FEEL FOR GRAEME SMITH

South Africa lost the third Quarterfinal of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 to New Zealand, one of the massive upsets of this tournament, given the form of the teams involved. However, it's not a surprise or something new to see South Africa falter in a World event just when they get towards it business end.

The word "Choke" was brought out and thrown around by almost everyone, myself included. For South African fans, it was a heartbreak that they may not be able to describe properly right now. For the neutral, it was a little sad as well as a little bemusing - sad to see arguably the best balanced side of the tournament knocked out this early when they were clearly in a winning position for most of the match and bemusing because it's happened once too often now.

However, like him or not, most people's hearts went out to Graeme Smith when he came out for the post-match presentation - for the last time as the captain of South Africa's ODI team. If any look on a face could spell 'dejected', Smith's was it! Given captaincy at a young age of 22, he's carried that responsibility for a good 8 years and has played his role in scripting some of South African cricket's finest moments ever.

Yet, despite the clear anguish writ large upon his face, some journalists did not feel any pity for him. I saw the video of the post-match press conference of Graeme Smith. Its embedded here below for those who have not seen it. Listen to the question asked from the point 2:18 onwards, and judge for yourself.



Honestly, I can appreciate the fact that it is a journalist's job to ask tough questions at such places and put the subject in a tight spot. To be fair, it was not as if Graeme Smith would not have been expecting such a question. It was bound to come. But there is a way to go about it... there is something called tact. That reporter lacked it and I pity Graeme Smith for having been reminded of his team's 'choke' in such a sorry way.

I really do hope that what Graeme Smith did say comes true - that one day, it would be good to see South Africa win a World Cup!

UDRS 2.5 M RULE - CRITICISM AND SUGGESTION

First and foremost, I am sorry but this is a pretty long and detailed post... and will also be a little repetitive to the readers who have read my previous post on UDRS. But this one is more comprehensive and includes a suggestion for improvement at the end, on which I'd like you all to comment.

In one of my earlier posts on UDRS which I put up after the end of the India v. England World Cup match due to the Ian Bell reprieve (yes, I call it a ‘reprieve’), I received a few comments where the basic question that everyone was trying to seek an answer to was why Billy Bowden could have ruled it not out. 

This UDRS debate has raged on and gotten bigger now with Dhoni calling it as “an adulteration” of technology with human judgement, and then ICC coming out with an explanation defending that decision, followed by Haroon Lorgat (ICC Chief Executive) and Dave Richardson (ICC General Manager) too lending support to that decision and the rule of 2.5 metres (distance between the stumps and the point of impact) and 40 centimetres (distance between the point of impact and the point where the ball pitches). 

I have already explained in the earlier post about how the 2.5 metre rule makes the UDRS partly-redundant. I will re-explain that point here again and also suggest and alternative that, in my view, be a much better solution in respect of the ball-tracking technology (Hawk Eye and Virtual Eye). 

Wordings of the actual rule {Appendix 5, Clause 3.3, Sub-clause i (iii)}

"If a ‘not out’ decision is being reviewed, in order to report that the ball is hitting the stumps, the evidence provided by technology should show that the centre of the ball would have hit the stumps within an area demarcated by a line drawn below the lower edge of the bails and down the middle of the outer stumps.

However, in instances where the evidence shows that the ball would have hit the stumps within the demarcated area as set out above but that the point of impact is greater than 250 cm from the stumps, the third umpire shall notify the on-field umpire of:
a) The distance from the wickets to the point of impact with the batsman
b) The approximate distance from point of pitching to point of impact
c) Where the ball is predicted to hit the stumps.

In such a case, the on-field umpire shall have regard to the normal cricketing principles concerning the level of certainty in making his decision as to whether to change his decision."

How UDRS becomes partly-redundant 

With this 2.5 metre rule, the UDRS becomes completely redundant for a fielding captain when a batsman lunges forward more than 2.5 metres. Where there is an appeal for LBW denied with the batsman so far ahead, the fielding captain shall be averse to go in for a review no matter how plumb it looks. This is because the umpire can always go with his original decision even if the review shows all three criteria (pitching, impact and hitting the stumps) as red, simply because the batsman was lunging a long way forward and the ground umpire can cite that as a reason to not reverse his decision. 

Had the impact been 2.49 metres in front of the stumps, the umpire would HAVE HAD TO reverse his decision and rule the batsman out. But because the batsman was 2.51 metres ahead, the umpire gets AN OPTION to stick by his original decision. I am sure 2 centimetres wouldn’t have made that big a difference in the decision. 

If you like it, then lets have a hypothetical situation. Imagine Lasith Malinga or Mitchell Johnson bowling to Kevin Pietersen or Matthew Hayden (I know he’s retired, but we can always imagine!). These two bowlers, because of their slinging actions, release the ball from right on top of the stumps (when they are bowling over the wickets, of course!) and these two batsmen like to stand outside their crease even to fast bowlers and usually get a HUGE stride forward as a result of their lengthy frames. 

