Author: Bobji

Justin Langer is feeling the heat

Posted on by Bobji

The Australian coach Justin Langer is feeling the heat. Yes, he is under tremendous pressure at the moment to change himself. He will have to change the way he is coaching the team. Langer had been with the all-conquering Australian team of the late 1990s and early 2000s. They were rude and abrasive. That sort of attitude would have certainly filtered onto Langer too. It remains to be seen whether it is even possible for Langer to adjust himself and be a little bit more polite towards the players.

Langer’s early days

Langer replaced Darren Lehmann as the coach of the Australian cricket team after the infamous Newlands ball tampering scandal. At that point, the Australian selectors wanted a clean break from the past. They wanted to rebuild the image of the Australian team. They must have thought of Langer to be the ideal coach to lead the team into the unforeseen future. A couple of years down the line, things does not seem to be much rosy for Langer and for the Australian team.

The senior players are not happy with the way Langer approaches every game. He is seen as a headmaster of a school directing his pupil to do what he says. He is accused of creating a stifling environment. Usman Khawaja once told Langer that the players are intimidated by his style and they feel like walking on egg shells around Langer. No wonder Khawaja is not seen in Australian colours any longer.

The Test

Langer’s mood swings, which was famously captured in the Amazon series The Test, clearly shows that he is a coach who will not be averse to reprimand the players in front of everyone. The series seems to convey the impression that Langer is always a temperamental character. The way he abused everyone on camera, it will really come as a shock to everyone who watched it.

Langer quite determined

However, Langer does seem to be too perturbed. He certainly feels that he has the support of the players but it is the constant media attention that is wearing him down.

Langer disputed any suggestion his relationship with players had deteriorated, saying it “couldn’t be further from the truth”. But he added that “leadership isn’t a popularity contest”.

“If players just want someone to tickle their stomachs all the time then I’m not doing my job,” he said.

“I might sound like a sook here, but the biggest thing that will wear me down isn’t the travel, isn’t the game, isn’t the three formats, it is just the incredible spotlight you are always under,” Langer said.

The recent series defeat against India, the second successive series loss to India has aggravated the precarious position Langer finds himself in. More than the loss, it was the manner of the loss that must have hurt Langer. India played with their D team against Australia’s best and yet they came out winners in the end. This is a hard pill to swallow for any coach.

Langer’s days are numbered

If reports are to be believed, Langer is under close scrutiny. The next series for Australia after the defeat against India will be the limited overs series against West Indies. It will be followed by a series against Bangladesh. The way Langer conducts himself during the next few months will determine whether Langer’s contract will be extended.

Langer must change himself at the earliest or he must prepare himself to be replaced.

Something unrelated to Langer

With the IPL set to resume in September, it remains to be seen whether the Australian board will release its players to participate in the tournament. The Australian players, officials and the rest had a tough time to get back to Australia at the end of the IPL. All of them were shifted to Maldives and had to be there for 15 days. It was a nightmare for all of them to travel back to Australia. Hussey wasn’t even allowed to travel out of India because he was tested positive.

It is highly unlikely that the players will want to travel to UAE. Cummins has already declared that he will not rejoin his team in UAE. Ashley Giles has announced that England players will not be part of the IPL.

Further read

About Langer

Australian’s are too critical

World Test Championship final and can India prevail?

Posted on by Bobji

We are in the beginning of June and in a few days, the World Test Championship final will be upon us. India and New Zealand have reached the finals rather convincingly. Over the last couple of years, England and India have played the most number of tests with India emerging victors in more than 75% of the games. In contrast, New Zealand have played in 6 less tests and have almost the same win loss record. Both the teams are evenly matched and the finals promises to be a closely fought contest.

How do the teams match?

New Zealand, especially under Williamson, have achieved a lot over the last 3 years. Williamson seems to have infused the team with much needed confidence and has made them believe that they can compete with the best in the world. Perhaps, his confidence flows from his own brilliant batting. This has certainly filtered on the rest of the players. Trent Boult, who will easily go down and the best New Zealand bowler after Hadlee has certainly gained in maturity and confidence under Williamson. All of this was achieved by playing the game fair and square.

India on the otherhand, is led by one of the most combative player in world cricket. Kohli the batsman is absolutely brilliant. His scoring ability in every country stands proof of that. It is something even Williamson will envy. However, the behaviour of Kohli on the field is nothing short of absurd. The wild celebration for every wicket, the abuse of opponents and various other rude behaviour comes to mind. Nonetheless, he is the most successful Indian captain in terms of wins.

