Cricket: SKY, Pandya and the Formatted Hassles!

The World Cup-2023 Final still remains a nightmare, a bad dream that refuses to go, in the minds of most of Indian cricket lovers: their home team on home grounds crashing to a humiliating and a listless defeat in the grand finale after winning all the ten games leading to it. Well, for most of the sober cricket lovers win or defeat is always a part of any game and it’s never an issue to be distressingly sour or angry about; but the problem was that their home team couldn’t offer a creditable fight against Australia that they defeated in the very first game of the event and also in the previous matches in a bilateral series and had gone down like a pack of schoolboys as if trying to understand or find what’s the game of cricket all about. And that rankled, and still does. Expectedly, the fans or the organizers started crying hoarse about the pitch being doctored unnecessarily or mistakenly even though it belonged to their own country and to the supposedly biggest stadium of the country never blaming their favorite stars. For me it was the Kohli-Rahul partnership, perhaps the slowest in recent years concerning any country in the one-day format, that put the match beyond India’s reach, beyond any intended fightback and most unfortunately, beyond their bowling attack which was undoubtedly the best in the World Cup. And that brings the Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY) factor into focus.

Of course, he was not selected for the playing eleven and there was no indication of that happening. Till the pivot of the new Indian team, Hardik Pandya, got injured and was ruled out of the tournament. Since Pandya is considered to be one of the great emerging all-rounders in world cricket, his replacement was not easy—the team management had to think about both the batting and the bowling possibilities. They finally made the decision to bring in Mohammed Shami to replace him in bowling and as Shardul Thakur, as a supposed all-rounder, had been doing precious nothing in those four matches SKY was also brought into the playing eleven. That Shami, the victim of arguably the most horribly wrong decision in team selection, made history afterward is not our point here. We want to discuss the SKY factor, and then Pandya.

Bringing someone into the playing eleven during the biggest event of cricket means that the team management really trusts his abilities. No doubt, SKY has been going through a lean patch in recent months, but still he was a tremendous force to reckon with on his day. In the matches that followed SKY was not fully in his elements as an electrifying batsman, and the management should’ve replaced him again if they lost trust and confidence in him. If they hadn’t indeed lost the trust in him, they would’ve definitely allowed him to play the Final in his usual place; but they didn’t.

For the first time in ten games the batting order was changed and Ravindra Jadeja was sent in ahead, when, after laboring continuously in his excruciatingly slow partnership with Rahul, Kohli managed to complete his half-century and then fell. Jadeja only succeeded in putting the final nails in the Indian coffin. When finally SKY stepped in it was already too late. But then, as the Final-nightmare lingered on SKY was made captain of the T20 Team India which somewhat meant they still trusted him for the shortest format. However, trusted cricketers normally play all the three formats and normally as well succeed in all formats too. But not with Surya Kumar even as there was no news of Pandya getting fit. So, we still don’t have an answer to the trust-riddle concerning SKY.

While conceding to the fact that Pandya was sorely missed in the Final, it was also clear that India under the captaincy of Rohit was all set to win the World Cup-2023 without Pandya. But the selectors cum the management, following sincerely the somewhat clichéd objective of making way for the new-generation Team India, continued to believe in Pandya as the future captain of India which made it clear that the SKY factor was only a stop-gap arrangement for them, with the T20 World Cup coming up next year. Nonetheless, Rohit who was unanimously hailed as the most strategist Indian captain during the World Cup is more or less set to lead India in the T20 World Cup too, unless he happens to retire from that format which is probable after what Mumbai Indians did to him. And that again brings in the Pandya factor.

