‘COVID negative’ might easily change in the course of two or three days. Anyway, the Boards took a long time in deciding, and announced that the fifth Test was cancelled just two hours before the scheduled start. Even the players of both the teams did not know it beforehand.

 

Now, the verdict of the Series in India’s favor has been the biggest question. If rains had washed out the match India would’ve won the series undoubtedly, but even though the pandemic is also a natural calamity the question is about taking precautions and following the strict protocols, and some in the English camp felt that the Indians were not careful enough. However, we feel that it is indeed unfortunate that the Series was held during a time when England decided to live with the virus after vaccinating most of their citizens, and the matches were fully open to the spectators who were not even asked to wear masks, and in such a situation the players or the non-playing members could get easily infected as they move through the crowds on various occasions, at least while moving through the pavilion stand. There was a soft bubble and necessary tests were done from time to time; and therefore it is not right to blame the Indian camp for their supposed lack of taking adequate precautions.

 

It was also reported that the ICC would intervene and give the final call on the official result of the Test Series. Perhaps to avoid an imbroglio or any injustice to any team the two Boards finally decided to reschedule the Test sometime next year as there was hardly any time left now with the IPL-2021 starting in nine days followed the all-important ICC T20 World Cup-2021 in UAE. But the problem is far from being resolved, because if the lone fifth Test is going to be held as a standalone or one-off match then how was it to be considered as part of the England Vs India Test Series of 2021, and if it was not considered a part then it must be declared now that India have won the Series at the 2-1 lead achieved after winning the fourth match.

 

Of course, if the IPL-2021 can be split into two halves—one half already played in Indian venues and the other half in UAE venues—at different time periods with the same league points and standings, then why not apply the same rule here too: hold the cancelled or rather now postponed fifth Test any time in 2022 in England and treat it as part of the 2021 Test Series, the result of which would finally decide the Series verdict. As per the latest international cricket schedule India is supposed to visit England again in 2022. There is an additional aspect of the issue: ECB stands to lose around 40 million pounds on broadcasting rights and hospitality sponsorships from the cancellation of the fifth Test, and therefore, it would be in the Board’s interest to reschedule the match and treat it as a part of the present Series.

 

The money-game or the money-challenge is everywhere in the game of cricket. Ideally, the series should naturally have been decided in India’s favour and the players should have been flown home immediately to give them the much-needed rest and to prepare them well for the T20 World Cup. But no, the IPL has to be completed for the same monetary stakes for the Indian Board. Another ideal alternative would have been to reschedule the fifth Test in a week’s time, depending on the situation, postponing the IPL-2021 to be held after the World Cup. But no again, for the same reasons; the stakes involve not only the Indian Board, but a large chunk of international cricketers and cricket boards. So then, let’s wait and watch, and enjoy whatever is offered.

 

Finally, the pandemic is far from over yet, and it has to be taken seriously. Cricket matches must go on being held under strict bubble and behind closed doors. Besides, it is inhuman to keep the cricketers in a bubble-to-bubble scenario and the mandatory isolation plus the endless tests for over a year now. Whatever be the stakes involved in cricket the matches should be held considering all humanitarian angles.

The IPL-2021 Charge Amid The Second COVID-19 Surge!

It is always debatable to have a major cricket tournament in the midst of an unprecedented surge of the pandemic, even though it is to be played behind closed doors, the new normal cricket variety, and with the imposition of a strict bio-secure bubble. As it has been seen so far several cricketers and support staff have contracted the COVID-19 virus, and since the tournament is being held across six venues—Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Kolkata—it would entail constant air travel and change of hotels for the eight participating teams. Further, the venues are the capitals of the worst affected states, except perhaps for Kolkata in West Bengal where the rising trend of new cases has not yet caught up with the others. It is to be noted that the IPL-2020 had to be taken out of India to the UAE due to strict lockdowns across the nation, and this means that within six months another IPL is being held, now in India where the second surge has reached unprecedented levels, but of course, complete lockdowns are not the desired goal thus far and travel restrictions are not imposed strictly.

 

However, the importance of the biggest professional T20 tournament of the world, Indian Premiere League, can only be compared to the inevitability of the elections in the country—one injects the much-needed business into the economy and the other new governments—both being considered desperate, particularly under the present circumstances. The assembly elections in five states should have ideally ended on 6^th April 2021, but for West Bengal where desperate reasons needed desperately-long phases of polling that will continue till 29^thof April. Further, the world of cricket in entirety, not just the organizers BCCI, has set their eyes on this competition which would be the last major rehearsal for the upcoming ICC World Cup T20 in October-November in India this year. Almost all of the participating nations have sent in their top players for that precious practice. It is also for this reason only that the BCCI could not afford to postpone the tournament, even by a few months.

