Bobji, Author at Cricket Critique

Boring press briefings

Posted on 4 January 20254 January 2025 by Bobji

At the end of the day or at the end of a game, the captains are usually involved in a press briefing. An overwhelming majority of those briefings are not even worthy of listening to because it usually follows the same old cliché. This is not restricted only to cricket. This is the case across the entire world in every sport. Captains are not trained to handle the media. Their job is to go out onto the field and win games for the nation. The lack of training is telling in every media interaction. The losing captain will usually say that we did everything we could but it wasn’t good enough. The winning captain will gloat over everything that turned into gold when the fact is somewhere in the middle. However, Rohit’s media briefing after the Melbourne defeat was slightly different. It wasn’t one of the boring press briefings.

Rohit Sharma has been struggling with his batting for quite awhile. With Ashwin retired, there are calls for Rohit to retire as well. The minimum that is expected is for him to resign the captaincy. The defeat at Melbourne was the 5 Test India has lost in 6 games under Rohit without a single win. The Perth victory was achieved when Bumrah was the captain. As such, Rohit is under tremendous pressure. He is hurt and was letdown consistently by the batsmen. Rohit is not in a mood to either relinquish the captaincy nor to retire from the game.

Instead of revealed something that painted Rishabh Pant in a bad light. It wasn’t wrong because Pant deserved to be reprimanded after his twin atrocious shots opened the gates to the Australians.

The Pant reprimand or was it?

“Rishabh Pant obviously he needs to understand what is required from himself. More than any one of us telling him, it’s about him understanding and figuring out what’s the right way to go about it. In the past, he has given us lot of success doing what he does. As a captain, there’s a kind of mixed reaction to that. As captain, it’s hard to have a conversation when it has given him a lot of success as well. But it’s about him figuring out what is the right way to do things, it’s about situations as well. Certain situations of the game, if there’s a risk percentage, do you want to take that risk? Do you want to let the opposition come back into the game? Those are the things he needs to figure out himself.”

These are telling lines. It signifies that either Pant is not listening to what was being told to him or he does not really care about the situation the team finds itself in, quite often these days. This is infact a serious situation. Pant is a highly talented batsman who, if he applies himself, will end up with an average of over 50. He is that kind of a batsman. Test cricket is his calling card. If Pant is unwilling to adapt to the demands of the situation, something must be done. Not that long ago, against New Zealand in Bangalore, he played an innings that was uncharacteristic. It was what in cricketing parlance called controlled aggression. Yet, he scored at almost a run a ball.

A specialist batsman must be a bit more responsible

The twin shots at Melbourne will make anyone who has seen Pant bat in adversity, pull his hair. Especially, the ungainly scoop of Boland. His dismissals, triggered a collapse that was somehow arrested by Sundar and Nitish in the first innings but no one could in the second. At number 5, he is being treated as a specialist batsman. If he fails to understand the responsibility of a batsman, it is better he comes down the order at number 7 or 8. Sundar showed much restraint and must probably bat ahead of Pant.

Was Gill not dropped?

When the team was announced, everyone thought that Gill was dropped and rightly so. Gill hasn’t been scoring runs consistently. He had a good series against England in India and also he was the only batsman who scored in the 3^rd Test against New Zealand. However, his overall numbers shows that the rope given to him has extended infinitely. The decision to drop him was justified. However, it seems that he wasn’t dropped.

“I had a chat with him [Gill]. There’s no way when you’re leaving someone out, for whatever reason it is, you will not have a chat,” Rohit said. “The chat with him was clearly he was not dropped. [We] just wanted to have extra bit of cushion in the bowling and we opted for an allrounder, which shouldn’t weaken our batting line-up.”

Rohit Sharma confuses everybody and is confused himself.

Wrapping up boring press briefings

These two comments were significant in an otherwise boring press briefings. It would have been even better if Rohit had said that Gill was indeed dropped on performance and that Pant has not been learning from his indiscretions. For once, let the captains say whatever they thought. This Indian team has been balancing on a thin rope for a very longtime. An insipid England was the only team to lose comprehensively. Jaiswal covered the failures of other batsmen in that series. No one has come to the rescue in Australia and against New Zealand.

Rohit himself is guilty of still hanging onto the captaincy despite a horrible record for an Indian captain next only to Dhoni.

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Squarely blame the BCCI

Squarely blame the BCCI

Posted on 4 January 20254 January 2025 by Bobji

The G Boxing Day Test is done and dusted. Australia prevailed because of some insipid batting by India. They definitely did not perform on a superior level. It was the mindless, stupid Indian batting and the lack of support for Bumrah, the cause of the heavy defeat. The players are to be blamed. There is no doubt about that but the bigger blame lies with the BCCI. I am really surprised that no one is talking about BCCI and everytime, they get away easily. With the resources available for BCCI, India must be having 2-3 teams for every format and they all must be dominating the game. Why aren’t we doing that? It is because of the BCCI.

This wasn’t a Test that India must have lost. Infact, a draw would have been the ideal outcome. The pitch became a batting beauty on all the days. Nathan Lyon and Scott Boland for Australia, survived on that pitch for more than 15 overs. Yes, there was occasional deliveries that reared from a good length but they were few and far between. It required determination and temperament, as was showcased by Labuschagne. It was a pitch where survival wasn’t so tough. Yet, India found ways to get out.

The mindless running from Jaiswal began the proceedings. Yes, it was his call but the fielder was way too close to the wicket than a usual mid-off fielder is. There wasn’t a run. Kohli could have sacrificed his wicket because if at all anyone was to score runs, among the two, it was Jaiswal. If Jaiswal’s runout in the first innings was terrible, what followed was even more outrageous. Rishabh Pant.

