THE NEXT STEP FOR AFGHANISTAN

In less than 20 hours from now, Afghanistan will play against their neighbour Pakistan in an ODI at Sharjah. It will be the first time that Afghanistan will be competing against a Test-playing nation in an ODI. Their first Test-playing opponent in a Twenty20 International had been India during the World Twenty20 Championships 2010. Now they play the longer version of the game against a country with whom they share a longer border.

The Afghan team has been very impressive in its short cricketing journey thus far. Those who have watched the movie 'Out of the Ashes' will know about their rise from the World Cricket League Division 5 through to the ODI status. And it did not stop there. They won the ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10, by managing 6 outright wins in 7 First Class games, including the finals against Scotland at Dubai. In the current version of the same (i.e. ICC Intercontinental Cup 2011-13), they are standing currently at the 3rd position after 2 matches, behind Ireland and United Arab Emirates.

No one really expects Afghanistan to beat Pakistan in the one-off ODI to be played tomorrow at Sharjah. But what everyone would dearly like to see is a good fight. They are unlikely to match the Pakistan team in skills, but who wouldn't love to see them show some spark on the field!

Their next major assignment after this ODI shall be the World Twenty20 Championship Qualifiers to be held in mid-March, followed by the World Cricket League Championship (2 ODIs) and the ICC Intercontinental Cup (1 four-day First Class match) assignments against the Netherlands at their adopted home grounds in the UAE.

They have been now, for quite some time, a team that I have fascinatingly followed. I wish them all the luck in these fixtures, and hope that their fairytale stretches on for a long time.

FIVE WISHES FOR 2012

Would love to see them batting together once again!

There are a lot of things I would love to see happening in 2012... but I have picked out over here, five of them that I dearly wish for:

1. Get That 100 And Then Many More

I hope it happens in a few days time now at Sydney. He's got three there already, and with a Test average of more than 200 at SCG, there's every chance that the 100th ton for Sachin Tendulkar finally arrives there. I wish to see that 100th ton out of the way, and then many more runs and tons from the Little Master in 2012. India will be playing Test cricket against Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England over the next 12 months... so lets have another special year (like 2010) in 2012 from Sachin Tendulkar!

2. Cheteshwar Pujara Gets Back In

His last appearance in the Indian squad was a year ago... in the Third Test during India's Tour of South Africa. An injury in the IPL caused Cheteshwar Pujara to miss virtually the entire remaining 2011. He made a comeback for Saurashtra mid-way through the Ranji season, but could not get back his form that saw him force his way into the Indian team. With Saurashtra not making it to the quarterfinals (they came very close), and his spot uncertain in the West Zone team, it could be a difficult path for Pujara now. Taking into consideration that Virat Kohli has been given his chance at No. 6 for India in Tests with Rohit Sharma right behind him, Pujara will have to work extremely hard and pray for a little bit of luck along the way. I too will be praying for him... and hope to see him reclaim his spot in India's Test squad very soon!

3. Afghanistan Qualify For The World Twenty20 Championships

The Qualifying Tournament for participation in the World Twenty20 Championships 2012 will be held in United Arab Emirates from 13th to 24th March 2012. A total of 16 teams will fight for the meagre 2 spots open for them in the main event. Realistically, the teams that have a good chance to make it through are Ireland, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, Canada, Kenya and Scotland. I would love to see Afghanistan make it through once again, and participate in their second major global tournament after the 2010 edition of the same. Having followed Afghan cricket closely for the past one year, I find the prospect of Afghanistan in top-flight cricket a very realistic and exciting one!

4. An Exciting U-19 World Cup

The Australian state of Queensland will be hosting the U-19 Cricket World Cup in August 2012. I love watching the U-19 World Cup tournaments for they show up a lot of unknown exciting talent... and not always from the regular cricketing nations. The highest wicket taker in the 2010 edition of the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand was a fast bowler from Papua New Guinea! India is place in arguably the easiest group - Group C - alongside the West Indies, Zimbabwe and Papua New Guinea. I would love to see the Indian juniors perform well and for a lot of young, new and exciting talent to emerge from this tournament.

5. India Gets A Small Measure Of Revenge In November - December

India will be hosting England for 4 Tests at the end of the year in November and December. There is nothing Indian fans would like to see better than a reverse whitewash after the humiliation faced over the English summer of 2011. But one's got to be realistic here... the English cricket team in Test cricket is a fantastic one, and though they are not the most comfortable playing in sub-continental conditions, they can still be a handful. A good pace attack can work in any condition on earth, and the South Africans have shown that admirably in India - twice! But I would love to see India gain some big wins over England during the winter season, and show them why this land came to be known as the Final Frontier!

THE OTHER TIER BATTLE BEGINS

It's not quite Test cricket... but it's the closest a lot of cricketers who deserve to play Test cricket will get to Test cricket!

The ICC Intercontinental Cup is about to begin in less than an hour from now (weather permitting) at Aberdeen, as hosts Scotland will try to overcome a stern challenge of the Netherlands. Scotland finished as the runners-up, losing to Afghanistan in the finals, in previous season (2009-10) of this tournament, which is the only place where the players from Associate and Affiliate nations of the ICC get to play First Class cricket as a part of their national team.The limited-overs leg of the tournament will also run alongside the First Class matches in the 2011-13 season. The first round fixtures are:

I would like to see more teams, in further rounds, do what Kenya and UAE have done - that is, schedule the Limited Overs leg before the four-day First Class match. It will be beneficial for the away team this way. But more than anything else, I am most interested in seeing how Afghanistan copes up with the pressure of expectations this time round.

