South Africa Vs Sri Lanka, Super Eights

What a match! Unfortunately, we didn't watch a single ball and we weren't even close to a computer to follow the score. From all the reports we have read this was a cracker of a match. Malinga is a freak of nature and would have felt right at home in 19th century when round-arm bowling was all the rage and W.G. Grace was hitting round-arm bowling all over the ground. Malinga would have given the great man a stiff challenge...we think.

Anyway, if you are reading this blog you probably know more about this match then we do. To redress that situation we are watching the match now and might (or might not) have more pithy comments after our viewing.

If you were like us and do not know what you missed, Langeveldt took the first 5 for in this world cup, Malinga took 4 wickets in 4 balls and South Africa won the match by a hair's breadth. Here is the match report and here is the scoreboard.

Having grown up watching batsmen trash bowlers without regard, we love it when bowlers dominate a match. The best match of the world cup so far? we will answer that question after we watch the match.

Update:
It was an engrossing match. The last 5 overs were fantastic. Graeme Smith said that SA were on top for 95 overs of the match. We disagree. SA was on top for about 75 overs of the match.

News Round-Up (Sort Of)

Greg Chappell sends SMS messages to journalists. No wonder nobody likes GC. A coach's primary job is to build trust with his players. Looks like GC failed to do that miserably. Here's the offending paragraph for all you lazy people:

On February 16, after an article of mine appeared in this paper Greg sent me a SMS, which I am reproducing for the sake of the public. "Excellent article. Almost spot on. Even to the last selection meeting. I fought for youth. The senior players fought against it and the chairman went with them out of fear of media, if youth didn’t perform. Kartik will be a very good batsman and by the way is a potential leader. You are very right about Yuvi. Regards, Greg."

It was the morning of the ODI against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam. The time the SMS was received — 08.16.31. For those who did not read the article, it would be helpful for their comprehension of the situation in a context.

As far as Dinesh Kartik is concerned, I had hinted he should not be taken as a second wicketkeeper, implying he be should taken as a batsman and called as such. Hence Greg’s explanation. About Yuvraj Singh I had written, "For heaven’s sake, let nobody consider Yuvraj Singh as a future captain."

Another theory as to why Bob Woolmer was killed (hat tip: Prem Panicker) - Here.

Fascinating reading about the inner workings in the BCCI (hat tip: Prem Panicker): Here.

The Colonel speaks again. Wants 'both young and experienced' captain. Okay then. Bye.

Meanwhile in Pakistan, "fans" went to the airport to "greet" Younis Khan.

Apparently, the Indian team was "most indisciplined” and “on an enjoyment spree” (they were up till 1 AM in the morning and were *gasp* smoking) when they toured WI in 2006. So, we should fire the coach says GCA board official. Duly noted. Thank you Mr GCA board official.

West Indies Vs Australia, Super Eights

The village idiot has struck a rich vein of form and is in danger of becoming an idiot-savant. Who is to blame for this travesty? Daniel Vettori, that's who. Why? Because Hayden was out of form and was one match away from being dropped when Vettori dropped Hayden (score: 0) in the CB Series. Hayden then went on to make a century which got him into the world cup squad and the rest, as they say, is history. Daniel Vettori is a moron.

Hayden's batting will never be considered beautiful but it is extremely effective. Hayden is so dumb that he doesn't know it's better to be beautiful than to be effective. Hayden is not one of the sweet timers of the ball but he glosses over his timing deficiencies with the power he brings to the crease.

Hayden after a very slow start went to hit another century (158 in 143 balls) and powered Australia to yet another 300 plus score (322 in 50 overs). He was helped with nice cameos from Ponting, Clarke and Watson.

The rest of the match got rained out so West Indies will begin their chase tomorrow. Luckily they still have the full 50 overs but unluckily their target is a whopping 322. West Indies desperately needs a Lara special to chase this total down.

We will update this post after the West Indian innings tomorrow.

Update:03/28/2007
For West Indies to win this game, Lara needed to play one of his very special knocks. He did to a certain extent but it was not long enough and it was not special enough. Gayle is in awful form. Whatever happened to the destroyer of bowlers? He seems shrouded in doubt and not batting well.

Long story short, West Indies lost to Australia. Will someone please beat Australia? Once again, Australia is looking like a Juggernaut.

Where Does India Go From Here?