All said and done, his recent captaincy record outside of India does not inspire that much confidence on his ability to read the game when conditions are in the opponent’s favour. He lost the last series in South Africa, in England and he lost the lone test in Australia. Not to mention his the World Cup and Champions Trophy defeats. The lack of a silverware will certainly rankle him and he will want to make amends in the finals.

Single point difference

The ICC rankings have India and New Zealand as No.1 & No. 2 and separated by a single point. There is nothing to choose between the teams in terms of ability. A Kohli finds his match in Williamson. A Pujara finds his match Taylor and a Bumrah finds his match in Boult. All of them, on their day, are more than capable of match winning performance. The winner will come down to whoever handles pressure that much better.

Who starts as the favourites?

Dilip Vengsarkar, who knows a thing or two about playing in England, feels that New Zealand starts as the favourites.

Of course, New Zealand will have an advantage because they play two Tests before the WTC final. It will help them. How quickly India adapts to the conditions will be important. But, New Zealand would have already had two Tests experience and would be playing in their third Test on the trot against India, while it will be the first on the tour for Kohli And Co.”

New Zealand starts the game as favourites though not firm favourites. This is mainly because of the fact that the conditions in New Zealand and in England are almost the same. The ball usually swings in England. This is something NZ have got used to because the ball swings in their country as well. The only difference is that the match will be played with Dukes ball whereas India and New Zealand have not used Dukes except when playing in England.

Not only New Zealand will feel at home but they also have the added advantage of playing a couple of tough tests against England. This is a double edged sword. These tests can work to their advantage but at the sametime, this tests could end as a disaster for New Zealand.

First, they could lose one or both the games. This will severely dent their confidence. The batsmen can be dismissed cheaply and the bowlers can go for runs.

Second, the bowlers may end up being over bowled and may perhaps be tired before the finals.

Third, there is a real possibility of someone injuring himself.

Gavaskar certainly thinks all of these are real

“The pessimists are suggesting that playing two Tests before the WTC finals will be a huge plus for the Kiwis as they will be match ready and better acclimatised to the conditions. The flip side of playing those two Tests is that New Zealand could get beaten and thus be low on morale when they take on India and there could be some injuries and niggles to some of their key players which can happen in early June in England,” Gavaskar wrote in his column in The Telegraph.

On the otherhand, if New Zealand manages to win the series, that will increase their confidence sky high. There is a saying. Confidence begets confidence.

What will be the composition of the Indian team?

Kohli, Pujara and Pant are a given. Openers will be Rohit and Shubnam. Rohit is experienced enough but he has played only one test in England. Back in 2014. Now he is an opener. Ofcourse, he seem to be confident after a successful home season but does he have the technique to survive the new ball in England? Shubnam Gill is young and impulsive. He plays for too many shots upfront. It is a recipe for disaster under swinging conditions. He had an excellent tour of Australia but his shot selection in the England series was a real dampener. Gill also seems to have a technical glitch for balls swinging away.

I really want to see Rahane replaced with either Sundar or Agarwal. Rahane has been nothing but a pale shadow of himself over the last 7 years. He has been given too big a rope to be consistent but he hasn’t. I do not expect anything from Rahane in the finals as well as in the England series. If he is not replaced, this tour could be his last.

Spin friendly wicket in Southampton

Southampton being a spin friendly surface after the first couple of days, both Ashwin and Jadeja must play. Moeen Ali has performed exceptionally well on this ground. New Zealand do not have quality spinners with them. These two will perhaps change the game in India’s favour. However it must be noted that Ashwin failed miserably in the last test at Southampton. He took only 3 wickets on a pitch on which Moeen Ali took 9. Three years have since passed by and Ashwin has remained the same despite his decent performance with the ball in the Australian series. Jadeja is not that great a threat outside of the sub-continent but he is expected to create enough scoring pressure.

As for fast bowlers, I do not think Bumrah must be a certainty. He has slightly lost his potency in the last couple of years. I am not saying that he must be dropped. All I am saying is that just think before playing him. I know it will be tough on Ishant but perhaps just perhaps, Siraj can replace him in the playing eleven. This is such a long tour that most of the members will probably play.

Further read

Indian team for England and Sri Lanka

Kallis was a misunderstood cricketer

Posted on by Bobji

Before proceeding with Kallis was a misunderstood cricketer, please read a tribute to the greatest cricketer.