Afghanistan had a dream run last time, winning 5 matches and drawing 1 to a Zimbabwe XI. They started with a draw against the Zimbabwe XI, and then had a close 1 wicket win over the Netherlands. It was more convincing after that as the three-time defending champions Ireland was beaten by 7 wickets, followed by a 6 wicket win over Canada. Former champions Scotland was then thrashed by 229 runs, and then Kenya too was thrashed by 167 runs. In the finals against the Scots, they prevailed again by 7 wickets, despite being 41 runs in the deficit after the end of the 1st innings in a low-scoring game.

They are on a 6-match winning streak at the moment, and it will be interesting to see if they manage to extend it against Canada early in August. Afghanistan came in playing their first Intercontinental Cup in the last season, and ended up winning it. They were, to an extent, a surprise package last time. But the teams will be better prepared to face them this season, and if any team had made the mistake of taking them lightly last time, it will not happen again!

I hope there is some good quality cricket played in this season of the Intercontinental Cup, and I will definitely be keeping an eye on all the matches and results. If anyone knows where I can get the streamings or the video highlights of these matches, please do let me know.

IN ANOTHER WORLD...

... Rahul Dravid has scored the first First-Class Century of English Domestic Season 2011, playing for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against Nottinghamshire at Abu Dhabi's Sheikh Zayed Stadium, as his team MCC went on to win the fixture within 3 days by a margin of 174 runs.

Random Facts for those who are unaware:

1. This First Class match was played in floodlights with pink cricket balls.

2. The MCC team also had two players from Afghanistan, who were trained by them in their initial years - Hamid Hassan and Mohammed Nabi.

3. Rahul Dravid now has 22552 FC runs, 63 hundreds, and 342 catches.

4. The biggest partnership in this match was between Rahul Dravid and Steve Davis, who has 5483 FC runs and 8 hundreds.

And in a few hours from now, a potentially-epic World Cup semi-final between India and Pakistan will begin...

(The anticipation is driving me nuts)

CRICKET - THE FUTURE

Over the last 4 weeks, the Group stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was contested across 13 cities in 3 South Asian countries. The top-8 Test teams have eventually managed to make it to the quarterfinals, a prediction made by a lot of people well in advance. While for 4 of these teams, the ride was easy and straightforward; for 4 others, it was an up-and-down adventure!

Two teams, by general consensus, have been the most exciting teams to watch in this World Cup… and to no one’s surprise really, they are both from Group B – England and Ireland! There were a total of 11 matches involving these 2 teams, and 10 of them were definitely worth a watch. The only one-sided match where either of these teams was involved was the Ireland v. South Africa match at Eden Gardens, where South Africa won comfortably by 131 runs.

The Difference

However, the similarities between these two teams end here. The path ahead for England is very clear – win 3 straight matches and lift the World Cup, or lose in the interim and return home for some rest after a hectic few months of non-stop cricket! The path for Ireland is not quite so clear though. They have an ODI scheduled against Sri Lanka in a couple of months’ time, when the latter go on a tour of England, and they have a few fixture scheduled in ICC’s Associate tournament structure. But what next?

England host Sri Lanka followed by India in the coming months. Then they will visit India for their cricket tour in October. As for Ireland, I doubt if they will get to play this much cricket over the next 4 years, by the time the next World Cup comes calling in 2015.

So when the time comes for them to play in the Qualifying round for World Cup 2015 against the lowest-ranked teams amongst the Full Member countries, there is a good chance that they may be found wanting. Ireland did not get a lot of cricket to play over the 4 years separating their impressive performances in 2007 and 2011, yet they managed to put up a fine effort in the latter edition. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT IF THEY DO NOT PLAY MUCH CRICKET OVER THE NECT 4 YEARS, THEY WILL AGAIN MANAGE TO PUT UP A FINE SHOW AGAIN IN 2015! Far from it, in fact!

Ireland in World Cup 2011

Cricket Ireland did a tremendous job in these four years from 2007 and 2011. They must be applauded for that. But in their achievement, they have pointed out to the ICC a mistake made by it. With their performances, they have clearly made a statement to the ICC telling them that had they been allowed to or made to play more top-level competitive games in this intervening period, they might well have been able to close out the games against Bangladesh and West Indies, where they were in a winning position, but lost out partly due to inexperience. They could have easily won those 2 games and finished 3rd in the Group B – the Group of Death – have would now have been in Colombo awaiting their Quarterfinal clash against Sri Lanka, while England would have had to be in Dhaka ready for South Africa, and West Indies on the flight home!

I believe that most cricket followers would opine that Ireland performed better in this World Cup than Bangladesh. The latter may have had more points, but one look at the NRRs of both these teams will give you an idea of the level of competitiveness that they played with. Bangladesh lost 3 matches in the World Cup – in one, they allowed the opposition to score 370 runs (the highest score of the tournament thus far), and in the other two, they were bowled out for paltry scores of 58 and 78 (two of the three lowest scores in this tournament thus far). A lot more was expected from a Test nation playing in conditions that were ideal for their brand of cricket.

Ireland, a minnow and an Associate, won only 2 matches – in one, they stole a win from England when all hopes seemed just about extinguished, and in another, they comfortably chased down a target in excess of 300 (with more than 2 overs to spare) against another Associate, the Netherlands, showing them in no uncertain terms, that they are ‘the best amongst the rest’. In the four matches they lost, they put up a hard fight in three, and were in winning positions in two of those three before losing out as much to inexperience as to the opponents.