 

The eight franchisees—Chennai Super Kings (CSK), Mumbai Indians (MI), Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Delhi Capitals (DC), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PK, changed from the earlier Kings XI Punjab). As we mentioned earlier, the matches will be played across six venues with no ‘home team’ tag assigned to any of the teams. The first match of the 14^th version of the IPL is set to kick off tonight, the 9^th of April 2021, at 7.30 pm in Chennai between defending champions and Rohit Sharma-led MI and India-captain Virat Kohli-led RCB, whereas the second match will take place in Mumbai tomorrow, the 10^th of April 2021, between MS Dhoni-led CSK and DC, led by Rishabh Pant in the absence of Shreyas Iyer due to injury, at the same time. On two-match days the first match will start at 3.30 pm, and all the matches are to be played from 9^thApril to 30^th May. The pre-2020 title sponsor, Vivo, has been brought back too.

 

On the COVID-19 second wave surge, the national daily cases reached 1, 31,968, the highest so far, with a worrying fatality figure of 780 in the last twenty-four hours; out of those cases the worst-affected state Maharashtra accounted for 56286 new daily cases and 376 daily deaths. The following are the others in terms of severity; Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and West Bengal. This crisis is not at all helped by the currently raging vaccine-shortage controversy: the shortage staring at several states including the crisis-ridden Maharashtra where, as per news reports, around 50 vaccination centres in Mumbai stopped giving jabs from today; and the Government of India has been on a constant denial of any shortage, emphasizing rather on reducing wastage of the vaccines, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi even talked of a vaccination festival during 11^th –14^th April 2021.

 

Well, politics and cricket go hand in hand in defining India, and irrespective of the intensity with which we hope for at least a politics-free COVID-19 fight the play (of politics) never left us alone, even during the pandemic as we have seen since May 2020. Now, politics is not going to ebb till the 2^ndof May when results of the assembly elections would be announced while the other play (cricket) would continue unabated till May 30 2021. However, in favour of the latter one can say that the worried public, who are basically blamed for their COVID inappropriate behaviour as being the main cause of the surge, will have at least time-pass avenues every evening thanks to the IPL charge.

Neutralizing The Toss For The Third Time India Beat England In The 1st ODI: A Case Of Constants & Variables?

In the first one-day international (ODI) of the three-match Series played in Pune India have beaten England by 66 runs yesterday, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Like the last few matches this game too was played to empty stadiums due to the second wave of COVID-19 virus in India. India’s captain Virat Kohli lost the toss yet again, for the third time in a row taking into account the last two T20 internationals, and it proved to be a good toss to lose, yet again. It was heartening to see India’s regular opening pair, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan, coming in to open the innings. Perhaps this being the first match of the series India started very cautiously to avoid the oft-repeated first-match blues, and concentrated on doing the groundwork for a good total. However, they did not get into a shell which also proves to be India’s undoing on many occasions. In the power-play overs they managed to put up 64 runs when Rohit departed for 28 off 42 balls.     

 

The first hundred-run partnership of the Indian innings was achieved between Dhawan and Virat Kohli, and Kohli fell to Mark Wood for 56 off 60 balls at the team score of 169 in the 33^rd over. Shreyas Iyer, coming in at no.4, became Wood’s second victim at the team score of 187 in the 35^th over. The player-of-the-match Dhawan had been going on steadily at the other hand, but unfortunately he could not accomplish the landmark of a ton and fell to Ben Stokes for 98 runs in the 39^thover at the team score of 197. When big-hitter Hardik Pandya followed suit immediately for just 1 run to give Stokes this third wicket India were in some spot of bother, because at 5 down for 205 in the 41^st over the ideal target of 300+ runs looked distant with only KL Rahul as the recognized batsman and who had been doing poorly despite the rigorous restoration project undertaken for him by the team management.

 

However, Hardik’s brother Krunal Pandya, making his debut in the ODI format, changed it all, and as a welcome change Rahul started playing fluently. The second hundred-run partnership of the innings, the longer and the game-changing one, happened between the duo with the strikingly dominant partner Krunal making 58 not out off just 31 balls and Rahul making 62 not out in 43 balls. India crossed the 300-mark and put up a challenging target of 318 for England to win. In modern ODI cricket the 300+ landmark is no longer unassailable and it seemed that India fell short by about twenty runs.