India's ouster from the world cup is heartbreaking but it is also an opportunity. Will BCCI do the right thing this time around? Based on their past track record, we doubt it. There will be a lot of bloodletting and heads will roll but if these are cosmetic to assuage the rage of "fans" it would be a travesty. April 6th and 7th are the dates to watch as BCCI is convening a meeting with ex-captains to decide the future of Indian cricket. In the meantime, it gives us an opportunity to pontificate about the kind of cricket team India should be aiming for.

What kind of a cricket team do we want?
A cricket team which can play well outside India has to be the top priority. For far too long, Indian teams have been flat track bullies. A tinge of green on the pitch should not make our batsmen yellow with fear. India should be able to win away tours, be aggressive in the field, play hard, not wilt under pressure, field as well as the Australians, and run the singles well. In short, the much clichéd term: "Total Cricket".

Coach:
Greg Chappell will most probably be sacked. One can argue that his “process” was never given the chance it deserved but it can also be said that a coach who rolled over without a fight when his scheme was being systematically dismantled does not deserve to be the coach. If, as reports seem to suggest, GC has lost the trust of his players; then he should be fired. No coach, however great, can succeed when his players don’t buy into the scheme. Getting players to believe in what the coach has to offer is a major part of the coach’s job.

His sacking might be symbolic: getting rid of the ‘foreign’ element from the team might be therapeutic for the loonies out there. Whatever the rationale behind GC’s firing, it is most likely that he will be gone.

Operating on the belief that GC will be sacked. Who should replace him? Will BCCI be wary about hiring a foreign coach after this fiasco? Will the Wadekars and Kapil Devs succeed with their vociferous racist remarks? Time will tell. Some of the names doing the rounds:
John Wright
Bob Simpson
Sandeep Patil
Anybody else? Any interesting names out there? Please let us know.

If by some miracle, he retains his job, it has to be considered a win for Indian cricket. Not because he is a good coach but because, for once, an administration took a stand of not pointing fingers at the easiest target and stuck by their employee in the face of immense pressure.

If BCCI decides to give GC another chance then a lot has to be done. BCCI has to empower GC and give him the team he wants, giving GC a core group of younger, fitter players and letting him mould them into a cohesive unit, having a pool of players to pick and choose from, not second guessing GC after every defeat and selecting a team based on performance rather than reputations. This will invariably lead to axing of star players like Ganguly, Sehwag, Bhajji, Tendulkar and Kumble. This option will be traumatic for a lot of fans. Will the BCCI do it? We doubt it.

Whatever we do, we should not fall back on hiring great Indian ex-captains (Kapil Dev, Wadekar, etc) as the Indian team’s coach. It will be a step backward if we do it. These great ex-players don’t have the coaching pedigree. Hire a coach who has a proven track record and technical know how.

Whether BCCI keeps GC or fires him and hires another coach, one thing they have to do is hire a bowling coach. Why India doesn’t have a bowling coach is beyond our understanding.

Captaincy:
This is a knotty problem. Overall, Rahul Dravid’s captaincy has not been bad. He had a poor run as a captain in the world cup. Is that enough to sack him? Dravid has shown himself to be thoughtful and tactical as captain. Can he emerge a stronger person and a stronger leader from this ordeal? We think so.

If there is a knock against Dravid, it is that, after buying into GC’s “process” he capitulated after a string of defeats and opted for ‘captaincy by committee’ approach. His captaincy took a step back by preferring experience over younger and fitter players. He should have known better than to underestimate the importance of fielding.

There is talk about bringing back Sachin Tendulkar as the captain. That would be a bad idea. Even worse would be making Ganguly the captain. Realistically, India doesn’t have many choices when it comes to captaincy. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Saurav Ganguly are the only candidates unless BCCI opts for ‘out of the box thinking’.

Dravid is reaching his peak as a batsman while Tendulkar and Ganguly are sliding down. We also believe that Dravid will come out of this debacle as a better captain. If there is anyone in the Indian team who does not wilt at the first sign of pressure, it is Dravid. Dravid has also shown that captaincy does not have an adverse effect on his batting. Dravid has always done well when his back is to the wall. We believe that Dravid still has a lot to offer Indian cricket. If the choices for captaincy are Ganguly, Tendulkar, and Dravid, we prefer Dravid.

Md. Kaif is another player we are very fond of. He was the captain of the U-19’s and is the captain of UP. From everything we have heard, he has the tactical nous and people skills to be a good captain. Bring back Md. Kaif into the team and make him the vice-captain. True, he is not the most prolific batsman in the country but his fielding alone should guarantee his spot in the ODI team and if he were given as many opportunities as, say, Sehwag, he would have probably cemented his spot. Kaif’s batting style (anchoring one end and rotating the strike) makes him ideal to be sent up the order.

