SPORTS MEMORIES OF 2011

It was a mixed year - 2011. There were some incredible highs as well as some bitter lows for the teams and players that I like and support. It was definitely NOT as good as 2010 had been... from the perspective of the teams I follow.

Here are my top-10 sports memories (the pleasant as well as the unpleasant ones) from the year 2011 (sorted chronologically):

1. Cricket: England Win The Ashes 3-1 (7th January)

The Ashes had been retained already, but Australia had a chance to regain some pride after two innings losses. The redemption did not come, as England got their third innings win of the series as they sealed the Ashes win 3-1. It was a masterclass performance from the English side, bowling out Australia for 280 and 281, and scoring 644 themselves. Alastair Cook continued his golden run with 189 runs and the Man of the Match award. Playing without Ricky Ponting, who had injured himself at the Boxing Day Test of 2010-11, the Michael Clarke - led Australian team lost the Ashes at home for the first time in 24 years.

2. Cricket: ICC World Cup (2nd April)

I have far too many memories from this event. That is why I have already compiled a separate post of my World Cup Memories. But there is hardly any doubt that this was one of the highlights of the year in the game of cricket... and an event worth remembering! India became the World Champions for the first time in 28 years, becoming the first team to win the finals at home.

3. Tennis: Djokovic Rules At Wimbledon (3rd July)

It was the top-seed defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain against the form player of the year and usurper of the No. 1 rank Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the Gentlemen's Singles Final at the 125th edition of the Wimbledon Championships. Djokovic won in 4 sets, and plucked out a few strands of the Wimbledon grass to put in his mouth. He was savouring the taste of his victory... quite literally! It was a difficult match to watch for a Nadal fan like me... mainly because he had been outplayed completely by the Serbian. Djokovic broke the Federer-Nadal duopoly for the No. 1 rank that lasted almost 7 and a half years.

4. Football: Japanese Women Triumph In Germany (17th July)

Ordinarily, this event would not have made my top-10 list. But this was not an ordinary year for Japan. The great earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 had left almost 16000 people dead, 6000 injured and 3500 missing. The aftershocks of the earthquake continued till June 2011, when the Japanese women began their FIFA Women's World Cup campaign in Germany. In this backdrop, they won the finals on penalties against one of the two favourites - United States of America, having already beaten the other favourite - hosts and defending champions Germany - in the Quarterfinals. It was an emotional moment for Japan, watched by huge crowds in Germany and a fitting end to an immensely successful World Cup!

5. Cricket: England Complete Whitewash (22nd August)

The No. 1 spot in Test cricket had already been sealed with a win in the third Test. But that was never going to stop England, as they emphatically completed a whitewash over India to stamp their status as the top team in Tests. It was extremely difficult to watch that performance from England as an Indian fan... the only solace being the realisation that the English squad was far superior. The wounds of this drubbing will take a long very long time to disappear... and even then, they may never disappear completely.

6. Rugby: All Blacks Win At Home (23rd October)

The hosts won the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 16 years (after the Springboks 1995) in a closely fought finale at Eden Park, Auckland. Like the Japanese women's FIFA World Cup win, this win for the All Blacks too came in a year where Christchurch had been affected by a big earthquake... so much so that some matches (including a quarterfinal) had to be moved out of that city due to the destruction caused. The All Blacks have always been an exciting team to watch... and there is no denying that they were the best team of the tournament, winning every single match they played.

7. Formula One: Inaugural Indian Grand Prix (30th October)

A few years ago, I would have said it's unfathomable so early! But in 2011, it actually happened. Buddh International Circuit hosted the inaugural Indian Grand Prix Formula One race weekend from 28th October to 30th October 2011... and apart from a small interruption due to a stray dog during the first practice session on Friday, it was a smooth affair. Karun Chandok set the first ever flying lap time on the circuit during the first practice session on Friday. Sebastian Vettel won the with his Red Bull car, both the Force India cars (Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta) managed to score points and Narain Karthikeyan finished at 17th position - equaling his season best with the Hispania Racing Team. Formula One had come to India!