Pant’s glaring failure

Four years ago, it was Pant who was the hero for an entire nation. Four years hence, it is Pant, who has become the villain. Pant’s failure in this series, has been defining. He is yet to score a 50 in 7 innings. When a team plays with 5 batsmen, the role of the wicket-keeper becomes enormous. He is expect to score runs not just because he is talented but he can. Pant had the perfect setting to make a grand impact. What did he do? He went for an ugly hoick to a delivery that was too full and that was nowhere near the shot tha he attempted.

Sunil Gavaskar, on air was livid. He called Pant stupid several times and rightly so. It is another matter that Gavaskar chose to look past the same ugly shot played by Rohit. Pant seems to have taken his spot for granted. If that is the case, it is time, he needs to be punished. At Sydney, he must come in at number 7 or later. He must be told that his sudden bursts of stupidity is costing the team dearly. You do not play such ungainly shots when the team is in serious trouble.

Here he showed admirable restraint. It is not that he cannot play such a game. It is just that he does not want to. More than 15 overs of circumspection suddenly gave way to a moment of madness, again, top edging an almighty heave when there were fielders posted on the boundary. Twice in this Test, Pant showed that he must be least trusted. It is time to demote him in the batting order.

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kolhi

Indians are tired and frustrated with this duo. How many more failures can they be allowed? Rohit Sharma has a highest score of 62 in Australia with an average less than 20. Yet, he is the opening batsman. Even a Dennis Lillee, at the age of 70+ will be easily able to pick up his wicket. As for Kohli, he has emphatically shown that he is highly indisciplined and insubordinate and do not wish to change his game. Kohli has become utterly arrogant despite years of non-performance. The shoulder barge of Konstas was another instance of his arrogance.

Ashwin who was the best brain in the team, never became the captain but has now retired. Why is Rohit and Kohli still clinging on? The day these two useless cricketers announce their retirement, it will feel like good riddance.

Siraj is another who seems to think that his mouth will fetch wickets and not his bowling. He always has something to say to anyone and everyone. If he is like this when not doing anything worthwhile, how will he be if he actually perform?

Coming onto the board

The BCCI is responsible for this loss. This board is determined to destroy the image of the nation. They are not worried that the Indian team is neither respected nor scared. Any loss does not bother the BCCI at all because they are busy making money from every toilet seat. No first class game before the first Test, playing some meaningless games throughout the year, an IPL that is glorified but the nation has won only one T20 World Cup since the IPL’s inception. Series loss at home, another series loss looming. Nothing will affect the BCCI. It is a body that has been headed by many people who would not even know the difference between a batsman and a bowler.

It is a shame that this is the board that is flush with money which in the hands of Australian, English, South African or New Zealand boards, their teams will be the best in the world forever.

Wrapping up squarely blame the BCCI

In a way, the Melbourne loss is welcome. Some careers like that of Kohli and Rohit will end and some careers like Siraj and Gill will be stalled.

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30 minutes of madness

Posted on 28 December 202428 December 2024 by Bobji

All it took for India to convert a position of promise to a position of direstraits was just 30 minutes. When India loses this series, this 30 minutes of madness will prove pivotal. It started with the needless and unnecessary runout of Jaiswal and it ended with the tame dismissal of Akash Deep. Ofcourse, India do not deserve to win the series if the batting continues in this fashion. It is only just that they do not qualify for the WTC Finals in 2025. How many times have the Indian batsmen faltered over the last year, in the first innings goes on and on and on. At the end of the day, Cummins could not hide his delight while talking to the host broadcaster with the turn of events. Any captain will be pleased with that sudden change.

First, there was the unnecessary and ill-advised change at the top of the order. Rahul is the best Indian batsman of this tour. He is batting pretty well as an opener. It took a special Cummins delivery to get rid of him. What was the need to change that combination? Rohit Sharma is as clueless while batting as he is on the field. It really is a shame that Ashwin could not be the captain after Kohli. Rohit came and he went. That is all we can say about his batting. Here we were, chasing a daunting total of 474 and what does Rohit do? He plays a nothing shot, it wasn’t a pull nor was it a jab. It just poked at an innocuous delivery from Cummins. The entire Australian nation would have been laughing at that dismissal.

The easiest wicket one could get

I can imagine that Jason Gillespie, at his age, picking up the phone and talking to Cummins and wanting to bowl as soon as he saw Rohit Sharma striding to the crease. He could have relished at the prospect a picking up a cheap wicket at his age. Here was a batsman, with an highest score of 62 in Australia, who is averaging 10 on this tour, walking in to face the new-ball. It was utter madness. Even a kid, who is learning the game, would have fancied his chances against Rohit. During the course of is lightning stay, Rohit notched up a shameful record. During the 2024-25 season, he averages 11.07, the second lowest by an Indian in a season. The lower is 10.00 by Chandu Sarwate in 1947. What a shame.

Ideally, as soon as Rohit witnessed India win the first Test, must he resigned his captaincy and handed it over to Bumrah. Rohit is 38 with his best days behind him. Perhaps, he can still continue in ODI for about a year but he must announce his retirement with immediate effect and let Bumrah takeover at Sydney or else, risk getting dropped.

Coming to the 30 minutes of madness

Jaiswal hit the ball towards mid-off and took off for a run. Kohli was with his back towards him and by the time Kohli could see him, Jaiswal was standing 3 feet from him. There was no way Jaiswal could have gone back. To be fair to Kohli, there wasn’t a single for Pat Cummins was not in the traditional mid-off region but must too closer to the non-striker. Jaiswal misjudged the single but he was fully committed and kept on running. It certainly seemed that Jaiswal was under some pressure to go to the other end. Why? One could not tel because at that stage, he was batting beautifully that it looked like India will go to stumps with about 25% of the runs shaved off of the Australian total with no further damage.