However, the biggest difference between Bangladesh and Ireland in this World Cup, in my opinion, was not in the performances, but in the mindset. I recall one incident that I would like to bring to everyone’s notice. During the pre-match cricket program for the Bangaldesh v. West Indies game, the broadcaster aired an interview of Bangladesh’s bowling coach Ian Pont who made a remark that did not go down well with me, and even one of the studio experts. When asked about their chances of winning that match against West Indies and getting into the race for Quarterfinals qualification, Pont said that the team management had indentified that match as one of the four that they would target a victory in – the other three being against Ireland (already won at that stage), England and the Netherlands. Compare this to the Irish coach Phil Simmons’ comments where he said that the team was there to win. The Irish captain William Porterfield too stated on numerous occasions that the team would go for a win in all games that they play, regardless of the opposition, and given the way he captained the side and placed his fields, he certainly stuck to his promise.

The Problem for ICC

Numerous people have said during this World Cup that the Associate nations need more exposure against the top sides so that they may improve. Most of them were those associated with the Associates – Jimmy Kamande, Steve Tikolo, William Porterfield, Phil Simmons, Peter Borren, Ryan ten Doeschate, Ashish Bagai and others, but there have been a lot of other people, amongst the average cricket followers too.

I know that it will be difficult for ICC to do so. It makes little commercial sense to have a series, howsoever small, between a team like India or South Africa or Australia or England and Ireland or the Netherlands or even Scotland or Afghanistan. Moreover, these matches may not be contests as well… they may just end up being massacres that will force the ICC to stop this practice. So I have tried to think of a solution or two for the ICC, and how it can go about maximising the growth of cricket in these centres.

Possible Solutions

One of the most commonly suggested steps, which I would wholly support, is to organise frequent tours of ‘A’ teams of the stronger countries to the Associate countries. More exposure to good quality cricket in home conditions followed by more exposure to good quality cricket in alien conditions when they themselves will tour these countries for ‘A’ team matches should definitely show improvement.

There are also people who are suggesting that when major nations go on Test tours, they should play their warm-up matches against the Associate nations in that region. While Sri Lanka will just be playing an ODI match each against Ireland and the Netherlands during their tour of England later this year, I would also like to see more First Class matches involving Associate teams and Test teams. This again poses a commercial problem because the Home Boards lose out on revenue if Associate nations play the practice matches, instead of a team registered under that Home Board. For example, the BCCI would lose out on revenue if England plays their practice matches on tour to India against Afghanistan, instead of the Board President’s XI team. It also deprives the young home cricketers of a chance to impress the selectors ahead of the main series. But in my opinion, these two problems are not grave enough that they should stall the potential progress of cricket as a sport.

Over the last few days, I have had another couple of ideas in my mind. One of them is to organise a few big-team tournaments in the smaller countries, e.g. ICC Knock Out Tournament of 2000, which was held at Nairobi, Kenya. I would love to see every alternate Champions Trophy and every alternate World Twenty20 Championships held at smaller cricketing countries. There are a number of benefits of this. One, this will definitely help in improvement of infrastructure at those places and allow better facilities to that country’s cricket team in future. Two, the best way to popularise a sport in a new territory, in my opinion, is to take the best practitioners of the sport to that territory, and allow them to showcase the sport in the best of lights over there.

The other idea that I have had is a two-tier Test Championship. The ICC has already shown interest in the concept of Test Championships to lend more meaning to the game of Test cricket. My solution would just involve adding another tier to that Test Championship to help the game grow. In the ICC Inter Continental Cup, where the Associate nations play First Class cricket, 7 teams took part in 2009-10, including a Zimbabwe XI that wanted to get a bit experience before their return to Test cricket this year. The winner of this tournament was Afghanistan, with Scotland, Zimbabwe and the three-time defending champions Ireland taking the next three spots. So, apart from Ireland, there are a few other Associates as well, who look very promising for the future of our sport, and can be included in the two-tier Test Championships.

Test Cricket

My last solution involves integration of ICC’s current plan of a Test Championship as well as the ICC Inter Continental Championships. There are 105 members recognised by the ICC – 10 Full Members, 35 Associate Members and 60 Affiliate Members. A further 24 non-members are under constant ICC scanner to be enrolled as Affiliate Members. If this plan of Two-tier Test Championships is planned, organised, and executed properly, in a few years’ time, we could have at least 35-40 of these member countries (including all of the Associates and a few Affiliates) play First Class cricket at various levels, with a real chance of breaking into the top-level by the process of promotion and relegation.

As it stands today, 15 Associate / Affiliate members have already had a chance to participate in the Inter Continental Cups over its various seasons, which even includes territories where you wouldn’t know cricket existed, like Cayman Islands!

The Need to Dream

The reason why I think a Two-Tier Test Championship (and Multi-Tiered in future) is necessary for the game is to give the lesser Associates and Affiliates a chance to dream big about competing at the biggest stage called Test Cricket. Afghanistan was once in Division 5 of ICC’s World Cricket League. But they knew that they could still qualify for the World Cup 2011 if they won or ended up as Runners-up in all the subsequent league matches they play. And thus, they had a dream! This dream was possible only because they could see a way of fulfilling it. And they almost accomplished their dream, missing out by a very small margin during the World Cup Qualifiers, having zoomed up through the lower leagues.

How will cricket see sustained development in these places if youngsters do not dream of becoming cricketers? I come from India, a country that stands at about the 140th rank in FIFA’s team rankings. As a 10-year old, I only played cricket and dreamt of becoming a cricketer. Football never crossed my mind as a serious sporting career because of my country’s low profile in that sport. In my country, as things stand, an average footballer will never achieve anything big, and football as a career is feasible for only those who are extraordinarily talented and have a decent chance of making it to the European Leagues.