If Malinga / Johnson were to bowl straight and full and strike the front pad of Hayden / Pietersen and the umpire were to rule not out to an LBW appeal, the fielding captain should not even contemplate a review if the batsman in question was struck on the front foot. Even if the ball pitches on off stump, impact is on middle stump and the ball-tracking technology suggests that the ball would have gone to hit between middle and leg stump half-way up, the umpire would still have AN OPTION TO RULE NOT OUT… simply because of that big stride. What’s the use of those Malinga yorkers then! 

Why this rule 

In Haroon Lorgat’s own words, “The rules were designed with serious thoughts in mind. That particular one [pertaining to the 2.5m rule] was to accommodate the scepticism that some players have got with predictive technology.” 

Another quote from that Cricinfo article – 

"What we have been trying to avoid because of the DRS is the absolute shocker. Umpires will acknowledge this and they are happy with the system. They can go to sleep at night knowing that had they made that one mistake, it can be rectified. That would not have happened without DRS."

The rule about the distance between impact and the stumps had been put in place precisely because experts had said that the accuracy of the ball tracker - in this case Hawk Eye - begins to falter from that point. "So we said if it's a longer time frame than 2.5m, and people say the prediction cannot be relied upon, then we are allowing the umpire (to take his decision)."

Dhoni had asked why the mark had not been stipulated at 2.4, or 2.6m, and Lorgat said that while, "You can call a mark wherever you want to, where Dhoni was saying 2.4 and 2.6, whatever, call it whatever you wish... it was the experts' views that had been taking into account by the ICC. From the experts' point of view, they said beyond 2.5m, beyond a longer stretch than that, you rely on the umpire." 

The absurdity 

In Lorgat’s own words, where the prediction becomes even tougher for the technology (after 2.5 metres), they are leaving it to the human judgement. Usually, technology is used in any field to assist people when it becomes difficult to use human element. Here, human element is being used when it is becoming difficult for technology! 

My suggestion to make it more acceptable 

I admit that over a longer distance, the predictive element of the technology will become less accurate. However, to set a rigid marker like 2.5 metres is incorrect… as I have shown in an example above where 2 centimetres between 2.49 metres and 2.51 metres can impact the result of a match! 

Instead, what I would like to see is that the companies who manufacture this technology (Hawk Eye and Virtual Eye) should include this element of uncertainty and inaccuracy in their predictive path. In other words, when the tracker is being shown on the television replay, the ball path predicted after the impact should continuously grow larger in radius as it progresses towards the stumps. This will enable the umpires to judge a lot more accurately about the probability that the ball would have hit the stumps. 

The circular area depicted in red around the ball is an addition made by me in an attempt to portray how the area of inaccuracy / uncertainty can be depicted over television replays.

I have taken this screenshot above from Cricinfo’s Hawk Eye application. This is the ball path of Graeme Smith’s LBW dismissal to Zaheer Khan during the first innings of the Third Test recently in January 2011. As I have illustrated above, let the technology show up its area of inaccuracy / uncertainty (whichever term they may want to use), so that we know with absolute certainty that the ball could not have hit outside this area. I have highlighted that with a red circle around the ball.

Here, we know now that larger the distance between the point of impact and the stumps, the bigger will be its area of inaccuracy / uncertainty. Now the umpire will get all the information required that is required for as-accurate-as-possible decision-making, i.e. (a) he shall know what is the most probable path the ball will take, (b) if not that path, then where and how much can the ball deviate, and (c) most importantly, how much percentage of that area is making impact with the stumps.

Where more than 50% of the area of inaccuracy / uncertainty is making impact with the stumps, the batsman should be ruled out (obviously assuming that other conditions are satisfied as well). I am sure that Yuvraj Singh would have earned the dismissal of Ian Bell if we were to follow this methodology of predicting ball paths.

For one, Yuvraj was bowling around the wicket and since Hawk Eye showed that impact was on the off stump, it is obvious that the ball couldn’t have missed off stump as Yuvraj hardly turned that ball… it just straightened very little. It definitely wouldn’t have climbed over the stumps on any sub-continental track. And I am sure it wouldn’t have missed leg stump as well, because the Hawk Eye showed impact between middle and off stumps… so even if the area of inaccuracy / uncertainty were to be very large, there would be no way that it would exceed the leg stump by a margin so huge that even 50% of it would not be deemed within the stumps.

Conclusion

So firstly, ICC should reconsider their rules and usages of technology… because till they don’t get it as right as possible, they cannot shirk away from criticism. Secondly, they should admit that the decision from Billy Bowden was wrong simply because he failed to apply common sense in that decision, which I have applied in the previous paragraph. And thirdly, they should set standards on this type of decision-making… for there have been cases in the past where similar Not Out decisions by the on-field umpires were overturned on review despite the impact being more than 2.5 metres out!