Everyone was undone just in the space of 5 overs. The Jaiswal run-out was followed by yet another poke outside the offstump by Kohli and then the wicket of Akash Deep to end the nightmarish few overs. I just do not understand the concept of nightwatchman. If your specialist batsman is incapable of negotiating 4-5 overs at the end, what is the point him in the team? Akash Deep had just a couple of hours earlier, returned to the pavilion after bowling 26 overs in the intense Melbourne heat. He would have expected to nice rest for the reminder of the day. Instead, he was asked to go in as a nightwatchman. Rishabh Pant and even Jadeja made to the crease anyway.

Nightwatchman? Really?

It can be said that it was only a nightwatchman who got out but the entire complexion changes in the overall scheme of the game. As for the runout, it would have been better if Kohli had sacrificed his wicket. If at all someone is going to score a daddy hundred, it was Jaiswal. His wicket was more valuable than Kohli’s.

Five years ago, Kohli was the insurance against a top-order collapse and also to strengthen a position of solidity. Nowadays, Kohli has become a sitting duck. He certainly looks like someone who wants to be anywhere in the world than a cricketing field. I do not know how long will his stupid outbursts and lack of performance be tolerated.

As for Australia, they absolutely ran raggard in the morning with 170 runs in just about 30 overs. Anyone and everyone contributed. It is a good batting track but Indians have failed to take advantage of it. Back in 2011, Ricky Ponting, who begged for a run during the previous 3 years, scored a couple of double hundreds against India. Much the same could be said about Steve Smith.

Wrapping up 30 minutes of madness

Well, India are down and out of this Test. Pant, Jadeja, Sundar and Nitish cannot be counted to overhaul the Australian total. The game will probably finish on the 4^th day or the 3^rd day itself if Cummins imposes follow on.

The G day one

Posted on 28 December 202428 December 2024 by Bobji

An attendance of more than 80K for day 1 on of the Border Gavaskar Trophy at the G, is incredible. Boxing Day cricket has its own charm which has diminished after all these years. On the field, it was Australia’s day. They managed to cross 300 and have lost only 6 wickets with a well set Smith and Cummins at the wicket. Australia will hope to extend their innings whereas India will want to knock off the remaining wickets. The G day one, had its fair share of drama to with the suspect being the usual Virat Kohli. For the first time in this series, the top order of Australia performed in unison whereas for the Indian bowlers, there was a slight, only slight, respite for Bumrah.

The Kohli Konstas incident

Virat Kohli is one lucky cricketer. Despite his innumerable poor conduct on the field, he has somehow survived harsh punishment. This was one such incident where the fault lay squarely on Kohli. Based on the TV footage, it is clear that Kohli who was somewhere in the mid-off region, moved towards Konstas and barged straight into him. This was completely unacceptable. Konstas was within his region and was looking down when all of a sudden, he was confronted by Kohli. It was a needful aggression on the part of Kohli. Konstas is half the age of Kohli, yet Kohli found it worth the time to needle a teenager. If he hasn’t been playing for India, Kohli would have been banned multiple times. The behemoth that BCCI is, is what saving Kohli time and again. This must stop.

ICC rule states that Relevant here is another set of rules in ICC’s Code of Conduct (CoC). The article 2.12 of CoC reads:

“Any form of inappropriate physical contact is prohibited in cricket. Without limitation, players will breach this regulation if they deliberately, recklessly and/or negligently walk or run into or shoulder another player or umpire.”When assessing the seriousness of the breach, the following factors (without limitation) shall be taken into account: (i) the context of the particular situation, including, without limitation, whether the contact was deliberate (i.e. intentional), reckless, negligent, and/or avoidable; (ii) the force of the contact; (iii) any resulting injury to the person with whom contact was made; and (iv) the person with whom contact was made.”

Kohli has been fined 20% of the match fees and given one demerit point.

Kohli is clearly feeling the pressure of being useless for 5 years. He wants to remain relevant.

The extraordinary debut

Australia found Bumrah to tough to handle. They jettisoned McSweeny and summoned Konstas with the aim of upsetting the rhythm of Bumrah. They were rewarded rightaway with Konstas playing some outrageous shots on the first morning of his debut. Indians will be reminded of a certain Virender Sehwag, who some 20 years ago, laid into the Australia bowlers to the tune of 195 runs. Konstas could not carry on with his innings but messed with the lines of Bumrah. If Bumrah is taken care of, the rest of the Indian bowling is not that threatening. Some of the shots, the reverse flick-scoop, scoop were extraordinary. Ofcourse, he had his fair share of fortune when in the first over, he was beaten 4 times by Bumrah. He tried to counter that with reverse scoop but only connected thin-air.

Things turned on its head, when he managed to connect the reverse scoops thrice in the subsequent overs. The first spell of Bumrah went for 38 of just 6 overs. What Konstas’s innings did was, it did not expose Khawaja to Bumrah. He faced only 3 deliveries from Bumrah. Konstas followed that with moving to leg and hitting the fast bowlers through the covers. It looked good when it came off but those were high risk shots which he will be advised to put them in the backburner.

The unlucky Akash Deep

Siraj, one could not fathom the need to continue with him. I would have preferred Prasidh Krishna instead of Siraj. Prasidh is an unknown quantity. He may or may not have been influential but he would not have been as disastrous as Siraj who gives away close to 5 runs an over. Siraj comes across as someone who does not think while bowling. He is the second highest wicket taker for India in this series but most of those wickets have come when Australia were in a commanding position. His lack of any impact is the reason, Bumrah is overloaded.

The same cannot be said about Akash Deep. He induced 38 false shots before getting a wicket. At Brisbane, he induced 58 false shots but couldn’t get any. Perhaps, it is better if he shares the new-ball with Bumrah rather than Siraj.