In a move that was somewhat anticipated the IPL franchise Mumbai Indians bought Hardik Pandya and afterward announced that he’d replace Rohit Sharma as the captain. In a cash-rich tournament we cannot expect the loyalty ingredient at all, and therefore, Pandya had no apparent qualms leaving Gujarat Titans that he led to a debut Championship-2022 victory and again led it to the 2023 IPL Final. It was also probable that the captaincy promise was a part of the transaction, and if so, that was highly unjust. Normally a successful India captain gets rewarded with more responsibilities like MS Dhoni who still leads the Chennai Super Kings and who is much older than Rohit. Besides, Indian cricket icons, much older than Rohit had been made franchise captain in the initial IPL years. Fans as well as playing and veteran cricketers are divided on this decision. Personally speaking I feel that it is a humiliation for Rohit who, under his leadership, made Mumbai Indians Champions five times since 2013, and that he should no longer play under Pandya, nor for the franchise. In this context his announcement of retiring from the T2O format seems imminent.

Since long years I’ve been advocating the idea of having three specialized captains for the three formats. In spite of making so many captains in recent years the picture is still the same: maybe Rohit still for the Test format, KL Rahul or Pandya or whoever for the ODI and Pandya for the shortest format who, after all, is set to consume the captaincy in all three formats in near future. Hassles, contradictions and what not! That’s Indian cricket! 

Two Drivers with Nothing in Common!

 

In present times it’s common to find the soothing slogan ‘help is just a call away’ at every step of life while in actuality it could be ‘help is just an eternity away’, particularly for elderly people whose perception of them being burdens on the booming younger community is so very tantalizingly turned into a reality by the latter! Of course, we cannot generalize because there are good souls—younger or older— still available on our tortured earth. Just the other day we encountered two app cab drivers that uphold and differential both the statements made above. 

We had to catch a late-night flight. As usual we, I and my wife, both elderly and I a senior citizen, had to somehow drag and carry our bags and heavy suitcases down the stairs round to the street corner where the cab was supposed to pick us up, because we didn’t want to wait for eternity for ‘help’, and we didn’t mind that at all out of experience! In that laborious process the cab driver called saying he was already on location and insisted that that was the right location despite my pointing out that the location was shown very clearly on the app. The driver’s tone was very casual, indifferent and bereft of human emotions. Anyway, he was at last persuaded to proceed to the location that we reached painstakingly.

 

The cab stopped beside us. The driver sat like a statue in his seat and the only movement he made was to open the boot for us. We really struggled to load the things inside the narrow boot. It was very hard for me as I had to lift the heaviest suitcase with both my hands and then adjust it inside. Well, I assured myself, the driver was just one of the multiplying ‘casual’ community and there was absolutely no point expecting help from him nor finding fault with him. Finally, getting ourselves installed inside he did the favor of driving us toward the destination; however, he did it casually and carelessly too, narrowly averting a bump into a vehicle in front on the way. Ditto was his behavior at the airport. In fact, he wanted to abandon us at the first gate he found even though the right gate was also recorded on the app. After delivering us at the right gate on my insistence he sat on like a statue, apart from opening the boot again. Fearing the driver would run away once I settle the fare then and there, I immediately alighted from the cab and looked for a trolley first. Then, again that laboriously process of unloading the boot and loading the trolley. After we finished doing that, I made the payment. All the time the driver sat in his driving seat.

 

Reaching the destination airport I again booked an app cab and waited in the allotted alley. Sighting the cab at a distance I motioned the driver to come up to the place where we stood which the driver did promptly. And then the driver not only opened the boot but also left his seat to help us load, to our hearts’ content and gratification. All the way he talked in a very friendly and homely way, informing us of the weather in the city and the changes that have been taking place of late. Arriving at our residence the driver again left his seat and helped us unload and carry the luggage up to the steps. He waited till we entered the building, and only then he drove away. I waved him a loving goodbye.

 

It’s indeed a solace that at the time when our Planet Earth seems to racing into the thick of a torrid and very uncertain future the good souls, indeed a raging minority, are still not drying up entirely.

(I was happy to find Blogger is taking the intended photos again when I checked out the last time. Hope it stays that way so that I get encouraged to be more regular with my posts. Nowadays without even photos, the videos are the buzzword, post are going to attract even a stray reader!)

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! )