Case 1: Here is the video link of Tim Paine (Aus) being dismissed LBW by Liam Plunkett (Eng) at Perth (out of all places) on 6th February 2011 (7th match of the recently concluded ODI series), as a result of umpire Paul Reiffel overturning his original Not Out decision on review by the English captain, Andrew Strauss (watch the portion between 4:15 and 7:20)!

Case 2: Here is the video link of Shane Watson (Aus) being dismissed LBW by Graeme Cremer (Zim) at Ahmedabad on 21st February 2011 (4th match of the ICC World Cup 2011), as a result of umpire Richard Kettleborough overturning his original Not Out decision on review by the Zimbabwean captain, Elton Chigumbura (watch the portion between 3:03 and 3:48)!

GRAEME SMITH: LBW B. ZAHEER KHAN

How many times in the past have we seen those two names in the same line on the scoresheet? It's no secret that Zaheer Khan has been troubling Graeme Smith for quite a while now and the South African skipper's troubles continued into the new year at Newlands, Cape Town.

Like in the first innings of the Durban Test, Smith faced less than 10 balls from Zaheer Khan... or should I say, 7 balls was all Zaheer Khan needed to get his bunny once again.

However, before Smith got out, there was an incident that caught my eye. On the first ball of the 5th over of the day, Graeme Smith tucked Zaheer away on the leg side and ran two. Then he was beaten by Zaheer who drew him forward into a drive to a ball that should have been left alone. The next ball was safely defended... and on the fourth ball, Smith tucked Zaheer away to the leg side once again. Though the fielder Harbhajan Singh was closer to the ball this time, there was still a clear opportunity for another couple of runs.

However, this time Smith just ambled across to the other end for a single. Harbhajan Singh deliberately slowed down his chase and even ran backwards to see whether Smith is taking a two... and I presume that this was because the entire Indian team wanted to see Smith take strike to Zaheer. That captain was being subtly taunted...

And Smith did not take the second. I don't know if it was just me that felt it... but suddenly I thought the fielders were a lot more chirpy and Smith looked a lot more subdued. There was something amiss in that man... I don't know if it was the lack of confidence in facing Zaheer or what! But to me, it looked like a public admission by Smith of the well-documented fact that he struggles to face Zaheer Khan.

Soon enough, Zaheer worked him over brilliantly in his next over and had him out plumb. When the ball hit his back pad, Smith turned around to get back into the crease without looking at the umpire. He did not want to see that finger go up. I think he did not even see that finger... he just walked off when he heard Zaheer's whooping cry of jubilation. And his slow walk back suggested that here is a man, extremely confident and assured of himself at all times, except when he is facing up to this left arm pace bowler bowling to him from the other end.

That denied second run said a lot... it was totally unexpected from a man who had walked out into the Sydney Cricket Ground just two years ago with a broken hand to save a dead Test match for his team!

THE BIGGEST POSITIVE FOR INDIA

India has ended Day 1 on the First Test against South Africa at Centurion on 136 for 9. The damage that has already been inflicted on them cannot be undone now... but believe it or not, India can take some positives from the two short sessions bowled today.

There was the batting of Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh... with MS Dhoni still holding ground. But with a batting lineup such as the one India boasts of, these performances are bound to be there even in a low score. So these are not the positives that I was thinking of.

There is one major positive... South Africa's lack of attacking backup bowlers. Steyn and Morkel bowled wonderfully and complemented each other well. Whereas Morkel worked his batsmen out by using the old one-two of a bouncer followed by a fuller length ball, Steyn was content on concentrating on his fuller length and generate swing at high speeds of over 90 mph during the post tea session. Steyn used very little of the bouncers... there was one very good one that hit Gambhir on the shoulder.

These two brilliant new ball operators have taken 7 of the 9 Indian wickets to fall thus far... 3 for Steyn and 4 for Morkel. However, apart from these two, no one in the South African attack has looked threatening enough. The bowling figures of Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Jacques Kallis and Paul Harris combined read 16 overs, 3 maidens, 1 wicket for 76 runs... i.e. 4.75 runs per over.

Though Kallis went at a decent 3.33 runs per over and also got 1 wicket of Raina, he was never threatening. He generated a decent pace, dug in a few short, but was well handled by most Indian batsmen. Tsotsobe was the reason today that India managed to cross the 100-run mark. All the 3 sixes of the Indian innings were hit of his bowling. And frankly, I was surprised that Graeme Smith persisted with him to give him 9 overs. Though Harris did not get a lot of chance, I am sure none of the Indian batsmen will be losing their sleep at the prospect of facing his bowling.

So even though the present situation of 136 - 9 is quite grave, India should know that there is still a lot left in the game. The weather may help India again as there are showers and thunderstorms expected on the 4th and 5th days. But apart from that, India will also know that if the initial burst of Steyn and Morkel can be seen through, the rest will not pose much of a threat and South Africa can then be attacked. Once there are a few runs on the board and the batsmen are settled in, even Steyn and Morkel will not be that very threatening in their further spells.