Kallis had often been accused, rather unfairly, of being a selfish player. He was accused of playing for his average rather than the cause of the team. That too by his own countrymen and women. When aggression was required, he played rather defensively. The compulsion to term Kallis as selfish was not because of the mountains of runs he scored but the manner by it was scored. People wanted to see a dominant Kallis but what they finally got was a subdued Kallis. However, those who accuse Kallis of being a selfish player, failed to realise that the team he was part of never had solid batsmen around him.

Kirsten and a makeshift opener in Gibbs followed by Cronje. All of them were adequate but were found wanting against great bowling sides. Kallis had to shoulder the burden being that one batsman the opposition found difficult to dislodge. Despite that if South Africa had remained a force during that period, it was because of their brilliant bowlers.

Jacques never had the luxury that Ponting had. Ponting had batsmen around him who could decimate the opposition. He did not have the cushion that Tendulkar enjoyed and yet he never complained. He understood his role is that of an accumulator. Thereby, he ensured a par or slightly above par score for the team. That is how he played throughout his career.

The disappointment resulting from Cronje’s departure

Kallis’s career began to blossom around the sametime the match fixing scandal shook the world. Hansie Cronje, the captain who brought steel into the side was right in the centre of the controversy. Cronje sort of demanded absolute loyalty from everyone. Wessels who took over from Rice as captain after readmission lasted only a few years. Cronje took over from him. Cronje represented not only the new generation of players but a complete break from the past. It helped that most of the players on his team were much younger and less experienced the Cronje. Just imagine Border and Australia in the 80s. The entire team looked upto Cronje for guidance. Such a figure, to have confessed to have accepted money to throw away games was something no one in the team would have expected. A jolt from which it was difficult for any team to regroup.

It was down to Kallis to pick the team up because him being the most talented of them all. It was his time to pick the pieces and march towards a better tomorrow. Barely 2 tests into post Cronje period, Kallis played a resolute and sedate 87 against Sri Lanka that proved to be a match winning innings. The series ended in a draw. A series that Sri Lanka was expected to sweep after everything exploded following Cronje’s confession. From the despair of Cronje, South Africa needed something to lift themselves and what better way than to draw a series in a distant land against the likes of Murali. It was perhaps appropriate that the future of South Africa’s greatness was built on that foundation laid down by Kallis through his patient but vital 87.

Kallis the bowler extended certain careers

Kallis’s greatness does not rely only on the runs and wickets he scored. More importantly, the fact that he was an excellent 4th or 5th bowler not only added to the strength of South Africa but it certainly increased the threat of Donald, Pollock and rest of the bowlers. Kallis not only tidily but he also picked up wicket regularly. It essentially means that the main bowlers had less work to do. They had less planning to do. It will not be wrong to state the Kallis actually extended the lifespan of Donald, Pollock and the other bowlers by taking over a significant workload. Donald never used to bowl more than 5 overs in a spell which gave him all the motivation that he needed to bowl quick and Kallis had a huge role to play in that.

Kallis as the captain

I am not sure whether Kallis felt let down by the South African board because he was passed over in the captaincy stakes and it was given to a much younger and inexperienced Graeme Smith. It is another matter that Smith took to captaincy like a fish to water but Kallis extended his wholehearted support to Smith and was there for him whenever Smith required. It clearly showed that he never held any ego which is a given for a player of his ability and only had the team’s cause in mind. No wonder Smith was able to build a team that ruled the cricketing universe for more than 7 years. No wonder Smith became the only captain to win 3 consecutive series in Australia.

Lack of a silverware

One glaring omission from Kallis’s career or for that matter a lot of South African cricketer’s career is the lack of a World Cup win. I am sure Kallis will be willing to trade some of his runs and wickets for that one missing component. He was part of the Kolkatta team that won the IPL but winning an IPL tournament will never substitute winning a world cup.

Conclusion

The greatness of Kallis will only be appreciated now when the South African team is struggling build a decent team. The successive losses against weak teams like Sri Lanka and Pakistan will make atleast the South Africans realise what a diamond they had and how they had always misunderstood him. They will finally appreciate that they had a warrior who stood up to the ferocious fast bowlers and beguiling of spinners and how he gave the team a chance to win.

I have attempted to describe the genius of Kallis in about 2000 words but I know I have only scratched the surface when it comes to such a great player.

What do you think about Kallis the great? Did you think that he was a selfish player? Or was he someone who was forced by bat conservatively because of the circumstances? Please leave your comments.