8. Cricket: South Africa 96, Australia 47 (10th November)

What a day of cricket! If I tell you that the day started with visitors adding 70 runs for the last 2 wickets and ended with the hosts scoring 81 runs for the loss of just 1 wicket, then you might be forgiven for thinking that a lot of the day's play might have been washed out. It is scarcely conceivable that in between these 151 runs for 3 wickets, Cape Town witnessed the fall of 20 wickets for 143 runs! So the final equation - 23 wickets, 294 runs, 79.3 overs and a part of all four innings played out in one day! I watched Australia slump to 21 for 9, and then had to miss out on the rest of their innings as I was to go out. Their 10th wicket pair's 26 run partnership saved them the embarrassment of recording the lowest ever total in a Test innings, and ended up being greater than the sum of all their other 9 partnerships!

9. Cricket: Sehwag Also Crosses The 200 Barrier (8th December)

A lot of people believed that he would be the first man to do so. He wasn't... his idol was! But 652 days after Tendulkar had done so, Sehwag too breached the 200-run barrier in Men's ODI cricket and relegated that 200* (147b, 25 x 4s, 3 x 6s) to the second spot amongst the highest runs scored by a batsman in an ODI innings. The top spot is now occupied by a 219 (149b, 25 x 4s, 7 x 6s)... a phenomenal knock that could even have been a 250! Like it happened with the Tendulkar 200, I missed this occasion too. Atleast in case of the 200*, I had seen Tendulkar bat till he was about 130-odd... but this time, I was reduced to just following the scores on my cell phone. But the highlights were good enough to make you realise what a special knock that was!

10. Cricket: Sri Lanka Move On From Murali (29th December)

South Africa humiliated them in the 1st Test. There was hardly anyone predicting a win for the Sri Lankans before the 2nd Test began. But the Durban jinx struck again. Sri Lanka put up a stupendous performance to beat South Africa in the 2nd Test and level the series at 1-1, subjecting the hosts to their 4th consecutive loss at Kingsmead, Durban. The most important thing was that this was Sri Lanka's first Test win in almost a year and a half since the retirement of Muttiah Muralitharan. I was wondering when Sri Lanka would start winning again... for their year had gone nowhere but down after they had been beaten in the World Cup finals in Mumbai. This match ensured that they finished it on the right note!


There were many other moments worth remembering in 2011 - Sri Lanka's capitulation against England at Cardiff, Zimbabwe's brilliant comeback to Test cricket, Na Li becoming the first Asian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title at Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal's 6th French Open win, Jo Wilfried Tsonga's win over Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinal coming from 2 sets down, Novak Djokovic out-Rafa-ing Rafael Nadal to win his first US Open title, Manchester United losing the derby to Manchester City at home 1-6, numerous clashes between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa during the Formula One season, and many more! Looking forward to another exciting year full of great sporting action... Happy 2012 to everyone!

SHOAIB AKHTAR

Pakistan manged to pull off a win against Sri Lanka in a Group A match played out at Colombo. Filled with moments of brilliance and utter madness, this match lived up to its pre-match hype of being a "big game".

Shahid Afridi got 4 wickets for Pakistan and deservedly got the Man of the Match award for his performance. He is also now the current leading wicket-taker of the tournament with 9 wickets at the end of the first week of the World Cup. But this blog post is not about Shahid Afridi.

Shoaib Akhtar. His career has been a bit like this match, except that there have been a lot of controversies as well. He has been brilliant at times... and completely and inexplicably mad at other times. His career has seen more ups and downs that you'd normally associate with even a span as long as his in the international cricket fraternity.

I was never a fan of Shoaib Akhtar. I did enjoy watching him play because he was a performer... sometimes bad and sometimes good! But never been a fan of his, and I don't think I ever will be. There's something about all pace bowlers and leg spinners that's attracted me always... and Shoaib's bowling has just been one of that!

But his performance against Sri Lanka was something else. If there is a word I could pick to describe what I felt about his performance against Sri Lanka, it was RESPECT. A mellowed version of his past self, Shoaib Akhtar 2.0 has been as impressive as I have ever seen him. He does not come in sprinting during his run up, bowl a 100 mph yorker that uproots 2 stumps, and then go off for wild celebrations allowing his teammates to chase him. No, he is a changed man now... and by the looks of it, changed for the better!