A lot of countries have a low profile in cricket too, which the ICC must better. When the profiles of these Associate countries in cricket increase, and they see a realistic chance of playing at the highest level of our sport, the youngsters there will be bold enough to think and dream of a career in cricket. There will be more number of cricket professionals, as there are in Ireland today.

The performance of Ireland in the World Cup 2011 has given ICC a chance to work on developing the sport further and taking it to new shores. It has made ICC see beyond its traditional big-powers and gauge the level of development amongst its smaller members. I dearly hope and pray that ICC does not let go of this chance, and for once, takes a step that would benefit our sport rather than just its coffers!

(Note: I have purposely not made any reference to development of cricket through ODIs and Twenty20s in this post. The reason is this - I believe that these two formats of the game, particularly the smallest one, are the best vehicles to spread the game in far corners of the earth.

Soulberry from The Cricket Watcher's Journal puts it well when he says "T20 is the best vehicle for it provides a pleasure factor with the least debate in a new recipient's mind. The process of acculturization employs what is available to create a context - the desire for fun outing that doesn't consume or encroach upon existing vitals and the clarity of simplicity which helps acceptability because there are no tedious debates they have to understake in their minds over Cricket. And all you need is a park and a TV camera cabled up to an OB van to get started with T20."

However, my dream extends beyond the growth of merely the shorter formats of the game in these lands. I, as already stated, would love to see Test cricket take wings and spread just as much. That is why the solutions offered in this post are all related to Test cricket and First Class cricket. The Twenty20 format is bound to grow without a lot of effort from the ICC. Test cricket's growth will require effort.

There is a good chance that ICC may rest on it laurels of having spread cricket wide just on the basis of popularising Twenty20 cricket everywhere. However, that is not what I want to see ICC stop at. Hence, this post makes no reference to Limited Overs Cricket of any form.)

SAVE THE MINNOW CAMPAIGN

I have written an article in support of the participation of the Associate teams in the ICC Cricket World Cups, in light of the recent decision by the ICC to have a 10-team World Cup in 2015. That article has been published on the wonderful FreehitCricket website, and you can read my article here.

RYAN TEN DOESCHATE

This is coming a little late, but it had to come. With one match, where he scored 119 runs and grabbed 2 wickets against England, Ryan ten Doeschate (popularly called "Tendo" by his teammates) has become a very popular name in a lot of places, including but not restricted to England and India. His performance at Nagpur was the highest score made in ODIs by a player from an Associate team against a Test-playing nation... but more importantly, his performance was a retort to ICC's decision of reducing the number of participants in the next World Cup to 10 teams.

There has been quite an uproar over ICC's decision to discontinue with the practice of inviting the associate and affiliate members to play at One Day International Cricket's biggest event - the ICC Cricket World Cup. In the midst of this uproar, there have also been people who support this decision by the ICC.

Ryan ten Doeschate's performance was a gentle reminder to all of them and the ICC to reconsider their opinions and this decision. Netherlands' and Ireland's performances over the few chances that they have had at the highest level indicates that they are a cut above the rest of the playing field amongst the ICC's associate and affiliate members. Had ICC been a little more proactive in Kenya after 2003, they might also have been a part of this group. If ICC decides to be a little more proactive in Afghanistan, they might become a part of this group in the near future.

I'll do another blog post about this decision by the ICC... but now, I have to talk about Ryan ten Doeschate. A few numbers first for those who are unaware:

Even if one were to say that he's played only 4 ODIs against Test-playing nations, the response shall be that he still manages to average 54 with the bat and 38.67 with the ball. Plus, his numbers in Twenty20s (both Internationals and otherwise), List A matches and more importantly, First Class cricket are also extremely impressive.

His century against England at Nagpur was as calm and composed an innings as you are ever likely to see by any classy batsman while setting up a competitive total for his team to defend. Despite cramping during the latter stages of his innings, he still came on to bowl in order to play his part in defending the total of 292. That Netherlands could not win does not at all indicate that Ryan ten Doeschate did not deserve to be in the winning side.

What endeared me to him the most was his reply when asked whether his century might prompt his native country, South Africa, to recruit him for the next World Cup. "No, I don't think so. I don't think like that. I know this might just be my last World Cup considering next edition will have 10 teams. But I have been playing county cricket (Essex) where I have played with lot of top cricketers. In a few months time, I would be playing in the IPL which will be another big stage." (Source)

He is obviously not interested in playing for an international team other than the Netherlands... for whom he qualified because of his lineage. He was born in South Africa and learnt the intricacies of plying his trade in England with Essex. So I think I might be fair in assuming that playing for Netherlands holds a different value to him... something that I am amazed no one from the media has bothered to ask him about.

In an age where players has switched their commitments at the international level, he comes across as a breath of fresh air. In fact, had Netherlands still possessed the services of their erstwhile pacer Dirk Nannes, they might even have pulled off an upset against England. Not to be... as Dirk Nannes was seen playing for Victoria against New South Wales in Australia just about half a day after Netherlands had lost a close match.

I hope that he and his team do manage to sustain a similar level of performance over the rest of this World Cup... and he keeps giving us, his new fans, more reasons to flaunt his new nickname "Ryan ten Dulkar" all over Twitter.

WE JUST LOVE OUR CRICKET!

Two kids watching their team Afghanistan in action against Ireland...

COLOURFUL CRICKET

Various shades of cricket...

IS THIS ALL ASIA'S GOT?

As Kumar Sangakkara wins the toss and decides that Sri Lanka will bat first against Pakistan at Dambulla, the Asia Cup 2010 commences.


A tournament that is held to fill up the extremely thin gaps in the international itineraries of the Asian teams... it used to feature the smaller teams like UAE and Hong Kong also in the past. Their absence this year really raises the question that is this really 'Asia' cup?