Gill missing

The surprise of the morning was that Shubman Gill did not find a spot in the team. It is another matter that in a team of batting tards, dropping Gill will make any impact. Though I do not mind Gill not playing, given his highest score of 40 after the 91 at The Gabba 4 years ago, I would like to see similar yardstick applied to Rohit and especially, to Kohli.

Wrapping up the G day one

The rest of the day did not go that well for India. Australia are on the ascendancy. They have more than 300 with 4 wickets remaining. With the brittle Indian batting, that is always a daunting score. However, the pitch looks to be batting friendly. MCG offers the best batting condition on day 2. India must aim for a large enough total to entertain any thoughts of a win.

The England New Zealand series

Posted on 28 December 202428 December 2024 by Bobji

It was along the expected lines. Prior to the start of the series, I wrote that it was advantage England. In the end, it happened exactly as I thought it would. New Zealand had a consolation win but England won the series in a canter. Of the two teams, it was England who had much better bowlers and much better batsmen. They had pace and their bowlers are all tall. Brydon Carse, Gus Atkinson and Ollie Stone are bowlers capable of bowling at 90MPH ably assisted by the spin of Shoaib Bashir. New Zealand on the otherhand, did not have any batsman to support Williamson which resulted in them losing the series. The England New Zealand series did not contain too many twists or turns. It went along the expected lines.

Fresh off of a resounding series win in India, there were quite a lot of expectations on New Zealand. That they fell way too short was not because they have fallen suddenly. It was because they were against a team who was better in all aspects of the game. It took a couple of New Zealanders to bring down to earth the New Zealand team. Eversince, McCullum and Stokes took over England, they have been meticulous in their preparation though the execution has a few times, faltered.

Ofcourse they had several reversals, in India, in Pakistan and against Australia but the overall record is still impressive. A couple of years ago, when England again toured New Zealand, they could have or rather must have won the series if not for a shocking Stokes declaration. This time around, Stokes did none of that. Infact, he allowed the lead to swell past 500 before declaring.

Something the Stokes of a year ago, would not have.

Gains for England – Bowlers

Of that there were plenty. Eversince, England lost the series to India, a need for overhaul was felt. James Anderson, England’s highest wicket-taker, was told in no uncertain terms that his services were no longer needed and that at his age, he was likely to have negligible impact in Australia. Johnny Bairstow, the hero in the first couple of years of Bazball, was also jettisoned because of diminishing returns. So were Ollie Robinson and Ben Foakes. The last was a bit of a surprise because in the limited opportunities that he got, he didn’t perform that poorly. Anyway, his replacement, Smith, has had an excellent start to his international career.

Let us admit that whatever England does, it is always with an eye on Australia. The English establishment, firmly believes that the reversal in Australia over the last several years was because they did not possess bowlers who are tall and with pace. This they believe is a potent combination to take advantage of the bounce on offer. Towards that end, they have selected Gus Atkinson and Brydon Carse. Carse especially, seems to have been an inspired selection. He was the main reason for England winning the series with a game to spare. Both combined with Stone and Archer, will be a potent bowling attack. Ofcourse, Archer did not play a single game but England seems to be giving him ample amount of time to be ready for India and Australia in 2025. The added bonus is that Atkinson is decent with the bat.

On the whole, England have managed to build a formidable fast bowling attack with each one vying for a spot. Next year’s Ashes is promising to be excellent for England. If these bowlers can stay injury free, chances are that England will run roughshod over Australia.

Gains for England – Batsmen

Jacob Bethell, the youngster, enjoyed a successful introduction to international cricket. Three scores of above 50 with a best of 96, showed that he has potential and the ability to survive at the highest level. His discomfort against high pace will be noted by the bowlers around the world. However, when Smith returns, it will be interesting to see whether Stokes persists with Bethell and thereby drop Pope or the otherway around.

Joe Root and Harry Brook are proving to be the men around whom the entire batting unit evolves. Brook has having a great relationship with 100. It is interesting to note that the Tests that England lost, against Pakistan and New Zealand were the Tests in which Brook did not perform. Root is in the form of his life. Easily the best batsman based on current form. He is the fulcrum of this English lineup. England will need him to score plenty of runs in Australia. It is one country where Root has not yet scored a hundred in 27 innings. A blot on an otherwise, brilliant CV.

Ben Stokes has learned from his past mistakes and is now less adventurous with declarations.

Any negatives?

Ofcourse there were. The continued slump of Crawley and to a certain extent, Duckett is a major cause for worry. Crawley has played more than 50 Tests and his average is 30. This is unacceptable by any standards. England just cannot afford poor starts in every innings. They need Crawley to become consistent. How England persists with him is beyond any reason. Sooner or later, Stokes will have to draw a line and force Crawley to perform or perish. Not too many gets these many games to prove their worth.

It is clear that Stokes prefers Shoaib Bashir as the sole spinner. Jack Leach has gone out of favour but Bashir at the moment is an unfinished product. He needs lots of game time to learn his craft. I don’t think that international cricket is the place to learn.

Wrapping up England New Zealand series

About New Zealand in the next blog.

The Melbourne Test

Posted on 28 December 202428 December 2024 by Bobji

The Border Gavaskar Trophy, has reached the halfway stage. Cricket Australia designed the series in such a way that by the time the teams reach Melbourne, Australia would have won the series, India would have been humiliated, especially, after the drubbing at the hands of New Zealand, the media would have made a mincemeat of them and that the Tests at Melbourne and Sydney will be a piece of cake for Australia after India were mentally down and out. Towards that end, pitches at Perth and Brisbane were prepared with extra spice and Adelaide anyway, Australia will always reign supreme. Events did not transpire as Cricket Australia envisioned. The Melbourne Test is 3 days away and Australia have not won the series yet.

