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!

WHY I DO NOT AGREE WITH ANDREW MILLER

On reading this piece by Andrew Miller on Cricinfo (How good are this England side?), I was left with quite a few questions in my head. There are a couple of points in that piece that immediately left me shaking my head in disagreement. Here is the first bit:

"It is said that the acid test for this England team will come when they are faced with Asian pitches in the UAE and Sri Lanka this winter, though it's hard to believe that's really the case. If any side has the ingredients to triumph in such conditions, it is England - the fittest squad of international cricketers on the planet, whose batsmen have demonstrated the dedication required to grind out big scores in attritional passages of play, whose bowlers build pressure by strangling runs, and whose spinner, Swann - for all that he falls short of true greatness - is indisputably the best in the game at present."

I do not quite understand why is it so hard to believe that the acid test for England will come on Asian pitches. The current England squad is undoubtedly brilliant, and arguably at the peak of its powers at the moment. They managed to earn a hard-fought draw away in South Africa, flattened Australia in Australia, and demolished India at home. Like the great teams of the past, the only ground that remains to be conquered is the sub-continent (or broadly Asia, since they will be playing Pakistan in UAE).

He reasons that England is the fittest squad currently (though I think that the South Africans might want to challenge him on that), their batsmen have the capability to be attritional and score big, bowlers can strangle runs when needed, and they have the best spinner in the world. Fine reasons those!

But each of those reasons applied even to Steve Waugh's men who conquered everything in their path... or rather, almost everything! They were the fittest squad of their time, some of the batsmen and bowlers on their payroll are acknowledged today as all-time greats, and they definitely featured the best spinner of their time - one who even managed to make it to Cricinfo's All-Time Test XI as a unanimous choice!

Yet, on either side of their run of 16 consecutive Test wins through 1999, 2000 and 2001, Steve Waugh's Australia failed in its acid test on Asian wickets. The Kolkata and Chennai defeats to India in 2001 are famously remembered, but what is not remembered is that just before the start of their 16-match winning streak, they had recorded a series loss in Sri Lanka (September 1999).

So hard as it may be for Mr. Miller to believe that Asian pitches shall be their acid test, they would really still need to pass it to be able to make a further claim. Just having ingredients of success is not enough, as we Indians learnt it the hard way this English summer! We may not have had all the ingredients of success in our Indian squad, but we had managed to hold on to the No. 1 ranking with whatever ingredients we possessed for 20 months. It all came down spectacularly in 1 month! While I don't think it will be quite as dramatic for England, they still do have a task on hand to consolidate their top-of-the-table ranking.

Now, coming to the second excerpt from Mr. Miller's piece that I actually managed to frown upon:

"Passages of play such as Mishra's stand with Sachin Tendulkar prove that England are not unstoppable, but given that no team in the world can replicate their current levels of desire, it's going to take something extra to derail their ambitions."

Just one question here - just how does one claim that a certain person or a certain team's level of desire is the greatest or the least? I am really not a fan of blanket statements such as these where desires, ambitions, courage, spirit, and other such immeasurable aspects of a sportsman or sportsmen are judged.

I was not the only one who did not quite agree with this statement. There were others too, like @thecricketcouch and @grangergabblog. In reply to @thecricketcouch's question as to how could he make such a statement of England team's desire, this is what Mr. Miller (@miller_cricket) replied: 

Honestly, I believe this is as wrong an argument as any I have seen. I don't think that desire is always directly proportional to your on-field performance. Does that mean that every time a team loses a match, they did not desire to win it? It's a very rhetorical question... so lets just explore this with a few examples.

India lost 7 for 33 vs. England at Bangalore, 4 for 30 during the middle overs vs. the Netherlands at New Delhi, a mammoth collapse of 9 for 29 vs. South Africa at Nagpur, and even a 7 for 50 vs. West Indies at Chennai during the league stages of the World Cup 2011. Does this mean that they had no desire to win it? Going by @miller_cricket's response to @thecricketcouch on Twitter, it would tantamount to lack of desire.

Lets use an English example. England lost 6 for 63 in the first innings of the 1st Ashes Test match at Brisbane last year. Does that mean that the Australians had more desire to win that Ashes Test match than England? Does Rafael Nadal's loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon finals this year (2011), or his loss to Robin Soderling in the 4th round of French Open 2009 or Federer's loss to Nadal in the finals of Wimbledon 2008 imply that the victors were the ones who desired those wins more?

That, in my opinion, would be an insult to the vanquished - be it India this summer, Australia last winter, or Nadal and Federer over those (and other) matches. Every sportsman in every sport (be it a team game or an individual sport) takes the field of play with the sole desire to win. That is my opinion at least, for that is how even I used to play during my school days even against an XI comprising of seniors! These men are professional, and to compare and judge their levels of desire, in my opinion, is quite like insulting them!

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.

THESE MEN PLAY CRICKET TOO

(L to R): Rarva Dikana (Papua New Guinea), Akbar Baig (Uganda), Khurram Khan (United Arab Emirates), Craig Williams (Namibia), Najeeb Amar (Hong Kong), David Hemp (Bermuda)

These are the captains of the 6 teams that will take part in the World Cricket League Division Two tournament, organised by the ICC and hosted by UAE, starting today (8th April 2011). Incidentally, this is a 50-over tournament. If the ICC really has no plans to give these men a chance to dream of playing in a 50-over World Cups, then why hold such tournaments?

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...)

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.