 

As if to exacerbate such fears in the minds of the Indian fans England opening pair Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow started in the most destructive manner, notching up incredible 135 runs in the 15^th over. The formidable asking rate now had become very manageable under 6 an over, and with wickets in hand the game shifted dramatically to England’s favour. At that point of time another debutant for India ODIs, pacer Prasidh Krishna, captured the crucial wicket of Roy (46) and then cutting short Ben Stokes for just 1 run.

 

The fall of Bairstow to Shardul Thakur for 94 off 66 balls delivered another death blow to England’s aspirations, at 169/3 in the 23^rd over. After that the combination of Krishna (4/54) and Thakur (3/37) ensured England losing wickets at regular intervals with Bhubaneshwar Kumar, economical as ever, joining in at the end for 2 wickets. Sensational debutant Krunal also opened his wicket account with a solitary one. Finally, England were all out for 250 in the 43^rdover which meant that but for the lack of enough wickets in hand the visitors were always in the chase.

 

With tremendous bench strength building up all the time for India, particularly the emergence of of quite a few promising fast bowlers, Team India seems to be swimming in a stream of constants and variables. The number of constants in the team seems to be dwindling from time to time in favour of the variables. See, India have achieved the last victories without the services of their main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah, not to speak of another stalwart all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Of course, there have been contradictions in retaining non-performing constants, like the rigorous restoration project for KL Rahul and hark!—captain Kohli never looks at the prospect of experimenting with himself! This curious syndrome of ‘constants and variables’ should continue to work for India if not taken out of bounds. With the kind of experimentation going on it is not certain if Prasidh and Krunal are going to figure in the next team for the second ODI at all. Performing players should always be rewarded consistently and non-performing ones should be made to realize how precious and competitive the positions in Team India have become of late.

India Vs England Test Cricket: Ashwin And Rohit Star In India’s Mammoth Win, WTC Series Levelled 1-1!

 

India have won the second World Test Championship (WTC) Series cricket Test against England by a mammoth margin of 317 runs just after lunch on the fourth day at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai, and squared the series at 1-1. Chennai was the venue for the first test too that the visitors won by 227 runs. This victory has taken India back to the second position and England back to the fourth in the WTC points table with the hosts needing to win the series 2-1 or 3-1 for an almost secure place in the final to be played in Southampton instead of Lord’s due to the COVID situation in England in June, 2021.

 

The first thing that comes to the mind about this test is the sterling performance of bowling all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin who has achieved the distinction of capturing five wickets and a century in the same match, for the third time as per records, and is now among the very few bowling all-rounders of the world of test cricket to have achieved this honor.  He bowled magnificently in England’s first innings achieving a fiver at 5-43 thus helping his team’s rout of England as the visitors were all out for a paltry 134 runs, conceding a match-defining lead of 195 runs. In India’s second innings Ashwin batted brilliantly in captain Virat Kohli’s company at a crucial juncture of the innings. With incredible support from the last man Mohammad Siraj, Ashwin completed a most well-deserved ton and ensured an almost unassailable target of 482 runs for the visitors. In all, Ashwin captured 8 scalps. And, his fans watched this in ecstasy as spectators were allowed in this match at half-capacity.

 

Opener Rohit Sharma did what Joe Root did in the first test, attacking the bowlers from the word go after Kohli won the toss this time and elected to bat. With the team’s scoring rate of over 4 at times, Rohit hit 18 fours and 2 sixes in his priceless innings of 161 runs. He stood firm in an attacking mood as India faltered again and again, first losing Shubman Gill for a duck and then the captain for another duck. Thanks to his innings India finally scored a total of 329 runs which did not seem to be enough in view of England’s first innings score of 578 in the first test. However, India’s spin trio of Ashwin, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav ensured that it was more than enough.

 

After failures in the first test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane gave company to a rampaging Rohit in a crucial partnership with his individual score of 67 runs. Continuing with his incredible run with the bat since Australia Rishabh Pant scored 58 quick runs to help India cross the 300-run mark. Cheteshwar Pujara, called the Rock after Rahul Dravid, could not achieve much in this match, scoring 21 and 7 respectively in both of the innings. Virat Kohli batted with class in the second innings building a partnership with Ashwin that took the match away from England. Virat scored 62 runs.