Border Gavaskar Trophy at this stage, is still with India. This Australia did not expect. Reports have emerged that Melbourne will carry more bounce than usual. Sydney will always aid spin, which will hel India. Not that they are good against spin but the bounce will be low to pose any serious threat by the fast bowlers. As a result, Australia are desperate to ensure that they win at Melbourne. Among the two teams, I think it is Australia who will be worried because not only they have not won the series yet, leave alone winning the series, they are not even leading before Melbourne, they know that with the low bounce on offer at Sydney, India may well escape with a draw.

Hence, the pressure on Australia is immense to win at Melbourne. Prior to the New Zealand India may have entertained thoughts of winning in Australia. After New Zealand, all those thoughts evaporated and it is India who will be much more satisfied because they are still in the series.

Bouncy pitch on offer

With a bouncy pitch expected at Melbourne, going against its characteristics, Indian batsmen will have to show that they are capable of scoring runs. With the exception of Rahul, no other Indian batsmen have shown the inclination to stay at the wicket and try to treat the ball on its merit. This includes Jaiswal, whose struggle at the top, especially against Starc, now borders on the ridiculous. Yes, he is on his first trip to Australia and has a brilliant 160 to boot but his illadvised and nonsensical comments about Starc and his bowling speed, has haunted him. He must be capable of backing up words with runs but he hasn’t. Worse still, Starc has got him on multiple occasions on this tour already.

Kohli and Rohit Sharma are beyond their best and are unlikely to make an impact in the final two Tests. Gill is another who has a highest score of only 36 outside of Asia in 4 years. It is only in India such batsmen are persisted with despite his prolonged non-performance. The bowling is still a one-horse show unless Siraj, Akash and Jadeja decides enough is enough and that they will support Bumrah by picking up wickets.

Having said that, I still think that the Indian dressing room will be happier of the two not only because they themselves will be surprised that they are still alive and more specifically, India have done extremely well in the last 3 Tests played at Melbourne. In 2014, the Test was drawn and India won the Tests in 2018 and 2020. Special mention must be made about the 2020 win because it was achieved on the back of the 36 allout humiliation. In a way, Melbourne has offered the team a comfort that no other Australian venue has.

The Australian perspective

As for Australia, they have lost the services of Hazlewood but will be bolstered by the arrival of Scott Boland. Boland has a tremendous record at Melbourne. The demolition of England a couple of years ago, is still fresh in the minds of those who watched that game. Melboune has suited Boland more than any other Australian venue. An unknown angel is more dangerous than a known devil. This is exactly what India is confronted with. They have seen Hazlewood and have played umpteen number of games against him but Boland is a bit of an unknown entity. Sure enough, there are lots of videos of his bowling but facing his bowling on the 22 yards is a different experience.

Travis Head is the only batsman on either side, to tower head and shoulders above everyone else. His dominating display at Adelaide and Brisbane demoralised the Indian bowlers. When he is batting, the Indian bowlers and the captain run out of ideas and just wait for him to make a mistake. Smith got a hundred but just like Kohli, it still does not feel like Smith is back to his best.

Everyone is waiting to see what Sam Konstas can do. The 19-year old has been pounding on the door with every Australian clamouring for his inclusion. Now that he has been and is sure to make his debut, we will see.

Wrapping up the Melbourne Test

This is a golden opportunity for India to win the 3^rd successive series in Australia. It would be a gigantic achievement if India could manage that. The fact that we have won the last couple of Tests at Melbourne and Sydney to follow, India could not have hoped for any better. They unexpectedly won the first Test and now have a chance to equal South Africa who are the only nation to have won three consecutive series in Australia in this millennium.

Australians will be under added pressure because Cummins has termed that the BGT is an important series for him to win because he has won everything else. If Indian batmen could somehow manage to put him under enormous pressure, either by way of denying wickets to him or by batting long, he is bound to crack. Starc is another who doesn’t like to bowl long spells if it doesn’t result in wickets. Lyon will have added role to play at Melbourne and at Sydney.

Ravichandran Ashwin retires two

Posted on 20 December 202420 December 2024 by Bobji

The BCCI and the selectors have blundered by not making Ashwin the captain. Once Kohli relinquished his position, Rohit by default became the captain. I for one, would have made Ashwin the captain. Critics will argue that he wasn’t a regular in SENA nations and hence, he cannot be made the captain. It will say that that is hogwash. Agreed that Ashwin did not have a great record outside of Asia and West Indies during the initial years. His figures were lopsided.

The perfectionist that he was, in an effort to achieve perfection, he kept on making technical adjustments throughout his career. The statistics bear out that he was able to accomplish and achieve brilliance between 2015 and 2021. He averaged 27 in England and 27.50 in Australia. The anomalies were South Africa and New Zealand but the sample size is too low. Two Tests in South Africa and just one in New Zealand. Hardly enough number of games to judge anybody, leave alone Ashwin.

Ashwin’s thinking and the captain India missed

One of his decision that showcased the ever-thinking mind was during a game between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. During the game, Ashwin placed unconventional and unorthodox fields which drew attention. He had a fielder in a straight line to that of the umpire. Years later, MS Dhoni adopted this strategy to contain a certain Kieran Pollard’s big hitting. In due course of time, everyone adopted it to contain Pollard. One can only wonder what heights could India have reached if only Ashwin had become the captain.

The point is that him not being a regular is just balderdash. Australia never made Shane Warne, the best brain in that Australian team, the captain but the reasons were completely different. I will say that that was a huge blunder. BCCI made the same mistake with Ashwin. Leave alone making him the captain, they did not even make him the captain of the 2^nd string team that went to Sri Lanka and played other games when the main team were in England. Dinesh Karthik, wanted Ashwin to be the captain of the team that went to the Asian Games. That did not happen either. BCCI did a great disservice to Ashwin in this regard.