The idea of Sehwag as the captain or vice-captain did enter our mind but we quickly discarded it because his spot is in jeopardy now. Sehwag has to go back the drawing board to sort out his fitness and technique.

Does anybody know if Yuvraj can be considered captaincy material? Again, Yuvraj’s test spot has not been cemented so he and Kaif are in similar boats. If given a choice, we prefer Kaif over Yuvraj because we believe Kaif has the common touch to get the best out of his team-mates. Maybe Yuvraj can be India’s Graeme Smith. We doubt it.

Another option could be VVS Laxman. Laxman is well liked and might not make a bad captain. By making Laxman the captain, BCCI could neatly side step several problems. He is senior enough to command respect from the younger players and is well liked by the senior players. One great thing about Laxman being the captain is that he would be in the ODI team. Dropping Laxman from the ODI team because he was considered to be a bad fielder was a gigantic joke.

We did consider having 2 different teams: one for the ODi’s and one for the Tests. Australia is pointed out as an example of this system. The reason this worked for Australia is because the captain of the test team was not part of the ODI team. One could argue that Dravid could remain the captain of the Test team while someone else could captain the ODI team. This will only work if Dravid is not part of the ODI team. That is a bad idea. Not having Dravid in the ODI team will hurt India. Again, we believe Dravid has a lot to offer Indian cricket. Talent like Dravid’s comes along rarely and we should value it.

Our preference is to stick with Dravid as the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and make a younger player (Kaif) the vice-captain. If Kaif succeeds, he could take over after Dravid retires and if he doesn’t, India will have time to identify another candidate while Dravid is steering the ship. Our second preference is to make VVS Laxman the captain (for both ODI’s and Tests) and again, make a younger player the vice-captain.

Team:
Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Kumble should retire from ODI’s. Sehwag, Agarkar, and Bhajji should be dropped from ODI’s. That gives us 6 spots for youngsters to fill. Agarkar can be replaced with Sreesanth, Bhajji can be replaced with Powar, and 3 batsmen can take the place of Tendulkar, Ganguly, and Sehwag.

Ganguly, Kumble, Agarkar, Sehwag, and Bhajji should be dropped from the test team. We believe Tendulkar still has something to offer in the Test arena so he should be allowed to keep his spot. Actually, we will be depressed if Tendulkar is dropped for Tests but will get over it very quickly.

The emphasis on future players has to be paramount. Jaffer, Kaif, Raina, Kaarthick, Gambhir, Pathan, and Sreesanth should be nurtured and given enough chances. The emphasis on star players has to decrease. Indians have to realize that the team comes first. It was a pleasure watching the Aussies, Clarke and Ponting, disregard their personal milestones in their match against SA. That would have never happened in an Indian team.

Indians have to realize that to reach Australian and South African level of play, their fielding has to improve drastically. A good idea would be to hire a fielding coach like the South Africans have. It’s not enough to bat well or bowl well, one has to field well. The star players cannot be excused from fielding drills. Fielding has to be an important criterion for selection (not a fake criterion like it was with Laxman’s non-selection). Running between the wickets is also something that needs to be improved. Influx of younger players will improve that to a certain extent but it can be improved further.

Cricket, especially ODI’s, has become an athlete’s game. Emphasis has to be paid to fitness, stamina, and endurance. It is a disgrace that young professional cricket players like Sehwag turn up at fitness camps overweight and out of shape. Players have to follow their off-season regimens. Heavy fines should be levied if a player does not follow their off-season regimen.

Miscellaneous:
BCCI should invest its millions in infrastructure. Our stadiums are falling apart and the conditions inside are horrible. Our one and only visit to see an ODI was traumatic. The stench of urine in the stands was gut-wrenching.

India needs better pitches and outfields. Let’s not kid ourselves about our batting prowess by belting out hundreds on flat tracks. These flat tracks have been the graveyard of many an Indian fast bowler. Why would anybody want to be a bowler when there is no glory in being one? It is not like we don’t know how to build bowler friendly pitches. Mohali is a prime example. We need more Mohali’s in other states.

India should also invest in the massive talent pool it has. We need more ‘A’ matches. A good performance in the U-19’s should not equate to a spot in the national team. The U-19’s need time to hone their skills and BCCI can provide it and should provide it.