 

Left-arm orthodox spinner Axar Patel, in his Test debut, bowled brilliantly capturing a total of 7 wickets that included a spectacular fiver in England’s second innings which contributed toward England folding up for just 164 and conceding defeat by 317 runs. After a little indecision in the first test India seemed to have hit the right spinner-combination, and this trio is going to cause the visitors a persistent headache in the remaining two tests. Swing duo of Ishant Sharma and Siraj have also combined well to keep the visitors under a tight leash.

 

The decision to rest India’s number one strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah raised a lot of questions, particularly from cricket legend Gavaskar. However, in hindsight this decision proves to be an intuitive one: first, it was important to give Siraj, emerging as a strike bowler for India, a chance, and in view of the expected turn in the two-match old pitch and the selection of the spinner trio, it seemed to be a practical idea to rest Bumrah; second, the decision is even intuitive as Siraj eventually put up an eye-catching batting display allowing, crucially, Ashwin to complete his century.  

 

England played poorly in all departments of the game, particularly batting with no batsmen showing the resolve to stick on and achieve what Root did in the first test, except for the occasional hiccups that their bowlers were able to give India in both of the innings. They sorely missed the services of fast bowlers Jofra Archer and James Anderson: the former was dropped because of injury, but dropping Anderson was a mystery after his swashbuckling performance in the first test.  Dropping of successful spinner Dom Bess was another mystery.

 

In all, India played to their true potential this time showing the class of their batsmen and bowlers under pressure. I agree fully with Boria Majumdar, cricket expert, when he said to a private news channel that India is a champion team and should always try to play to their class and potential, instead of giving their fans the shocks in the beginning of almost every series, like that of 36 all out against Australia and the first test blues against England.

 

The insistent talk about the Chennai pitch turning from the second day has not been fully corroborated, because India scored more than double to that of England, 286 in their second innings to England’s 134 in the first innings. This is clearly a case of class display versus poor performance. In the first Test India did poorly in all departments of the game. The pitch has indeed been helpful to spinners from the first test, but, for that matter, both team had able spinners to shine.

 

From here on the challenge for the visitors is going to only mount as the hosts seem to have got back their winning spirit, realized the potential and achieved the right ‘champion’ combination. Next, the pink-ball day-n-night third Test match starts at the Motera, Ahmedabad from the 24^thof February, and the fourth and last Test from 3^rd March. The Motera pitch is a toss between a bowler-friendly and a slower one. Bumrah is sure to come back in view of the ‘twilight seam’ factor in the next match, and in that case one of the spinners could be rested. Besides, injured seamers Mohammad Shami and Navdeep Saini have reportedly recovered. In fact, the official squad for the two remaining Tests is yet to be declared, and the BCCI is also expected to announce the squad for the five-match T20 Series too that starts in Ahmedabad from 12^th March.

 

With avid Indian cricket fans allowed to join, in half stadium capacity though, the players from the second Test onward, Team India’s spirit is sure to soar to much higher altitudes.

England Vs India First Test: Joe Root Engineers Collapse Of India’s House Of Star Cards!

Photo: espncricinfo.com

England captain Joe Root did the right things from the very beginning of the first cricket test against India in Chennai: winning the crucial toss and naturally electing to bat on a track that is known to turn from the third or the fourth day; scoring a double ton that helped his team build a mammoth first innings total of 578, neutralizing the three Indian spinners on their home turf; having his spinners and pacers, particularly James Anderson rally around restricting India to 337 which is largely thanks to a few of India’s Australia-resistance heroes, keeper Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Ravichandran Ashwin; being always wary of India’s elusive but documentary batting depth and not risking to bat last on a turning track, and therefore, not enforcing the follow-on; despite having his team out for a paltry 178 in the second innings still allowing his team enjoy a rather amusing target of 420 for India to achieve in just over a day; and having Anderson strike three crucial blows in the morning session of the last day, paving the way for a oft-repeated Indian collapse.  So then, he played the ‘Root cause’ for England’s crushing win by 227 runs over India, leading the World Test Championship Series 1-0.

 

And India, oh dear! Over the decades we’ve been witnessing classic Indian collapses on the last day facing a daunting task of either winning outright or drawing, except for a few monumental occasions including that in Australia in the recently concluded Test Series. In the same Australia Series we had seen the 36-all-out syndrome by Virat Kohli’s India, and then stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane engineering a historic resistance to win the Series 2-1. In this particular cricket new normal first test in Chennai, India, with all its star players back, was expected to bat on for the next two days and thus achieving a likely draw.