The constantly churning mind

Ashwin keeps thinking about the game all the time. In his younger days, when he could not play the game on the streets, he wanted to be involved even if that meant scoring. The game and Ashwin are made for each other. Critics, including me, have often pointed out that he experiments a lot with his bowling. The straighter runup, the angled runup, legspin, carrom ball and so many others. He was even told that there was a risk of him losing his stock delivery if he continued with his experiments. However, Ashwin wasn’t afraid to experiment with his methods in the middle of a Test. It never deterred in him landing the ball where he wanted to.

That he has been India’s greatest match winner can clearly be seen in statistic. 11 Test Player-of-the-Series awards, the joint-highest in world cricket, and 10 match awards, the third-highest for an Indian and joint-highest for an Indian bowler.

Sundar was not the reason

It is now slowly emerging that this wasn’t a rash decision. It wasn’t a decision taken because he was unhappy over something. Anirudh Srikkanth, with whom Ashwin has played quite a lot of cricket during their formative years, revealed on his show “Cheeky Cheeka” that Ashwin told him that he may retire even before going to Australia. As Rohit Sharma said, he was made to wait till Perth before announcing his decision. There is a section of the media that has involved in conspiracy theory that the selection of Sundar ahead of him at Perth irked him. I do not think that this is true. Ashwin is not a vindictive person. On the contrary, he encourages fellow spinners and if it is Sundar, he will be much more pleased than Ashwin himself.

Batting ability

The real reason Ashwin wasn’t part of the team whenever India played abroad is not because of his bowling but it was because of his batting. It is now an open secret that Ashwin started his career as an opening batsman. How many of us know that it was his mother, through a casual remark, made him think of bowling offspin? The Ashwin in full flow, is a treat to watch. He has the silken grace of a left-hander and art of placing the ball in the gaps. The only thing that he lacked was brute power. He just cannot bludgeon the ball to all corners of the ground.

Otherwise, his batting was technically solid. He averaged a healthy 33 during the initial part of his career. As he concentrated more on becoming a better bowler in all conditions, he neglected his batting ability. As a result, a healthy average went down to 25 before creeping back to 27 when he retired.

His declining numbers with the bat, coincided with the better batting ability of Jadeja. India preferred four seamers and one spinner and that spinner must be capable of contributing runs. This was where Ashwin missed out. If only he could have focussed on his batting and maintained the average in the 30s, whilst improving his bowling, it would have been impossble to drop him from the team.

Wrapping up Ravichandran Ashwin retires two

The timing may not have been perfect but the final outing was still eventful. On an Adelaide track that favoured the seamers greatly, where Nathan Lyon bowled just one over, Ashwin on the otherhand, bowled when Australia were dominating the game. He alongwith Bumrah were the only bowlers to average under 3 in that innings. He got the wicket of Mitchell Marsh and almost got Travis Head but it fell short. The guile, the skill and the drift were all on display one last time.

Post retirement, joining the commentary team will probably be a good fit for him. It is so boring to listen to the likes of Bhogle, Shastri and Gavaskar for more than 3 decades. It will be refreshing to hear Ashwin speak. A few years down the line, if he is willing, he will make a great coach of the Indian team. His vastly popular YouTube channel, with more 1.6 million subscribers, is already a huge hit with the public. Perhaps, he will have a lot of “Kutti Stories”.

The best tribute for Ashwin came from MSK Prasad who felt the player deserved a better farewell. “While retirement decisions are personal, a legendary farewell would certainly have been a fitting tribute to his illustrious career. It would not only celebrate his achievements but also allow fans, teammates, and the cricketing fraternity to express their gratitude for his immense contribution. His legacy as one of India’s greatest cricketers is forever etched in history,” the former chief selector of India said.

Other Ashwin blogs

https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-the-opening/
https://icricketcritique.com/it-was-all-on-the-streets/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-heartbreak-and-the-elation/
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-his-early-games/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-ashwin-autobiography-continuation/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-ashwin-autobiography-final-chapter
https://icricketcritique.com/ravichandran-ashwin-retires-one/

Ravichandran Ashwin retires one

Posted on 20 December 202420 December 2024 by Bobji

It came out of the blue and it was over within a couple of minutes. Ravichandran Ashwin, announced his international retirement from all forms of the game with immediate effect. The memories of the last 14 years, right from the time when he bowled Shane Watson in the 2011 World Cup, came flooding back. Ofcourse, he made his debut before that but it was in the World Cup that everyone saw Ashwin who will go onto achieve what he achieved over the next 14 years. He was a champion cricketer, make no mistake about it. I have been critical of Ashwin in the past but it wasn’t without any reason. However, today, it is not about that, rather, it is about Ravichandran Ashwin, the champion cricketer in Ravichandra Ashwin retires one.

“last day as an Indian cricketer in all formats at the international level”.

“I do feel that there is a bit of punch left in me as a cricketer but I would like to showcase that in club level cricket,” Ashwin said.

“I’ve had a lot of fun; I’ve created a lot of memories alongside Rohit and several of my other teammates.

A retirement shone of any fanfare

First of all, a massive thank you to Ashwin for his services to the game and particularly, to the nation. It is sad that the announcement had to come on a faraway land, during a game where he wasn’t even part of and away from his beloved Chennai or as he would like to call it, Madras crowd. The recent trend of a retiring player inviting his family to the final game and making a spectacle of it, Ashwin wanted none of it. I am sure there are some heartburns within the dressing room that forced him to take the decision. Infact, Rohit made a shocking comment.