For too long domestic cricket has suffered. Plans to reinvigorate and improve domestic cricket are many and varied. Domestic cricket deserves its own post and will be tackled at a later date.

Are we missing anything from our long discourse? Does anyone disagree with us? If so, convince us we are wrong and we will edit the post accordingly.

Bangladesh Vs Bermuda, Group B

For a moment, our heart fluttered when Bangladesh was reeling at 37-3 chasing a target of 95. Luckily, better sense prevailed and we reasoned that the Bangladeshi young guns would not fold up under pressure like the Indians. They would not squander the chance they have been given. Batting on a sticky wicket, Ashraful and Saqibal Hasan saw Bangladesh home.

Bangladesh went on to beat Bermuda in rain curtailed match. They are into the Super 8's where they will get several more opportunities to bring down the other big teams. Whether this happens or not, Bangladesh should be very happy with their performance so far. Well done and good luck.

Did The "Process" Fail?

We came across this article from Rahul Bhattacharya while surfing a cricket message board. If the premise is true (that of distrust) then the article carries some weight.

The Process and why it failed so miserably
Rahul Bhattacharya

Four years ago to the day India crashed out of a World Cup. Then it was then the final. Now, bar a fresh face here and there, those same men, pale shadows of their former selves, hang their hopes on the cuddly amateurs of Bermuda, otherwise growing accustomed to the greatest embarrassment of their cricketing lives. ‘You ain’t going back home,’ a drunk hollered jauntily, almost as if to console them, ‘they gon kill yuh’.

Insofar as this can be analysed as a match of cricket it may be said, as the captain and coach said on loop while facing the press, that India “did not play well”. The seam bowlers were sharp upfront but they were unlucky, the fielding was mediocre and the batting hopeless.

Pitifully it all unravelled finally, the feebleness of despairing men unable to face the heat, and the campaign that had blazed across televisions, hoardings, powerpoint presentations and a million dreams came to a virtual halt. The world will turn, but try telling that to the Indian fan.

The cricketers will take a roasting, and there is little really to commend their efforts for the past year. The batting has been frail and the bowling medium and the fielding almost superfluous. Of course it has. And let us not even start on the system that produces and manages these cricketers. Yet, if we must be current, it is too convenient to ignore the point that this was a side without a chemistry. The only hope for it galvanising lay in the bonding that comes from special triumphs. It was not to be.

The team that is not united will find it hard to win. Rahul Dravid is an admirable cricketer in every respect, a setter of examples, but his fatal deficiency as captain was the inability to bring together people in a manner that makes them bigger than they are, a task made almost impossible by the politician employed as the coach.

When responding to one of the few questions he deigned to answer at the press conference, Greg Chappell pointed to the lack of partnerships. It could well be the motif for his tenure.

Numerous players earned the coach’s greatest censure and time after time he found friends in the media, in awe of his stature, thrilled by the access he provided, to spread the message. They were flamed privately to the press men. Word would get back to players, many of them could not relate to his methods anyway. Bonds were broken, and ultimately there hardly remained one. It is not there was not a shred of validity in the observations. But when there is such a breakdown of trust in a team its very spirit dies. India needed a leader, a builder; they got a wrecking ball.

From a tactical point of view, a shake-up was very much required when Dravid and Chappell came together. But experimentation was taken a step too far. It is one thing to make a flexible line-up, another to bend it till it breaks. It was going to be all or nothing. You could have an answer for every situation and equally to none. When it came down to it, the team was without a single bankable position.

The analysis has only just begun. It will continue with numbing force for months to come in what, for fans and media alike over the past two years, has been the most polarised period in recent Indian cricket history.

But take some time out to look the other way. As the world-weary Indians watched impassive from the dressing room, the jubilant Sri Lankans bounced joyously off the field, and the eager teenagers of the Bangladesh cricket team beamed in the audience. “The beauty and the cruelty of sport”, Dravid would philosophise later. Till better times, the supporters of the biggest, most decadent cricket playing nation in the world must have to come to terms with that.

Any thoughts?

England Vs Kenya, Group C

England beat Kenya and are through to the super 8's. We didn't see this match because we were busy watching the Australia-SA match. We are happy that England got through - somebody has to give Ireland and Bangladesh hope for a win in the Super 8's. England team has a very subcontinental trait of being able to lose to anyone on any given day and beating anyone on any given day.

Happy days are ahead for cricket fans rooting for the weaker teams.