 

However, that did not happen. All of the Indian top batting order except for Cheteshwar Pujara failed to launch a fitting reply as the English spinner duo set about beating the masters in their own game. The duo of Bess and Leach accounted for 6 vital wickets in India’s first innings while the three Indian spinners fought hard to capture 5 in England’s first innings. A huge run deficit of 241 proved to be the turning point for the home team, and despite its spinners finally coming into the frame and skittling out the visitors for 178, we were treated again to the time-tested spectacle of the Indian team marching towards an inevitable end with defeat written large at every spot on the field.

 

Although it is only the first of the four test matches, the result yields some scope for introspection. The contrast is extremely marked: even a less than a second-team India rallied around in Australia against the mighty home opponents while the strong reinforced full-strength team faltered on their favorite spinning home turf. Losing the toss cannot be termed as the only causative factor, apart of course, from the Root Cause. It’s only natural to get your star players back in the team that, in this case, included the captain himself. But the star players must perform and cannot take their places for granted. For example, opener Rohit Sharma failed in both of the innings as if continuing from his Australia tour; the captain also failed in the crucial first innings and his campaign for a losing cause in the second innings is hardly any justification. The three Indian spinners failed to apply any pressure on England in the first innings, and this would perhaps bring into picture the exclusion of Kuldeep Yadav or going for an extra fast bowler with the hero of Australia, Mohammad Siraj decorating the dressing room. Ajinkya Rahane too fared miserably in both innings, and this brings to us another angle.

 

Is everything alright between Kohli and Rahane? It’s often seen that Rahane performs poorly in Virat’s team and proves himself otherwise, as if free of any tether. Rahane’s captaincy, as displayed in Australia and elsewhere in limited openings, is strategically interactive, thinking and calculatively aggressive to Kohli’s strategy of aggression based on instinct and impulses. While we cannot deny Kohli as the best Indian captain on record in all three formats of the game we still suggested a split-captaincy regime after the Australia Test Series, making Rahane the captain in the test team. There’s nothing wrong in this, because many countries have three captains for the three formats, not causing any humiliation or insults to anyone in the process.

England Tour of India: First New Normal Cricket In India Since the Pandemic!

Undoubtedly the most cricket-crazy nation of the world, India had to go without official cricket for nearly a year due the COVID-19 Pandemic that raged in the country till September 2020. Three away cricket series against South Africa, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka had to be cancelled. The much awaited T20 cricket bonanza, the IPL, had to be shifted to the United Arab Emirates thanks to an empty slot left by the indefinitely postponed ICC World Cup T20 slated for 2020. For India, the IPL had been the start of the New Normal Cricket during September-November 2020 followed by its historic tour of Australia 2020-21, both under secure bio-bubble environment. Now, with the England cricket team touring India, the first official cricket Series is about to unfold from tomorrow, the 5^thof February 2021, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai: the first of the four-match Test Series between England and India.

 

In view of the pandemic that still has not said quits, new normal arrangements are in place creating a tight bio-secure environment. Although the COVID-19 protocols of the Government of India have allowed 50% of capacity spectators in the stadium the Tamil Nadu cricket authorities had decided to vote for full safety holding the first Test behind closed doors, no spectators allowed. However, after consultation with the BCCI, the state authorities have now allowed half-capacity spectators for the second Test to be held at the same stadium from 13^th February.

 

To maintain a strict bio-bubble the BCCI has restricted the venues to only three: the first two Tests of the World Test Champion Series to be held in Chennai; the next two Tests and the five-match T20 Series to be held at the Motera, Ahmedabad; and the three-match World Cup Super League ODI Series to be held in Pune. The third test in Ahmedabad is going to be a pink-ball day-and-night match, starting from 24^th February 2021. Really a power-packed tour with the good news that half-capacity crowds will be allowed for all the matches from the second test onwards. The matches will be telecast live on Star Sports and live streaming will be available on Disney-Hotstar. The euphoria of the Indian cricket fans after the home team’s stupendous Melbourne and Brisbane victories and the historic fight-back draw in Sydney, all under a stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane and depleted squads, is set to explode.

 

India, after the 2-1 Test series victory against Australia in Australia, starts as hot favorites. Their top players, namely R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ishant Sharma, have fully recovered from injuries, and therefore India will have the services of all top players including Virat Kohli coming back as the captain. The day Team India conquered the Brisbane fortress the Indian squad had been announced for the first two tests. In view of the pandemic an 18-member squad had been selected with the exclusion of a still recuperating Ravindra Jadeja. Then, of course, their near-invincibility at home.