Even if Tsotsobe is replaced during the next Test by Ryan McLaren or Wayne Parnell, there is no reason to believe that they will be able to maintain the pressure exerted by their strike bowlers.

In such a scenario, it will be interesting to see how the Indian pacers perform. They are nowhere as good as Steyn and Morkel (especially in the absence of Zaheer Khan), but in helpful conditions, they can be a handful. If the Indian bowlers put up a large performance tomorrow, there may yet be a result in the match even if it rains over the last 2 days. Otherwise, we may go to Kingsmeade, Durban at 0 - 0.

GAMBHIR TICKS THE UNCHECKED BOX

The first South Africa - India Test match starts in just a couple of weeks from today at the SuperSport Park, Centurion... and in the lead up to that Test match, it is great to see Gautam Gambhir get a century against New Zealand today. He was the only unticked box remaining in our top and middle order.

Virender Sehwag - He is in roaring form... second highest run scorer in this calender year (2010)... and could be the key for India's series win in the Rainbow Nation. Back to the land where he embarked on his journey in Test cricket, there are high expectations of him this time round. With the pace that the South African attack can generate, his fiery slashes may carry all the way over the third man boundary!

Gautam Gambhir - It was good to see him get some runs against the Kiwis. He did get lucky with a couple of streaky inside edges... but the crucial thing is that he capitalised on the luck. And once he got closer to three figures, he looked as comfortable as he's looked this entire year. Surely the signs are good for the Indian opening partnership...

Rahul Dravid - Though I am not completely confident about his form and indeed his place in the side, but it cannot be denied that he did get 2 centuries in Tests against New Zealand. That is bound to give him some confidence before the South African tour. But if I were MS Dhoni, I would still tell Cheteshwar Pujara to be on standby mode... just in case!

Sachin Tendulkar - Though the New Zealand series was not that productive, it cannot be denied that he is looking in ominous form. He will be facing South Africa in any form of cricket for the first time after the history-making 200* (147) at Gwalior. This time he'll have a chance to make another history... No. 50 is waiting... will it be SuperSport Park, Centurion, where he had smashed the Pakistanis into submission at a World Cup just under 8 years ago?

VVS Laxman - The South Africa tour will be a difficult one. There will be times when that brilliant bowling attack will put the Indian batting unit under immense pressure. And that will be the time when we'll again look towards Lax to bail us out... for he's a crunch-situation specialist. It will be interesting to see the fields that Graeme Smith sets for VVS.

The anticipation is building up for the clash of No. 1 against the No. 2. I know that a lot of neutrals will follow the Ashes more religiously that this one... but I think that this series will be a lot more interesting and the mini-battles a lot more absorbing. Obviously, this feeling may have come (or may have been strengthened) by the 22-wickets-over-5-days draw at The Gabba and the prospect of another such match at Adelaide next.

So I can't wait for December 16th to arrive... it's time to see the best in action!

A CHANGE... TEST RUNS IN 2010

I posted the list of top run scorers in Test cricket in 2010 two days back. There has been a change in the order now. Right at the top... and guess who is it now!?

TEST RUNS IN 2010

Here's a list of the highest run scorers in Test cricket in the year 2010. Check who's heading the list...

ANY COMMENTS?

Greame Smith uploaded this pic on his Twitter page. I am speechless...

RAHUL DRAVID PART 2... AB DE VILLIERS

Mark Boucher will not be keeping wickets for South Africa in the 2 Twenty20 matches and 5 ODIs on their ongoing tour of West Indies. AB De Villiers will be handed the gloves behind the wickets.

"AB will be starting with the gloves in the limited-overs matches," Smith said ahead of the first Twenty20 international in Antigua. "There is a new selection committee and a few new ideas. We only have something like 15 ODIs before we get to India for the World Cup, so we have to make every one of them count."

Recall something? About 8 years back, a certain Rahul Dravid had donned a similar role to create a better balance in the Indian side prior to the World Cup 2003 held in South Africa. India eventually ended up as the runners up of the tournament.

There are some extremely similar stats here. Before Dravid became a regular keeper for India from 29th May 2002, he had kept wickets in 9 matches for India. AB De Villiers has kept in 8 matches till now... the last one being the Perth ODI against Australia on 30th January 2009.

De Villiers has a brilliant batting record in his short wicketkeeping career in ODIs thus far... an average of 105.25 at a strike rate of 86.98. Dravid kept in 27 out of the 28 ODIs that India played from 29th May 2002 till the start of the World Cup 2003 campaign for India on 12th February 2003 against the Netherlands. De Villiers might get fewer chances than Dravid... but the athlete that he is... De Villiers should be able to hone his skills well.

This move by the South African team management is not a long-term move... but the World Cup 2011 is not too far away. Any short term measure that can be justified in the basis that it will help the team during the World Cup is a good one.