With growing age and increasing maturity, men start realising their weaknesses and limitations. Some men cannot cope up with this realisation and wither away, while some men face them and alter their game accordingly.

Since India's tour of England 2007, this has been the aspect of Sachin Tendulkar that has been the most pleasing to watch. He bats more within himself, seems more human, and yet reaches inhuman heights. On the other end of the spectrum has been Ricky Ponting. He was unable to come to terms with the fact that he was (for some time, at least) having troubles with his pull shots and hook shots... yet continued playing them and falling to them. It was sad to see him in that phase. However, on his last Test tour of India in October 2010, it was pleasing to see the application and the fight he showed against his biggest perceived weakness... facing quality spin bowling. There were two knocks, where both the times he scored 77, that I have immense respect for. That is what you want to see from a legendary fighter!

And the kind of performances that he has put up in recent times is what you want to see from a bowler like Shoaib Akhtar. Sweating profusely, walking with a slight limp, and yet giving his heart and soul into his role for the team! He bowled with intelligence that only comes with experience... and did not lose patience when he did not have wickets to show for his efforts in the first spell.

It is no wonder that the captain showed faith in him when Sri Lanka's best batsmen, Sangakkara and Jayawardene, were batting together. Not for long, said Shoaib, and sent Jayawardene back with a wonderful length ball that jagged back in to hit the top of middle. Just when you wondered that he is looking too tired to be able to continue this spell, he would come back again... and never let the batsmen off the hook. Like the Pakistani batsmen had shown respect to Muralitharan earlier in the day, the Sri Lankan batsmen had no choice but to show respect to the bowling of Shoaib Akhtar.

Not for the output, but for its sheer quality and execution, this one was a performance for which I would truly and honestly remark, "Take a bow!"

MURALI'S TOP 10

Muttiah Muralitharan has recently revealed a list of the ten batsmen whom he found most difficult to bowl to. It's surprising to see 2 Englishmen figure in such a list! And yes, this confirms (once again) that Navjot Singh Sidhu was one of the finest players of spin bowling there has ever been... even Shane Warne acknowledges the craft of Sidhu against the slower men!

So, here's the list (with their average and no. of dismissals against Murali in Test cricket):

1. Brian Lara (West Indies)
2. Mohammad Azharuddin (India)
3. Sachin Tendulkar (India)
4. Navjot Singh Sidhu (India)
5. Saleem Malik (Pakistan)
6. Inzamam-ul-Haq (Pakistan)
7. Andy Flower (Zimbabwe)
8. Graham Thorpe (England)
9. John Crawley (England)
10. Hansie Cronje (South Africa)

I was surprised to see Hansie Cronje in the list, and not his more illustrious teammate against spin bowling... Jacques Kallis! I have a feeling that had Murali's career been a little longer, he might have then even considered putting Hashim Amla somewhere on that list!

ALL TIME WORLD XI - BOWLERS

Just the last three places remain in my All-Time World XI... and I might add, the MOST important ones. The men who will largely be responsible for getting the 20 wickets that win a Test match. The BOWLERS.

As for the other spots, here are the Test statistics of the nominees:

I have classified all the bowlers in the list as either: 1. Slow Left Arm, 2. Leg Spinners, 3. Off Spinners, and 4. Pace (irrespective of whether they were express pace or medium pace, swing bowlers or seam bowlers etc).

I have already chosen Imran Khan and Jacques Kallis as my all rounders... and thus, I want 2 spinners and 1 pacer amongst the lot above. And amongst the spinner, I want at least 1 leg spinner. I wouldn't mind picking 2 leg-spinners, but I have a strict objection to playing 2 off-spinners.

So, here goes... The two spinners of this team are... Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan. It may sound an easy choice... but it was not. Both these bowlers have had certain criticisms. Both do not have a great record against India. But then I thought, amongst spinners, who does? That should not take anything away from their greatness.

Then there was the matter of Murali's record against the Aussies... the dominant team of the era he played in. There are also doubters who will use his statistics against the minnows like Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to show how much impact they had on his overall figures. But then, this selection is not pure statistics. Murali, in his prime, had this stamina to bowl on and on for hours at a stretch. And more often than not, he threatened. He turned the ball on every wicket. And he had great control over his turn. Such a bowler certainly deserves his place in the team!