Rohit said that, Ashwin told him that if he wasn’t needed in the series, he would be better off by retiring. It talks of some kind of insecurity. It remains to be seen whether Ashwin will write a tell-all book in which he pours all the frustrations that he experienced during his career. I doubt he will.

Ashwin has been a fierce cricketer. He does not tolerate nonsense. Anyone who has read his book, I have the Streets, will know what sort of personality Ashwin is. He is someone who is straight and extremely frank. If he feels that he has been wronged, he will not leave the matter until he comes to know the reason. To that extent, he does not mind confronting the mighty and powerful if he feels that unfair means were meted out to him.

It was always coming

Listening to the comments made by Rohit Sharma after the Brisbane Test, it seemed clear that Ashwin made up his mind of retiring from the game even before he landed in Australia. He knew that his chances of playing in Australia is limited. He could have announced his retirement after the New Zealand series considering the fact that India will not play another home Test until October 2025. It is a shame that a champion cricketer, who had been responsible for India winning so many games, had to bow out with four consecutive defeats.

Ofcourse, he will not realise that. It is not that this announcement wasn’t completely unexpected. He is 37 years old. He was jettisoned from whiteball cricket a longtime ago with a short appearance during the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. By the time, India play another Test in India, he will be older by a year. So, this was expected but it was expected at the end of the series and not in the middle of the series. Certainly not when he wasn’t even playing.

Ashwin and India’s dominance at home

The reason India remained so dominant at home over the last several years was purely due to the ability and skill of Ashwin. The opposition was terrified of fronting upto Ashwin on the Indian pitches. No amount of preparation before setting foot on these shores, proved enough to the threat of Ashwin. Alongwith Jadeja, he formed a potent spin combination.

In the olden days, there was a saying in Australia. If Lillee doesn’t get you, Thommo will. Much the same could be said about Ashwin and Jadeja. It is not a mere coincidence that the two series India lost at home, 2012 against England and 2024 against New Zealand were the two series during which Ashwin did not have any substantial impact at all. He dominated every touring squad during the intervening period. It shows the quality of the bowler.

Wrapping up Ravichandran Ashwin retires one

Ashwin will be remembered forever by those who had the fortune of seeing him perform for his team. Be it the nation or some local club. He never took a backfoot and was always ready for a scrap. He goes into the sunset, with his head held high and a man content in what he has achieved. The lawns across the cricketing world will forever remember that hero who walked on them. Did he have a couple of years of cricket left in him? He may have had but as Gavaskar used to say, it is better to retire when you are asked why rather than why not.

https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-the-opening/
https://icricketcritique.com/it-was-all-on-the-streets/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-heartbreak-and-the-elation/
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-his-early-games/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-ashwin-autobiography-continuation/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-ashwin-autobiography-final-chapter/

The Ashwin autobiography final chapter

Posted on 20 December 202420 December 2024 by Bobji

Ashwin starts off this chapter with his efforts to impress Dhoni, the Indian captain at that time. In the Challenger Trophy Ashwin managed to keep Dhoni quiet but wasn’t able to pick up his wicket. In a shortwhile, Ashwin as picked in the Indian squad for a couple of T20s against Sri Lanka. He is new to the Indian players and on the team bus, he picks the last seat to sit. He does not get to play in any of the T20s. Harbhajan comes back for the ODIs. Later in the season, he was picked in the ODI squad. Again, he doesn’t get to play in the game.

Trying to impress Dhoni

2010 and Ashwin is quietly confident that this year, Dhoni will pick him in the playing eleven. Fleming retired and became the coach of CSK. Fleming had different ideas. He wanted all the eleven players on the field to be involved all the time. If a ball is hit towards deep cover, the fielder running towards the ball must have a backup running with him. Mid-off should move to the bowler’s end to collec the throw. All the players must move throughout the innings. Ashwin is part of the playing eleven for a couple of games and dropped for the rest despite bowling reasonably well.

He could not understand the reason and kept on prodding VB Chandrasekhar who was the director of cricket in CSK. VB did not like his constant questioning and complains about Ashwin to his cousin who informs Ashwin’s parents.

Later, someone from the CSK setup, calls Ashwin and asks him to rejoin the squad. Ashwin replied that he expected the coach Fleming to call instead of someone from the franchise. Well, this was bad attitude on the part of Ashwin. Soon, Fleming meets him and Ashwin complains that he expected Fleming to have informed him the reason for being dropped. Anyway, now that he was back in the team, he gets a couple of games where he bowled pretty well. That season, CSK end up winning the title with Ashwin being among the important contributors.

The Tamil Nadu team

By now Ashwin had become a regular in the Indian team though he doesn’t get to play in games. At those times, he missed being part of the Tamil Nadu dressing room, mainly because the Tamil Nadu team were winning and everyone knows everyone else. During his time with the Indian team, Gary Kirsten tells him that there was a genuine possibility that Ashwin will be part of the ODI World Cup in 2011. He asked Ashwin to work on his fielding drills and also to work with Paddy Upton. He trains with Paddy Upton and was quite keen on improving his overall fitness.

Then he goes onto describe about the Champions League in 2010 where he was declared the player of the tournament. On his return back to the Indian side for the ODI series against New Zealand, most of the main choice players left for South Africa, Gambhir becomes the captain. He encouraged Ashwin to bowl the way he wanted. At the end of the game, Gambhir makes it a point to mention Ashwin for the win. At the end of the series, with India winning 5-0, Gambhir told Ashwin that he was the reason for the win and not Gambhir himself, who got the player of the series award.

If not for Ashwin willing to bowl in the powerplay and all the difficult phases of the game, the team would not have won. Ashwin was elated. Ashwin then gets selected in the full strength team for the ODI series in South Africa. For the first time, he believed that he could be part of the World Cup squad.