As much as I have liked Mark Boucher over the years, it is true that he is not getting any younger and his recent performances have forced this decision. It is time he takes a good look at his game. If he feels that he can come out of his current slump, he should continue... but if he has any doubts, he should hang up his boots respectfully. There is not a lot of time for the World Cup that is to start on 19th February 2011. He does deserve a respectful exit... that's for sure!

CHOKING ONCE AGAIN

It's happenned once again! South Africa, alias 'Chokers', have missed another chance to win a major ICC Trophy. It does not matter whether it is Hansie Cronje or Shaun Pollock or Greame Smith at the helm. The choking invariably happens.

Their loss has ensured a semi-final berth for England. Who'd have thought that they will be the first one to be assured of a semi-final berth amongst all the Super Eight teams (Reminder: Australia is yet to be assured of a semi-final berth, though they are a safe bet to make it through). But the bigger shock to me was that South Africa have become the first team to be eliminated from the tournament.

They were one of the pre - tournament favourites... except for their 'choking' reputation. There were the usual pre-tournament talks by their players that this time they have a better team, a good spirit... they are the 'real deal'. And the same old story... the end of the road! Considering that the next ICC tournament is to be played in the sub-continent, I think that it would be pretty safe to assume that they will have to wait for atleast a couple of more years to have another decent shot at the ICC silverware. They are increasingly resembling Arsenal FC - loads of talents, lack of results.

Pakistan have given themselves a chance to defend the trophy. It was an impressive win over the Proteas side... but they still need to pray for an English win without Kevin Pietersen for a confirmed semi-final berth. New Zealand, on the other hand, don't need to depend on prayers. They just need to beat the Poms to be through to the semi-finals for the 2nd time in the small history of this tournament.

The next 24 hours will answer a lot of questions. A lot of prayers will be answered and a lot will go unanswered. Amen!

QUESTION OF STRATEGIES

Zimbabwe and England open their campaign in the World Twenty20 Championship today after the Super Sunday yesterday, in which the top-4 teams in international cricket met at St. Lucia.

In the first match, India rided on Suresh Raina's 60-ball 101 to bat South Africa out of the match. In the end, the scores suggested that South Africa did make a match out of it. But in reality, they were out of it by the time Kallis and Smith started their acceleration. The hits towards the end were bound to come... but they were just meant to reduce the margin of defeat, not to avert the defeat.

The South African strategy was questionable. Loots Bosman opening the innings with Kallis is a good idea, but if Greame Smith is pushed to No. 3 for its implementation, then it is not so good. Bosman is an ideal replacement for Smith if his fingers are broken... but when healed, Greame Smith should open the South African innings in all formats of the game.

And Kallis needs to rethink his strategies as well. He said at the start of the IPL that he wants to become the best Twenty20 player in the world. And for the best part of that tournament, he looked like it. But then it all started going wrong. His strike rates were questioned all round, and he's done nothing since then to show that he might want to learn and change.

All said and done, I also felt that Dhoni's strategies were a tad unwise. Going in with three specialist spinners in the form of Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja alongside part-timers like Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh seemed a little overboard. Maybe he wanted to rest Zaheer Khan, but he could have tried R Vinay Kumar in that case. He does not want to bowl 20 overs with spin. Once the batsmen are used to the pace of the wicket, they can take toll. Kallis and Smith showed that towards the end of their partnership. As a result, none of the spinners had extremely impressive figures. In contrast, Ashish Nehra had another brilliant day in office.

The second match between Australia and Pakistan saw the ODI Champions putting in a clinical performance to outso the defending champions. Mohammed Aamer bowled a 5-wicket last over, but that wasn't enough to swing the momentum completely towards the Pakistan side, and in the end, the score of 191 proved too much for them.

Overall, it was a good day's (night's in India) of cricket even though both the matches eventually turned out to be a little one-sided.

INJURY UPDATES

Here's a list of all the injuries that I know of, thus far in this IPL:

1. Ashish Nehra - Delhi Daredevils - Rib Injury (sustained before IPL)
2. Greame Smith - Rajasthan Royals - Finger Injury (v DD)
3. Dimitri Mascarenhas - Rajasthan Royals - Ankle Injury (v DD)
4. Yusuf Pathan - Rajasthan Royals - Shoulder Injury (v DD)
5. MS Dhoni - Chennai Super Kings - Elbow Injury (v KKR)
6. Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils - Torn Hamstring (v MI)
(Please let me know if I have missed any)

What's interesting to note is that all of the above players (not sure about Dimi) would feature in their country's squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in the Caribbean islands after the IPL. Heck, two of them are captains.

Last year, India missed the services of Virendra Sehwag in the World Twenty20 Championship in England due to the injury he sustained during the IPL. So when one hears Lalit Modi say that despite a huge increase in the number of matches next year, IPL will be played out over 51 days only... it's something to worry about. He may turn a blind eye to all these assertions, but the fact remains that the injuries sustained during IPL are not helping the  players when they wear their national colours.