Amongst the faster bowlers, it was not too difficult despite the presence of some of the greatest bowlers there. I chose Malcolm Marshall... he was fast, pacy, fiery and regarded by many as one of the All-Time Best. One statistic that I pay a lot of attention to for Test bowlers is their Strike Rate... and with Marshall's 46.7, and also his brilliant average of 20.94, my decision is firmly made.

So here is my complete bowling unit: Malcolm Marshall, Imran Khan, Shane Warne, Muttiah Muralitharan and Jacques Kallis.

I will do one last post on this XI, where I will decide the captain and talk about the entire team as a unit.

DHONI'S SUPER-MISTAKE

MS Dhoni's choice of bowler for the Super Over during yesterday's tied tie against Victoria was a surprising one. Usually, a captain gives the ball to a bowler who has had a good day. That would have been Murali, given that both Bollinger and Ashwin had had a mixed day.


However, to my mind, the best option would still have been Bollinger. Here is a bit of trivia before I proceed further:


- Cricinfo archives show that there have been 12 recorded cases of Super Overs in Twenty20 matches, including yesterday's.
- Of these 12, I managed to find out who were the bowlers and the scores involved in 11 of them.
- The 1 match that I did not manage to find anything about was the Northern Districts v. Canterbury match at Seddon Park, Hamilton on 18th February 2009.
- On a completely irrelevant note, that day (i.e. 18th February 2009) saw 2 other cases of Super Overs in South Africa - Dolphins v Cape Cobras at Kingsmead, Durban and Eagles v Warriors at St. George's Park, Port Elizabeth.
- Of the 22 Super Overs (11 X 2) I have on record, only 7 have been bowled by slow bowlers.
- Of these 7, only 2 have been won by slow bowlers. Incidentally, both these wins came when the opposition also used a slow bowler for their Super Over.
- So in the 3 cases where Super Over was a slow bowler v medium / pace bowler affair, the slower bowlers have always failed to deliver.


Now, I do not expect MS Dhoni to know these facts. But I would have expected him to learn from his mistakes. Just this year at the IPL, he had faced a Super Over situation where he chose Muttiah Muralitharan to bowl against Kings XI Punjab to defend his team's score of 9 for 2 (which were scored against Juan Theron - a medium pacer). Muralitharan managed 10 for 1 in less than 1 over as CSK lost that match and crucial points.


In the only other case of pace v spin, Ajantha Mendis had fared badly as Yusuf Pathan demolished him during IPL 2009's Rajasthan Royals v Kolkata Knight Riders match. Kamran Khan, the unheralded young Royals pacer had gone for 16 in his over as Mendis conceded 18 in his first 4 balls itself. And I expect Dhoni knew about this match.


Added to this were factors like constant drizzle and the grip on the ball during the Super Over yesterday. So Dhoni's decision to use Ashwin was pretty much a wrong one to me even before he started bowling and conceded those 20-odd runs. The match was effectively sealed then and the points secured for Victoria.

INDIA'S FIRST TEST JINX AND DHONI ON THE BACKFOOT

Oh well! It wasn't unexpected at all! This tour of Sri Lanka is the 15th 'away' Test series that India has started, against a Test opponent other than Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, from 1st January 2000. And this was their 7th loss in the opening Test of such a series.


I thought that being the No. 1 team now would have meant a little bit of change... but then some thing don't change at all. So as Sri Lanka celebrate the great achievement by their favourite son Muttiah Muralitharan to notch up 800 Test wickets... India need to sit back and introspect.


India's record in 2nd Tests on tours where they have lost the 1st one is a little difficult to analyse... out of the 6 previous occasions where India has lost the 1st Test of a tour in 2000s, India has bounced back to a win 2 times, slumped to another defeat 2 times, and managed a draw 2 times. So, it currently stands at 2-2-2.


Whatever the past record says, I will be surprised if India don't fight back with a much better performance in the 2nd Test at Colombo. In particular, I am sure that the batting unit will perform admirable once again. But will India manage to win the Test? That question remains unanswered in my mind.