True, these four are the strongest teams in cricket in Asia. True, there are only three genuine contendors in an Asia Cup... no matter how many nations participate. However, the objective of the Asian Cricket Council is to promote the game in the region... or so I presume. If such opportunities to make the smaller teams take on the bigger ones are going to be ignored, then how is the game going to prosper?


We have seen some encouraging performances by countries like Afghanistan in the recent future. We also saw that their weakness was against fast and pacy bowling... whereas their bowlers are good enough to hold the best of sides on their day. These problems can be sorted out by allowing these sides more exposure at the highest level. With all the teams sending out their strongest or near-to-strongest squads for the tournament, this would have been the ideal opportunity to groom the smaller sides of the Asian continent.


I am disappointed with the ACC... and since I expect this series also to be decided by the outcome of the toss, I am hardly interested. It is a different matter altogether that the FIFA World Cup and Wimbledon provide pleasant distractions!

NO INDIA IN ASIAN GAMES... SO WHAT? - PART 2

The cricket that will be played at the Asian Games will be Twenty20 format. There will be a Champions League Twenty20 to be played just before that. There will be IPL every year. There will be a Twenty20 World Cup every two years. If cricket is included in the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, there will be more such Twenty20 tournaments. Then there will be the ODI World Cups and the Champions Trophies. Where is the space for Tests then? Where is the time for bilateral tours?

The second allegation being made is regarding the politics involved in governance of Indian sport. This one does make some sense. A very pertinent question raised last night in a news debate regarding this issue was: if the men's schedule is too tight to not send a full-strength team, why can't the BCCI send the women's team atleast? Is it because the BCCI does not want the team to play under the banner of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), which is governed by Mr. Suresh Kalmadi (who is not on the best of terms with a certain Mr. Sharad Pawar)?

If this is true, it is a shame! Sport in the sub-continent has always been riddled with politics. BCCI could also have sent a second-string side for the men's event as well. They may say that our secon-string side would not have won a gold, but that does not qualify as an arguement. Sending a strong side also does not assure you of gold either.

I have no clue as to what might happen now. Maybe the BCCI will buckle under the pressure from the Sports Ministry or something and decide to send a team. Maybe a second-string team will be sent. Maybe a women's team will be sent. Maybe the New Zealand tour will be shifted to cramp the cricket calender even more. Maybe the 3-Test 5-ODI tour will be shortened to a 2-Test 3-ODI tour. God only knows. But in the interest of the game, all I have to say is that don't just slam the BCCI for the sake of it.

I am no fan of the Board of Control for Cricket in India... but they do have a job. And in every job, at certain times, you are helpless. That is BCCI's state at the moment. Lets just give them some space to make a decision and then respect it if they can give sound logic behind their decision.

NO INDIA IN ASIAN GAMES... SO WHAT? - PART 1

Last night, most of the news channels that I saw were showing just one news - BCCI has decided against sending a team to the Asian Games later this year in November at Guangzhou, China.

What amused me was the fact that this news has generated a lot of ire against the BCCI. While the media being against the BCCI is not a new occurence, but the reasons given certainly left me puzzled.

Why is BCCI not sending a team to the Asian Games? What is the BCCI's take on it?

As per the Future Tours Program, India is supposed to host New Zealand for a Test and ODI bilateral series during that period. Considering that India will also be hosting Australia for 7 ODIs (it may change to include Tests as well) just before the New Zealand tour and will tour South Africa immediately after the New Zealand tour, there is just no space to reschedule the tour.

What are the allegations against the BCCI made by the media?

The first allegation that is being made is that BCCI is a money-thirsty animal, and sees no profit in sending the team to China for the Asian Games. The news channels have gone to the extent of saying that BCCI feels no pride in sending an Indian team and just wants more of IPL and the money.

Loads of blasphemy! I guess that BCCI bashing has become an obsession with the Indian media. There may be no money in sending a team to the Asian Games... but then there isn't a lot of money in hosting New Zealand either. Infact, considering that the Asian Games would have meant more of Twenty20, it might just have generated more money than Tests and ODIs with New Zealand.

And even against New Zealand, we will see an Indian outfit... not an IPL club. They will still be playing for the pride of representing India, whether its against New Zealand or whether its in China. So the media men should get a hold of themselves while alleging that there is no pride left in representing India.

And what pride will be earned by beating Oman, Afghanistan, UAE and China to earn an Asian Games medal? Wouldn't the national pride be better served by beating New Zealand in Tests and ODIs... try and retain the No. 1 ranking in Tests and get to the No. 1 in ODIs?

(contd...)

URGENTLY

In my previous posts, I have stressed on the need to move forward for Team India. I posted a 4-part 'Roadmap for the Future' series yesterday. One of the essential things while moving forward is taking stock of your past actions... and trying to find out what went wrong.

India went into the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in 2007 having played only 1 international T20 match in its history. They went in not only without expectations... they also went in without much experience. And in one of the best adverts for Twenty20 cricket, India played and beat Pakistan in the final. When about 25 to 30 percent of the earth's population is following one particular cricket match, it is bound to have a domino effect.

So after the win over the arch rivals, the young Indian men who were trying to make the cut into the senior team were suddenly the toast of the nation. They were heaped with rewards, honours, glory and above all, the most corruptible thing of them all - money. With these youngsters getting fat paychecks at the IPL held soon after, they assumed that they had successfully overgrown the popularity of their seniors... the stars who had proved themselves everywhere... in every condition... in every situation... for years and years and years. All this due to one win!