INJURY CONCERNS

First came the news about Rajasthan Royals losing out the services of their two key overseas players - Greame Smith and Dmitri Mascarenhas - due to different injuries. And now comes the big news that MS Dhoni could be sidelined for 10 days due to an elbow injury.

Both Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings (despite their win last night) have had a rusty start to the tournament. RR, now without its openers (Smith - batting and Mascarenhas - bowling), look dead and buried. They will need to find some decent replacements... and find them early. They might well be thinking now that they should not have bought out the contract of Mohammed Kaif.

Chennai Super Kings, after their first victory of this year's IPL last night, looked good to get their campaign back on track after a defeat in the first game to the defending champions. However, if their captain is ruled out, it could set them back a long way. Early reports are suggesting that Suresh Raina will be given the mantle of captaincy for the 4 games that MSD is supposed to be ruled out for:

1. v Delhi Daredevils at Ferozeshah Kotla, New Delhi on March 19
2. v Kings XI Punjab at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on March 21
3. v Royal Challengers Bangalore at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore on March 23
4. v Mumbai Indians at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on March 25

The injuries to two international captains (Smith and Dhoni) will surely raise concerns in these two camps, especially with the World Twenty20 Championship scheduled to start in the opposite part of the world just 5 days after the IPL ends.

VIRU'S CURSE

A big blow for the Rajasthan Royals... as if Shane Warne didn't have any problems in the first place. The latest news is that Greame Smith injured his right hand middle finger while taking the catch to dismiss Virendra Sehwag in their match against Delhi Daredevils at Ahmedabad, the adopted hime ground for the Royals.





The above video shows how Sehwag and Smith almost made a mess of each other's catches. Both held on in the end... but Viru had the last laugh... for more reasons than one.


Smith might be cursing Sehwag at the moment. He might want to show Sehwag his injured finger. Well, he won't be the last one to do so.

MY NAME IS KHAN

Oh no, it's not the Bollywood blockbuster that I am talking about. That one's aleady been the eye of a big storm already. I am talking about the new leader of India's pace attack... Zaheer Khan.

Cricinfo gave Zak a 7 out of 10 for his performance in the Ind-SA series. But numbers count for very little over here. He is 31 - an age where most pace bowlers go through the best phases of their respective careers. It's no different for Zak.

He burst into the international scene by yorking the batsmen facing him - a fast bowler's most potent weapon. Ironically, at the peak of his career, the yorker is the most rarely used weapon. The fast, aggressive, stare-into-the-batsman's-eyes-in-a-World-Cup-final bowler has now been replaced by a little gentler, but a lot more dangerous swing bowler, who has taken over the mantle of India's premier paceman with some admirable performances over the past 4 years.

At a time when India is truly grappling with the question of whether Harbhajan Singh (irrespective of his Eden Garden performance) is a worthy successor to Anil Kumble as the premier spinner in the country, it is the safety net that Zak offers that has helped India hold onto the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket.

Having taken 488 international wickets for the country, Zak has, for quite some time now, been the only consistent element in India's bowling ranks, especially in Tests. From the start of 2007, Zak has bowled 1000.1 overs in Test cricket, taking 113 wickets at 29.43 (his overall career average is 32.98). This period has also brought him his best bowling figures in an innings and in a match.

But here's the interesting piece of stat: 70 out of his 113 wickets (61.95%) in this period have been of batsmen who have scored less than 20 runs. Yes, even the numbers say that he has been the bowler that Dhoni (and Kumble and Dravid before him) have turned to for attacking a new batsman and getting his wicket.

What has been heartwarming to see is that all the opposition batsmen have started howing him a lot of respect - something that has rarely happenned with Indian pacers of the past. Not only his bunnies like Greame Smith, but even other contemporary greats and opposition captains like Ricky Ponting have acknowledged the importance of seeing Zaheer's spell through. Even MS Dhoni gives up his field setting authorities to Zak when he or Ishant Sharma are bowling. He might well be the new fast bowling coach of Team India.

His reverse swing bowling to dismiss Brad Haddin, Cameron White and Brett Lee (where he reversed the ball both ways) bowled - caught behind - bowled at Mohali in October 2008 was one of the highlights of this period.

As a fast bowler, it won't be long before injuries start plaguing him and being on the wrong side of 30, he is bound to tire out soon (especially with the amount of cricket that India plays these days). But I'd like to see him carry on as much as he can because India needs him. India needs him to hold onto the No. 1 ranking in Test cricket. India needs him to be there if there has to be chance in the 2011 World Cup. India needs him to be there to guide the younger generation of pacers and groom them for the responsibilities lying ahead - the responsibilities that he has carried with admirable ease.

THRILLING SERIES

Not being able to watch a Test match at Eden Gardens live on TV feels awful. Thank God for Cricinfo! Now, this Test is living up to its billing as the battle for World No. 1 Test team status. South Africa, continuing with their momentum from the Nagpur Test, dominated two sessions of opening day’s play. India, trying to hold on to their top ranking, suddenly roared back to life. Spurred on by vociferous Kolkata crowd, Zaheer and Harbhajan turned things around and South Africa were dismissed for less than 300.