Ashwin and fielding

Ashwin also insists that he is not a poor fielder as he is perceived to be. He is a safe fielder. Poor fielder is one who misfields often, drops catches and in general is slow around the ground. Ashwin at that stage, dropped both the catches that came his way at the highest level. The Ashwin we have seen so far, is pretty slow around the ground though he does not misfield as often.

World Cup 2011. India starts off with a win against Bangladesh. After 4 games, he finally gets to play against the West Indies. Lo behold, he also holds onto his very first catch at international cricket. He goes onto play a pivotal role in the quarterfinals against Australia but wasn’t required for the semifinals and the finals. With the trophy won and the team celebrating, Gary Kirsten finds time to pull Ashwin aside and tell him,

“Boy, I’m telling you, you’re a really, really special cricketer. The kind of strides you made from 2009 to 2011 is every aspect of your game… See, everyone comes in here with what they’re god at and also their weaknesses. They continue to play to their strengths and they try to hide their weaknesses but very few come in with their strengths, evolve with their strengths, know what their weaknesses are and work on those weaknesses. And I haven’t seen another cricketer who has come into the team as a youngster and within the first two years, spotted their weaknesses and kept ironing them out. You’ve got a great career ahead of you. You must retain this attribute.”

With this, I come to the end of the book.

https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-the-opening/
https://icricketcritique.com/it-was-all-on-the-streets/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-heartbreak-and-the-elation/
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-his-early-games/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-ashwin-autobiography-continuation/

The Ashwin autobiography continuation

Posted on 20 December 202420 December 2024 by Bobji

It was the start of the IPL. Ashwin shared the dressing room with international stars like Hayden, Dhoni, Hussey, Murali, Fleming, Oram and Raina. He remembers Hayden’s confidence while speaking before the eve of the game. How he said he will deal with Sreesanth, Brett Lee and Shaun Pollock and did exactly the same. Hayden’s knowledge of the game inpresses Ashwin. He told Ashwin how he would prepare and read Harbhajan Singh. Hayden tells Ashwin that Harbhajan does not like bowling around the wicket. Hence, when he bowls over he wicket, he employs to sweep to good effect knowing fully well that it is almost impossible to get him LBW. Ashwin just like so many Tamil Brahmin boys is averse to late-night party. He can launch into a full blown analysis of the game but is scared to talk to anyone outside of the game.

WV Raman and the bond with Ashwin

Back to another Ranji season where he was reunited with Raman. Raman’s mantra is that an offspinner must not be cut and must not be driven through the covers. What he means is that a spinner must not bowl too full and too short. A captain will not be able to set fields on both sides of the pitch. The classic off-spin bowling is to bowl the ball wide, drift it away beautifully, create a gap between the bat and pad, then either go through the gap or get the bat-pad catch. It is easier said than done. He narrates an incident while being the captain of the Tamil Nadu white-ball team. A reporter tells him about a player who can open the innings and bowl too.

Abhinav Mukund, the TN opener was struggling at that time. Ashwin tells the reporter that Abhinav will be dropped if he doesn’t perform in the next game. As this news gets out, Raman calls him and tell him that such statements must not be made in public. It will affect the confidence of the player. Ashwin talks to Abhinav and work things out. Abhinav repaid that faith by scoring a hundred in the final with TN emerging the winner. Raman encouraged Ashwin during his formative years. He was at the sametime, harsh and quite strict with him. Ashwin asked him about this to which Raman replied that Badrinath, the captain of TN has played enough and he respected him but Ashwin was just starting and has lots of ability, he would not like a wall to separate them.

Appreciated by Dhoni

IPL in 2009 was moved to South Africa because of the general elections. Ashwin also became part of the inner circle as CSK that he was in one of the advertisements to promote a brand where he met his future wife, Prithi. Ashwin then goes on about how he tried to impress her and I do not want to get into it. In South Africa, Ashwin bowls the sodakku delivery which is now christened as the carrom ball, to Dhoni in the nets. Dhoni was impressed and asked Ashwin about the field that he will set for such a delivery.

The team that Ashwin preferred

Back in India, he describes about the team that he loves the most. RUCA, Ramakrishnapuram Underarm Cricket Association. They are players of tennis ball cricket and it was time to move them to cricket ball. He talks about some of the players of that team. Raju, the one who was sure that he will play for India. Bhuvesh, the king of street cricket. He wasn’t fast nor was he agile on the pitch. Hence, he became the wicket-keeper. He was gifted Dhoni’s old gloves and pads which he wears for all the games. He even changed his Facebook profile to MS Bhuvesh. Bhuvesh likes to throw the ball to the slip nonchalantly like the international wicket keepers do. He was a showman. Shyam for whom attack is the best form of defence but this was out of fear for the ball. He whacks every delivery that came his way.

Sai Kumar, a corporate employee with neatly worn whites and a Gray Nicholls bat. He always lied about his cricketing credentials. Vicky, younger brother of Bhuvnesh, a good committed cricketer. Fields well and was decent batsman. Sriram, Ashwin’s cousin who wasn’t allowed to play with the leather ball. Aravind Srinivas, the “slow” fast bowler who eventually turns into a spinner and goes onto play in league games. Vivek who played for Jolly Rovers in Chennai Division 1. Rama a reasonably talented right-arm seamer. Manu, a decent legspinner with lots of variations. Venkat, whose residence was in Trichy but because he worked in Chennai, he spent a lot of time at Ashwin’s home. Ashwin and Venkat became good friends. Venkat looked after Ashwin as a brother would.

https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-the-opening/
https://icricketcritique.com/it-was-all-on-the-streets/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-heartbreak-and-the-elation/
https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-and-his-early-games/