The teams that played Twenty20 cricket for India since the World Cup win remained essentially same in character... but just could not manage the desired results. In the 17 international T20 matches that India has played since the World Cup final at the Wanderers, India has managed just 7 wins. And if you were to exclude the matches against Ireland, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, it would be down to 4 wins from 14 matches against the top-8 opponents in international cricket.

4 wins in 14 games! That is a winning percentage of less than 30%, despite having a stable team and captain. Do you realise that even Kings XI Punjab fared better than that this season in the IPL? And they were pathetic. So what's the word to be used for India? I am lost completely.

The members if this team need to be made to face reality. They need to be brought down from their high pedestals. Gary Kirsten has already lashed out hard... and if a man like him is lashing out hard, then the problem is extremely severe. Something needs to be done. Urgently.

CRTICISM GALORE FOR DHONI

All right, the semi-finalists have been confirmed... there were no surprises in store yesterday. India lost a last-ball thriller to Sri Lanka. And West Indies, needing a 24-run win to advance, were bundled out early and lost comprehensively to the mighty Aussies.

Semi Final Fixtures:

England v Sri Lanka
Australia v Pakistan

As I have predicted a couple of times already in my previous blogs, the finals will be played between Australia and Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval, Barbados.

Back again to India's poor performances on the tour. Lets take it step by step. The team was humiliated in the last edition of World Twenty20 in England by fast, pacy and bouncy bowling. They drew a lot of flak for their performances then.

But it was soon forgotten because the team soon became the World No. 1 Test Team. But that was a different team. That Team India had Virendra Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman at No. 2, 3, 4 and 5. This team had Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma / Yuvraj Singh / MS Dhoni / Yusuf Pathan at those positions. A difference in class altogether.

Then came a few meaningless ODI tournaments against Sri Lanka and Bangladesh before another Test series where India retained the No. 1 ranking. A win in the 3-ODI series followed, which was again masterminded by Sachin Tendulkar's 200*, who is a part of that team and not this team.

And then came along the IPL. A lot of blame of India's performances has been placed on the rich shoulders of IPL. There were some good performances, some sorry ones and lots of controversies. But in general, it was clear by the end of the tournament that the players are tired of all the cricket and travel. But they did not have any rest to look forward to.

Instead, the World Twenty20 Championship came along... and the players made their way to the Carribbean islands. They opted not to play any warm up matches... and they can be forgiven for that in my opinion for two reasons. One, is was a tight schedule... you also have to get rid of the jet lag. Two, their first fixture was a warm up game in itself (no disrespect meant for Afghanistan... I, for one, am delighted at their progress in cricket).

Their first match went on expected lines: an easy win over the Afghan side. Murali Vijay impressed in his first appearance in the India blues. Then the matches went on unexpected lines.

India beat South Africa comprehensively riding on Suresh Raina's 101. This team again made merry when on a slow pitch. They entered the Super Eights looking falsely formidable. And then, the same old story replayed again. Three more defeats in Super Eight matches means India has lost six consecutive Super Eight matches in World Twenty20s. And almost all of them to the same script - bounce them out.

I have been extremely disappointed by Dhoni's strategies in the Super Eight matches. The Kensington Oval pitch was not meant for a part time spin based attack. One can understand him misreading the pitch during the first match against Australia... but when you repeat the same mistake on the very same pitch, you need to be pulled up.

About yesterday's match now... the game went along fine for India till 11 overs when India was well placed at 96 for 1. Then Gambhir went. That was also fine. Wickets are bound to fall. But then I saw my fears come true. The captain had promoted himself to No. 4. My friends were of the opinion that it Dhoni might promote Yusuf Pathan up the order. But I had a feeling at the back of my mind that this is what Dhoni likes... dead flat pitch, not a fast bowling attack, India well-placed... basically, a batsman's wish when he knows that he is not a good enough batsman!

Dhoni came... and the momentum went out of the window. By the end of the innings, he had managed a 19-ball 23 not out with 1 six... at the end of an innings with wickets in hand, this is unacceptable. When you have the ability to hit a clean straight ball, why would you want to pre-meditate paddle sweeps and make yourself look like a complete fool (this applies to AB De Villiers also)?

India managed only 73 in the last 10... and Dhoni has to take the flak for it. When you are entering in the 12th over, you are responsible for the slog over acceleration... more so if you are a captain. Dhoni's performances, with the bat as well as in the field as a leader, were extremely disappointing. Indeed, most of the players put in sad performances.

Harbhajan, effective in all the earlier matches, finally came across a man ready to take the attack to him in the form of TM Dilshan... and the result? Bhajji withered under the attack and helped Sri Lankans to a few more easy runs with flatter bowling. When you do not bowl to pick up wickets, it may work against South Africa or England, but it will not work everytime. You need to be aware of this fact.

I have already expressed my views of India's batsmen and their ability to play the short ones in here. A last word now on the IPL. I don't think it will be fair to blame IPL for this debacle. Even if the players would have been fresh, it wouldn't have improved their technique against short balls.

IPL is, like everything else in life, a mixture of the good, the bad and the ugly (that's Lalit Modi)! It has helped India unearth a pool of talent that even the administrators did not know existed. They got a chance to rub shoulders with their heroes... learn from them.

The only problem with the IPL is that it is scheduled just before the World Twenty20 leaving the players tired and exhausted. In my mind, it is clear that an ICC tournament is a lot more important than an IPL. So the IPL administrators should have been a little more sensible in their scheduling. I know they didn't have a big window... but had Lalit Modi been a little more cooperative with everyone else, then even ICC would have cooperated with him in creating a decent window for his brainchild.