 

On the other hand, England is hardly a pushover. They have also come here after sweeping the test series against Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka 2-0, and they have tremendously consistent players in captain Joe Root, leading batsmen Rory Burns and Jos Buttler, ominous all-rounders Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, top-class fast bowlers Jofra Archer, James Anderson and Stuart Broad and capable spinners Dom Bess and Jack Leach. The England team had earlier won a test series in India in 2012-13 and crushed India in their tours of England in 2011, 2014 and in 2018.

 

There are more stakes involved in this Test Series as far as the World Test Championship (WTC) is concerned. This series between Indian and England is almost sure to decide the second finalist for the WTC Final in June this year at Lord’s in England, both of the teams having played 5 of the 6 Series allowed and New Zealand having already qualified with 70 points. India on top with 71.7 points needs to win at least two tests to qualify while England on 68.7 points will need to win three tests. Australia, even though they are in the third position with 69.2 points, is almost out of contention as their series against South Africa has been postponed indefinitely. India enjoys the greatest of chances to qualify at the moment. However, cricket being a game of glorious uncertainties we can only hope for the best. But some superlative cricket is definitely in store for all cricket lovers.

Cricket New Normal: Saliva Ban, No Huddles, Empty Stadiums!

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has been having brainstorming virtual sessions with all stakeholders on resumption of cricket in the past months under the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. Till now the Council has not been able to take a final call on the main issue of contention: when to hold the ICC T20 Cricket World Cup. It's very ironical that in a year which can also be termed as T20 the T20 mega event just cannot get underway that was originally scheduled in October, 2020 in Australia. Now, the Indian cricket board, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), has been eagerly waiting for the decision on the T20 World Cup, because since its postponment is almost final the ICC decision will give the BCCI a window during October-November to organize its favorite money-spinner, the Indian Premiere League (IPL), of course, without the noisy reveling crowds. 

All the while the ICC has been busy framing new rules for the most popular game of the world, a craze in India. Indian spin bowling great Anil Kumble who was appointed as Chairman of the ICC's Cricket Committee in 2012 had been assigned this job. Kumble has already made recommendations and the ICC approved most of these. The first of course is the obvious: ban on the use of saliva during play. We have seen over the decades how intensive had been the use of saliva of almost all the players fielding to keep the ball shining. Now, saliva is a direct trigger for COVID-19 spread and therefore its use has been banned forthwith. This is set to affect the pacers in particular very adversely, and perhaps the dry ball will be of help to the spinners. The suggestion of using external substances got rejected mainly because the international cricket bodies had been opposing this tooth and nail for decades. There is one more suggestion for allowing a new ball for every fifty overs in Test matches which is under consideration.

The ICC (International Cricket Council) rule to have neutral umpires in international series has also been waived off to prevent extensive globe-trotting that the international umpires had had to embark upon. Home umpires will now do the job. Another very important recommendation that has been accepted is of allowing COVID substitutes in Test matches that go on for five days. Any player showing any symptoms of flu, cough or fever during this period will be out of the match and a substitute player will be allowed to take his/her place in the playing eleven like under the present concussion regulation. Naturally, this rule wouldn't apply to the shorter formats of ODIs and T20Is. 

The defined cricket new normal will obviously include various other demonstrative physical attributes of the game: the huddles by rival teams that we have witnessed increasingly in competitive cricket in recent years will no longer be allowed; display of physical excitement in group like in the case of a fall of a wicket or in a hat-trick or a superlative catch or scoring a ton will be gone and all sorts of hugging, shake-hands, pavilion or dressing-room celebrations  and the like will no longer be there till Corona thinks otherwise. And, of course, there will be no spectators. Players will have to undergo all of the excitement on field in an empty stadium without supporting or singing or celebrating or flags-displaying cricket-loving crowds which would obviously be a daunting challenge to keep up the competitive spirit of the players. Unfortunately, there's no other option available at the moment and cricketers will have to adapt so that the sport resumes. 

It is a huge development that the first instance of international cricket resumption has already begun. Except for three players the West Indies team had agreed to participate in a Test Series against England in England--one of the worst-hit countries in terms of COVID deaths. The West Indies team had already arrived in England, all players tested before departure and thoroughly tested after arrival. They will live and prepare there for three weeks before the first Test of the three-match series scheduled to start from July 8, 2020. Hope the great game of cricket would pass the unprecedented COVID test successfully and with full honors.