India's bowling is weak. And Dhoni's captaincy was uninspiring today. Dhoni is fast going the Ponting way. He is a bat-first bully as a captain. In conditions where it is not favourable to bat second and he is forced to do so after losing the toss, he is being found wanted. And the problems have been compounded by the fact that he has now lost his last 5 tosses as a Test captain for India (and batted second in all of them).


Here's an analysis of Tests in which Dhoni has lost the toss and was made to bat second by his opposing captain:


v. South Africa, Kanpur 2008 - India won by 8 wickets - This win came due to the fact that South Africa was rubbish at playing spin on a crumbling pitch. Paul Harris managed to pick 4 wickets in that Test - that should tell the story! I don't think that Dhoni was spectacular in his part-time role as a captain (he was filling in for Anil Kumble then).


v. England, Chennai 2008 - India won by 6 wickets - Dhoni's 4th Test as captain and he was definitely found wanting when the opposition batting unit clicked. Andrew Strauss hit a hundred in each innings, as India crumbled to hand over a 75-run 1st innings advantage. In the second innings, Dhoni couldn't separate the pair of Strauss and Collingwood for a long time. In the end, India managed to win only because of Sehwag's belligerence on the 4th day and Tendulkar's composure on the 5th. Otherwise, this might well have been Dhoni's first loss as a captain.


v. Sri Lanka, Mumbai (BS) 2009 - India won by an innings and 144 runs - When Sri Lanka was batting in the 1st innings, the signs were not good for India. Dilshan and Mathews batted brilliantly and Dhoni was always one step behind the game as Sri Lanka notched up almost 400. Again, Dhoni should thank Sehwag for his brutal 293 that ensured that India managed 726 in reply. Dhoni chipped in with a 100* himself... but then India was already 200 runs ahead when he came in to bat... not exactly a knock under pressure by the captain!


v. Bangladesh, Dhaka 2010 - India won by 10 wickets - Well, it was Bangladesh after all! They have indeed made very decent progress in Test cricket, but they are still Bangladesh!


v. South Africa, Nagpur 2010 - India lost by an innings and 6 runs - Dhoni's first loss as a Test captain was an embarrassing one for the No. 1 Test team. Dhoni looked absolutely clueless as Amla and Kallis piled on 340 runs for the 4th wicket. This showed in an absolutely clear manner that when the opposition is on top, Dhoni starts to sink.


v. South Africa, Kolkata 2010 - India won by an innings and 57 runs - India did manage a win, but Dhoni did look helpless in the first two sessions on Day 1 when Amla and Peterson put on a 209-run 2nd wicket stand. He fared much better once Zaheer and Harbhajan had engineered a collapse to dismiss South Africa eventually for 296. And yes, another ton for the captain... after all, he came in to bat when India was just 12 runs shy of a 100-run lead!


v. Sri Lanka, Galle 2010 - India lost by 10 wickets - I don't need to say a lot. The bats of Paranavitana and Sangakkara did the speaking.


Back in February this year, after India had lost the first Test to South Africa at Nagpur, Avjit Ghosh had written on his blog: "Dhoni is a master of mediocre bowling but is hardly the same batsman against stronger attacks."


I really want to add further that his captaincy is not very different. He needs to start a Test match strongly to be able to dominate. Where India starts a Test on the backfoot, like batting second after losing the toss, he looks helpless and uninspiring as a captain. He still has managed to give a few positive results in such cases, but any captain would have managed that if he had Sehwag and Tendulkar playing the way they did in those cases!

MURALI: A LEGEND ABOUT TO RETIRE

Muttiah Muralitharan! This name elicits one response from me: respect, immense respect! And the reason is simple: this man has deserved every bit of it.

He's been embroiled in controversies... none of which were of his making. He was called for 'chucking' a number of times in his career. But how could he help it? It was a physical / biological problem that he could do nothing about. It was incurable. He was just a lover of the game who wanted to serve the game in his country to the best of his abilities.

So he went on. He faced all the criticism and never gave up... kept on bowling day in and day out... carrying the burden of being the lynch pin of Sri Lankan cricket. The results are there for everyone to see: highest number of wickets in Tests and ODIs, highest number of 5-fors and 10-fors, and numerous matches won for his team.

For me, Murali will always be a legend! I am glad to see that he will be playing his last Test match against India. He's had some extremely absorbing duels with Indians over the last many years... and it would be a perfect way to sign off with another one!