Other articles about South African cricket

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Three

A tribute to The Greatest Cricketer

Posted on by Bobji

Over the years, fans of the game are extremely fascinated to discuss about one subject that has captured the imagination from the time the game started. Who is the greatest cricketer? This is a question that leads to a lot of heated debate among the masses. This question polarises opinion among the various sections of the society. It assumes nationalistic flavour when fans from different countries participate and at the same time, this is a nice topic to spend some time on. When discussing about the greatest cricketer, knowledge about the player’s statistics assumes a lot of importance.

Apart from statistics, his contribution towards victory or a hard fought draw will also have to be taken into account. It could be with the bat, with the ball or on the field. I am too young to discuss about the greatest cricketer ever so I will stick to the last 30 years. For me, there is only one cricketer who can be called as the greatest cricketer over the last 30 years and this topic is about one such cricketer. This is a tribute to the greatest cricketer.

Over the last 30 years, there were quite a lot of good to great players. Some of them were exceptional and some of them were good but if at all you have to find that one player who rose above everyone else,

it will be the one and only Jacques Kallis.

A mega void

The void that Kallis has left behind will certainly not be filled. Not just by South Africa but by the entire world. Atleast for the foreseeable future. Kallis was a three in one player. His batting was legendary, bowling was more than adequate and his fielding was amongst the best. Infact, Kallis has taken wickets similar to that of Zaheer Khan and Chaminda Vaas albeit in far more games. However, when you consider that in a team consisting of Donald, Pollock, Ntini and later Steyn, Kallis was the last option that Smith had to rely on. Despite that, to have taken wickets almost as many as some of the main bowlers, that was indeed an incredible achievement. Added to that, he had an unbelievable strike rate of 32. There are lot of teams in which even the strike bowler averages more than 30.

More than 24,000 international runs and over 550 international wickets. This is a mindboggling statistic. Kallis was often compared to the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers. Sobers was an outstanding cricketer but because of the fact I have never seen Sobers play, I will not be comparing him with Kallis. The man had only 2 double hundreds throughout his stellar career. Both came towards the fag end. Against Sri Lanka and India. If a batsman averages over 55 and that too without that many daddy hundreds, he ought to have been ridiculously consistent and consistent he was.

Wasn’t really a flamboyant player

The start to his international career wasn’t anything to write about but in a few years, he started to accumulate the sort of runs that he was destined for. The day Kallis announced his retirement, all the right words were said. Experts spoke about once in a lifetime talent. Eulogies complete with his statistical exploits were printed. Unfortunately, the day before, as Kallis was compiling the last of his majestic 100s, just about 7000 turned up to watch at Durban. It was less than half the capacity. This certainly wasn’t how the greatest cricketer was supposed to march into the sunset. Probably, Kallis never had the limelight fall on him.

His contemporaries were Ponting, Tendulkar, Dravid, Lara, Sangakkara amongst the batsmen and Warne, McGrath, Steyn, Murali and quite a few others amongst the bowlers. Perhaps because he was born and played for a team not known for their glamour also had an effect. In that, Kallis wasn’t as popular as his peers were.

A Lara dazzled with his strokeplay, Tendulkar and Dravid piled on the runs and more importantly, played for the richest country in cricketing terms. Ponting played for arguably the greatest team of his era, Warne, McGrath, Akram, Waqar were terrorising batsmen into submission whereas Kallis was away playing an innings right from the coaching manual. This was an era when the game was undergoing a shift with Australia leading the way. Batsmen were more aggressive and bowlers were more menacing. Whereas Kallis preferred to quietly accumulate the mountain of runs that he eventually did. Kallis prospered through attrition.

Patience personified

His boundless patience was his main strength. It will be impossible to find a Kallis innings, even in limited overs, that was scored at a strike rate of more than 100. It was probably Kallis’s introspective approach that didn’t endear him to the masses. Nevertheless, his value and his contribution towards the team’s success was rated highly by his South African team members.

Tribute by his former team members

Some of the words his former team members spoke after his retirement speaks volumes about Kallis’s versatility.

“Although we all knew the retirement of a great player like Jacques Kallis was going to happen, his decision still comes as a blow when the reality dawns,” Cricket South Africa chief executive Haroon Lorgat said.

Batsman Faf du Plessis wrote: “What an honour sharing a changeroom with the greatest cricketer of all time.”

“Jacques’ calmness, maturity and presence in the change room will sorely be missed and hopefully he will still be able to play a role in this team’s success in the near future,” Domingo said.

Dale Steyn said, “What a playa!!! Great way to retire, 100, win the series, number 1 Test team!