Then, it was time for ‘Star Wars: Attack of the Clones’. Sehwag and Tendulkar made life difficult for Greame Smith’s boys, and Dale Steyn’s hostile spell of fast bowling in Nagpur might well have been story of some other time. South Africa, to their credit, did fight back. Three wickets late on Day 2 pegged India back just a little.

But India had more in store for them. The Eden Gardens specialist was due for a big score and what better time could he have chosen! VVS Laxman slowed down when Amit Mishra was trying to be Sehwag-like. But once he departed, he joined skipper MS Dhoni to grind the Proteas to a point from where even their most optimistic fans cannot hope for a return.

I am quite liking this Test Series (wish it could have been longer than 2 Tests, though). This series, thus far, is 1 and a half Test old. We have already seen 1 Double Century (Amla), 9 Centuries (Kallis, Sehwag, Sachin, Amla, Peterson, Sehwag, Sachin, Laxman , Dhoni), 1 Seven-for (Steyn), and few more good spells of fast as well as spin bowling (Steyn, Morkel, Harris, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Ishant). And what’s more, we already have 1 result and can expect another one in the next 2 days. Three debutants got a taste of Test cricket, and all of them showed mettle at some point or the other. One got a 50, another got a 100. We have even witnessed something very rare in Test cricket - 12 wides bowled by a bowler in an innings! What more could you ask for from Test matches!

This Test match is even attracting a fairly large crowd, who have been generous in their support for the home team, especially given their performance just a week back. Let’s hope this rivalry continues and the teams provide us with another thriller in the return series later this year.

THE BATTLE OF EDEN: PREVIEW

It begins tomorrow. At the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The match to decide who will hold the Mace. The Title of the World No. 1 Team in Test Match Cricket.

South Africa, despite having the momentum, will be nervous for certain reasons. Their biggest concern will be the fitness of their captain - the most inspirational member of their team - Greame Smith. True, Smith did not contribute a lot with his bat in his team's victorious campaign in the First Test. However, his astute leadership has been responsible for many great feats achieved by South African cricket.

The other concern for South Africa will be their historically well - chronicled ability to somehow goof it all up when their noses are in front. South Africa is perhaps the best team in the world when they are up against it. But when it comes to holding on to an advantageous position, they have not been the most successful team around. Will the C-word come to haunt them again at the Eden Gardens?

India, on the other hand, despite their loss, will be a lot more positive with the fitness of a certain VVS Laxman. VVS has had a great liking for this ground, like one another member of the team - Harbhajan Singh. I have been saying it for quite some time - Harbhajan Singh does not deserve a place in this squad, irrespective of the history surrounding him and the venue.

Voices from many quarters are saying that VVS should take up the No. 3 spot. This will mean that Murali Vijay will have to be pushed down to No. 5 or 6 spot, along with Subramanium Badrinath. Vijay, a specialist opener, in the lower middle order in a team that is trying to retain the mantle of the World No. 1 Test team? I don't think so.

Agreed, even South Africa has been playing Ashwell Prince, a middle order bat, in the opening spot, albeit unsuccessfully. But that does not mean that India should also try such tinkerings. If an opener cannot be accomodated in the opening slot, then the only place that he should play is at No. 3.

I read an interesting post on the bog 'A Cricketing View' that said that Gautam Gambhir should be tried at No. 3  for this Test. I quite like the idea. Gambhir has been a consistent No. 3 in the ODI arena, when SRT opens with Viru. If Vijay and Sehwag were to open in the Second Test, it would also mean (as mentioned in that blog) that Morne Morkel will have to bowl to two right handers first up. Given the fact that his round-the-wicket line has troubled many left handers of late, this might actually be a workable solution.

With the Gambhir at No. 3, Laxman can be allowed to play at his familiar No. 5 position, shepherding the tail - a role that he understands very well now. VVS has proven himself to be indispensable for India in that role.

After all this speculation, what a shame it would be if another Indian batsman were to injure himself 15 minutes before the toss tomorrow!

SATURDAY'S HEROES

A lot happenned today. West Zone's unbelievable win in Duleep Trophy Finals and Kallis' unbelievable knock in the Battle for No. 1. I want to talk about how the day passed for me today.

0900 - Dhoni lost his third Test toss in a row and his counterpart, Smith expectedly decided to bat on a very brown pitch. But what followed next was a shock. W Saha makes his debut replacing VVS Laxman and Rohit Sharma (who also injured himself in the morning). A line up already missing out on Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh (not that he is a big loss, but still!), now misses out on VVS Laxman and also the man who was to replace him. How many more things could go wrong!

1000 - The morning started well! Zaheer Khan struck twice early and South Africa were 6 for 2. An opening spell of 6-4-2-2. Exciting stuff. A few hundred kilometers away in Hyderabad, Yusuf Pathan had also resumed his battle for West Zone and closed in on his century.

