PEARLS FROM RAVI SHASTRI'S COMMENTARY

Ravi Shastri is the last name I would put in a list of commentators I would love to listen to in every match. And after today's India v. Ireland match at Bangalore, he's gone completely off that list!

As if punishing the listeners with the most boring cliques was not enough, today Ravi Shastri went a step ahead and completely massacred up a piece of trivia information that he was giving on air. It's not the first time that he's given his listeners a wrong piece of trivia... it does happen quite often... but what made me swear at him today was that he completely killed a piece of trivia he was giving about a cricket match, in which he himself was involved, all the while when their stats man Mohandas Menon was right there to give him the correct piece of information!

When Yuvraj Singh reached 40* today, Ravi Shastri was on air giving out the information that Yuvraj has become just the 2nd player in a World Cup match to score 40 runs and take 5 wickets. For good measure, he added that Kapil Dev was the first one to have done it in 1983 against Australia at Trent Bridge (5 for 43 and 40 off 27 balls). Fine up until now!

Here's what he said after that (I wrote it down on a scrap of paper immediately for the fear that I might misquote him later): "(that performance) set India up for the semi-finals at Old Trafford" and "sent Australia out of the competition".

Now here's the truth. As mightily impressive as that performance was from our captain Kapil Dev, it did nothing to "set India up for the semi-finals", because as it happens, India went on to lose that match by a huge margin of 162 runs. What did set India up for the semi-finals was India's win (courtesy Kapil Dev) over Zimbabwe later on, and more importantly, India's win against Australia in the reverse fixture at Chelmsford. Had India lost that match to the Aussies, the two teams would have been level on point, and the Australians would have had a better Net Run Rate giving them the semi-final berth.

Since we lost that match where Kapil's all-round performance was recorded, it was impossible for us to "send Australia out of the competition" then. We played 3 more Group matches after this loss before playing in the semi-finals. I don't quite understand how he could forget such a magnificent all-round performance wasted on a loss!

What baffled me even more was that Ravi Shastri was a part of that loss against Australia and was not a part of the win that came later against Australia. So it beats me how he could muddle it all up!

Here was I, sitting in my living room, raising my eyebrows immediately to his mighty assertions, when I was not even born in 1983! And the man who was a part of our squad back then was completely botching up the facts of our glorious 1983 campaign!

ALL TIME WORLD XI - ALL ROUNDERS

There are not too many nominees for the All - Rounders spot... and this is such an important role that lesser the better.

A Reminder: I had removed Kallis from the analysis of Middle Order Batsmen and had decided to include him in the All Rounders analysis. That is why you will see his name below (highlighted yellow). Here are the statistics:

Now, I want two All-Rounders in my team. One bowling all-rounder and one batting all-rounder. That would be my ideal combination.

For the role of the batting all rounder, the contest was between Sir Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis. A tight one... and I choose Jacques Kallis. Both are mighty men, capable of performing the unthinkable deeds. Kallis may never get to a double century in his career, but you won't need too many double centuries from him in a middle order of Bradman, Tendulkar and Barrington (the ones I have chosen).

What tilted the scales in favour of Kallis was a pure statistical detail... it was his bowling strike rate of 67.2 against 91.9. When my batting all rounder can take a wicket once every 11 overs or so, it is commendable. I can;t ask for a lot more. And thus despite the greatness of Sir Garry Sobers, I have to exclude him from my squad.

For the spot of the bowling all rounder, the men on my shortlist were Imran Khan, Kapil Dev, Sir Ian Botham and Sir Richard Hadlee. All these men have enviable numbers above and are legends in their own ways. But for this particular spot, I had long decided that the man I select would be based on fitness. I'll explain why...

The spot of the Bowling All Rounder is, in my opinion, the most important one in a Test team. He is one of the chief men responsible to get you the 20 wickets that can win you a Test match... and if the batsmen fool around, he is also expected to score a few down the order. A team is very dependent of such men, if they are available. And as a result, their absence due to injuries places their team into a big area of discomfort as they have to usually fill in with a regular bowler, thereby giving up a batsman. That is why, I place a high price on the fitness of the men in my shortlist.