Hashim Amla, said: “Jacques was a one in 50 years cricketer who had a huge influence on so many Proteas players over a 20-year period. I was privileged to have been one of those.”

Kallis had been part of many match winning contributions and he has often taken wickets at vital moments. Yet, it almost feels like he never belonged to the elite class of his era. Only Tendulkar has more hundreds than him. He finished his career with a batting average that is higher than Tendulkar, Ponting, Dravid and Lara. All of them were rated higher than Kallis. Kumar Sangakkara, despite making his debut 6 years later than Kallis was the only peer who managed to finish with a batting average higher than Kallis. Amongst the allrounders, Kallis never had a match in his career. His numbers speaks for itself.

Chance meeting

I had the good fortune of seeing Kallis standing next to me. This was in Sri Lanka. I had been there on an official visit. South Africa, Sri Lanka and Pakistan were there for a tri-nation tournament. All the teams were in Sheraton whereas I was in a flat quite adjacent to Sheraton. It was a stone’s throw away. Now that I know that the players are all staying in Sheraton, they will have to return to the hotel at the end of the day’s play. Hence, I went to the lobby and waited. Just then, I saw the South African bus arrive. Immediately, I ran to the entrance and I saw all the players come out of the bus.

To my amazement, Kallis and Pollock, instead of walking towards their room, stood in the entrance and were talking. I took this opportunity and went and stood right next to my favourite player. He was easily a foot taller than I. In the days of mobile phone free world, a selfie was out of the question. I didn’t want to ask for autograph either. Just to be in the presence of my favourite player was enough for me.

Other articles about South African cricket

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Three

to be continued….

Asia Cup postponed and Tsotsobe allegation

Posted on by Bobji

Asia Cup, the only multi-team cricket tournament in Asia is again postponed to 2023. It is a much maligned tournament. There have been lot of instances when one of India or Pakistan have skipped the tournament for various reasons. Sri Lanka is the only team to have participated in all the editions. India are the defending champions. Asia Cup is staged once every couple of years. It was started in 1984 but only 14 editions have been so far possible. This leads to the question. Is the Asia Cup really needed? Does anyone even care about Asia Cup? Also, Tsotsobe had complained against Graeme Smith. Let me write about Asia Cup postponed and Tsotsobe allegation.

The reason given by ACC

On account of a packed FTP, it has been concluded that there is no practical window in the year when all the teams would be available to participate. The Board has accordingly considered the matter very carefully and determined that the only way ahead would be to postpone the event. It would therefore only be feasible for this edition of the tournament to be held in 2023 as there is already an Asia Cup in 2022. Dates for the same will be confirmed in due course.”

Asian teams do not plan their itinerary well in advance unlike countries like England or Australia. Infact, most of the series is rather last minute. Just the other day, Ganguly, the Indian board president dropped a casual statement about India touring Sri Lanka for a short limited overs series. However, Asia Cup is decided in advanced. If not the actual dates, atleast the tentative period and the country is already chosen. It is seldom met. It has become a practise off late, especially by the BCCI, that whenever they want to schedule a series that will benefit the board, it is the Asia Cup that becomes the scapegoat.  

There are quite a lot of test playing nations in Asia. This clearly shows that the future of the game is in the sub-continent. The Asia Cup did play its part in that it gave opportunities to teams like Afghanistan. They were able to play a few games against top teams. However, I don’t see any other nation that will be in a position to challenge any of the 5 test playing nations in Asia in the next 25 years. Moreover, the standards in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and to a certain extent even Pakistan have come down drastically. The ACC must arrest that slide.

The way forward

The only way forward for the Asia Cup is to increase the frequency from the current couple of years to say once in 5 years. ACC must not oscillate between conducting the tournament in T20 format or ODI format. It must stick to the ODI format. ACC must ensure that the tournament is given sufficient promotion and thereby ensuring that boards like India take it seriously. Having the tournament once every 2 years dilutes the entire appeal of the tournament itself. Asia Cup is an important tournament within the continent. It gives the bragging rights for the team who wins the cup.

Tsotsobe’s allegation

It looks like the problems surrounding the South African cricket team, board and officials will never end. Every now and then something or the other comes up. News related to revamping the entire South African board, the magnitude of financial loss because of cancelled tours, charges against Boucher, Kallis expressing his displeasure in not being allowed to coach South Africa. There have been too many for comfort. Now, Tsotsobe has levelled serious allegation against one of the premier batsman and current director of cricket, Graeme Smith.