1100 - Kallis and Amla were playing sensibly. Pinal Shah was also batting sensibly with his broken finger. But Yusuf Pathan had gone mad. Maintaining a strike rate of over 100, he made the South bowlers feel helpless (not helped by the fact that their fielders had buttered their fingers instead of the toast on the breakfast table).

1200 - Lunch break scheduled to end in 10 more mins. West looking set for a win. India and South Africa even stevens though the momentum was certainly shifting towards the Proteas.

1300 - Yusuf looked set for a double hundred and a domestic match was turning out to be more interesting than a Test match between the two top nations in the world.

1400 - West Zone had completed a historic win (chasing 541 is a world record for the highest fourth innings successful run chase in first class cricket). Yusuf was 210*. Will this innings be the turning point of his career? Meanwhile, Kallis and Hashim Amla were continuing serenely, untroubled by the happenings around them.

1500 - Tea break came and went. Zaheer induced a couple of edges off Amla's bat with his reverse swing bowling. But luck was with the Proteas.

1600 - The truth is sinking in - Kallis and Amla have played faultless batting roles (Kallis - faultless; Amla - near faultless). Hats off to them, man! Even when they come against the team you support, you have no option but to appreciate strong performances such as these.

1635 - End of 1st day's play. For a change, India was ahead of the over rate and managed to get in 91 overs for the day (can they take credit of this the next time they are slow?). But the day belonged, without any doubt, to Jacques Kallis and Hashim Amla... and of course, Yusuf Pathan.

A good Saturday, on the whole!

MEMORIES OF MARCH

South Africa has expectedly drawn their practice match against the Indian Board President's XI team at Nagpur. Nagpur - the venue that has been written in South Africa's cricket history with bold BLACK letters. Nagpur - the city where Hansie Cronje's wrongdoings came to the notice of the Delhi police, who then went on to reveal their findings to the world.

It seems surreal somehow to remember that match. March 19, 2000. It was the first ever match I had seen live in a cricket stadium. Much like others, I watched with awe as Herschelle Gibbs tore into the Indian attack. Much like others, I was surprised when Derek Crookes, an innocuous off spinner, was given the ball in the second over of the Indian innings. Much like others, even my heart was in my mouth when Sachin almost gave away his wicket in that very over by playing a miscued shot in the air. Much like others, even I was disappointed when Sachin got out in the 90s (I didn't know then that this would be called routine in 2007). And much like others, even I was heartbroken when India lost by 10 runs chasing 321.

When Ravi Shastri was conducting his post match presentation ceremony, I had no clue that on reaching home and switching on the TV, I'll hear an audio transcript of Hansie Cronje's conversation with a match fixer deciding the details of the match that had just gotten over. I was much too young to understand the serious ramifications of what had just unfolded in front of my eyes (I was just 11 then!). Yet, somewhere at the back of my mind, I knew... I knew this was no routine. This was something big.

The world has changed a lot since then. In the current South African team in Nagpur, only Mark Boucher remains from a decade ago. The same Mark Bouher who coaxed Gibbs into revealing the truth of that day in front of the King Commission in South Africa. Boucher, just like Greame Smith, will be hoping that the ghosts of Nagpur 2000, the ghosts of Hansie Cronje's team, do not return to haunt their performance during the First Test.

BURP! REACTIONS TO AFRIDI'S BITE

"Perhaps he didn't appreciate the lunch he was given in Australia." This is what Greame Smith had to say on Afridi's ball - biting act in Sunday's nail - biting finish at Perth.

Michael Jeh, a cricket writer based in Brisbane remarks, "Shahid Afridi’s actions today rank right up there with Dumb and Dumber."

Kamran Abbasi, arguably Pakistan's most reputed cricket writer hits the nail on the head. "We saw the daft side of Afridi, his ill-disguised bite of the cricket ball, a white and rather scruffy cherry. Pakistan were in with a shout, Afridi leading impressively, but he never looked the same after his appetite got the better of him and he was reprimanded by the umpires."

Pakistan's coach, Intikhab Alam, also seemed clueless. "It just happened, probably he was eating an apple you know."

Former Pakistan captain, Inzamam-ul-Haq, pondered, "What Afridi did was unacceptable and more worrying is the fact that he was captain when he tried to tamper with the ball. He didn't do any good service to Pakistan cricket with his actions. The match referee Ranjan Madugalle has been kind to Afridi, giving him just a two-match ban or else Afridi could have been in bigger trouble."

But what did Afridi himself have to say about his act? "I was just trying to smell it, how it is feeling." How do you smell with your teeth? I remember vaguely from my early school science lessons that tongue assists in smelling activities. Was that Afridi's intention?

A lot has been said and heard on this issue already. A lot more is still to come. Though Afridi has admitted that he is embarassed by the situation, I doubt this is the last bit of stupidity we will see from him on the cricket field. Burp!