SRT v LEE AND SANGA - MAHELA v LASITH MALINGA

Yesterday's match: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Deccan Chargers
My Prediction: Deccan Chargers
Actual Winner: Deccan Chargers

Today's Match: Kings XI Punjab v Mumbai Indians
My Prediction: Mumbai Indians

So finally, after a long time, my prediction has come true! And I hope that tonight's will come true as well!

I hope Zaheer is fit and well-rested... I am not worried about him missing more matches for MI, but I want him fit for the World Twenty20 Championship. He is India's best pace bowler today by quite a distance... and he's not featured in either of the two World Twenty20 Championships that have been held till date.

Mohali will provide much better playing conditions that Chennai (in respect of weather)... so I am positively hoping for a big performance from SRT today! Incidentally, Sachin has hit just 1 six at Mohali in international matches - way back on 8th November 2007 against Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) in an innings where he was dismissed for 99! I'd love to see a similar performance tonight.

Some people are waiting for the Sachin Tendulkar v Brett Lee contest, but I am actually waiting to see the Sangakkara - Jayawardene v Lasith Malinga contest. Not so long back, another magician from the Emerald Isles - Muttiah Muralitharan - got the better of his countrymen when KXIP played CSK. Will the slinger-Malinga manage the same?

And yes, by the way, RCB's loss yesterday has thrown open the entire IPL table. Whereas just a week ago, 4 teams were fighting for 1 semi-final slot, now it has become 5 teams fighting over 2 slots. RCB's momentum has gone for a toss... and there have been numerous question marks from every quarter over their team selection policies.

They are due to host KKR tomorrow, who have suddenly found a new energy (especially, their skipper Sourav 'Dada' Ganguly). That match, I believe, will be a lot more interesting than tonight's fixture... but then, God's team will be playing tonight!

CSK HAS MOTIVATION, BUT IS MI TOO STRONG?

Tonight’s encounter at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium promises to be a mouth-watering clash. An in-form Chennai Super Kings side takes on the best team of the tournament so far, Mumbai Indians.

But then, even the last match at Ferozeshah Kotla, New Delhi – between Delhi Daredevils and Royal Challengers Bangalore – had promised a lot. In the end, it turned out to be pretty easy win for the hosts. I have a feeling that the CSK v MI match will be a better contest because I don’t expect MS Dhoni or Sachin Tendulkar to make any selection error like the one made by Anil Kumble at Kotla.

Last time when these two teams met, Suresh Raina played a brilliant knock, well-supported by S Badrinath. MI’s bowling, after grabbing the 2 early wickets, looked toothless (for once in the tournament). However, MI’s batting, led by the Master, chased down a seemingly daunting target of 181 with consummate ease. Sachin Tendulkar has hit only 1 six in this tournament thus far, and it came in that particular match against Muttiah Muralitharan when he danced down the track and deposited the wily Lankan over long-on boundary.

The hosts have a much better look to their squad now with the addition of Doug Bollinger. His much-talked-about ability to hurry on to the batsmen caused a lot of discomfort to the RR batsmen, and effectively won the match for CSK. I don’t know if MS Dhoni has thought about dropping Matthew Hayden. Apart from that one blistering innings with the Mongoose, he has not contributed a lot at the top. Hayden can be replaced by Mike Hussey, who is also an exceptional fielder – certainly much better than Hayden in the field. Hayden’s absence from the team might even help in dousing the competitive spirit of Harbhajan Singh, who just loves competing against this and few other particular Aussies.

The visitors, on the other hand, have a very settled look to their squad. They have always found someone who raised his hand up during sticky situations and got them out of it. The youngsters have fired well, and the bowling attack is one of the best in this tournament. However, CSK will be buoyed by the fact that MI has looked fallible in the last few matches. That they have managed to come out on top of such situations is a different matter altogether.

Chepauk, the stadium as well as the crowd, has always been kind to Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh. But then, Twenty20 is a completely different cup of tea. The motivation is a lot more for the hosts, who not only want to enter the top-4 once again, but also seek revenge for their defeat at Brabourne Stadium. But then, once SRT has the bat in his hands, he does not need to search anywhere for motivation. It’s there within.