Tsotsobe has alleged that during the tour of England in 2012, after Boucher’s injury, the gloves was given to de Villiers rather than another black player in Tsolekille who was inline for a game. This he has alleged was at the behest of Smith who was intent on blocking a black player.

“Tsolekile was destined to replace Boucher‚ but suddenly AB de Villiers was made the keeper.

“This was confirmed by Smith who categorically stated that if Tsolekile was selected he would retire with immediate effect‚” alleges Tsotsobe.

Smith, the fighter

Graeme Smith was known for his fighting spirit. He became the captain at an young age of 21 and went onto remain the skipper till he retired. Smith was a primary reason for South Africa reigning supreme just after Australia’s reign. He never tolerated mediocrity. He always played to win and if he had to take tough decisions to achieve his goals, he never shied away. I am of the opinion that this was one of those occasions when the moment Boucher left, Smith must have sensed an opportunity to include a specialist bowler or a batsman that will enable him to win the series in England for the first time since readmission. By including Tsolekille, whose first class record with the bat wasn’t that great, Smith would not want to let go of an opportunity.

Smith can be tough. Maybe even abusive but he wasn’t racist as can be clearly seen from lots of videos where he celebrated wickets taken by Ntini just the same as he celebrated wickets taken by Steyn or Morkel. Probably Tsotsobe misunderstood the whole situation and as such has alleged that Smith did not pick Tsolekille because he is black. Let us hope better sense prevails.

Resuming IPL is not that important

Posted on by Bobji

I had written about how important the IPL is at a time when the whole country was reeling under the pandemic and how the IPL sought of brough some semblance of balance in life. It gave the country hope amidst gloom. Unfortunately, the pandemic struck the IPL bubble too and as a result the tournament was suspended. With the calendar of the international players in general and the Indian team in particular being so tight, I did not see whether the tournament can be resumed this year. However, the BCCI seems to have its way. I certainly think that resuming IPL is not that important. Let me try to explain.

The proposed window

So, it is now official. IPL 2021, the tournament that was suspended with half of the games completed, will now be resumed in the month of September. The remaining games will be held in the UAE. UAE were already the front runners if in the event of the tournament being resumed. England, Australia and South Africa being distant second. Having said that, does it even make sense to resume the IPL? Is there really a window during September and October this year?

As we all know, the Indian team will be engaged in a very tough England tour. The tour starts on 2nd June which involves 10 days of tough quarantine which is followed by the WTC final. This will be succeeded by the gruelling tour of England. The first test starts on 4th August with the final test set to conclude on 14th September. The World T20 will be held in India from the 3rd week of October.

The BCCI sees this window, between 15th September and 15th October as the timeframe to complete the remaining games. That is 30 days to play 41 games. However, is it really required to complete the IPL this year? Does the BCCI even care of the players? Aren’t they worried about money rather than the Indian team’s performance in England or the T20 World Cup? The answer to these questions seems to be in the negative.  

What would have happened?

If the IPL had gone onto complete the tournament in the month of May, the Indian team would have been severely jaded from the constant travel and high pressure games. They will not have had any time to rest and will have to leave for England right after the IPL final because of the quarantine rules in England. Remember these are strange times. The players are in a bio-secure bubble with less than negligible contact with the outside world. Not to mention their own family. We must also remember that the players had come into the IPL bubble after 5 months of cricket. Starting with IPL 2020, Australian tour and the England series. They were under the same bubble for all these 5 months and with IPL 2021, it would have been 7 months inside the bubble. They had about a week in between to be with their family.

Now that the IPL was suspended, they had the chance to spend close to a month with their family. Not only that but this extra time has also given the team to be prepared for the WTC finals and the England series better. The Indian team were originally scheduled to leave for England on June 2nd. This will be followed by 14 days of hard quarantine in England. Now, instead of 14 days of hard quarantine in England which would have left them out of the bubble only a couple of days before the finals , the Indian team will be under 10 days of hard quarantine in India followed, leave for England on June 2 and their will be another week’s soft quarantine in England. The team has gained a full week to prepare for the finals.

Ross Taylor certainly feels that

For India, IPL finishing early under unfortunate circumstances has probably played into their hands a little. “If IPL would have gone on they would have had a smaller preparation but now they will be a lot more conditioned, their bowlers will have their loads up,”

It was never in the plan of the original IPL. It is something the BCCI must be ashamed of. Not giving their players the best chance to succeed at the finals.