Once the IPL fatigue wears off, and players of that team (SRT, RSD, Viru and VVS) return, the team will look a lot better... on paper as well as in results. I just hope that this time, true learning takes place. If this experience is also swept away under the carpet, as it happenned the last time round, then God help the future of Indian cricket!

HAMID HASSAN IN IPL?

For a change, none of the minnows caused an upset this time round and we have the top 8 teams contesting in the Super 8s. Despite not winning, the minnows definitely put up impressive performances.

Ireland almost got through... only to lose out to rain. Afghanistan impressed all and sundry, especially with their bowling performance against South Africa. They look a very promising side for the future. Zimbabwe have made rapid progress in the last few months. Their performances in the warm up matches were very impressive (they beat Australia as well as Pakistan). Bangladesh, though they gave Australia a slight scare, were again the least impressive of all the underdogs.

In fact, Bangladesh is the only team amongst the top 8 seeds for the tournament not featuring in the Super Eights (they were seeded above Australia by ICC for this tournament, by the way).

These strong performances by the smaller teams is very heart - warming. It instills a belief that cricket has a future... that there may come a time that it will not be played competitively between 8 countries only. The likes of Ireland, Afghanistan, Holland, Canada, Scotland, et cetera have some promising young talents, who need to be groomed well by ICC to ensure that they can become forces in international cricket at the big stage in time to come.

I had an idea by which even the Indian Premier League can play a part in their grooming. From next year, each team can have upto 12 foreign players in their squad (it was 10 upto this year). If IPL makes it mandatory for each team to sign 1 associate / affiliate player, it would be great for the players, their teams and cricket as a whole. Even if these guys do not get a single game, it would be hugely beneficial for them just to train with the top names in the world of cricket.

The likes of Hamid Hassan or Kevin O'Brien sharing the dressing room with a Sachin Tendulkar or a Jacques Kallis can be made possible by IPL... and I hope someone from the IPL Governing Council reads this blog or stumbles upon this idea from some other source. Because it's certainly worth a try!

ABOUT TWITTER AND IRELAND

A lot has happenned around the world since my last blog. A few more matches have been completed (subject to the moods of the Weather Gods) at the World Twenty20 Championship. No upsets yet... though Ireland almost managed one against England yesterday. Sachin Tendulkar has joined Twitter... stormed into Twitter would be more apt. He has 87552 followers when I last checked. That was in 37 hours and 19 minutes from his first tweet. And since I practice Sachinism, I decided to join twitter as well (http://twitter.com/cricsis).

Now back to the cricket that is happenning. Australia have just about wrapped up a win over Bangladesh... a commendable effort considering that they were looking down the barrel in the early stages of the match. Bangladesh showed promise, but once again the batting let them down. Sounds like a very similar story!

But its yesterday's match between England and Ireland that fascinated me a lot. In the end, the score books would show the result as "No Result", and the records would state that England have gone through to the next round. On one hand, the English team would feel that justice was served (they were unfairly declared losers by D/L Method against the Windies), whereas on the other hand, the Irish would feel that they were hard done by. They did extremely well to restrict the English team to a very gettable target. When the match was about the recommence, they would have needed 47 runs from 33 balls.

It would have been unfair for England had they been knocked out... but its not fair for Ireland either. But when was sport ever fair?

Ireland has taken big strides in international cricket over the past 3-4 years. Their progress has looked even more impressive after considering the fact that some of their promising players have been 'stolen' by England (Ed Joyce, Eoin Morgan). The contribution of guys like Trent Johnston and Niall and Kevin O'Brien has been very commendable and these guys deserve a pat on their backs.

One of my biggest reasons of me liking Twenty20 cricket is that it gives an opportunity to the lesser teams to shine on the big stage... if not shine, atleast show the promise (like Afghanistan). I really wish to see the Twenty20 World Cup expand to a 16-team format. It is difficult to play 16 teams in an ODI tournament, but can be managed in Twenty20s. So why not try it and allow more nations a chance to impress!

PRESUMPTUOUS... INDIA TO WIN WORLD TWENTY20

Zimbabwe defeated Australia by 1 run their warm-up match before the 3rd World Twenty20 Championship, which is set to commence from 30th April. Australia, reportedly, lost momentum at crucial junctures during their chase and lost the match off the last ball.

The first occasion of Zimbabwe beating Australia in a World Cup match occurred way back in 1983. On the very first day of that World Cup (June 9, 1983) at Nottingham, Zimbabwe successfully defended their score of 239 and defeated a rusty Australian side by 13 runs. India went on to win the World Cup.

Since the, Zimbabwe has won many matches (even in World Cup tournaments), but they had to wait for 24 years to defeat Australia in a World Cup match once again. This time, the format was shorter than before. On the 2nd day of the inaugural edition of World Twenty20 Championships (September 12, 2007) at Cape Town, Zimbabwe successfully chased down a target of 139 with 1 ball to spare, getting their winning runs in the form of leg byes. India went on to win the World Cup.

Zimbabwe's win in the warm up match does not really count as a World Cup match win over Australia. It doesn't even count as a Twenty20 match win! The warm up matches are not recorded as official Twenty20 matches. So it would to too presumptuous of me to predict an Indian win in this year's World Twenty20 Championship... yet the omens are good.

There are many question marks over India's team selection policies, form and fitness concerns, and talks about fatigue setting in. But amidst all this, if any team were to choose between an ODI Tournament, a Test series or a World Twenty20, they would definitely go for the last option since it increases their chances of winning against all odds.

I do feel that things could have been better for India going into the World Cup... especially on the form and fitness front as well as the selection front. One really can't do much about the fatigue factor... in any case, everyone concerned knew the scheduling well in advance. But then things weren't that great going into the World Cup 1983 or World Twenty20 Championship 2007 either.