So, Imran Khan had a career of 21 years. Kapil Dev once held a record of most number of consecutive Test appearances for India. Richard Hadlee also had just one major shoulder injury to speak of during his career. And Ian Botham also had a decently fit career. But what counts against Ian Botham was his indiscipline, as his career not only surged improbable heights, but also bottomless depths.

So as my shortlist cuts down to 3, my decision (again a very tough one) goes to Imran Khan, who only narrowly beat Kapil Dev. In the end, a career of 21 years overcame the record of most consecutive Test appearances. Phew!

So here's a recap of the team I have selected thus far:

Openers: Sir Jack Hobbs, Virender Sehwag
Middle Order: Sir Don Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar, Ken Barrington
Batting All Rounder: Jacques Kallis
Wicketkeeper: Adam Gilchrist
Bowling All Rounder: Imran Khan

Now what remains is the choice of bowlers, which will come in a day or two.

A GEM

I was getting a little bored, so I dived into the Cricinfo archives... something that I like to do often. I came across this article... this piece of beauty that was written a year back by Suresh Menon about a certain event that occured a couple of decades ago. The link to the original page is here (if you really want it)... and the article is quoted below:

Tendulkar serves notice

The crowd was huge, and some of them even had tickets. Many took advantage of the general spirit of friendliness and sat anywhere they could. It is easy to see why the forefathers of the security men at Peshawar could not control the Khyber Pass. Amid the confusion, a legend was born there 20 years ago.

He was 16, had almost curly hair, curiosity in his eyes, and steel in his wrists. His treatment of Abdul Qadir is part of folklore now. Sachin Tendulkar played only because it was not an official one-day match, and Kapil Dev was nursing a stiff neck. At that stage there was no plan to play Tendulkar in the one-day tournament at all. But after that he couldn't be denied.

Eighteen deliveries changed everything. In that time he made 53 (unbeaten), hitting Mushtaq Ahmed for two huge sixes, and then Abdul Qadir for 27 runs in a single over, with three sixes in a row. There was no wild slogging. When Qadir dropped one short as Tendulkar stepped out, the batsman had the arrogance to go through with his shot anyway. The bat made a lovely arc, and for all we know the ball is still travelling - no one could find it.

At the other end was the captain, Kris Srikkanth, no slouch himself. Later that evening he said, referring to the one-day series, "The little bugger must play now." The little bugger has been playing ever since.

THE JEWEL OF INDIA

This one's going to be extensive. Many news channels have been debating now whether Sachin Tendulkar deserves the Bharat Ratna (India's highest civilian award). A number of past cricketers have come out in his support. A number of politicians are backing this movement and gaining political mileage.

The official website of the Government of India states: "Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian honour, given for exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of Public Service of the highest order."

Note here that there is no mention of excellence in sports as well as many other fields. The list of Bharat Ratna awardees till date is given below (reverse chronological order):

• Pandit Bhimsen Gururaj Joshi (Arts : 2009 : India : Karnataka)

• Kumari Lata Dinanath Mangeshkar (Arts : 2001 : India : Maharashtra)

• Late. Ustad Bismillah Khan (Arts : 2001 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Prof. Amartya Sen (Literature & Education : 1999 : United Kingdom)

• Lokpriya Gopinath (posth.) Bordoloi (Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Assam)

• Loknayak Jayprakash (Posth.) Narayan (Public Affairs : 1999 : India : Bihar)

• Pandit Ravi Shankar (Arts : 1999 : United States)

• Shri Chidambaram Subramaniam( Public Affairs : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Smt. M.S. Subbulakshmi (Arts : 1998 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Shri (Dr.) A.P.J. Abdul Kalam (Science & Engineering. : 1997 : India : Delhi)

• Smt. Aruna Asaf (Posth.) Ali (Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Delhi)

• Shri Gulzari Lal (Shri) Nanda (Public Affairs : 1997 : India : Gujarat)

• Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (Trade & Industry : 1992 : India : Maharashtra)

• Shri Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (Public Affairs : 1992 : India : West Bengal)

• Shri Satyajit Ray (Arts : 1992 : India : West Bengal)

• Shri Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat)

• Shri Rajiv Gandhi (Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Delhi)

• Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Public Affairs : 1991 : India : Gujarat)

• Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedakr (Public Affairs : 1990 : India : Maharashtra)

• Dr. Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (Public Affairs : 1990 : South Africa)

• Shri Marudur Gopalan Ramachandran (Public Affairs : 1988 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (Social Work : 1987 : Pakistan)

• Shri Acharya Vinoba Bhave (Social Work : 1983 : India : Maharashtra)

• Mother Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu Teresa (Social Work : 1980 : India : West Bengal)

• Shri Kumaraswamy Kamraj (Public Affairs : 1976 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Shri V.V. Giri (Public Affairs : 1975 : India : Orissa)

• Smt. Indira Gandhi (Public Affairs : 1971 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri (Public Affairs : 1966 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Dr. Pandurang Vaman Kane (Social Work : 1963 : India : Maharashtra)

• Dr. Zakir Hussain (Public Affairs : 1963 : India : Andhra Pradesh)

• Dr. Rajendra Prasad (Public Affairs : 1962 : India : Bihar)

• Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy (Public Affairs : 1961 : India : West Bengal)

• Shri Purushottam Das Tandon (Public Affairs : 1961 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve (Social Work : 1958 : India : Maharashtra)

• Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant (Public Affairs : 1957 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Dr. Bhagwan Das (Literature & Education : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Shri Jawaharlal Nehru (Public Affairs : 1955 : India : Uttar Pradesh)

• Dr. M. Vishweshwariah (Civil Service : 1955 : India : Karnataka)

• Shri Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Dr. Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (Science & Engineering. : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu)

• Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (Public Affairs : 1954 : India : Tamil Nadu)

No sportsman has ever won this award. The most interesting entry for me in the above list is that of Shri Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna for excellence in 'Trade & Industry'. JRD Tata's award indicates that even SRT is eligible for the award. Advancement of or excellence in 'Trade & Industry' is not listed as a criteria for being conferred this honour, similar to 'Sports'. So if JRD Tata has been awarded the Bharat Ratna, even SRT can be.

Now comes the question of who deserves it. In the Indian Order of Precedence, a holder of the Bharat Ratna is on par with Former Prime Ministers of India, Union Cabinet Ministers and Leaders of Chief Opposition in both houses of Parliament. A Bharat Ratna awardee ranks higher than the Judges of Supreme Court of India, Chief Election Commissioner and Members of Parliament. So a person whose name is being put forth as a recipient of this honour must really command respect.

Command respect! That is one thing that SRT always does. Be it within his team, amongst the opposition, amongst the crowd (home and away) or even amongst the general public, Sachin Tendulkar commands respect for his performances as well as behaviour. But, as great a fan I am of SRT, I do not think that he should be conferred with the Bharat Ratna award now.

I certainly do think that SRT deserves it - there is no doubt in my mind in that regard. But the award can wait till he retires. He certainly deserves to be placed on par with the Former Prime Ministers and Union Cabinet Ministers (in my mind, he is much better than many of those who belong to such a category). Nevertheless, we can wait for some time before making it official.

Let him achieve all that he can on the cricket field. And once he's done, he can be decorated. News channels have taken the debate to a different level by saying that even the likes of Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar have done as much as Sachin Tendulkar. Even they have been an inspiration for a generation of youngsters.

The media is forgetting the fact that this is the highest civilian honour in India that we are debating about. As far as I am concerned, Sunil Gavaskar is out of question. With due respect to his cricketing abilities and courage as well as his contribution to the game, his conduct never set an example for the younger generation. SRT has been on the receiving end of various dubious umpiring decisions, but he has never walked off the ground along with his batting partner. SRT has always batted for a win, no matter how improbable it may seem. You would never see him bat out 60 overs for a 36*.

In Kapil Dev's case, it is a good debate. Kapil toiled hard for his country - and his behaviour was never questionable. He captained India to her only ODI World Cup win in 1983. His honesty was questioned during the match fixing scandal of 2000, but he came out of it clean. Does he deserve the award? That is a question for whoever approves the list of Bharat Ratna awardees.

But while talking about SRT, let us not measure his credentials against the past greats who have not been conferred with this honour. Who deserves it is a different question for every different individual. Forgive the cliche, but to my mind, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar himself is a Bharat Ratna.