BCCI wants to reduce the tour

There are also reports that the BCCI wants to reduce the tour of England. The 9 days gap between 2nd and 3rd tests. The extra days only to accommodate IPL. BCCI makes me scream at the top of my voice. What do they even think when they ask for such reduction? Why do they always care about themselves only? What aren’t they even concerned about the performance of the national team? If the series is nicely poised at the end of the 2nd test, the 9 days will only give the players some more rest and preparation time to be ready for the rest of the series. It is absolute nonsense and highly irresponsible on the part of the BCCI to even ask for reducing the days.

I would have been much happier if they had asked the ECB to increase the days between the 4th and last test. The BCCI must first think about the performance of the team. It is that which gets translated into revenue.

With such a stupid board, it is only a miracle that the team still wins more than 50% of the games. It is a blessing that the ECB which plans their tours well in advance and sell tickets for the same will not oblige. The dates are set and the tickets are sold. Ofcourse, if the series is going to be closed doors, there is every possibility for the ECB to oblige. The loser is Indian cricket, its team and us the fans. The gainer is certainly BCCI.

Tired Indian team

An IPL right at the end of the England tour will leave the Indian team extremely tired just before the T20 World Cup. If India does not win the World Cup, it is not because of want of effort on the part of the team but it is purely because of the BCCI.


Conclusion

Ideally, IPL 2021 must be scrapped. The BCCI must help the players in every possible way to win the WTC finals, the England tour and the T20 World Cup. Knowing the BCCI, it is a wish that can only be written in water.

Other IPL topics can be read here, here and here.

West Indies have a chance to win games

Posted on by Bobji

The mere mention of West Indies conjures images of 4 giant fast bowlers pounding the ball at ferocious pace targeting the ribs and the head of the batsmen. Almost all the batsmen, throughout the world dreaded the thought of facing upto such a brilliant pace attack. If the West Indian bowlers were menacing for the opposition batsmen, their batsmen were equally intimidating for the opposition bowlers. The combined force of their bowlers and batsmen were a nightmare for any opponent. The decline that the West Indian team have experienced over the last 25 years is incredible. It was more of a free fall. Now, West Indies have a chance to win games.

South Africa travels to West Indies

For South Africa, after all the cancelled tours during their home season, this tour has come as a blessing in disguise.

“Tours to the West Indies are always one of the most highly anticipated tours of them all, not only because of the beauty of the venues, but the quality and competitiveness of the cricket that is in store,” said CSA director of cricket, Graeme Smith.

“We are looking forward to explosive displays of cricket and entertainment on our screens for fans around the world to consume as the two evenly matched countries come together for both Test and T20 cricket.”

Three teams, South Africa, Pakistan & Australia are slated to travel to the West Indies within the next 3 months. Except for South Africa, the rest will only play limited overs series.

Even since the time when South Africa were readmitted into the international fold, they have always hammered the West Indies. It could be in South Africa or in the West Indies. Such was the mastery of South Africa. Their dominance coincided when the West Indies were in terminal decline. However, now, after more than 20 years, both the teams are more or less evenly matched. The ICC rankings which have West Indies one place above South Africa seems to denote the same.

Weaker South Africa

Multiple retirements, quota system and a host of young players who aren’t that experienced enough have weakened the South African team tremendously. Players like Kallis, Smith, de Villiers, Steyn are more or less irreplaceable. This has nicely played into the hands of the West Indies who by the virtue of being the hosts starts the series as favourites. This is a tag that has seldom sat on the West Indies for a very longtime. The West Indies will do well to prepare tracks that will spin because the West Indian spinners are certainly much better than SA’s. If they prepare flat wickets or pacy wickets, it will play into the hands of the South Africans who with the likes of Rabadda and Nortje will run roughshod over the West Indies.

Australian tour

Australia who are under tremendous pressure following Bancroft’s rather unrevealing statements and its aftermath will probably find it little bit easy in the ODIs but will certainly struggle in the T20s. With the pitches likely to be slow, except for Smith, the rest of their batsmen is unlikely to be that effective. If their batsmen struggle, their bowlers will be hard pressed to defend the total.

Next comes Pakistan

Pakistan series is next up for the West Indies. Though Pakistan on paper, is a better side than West Indies, they have traditionally struggled against WI. Infact, Pakistan managed to win their first series in the West Indies only a few years ago when West Indies had become very poor. This time though, they will be playing one test a series of ODIs. I do expect West Indies to prevail in the lone test. However, the ODIs will be equally fought with T20s going to the West Indies.