India will be playing their first match against the impressive Afghan side on 1st May... and will look to get to a comfortable (if not a comprehensive) win. I am particularly interested in watching the performance of the promising Afghan pacer Hamid Hassan, who has even said that he would like it if his performances are observed by the IPL team owners. Hassan has been a key figure in the Afghan squad, and has played his part well in helping Afghanistan qualify for this tournament. He now has his chance on a bigger stage.

Though the build up to this tournament has been relatively low key (expectedly so... after the frenetic IPL and its abundance of controversies), but it promises to be an interesting one. Who are my favourites to win this tournament? After a lot of thought and some instinct: 1. Sri Lanka; 2. Australia; 3. West Indies; 4. South Africa.

But that does not mean that these are my four semi-finalists. These are just my bets on the winners of this tournament... a return to international cricket.

DUE TO DEW

Talk of Twenty20 being an unpredictable game... and the IPL is proving it! Harbhajan Singh, in an inspired display of his cricketing abilities over 4 consecutive overs (3 while batting and 1 while bowling), completely turned the game between Deccan Chargers and Mumbai Indians on it head.

The crowd at Dr. D.Y. Patil Sports Academy Stadium seemed almost indignant at the fact that they were hosting an 'away' game for Mumbai Indians... so they made their feelings clear at the top of their voices by showing clearly who they were out to support.

However, when I say that IPL is proving the unpredictability of Twenty20 format, I have a few numbers here to prove it. Out of the 26 games played (till yesterday's DD v KKR), 13 have been won by teams winning the toss. If winning the toss can guarantee you a win on half the occasions only, that is an ideal ratio!

Compare it with the ODIs: In the year 2010, 35 ODIs have given a result (matches between Kenya, Netherlands, Afghanistan and Canada excluded from analysis). Out of the 35 matches, 21 have been won by the side winning the toss. That is 60% of the ODI matches are decided at the toss.

In the subcontinent (especially in day-night matches), this percentage rises even higher. Matches are decided at the time of toss itself due to the 'dew factor'. In Twenty20s, since the conditions to both the teams are relatively same, the 'dew factor' does not have a lot of say.

An IPL Twenty20 match gets over in 3.5 hours (an International T20 takes lesser time). That's the time one innings in an ODI takes. So the conditions faced by both the teams remain similar throughout the match.

One captain who is usually extremely lucky with his coin tosses, though not so much in this IPL, is Kumar Sangakkara. However, his luck is not getting transformed into luck for his team. He will be desperately hoping for some luck as KXIP take on the table-toppers MI this evening.

SAT, MAY 1, 2010: INDIA V AFGHANISTAN AT ST. LUCIA?

The big news in the smaller cricketing circles is the progress made by Afghanistan in their cricket. Their star paceman, Hamid Hassan, has already likened the success of the Afghan cricket team to that of Rocky. 22 year old Hasan, who has played at Lord's, played for MCC Young Cricketers' Team and the Pakistan Customs team, was quoted as saying, "I think that there is a similarity in the story of Rocky and the Afghanistan cricket team - we both started at the bottom and gradually made our way up the rankings."

Last year, the Afghan team missed out on qualifying for the World Cup 2011 to be held in the sub - continent. Now, they are at Dubai on the verge of qualification into the World Twenty20 World Cup to be held in the Caribbean islands in May.

Continuing on his Rocky theme, Hassan adds: "We all want to win the tournament. Having the chance to play against India or South Africa at the ICC World Twenty20 really would be like Rocky having the chance to fight the champion and we are determined to make our dreams come true."

Afghanistan are certainly on a high having an undefeated run in the Qualifying tournament so far. Not only did they beat the more fancied Ireland and Scotland, they have also beaten the United States of America comprehensively in a match that they desperately wanted to win because of their recent past.

Even though the journey gets more difficult for them from here on (Netherlands later today and hosts UAE tomorrow), one wouldn't put in past Afghanistan to be seen in their blue and red apparels at the Providence Stadium, Guyana or the Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia taking on either West Indies or India in their first taste of the highest level of the game.

US - AFGHAN BATTLE SCARS

February 11, 2010: it's going to be an interesting day for cricket. I know that India v South Africa First Test gets over on 10th and a New Zealand - Bangladesh ODI hardly qualifies as interesting.

Well, it's not going to be interesting in the conventional sense. It's going to be an interesting day because Afghanistan take on the United States of America at Dubai in the World T20 Qualifiers Tournament. This tournament will decide which associate nations will take part in the World T20 Championship to be held in the Caribbean Islands in June this year.

If you are still wondering what's so interesting about this match (I hope not!), then let me remind you that USA (or rather George W. Bush) had, in the not so distant past, declared a war on Afghanistan in its fight against terrorism. I guess that I would be right in presuming that many of Afghanistan's cricketers might have lost their near and dear ones as a direct result of that war. The scars have certainly not faded. They will be keen and desperate to get the better of USA on the cricket field.

I know that this rivalry does not match the hype and passion generated by an Indo - Pak or an Ashes contest, but its going to be a heated battle nonetheless. Afghanistan are on a roll, and are being regarded as the most improved Associate side during the last year. USA, on the other hand, has failed to live up to the initial promise shown by them. However, they will have the advantage of having Lennox Cush in their team. Lennox Cush, incidentally, played a part in the infamous Stanford Superstars versus England match, and so will have some experience of top - flight cricket behind him.

I doubt this match will generate a lot of crowd (scheduled to start at 10:00 am on a weekday), but Afghanistan can expect the support of whatever little Dubai crowd gathers at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.