If West Indies do go on to win the test series against South Africa and Pakistan and more than half of the limited overs, it will increase their confidence tremendously.

Other topics related to South African cricket can be read here, here and here.

If you think West Indies have a good chance to win their very first series against South Africa, please do let me know in the comments section.

Sandpapergate is back in the news

Posted on by Bobji

Cameron Bancroft has stirred the hornet’s nest again. This time the allegations are quite serious. It certainly feels like there will not be smoke without fire. Will the Australian board get into the bottom of the whole scandal or will they sweep it under the carpet? Eitherway, Sandpapergate is back in the news.

Almost 3 years since the Newlands scandal after which David Warner, Smith & Bancroft were banned for a substantial period of time, it has resurfaced again in the form of Bancroft’s startling revelation.

Bancroft’s revelation

“Yeah, obviously what I did benefits bowlers and the awareness around that, probably, is self-explanatory,” 

“I guess one thing I learnt through the journey and being responsible is that’s where the buck stops (with himself). Had I had better awareness I would have made a much better decision.”

Asked again if some of the bowlers knew, Bancroft replied: “Uh… yeah, look, I think, yeah, I think it’s pretty probably self-explanatory.”

The bowlers in question are Hazlewood, Starc, Cummins and Lyon. However, all the 4 bowlers have issued a statement. They have said that they had no idea that the condition of the ball was being changed on the field with a foreign object.

We did not know a foreign substance was taken on to the field to alter the condition of the ball until we saw the images on the big screen at Newlands.’ 

They were also adamant that the umpires did not deem fit to change the ball because even they didn’t find anything wrong with it.

However, Adam Gilchrist, Clarke and host of other international players did not seem to side with the bowlers. All of this goes onto show that there was something sinister going on. Clarke was more vocal,

‘Can you imagine that ball being thrown back to the bowler and the bowler not knowing about it? Please!

Clarke added: ‘I love how the articles in the paper are, “It is such a big surprise that Cameron Bancroft has made a…”

‘Actually, if you read his quotes, it is not what he did say as what he didn’t say in regards to other people knowing about “sandpapergate”.

‘What’s the surprise? That more than three people knew?

David Saker, the bowling coach seems to agree with Bancroft that the bowlers infact were aware.

English is having a laugh

The English media and former England players are having a nice time out of Australian’s misery. Vaughan the outspoken critic, thinks that this controversy will only help the England team in the Ashes.

David Warner, Steve Smith and the bowlers are under scrutiny again, and it would only take a poor Australia performance in the first Ashes Test for the pressure to mount. The captain, Tim Paine, is under the microscope after defeat by India, and while some think this could galvanise Australia, rarely are such public problems good for a team’s unity. Joe Root will be enjoying this and thinking it could help. He knows an argument or two in the opposing team is always good,” Michael Vaughan wrote in his column for the Telegraph.

What do I think?

It all depends on at what point in the game was the ball scuffed. This is important to be able to accuse the bowlers. Now, if the ball was substantially old, it will be difficult for the bowlers to know whether the wear and tear on the ball was as a result of the ball being used for so many overs or was it because of some external object. In that case, they wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference. It is perfectly alright for the Australian bowlers to be frustrated for being accused to knowing something when they didn’t.

Having said that, if the ball was relatively new, it would have been clear as a crystal for the bowlers to realise that something was not correct with the ball.

Whatever the case maybe, this scandal is not going away in the near future. I expect to hear a lot in the future.

Other topics related to Australia can be read here, here and here.

Shane Warne the bad boy image

Posted on by Bobji

Shane Warne the bad boy image is the second and final chapter about the greatest spinner.

Before you proceed, the part one of Shane Warne the greatest spinner can be read here.

Hold over some nations

Warne had absolute hold over the batsmen from South Africa, Pakistan, England and New Zealand. His record against all these nations speaks for themselves. Against the rest it is understandable but Pakistan, who are decent players of spin, found Warne an absolute nightmare. Warne took 90 wickets in 15 tests. This is 6 wickets per test. He does not have this sort of a record against any other nation. Just what made Warne so devastating against Pakistan is not clear. Perhaps that Basit Ali dismissal have played in the minds of the Pakistani batsmen of that era.

Captain Shane

It was really unfortunate that one of the greatest minds in the game, never had the opportunity to lead his team in test cricket. Warne did captain the Australia team albeit in ODI where he showcased his abilities as a thinking captain. His record of 10 wins in 11 games speaks for itself. It was really a shame that his off the field antics cost him dearly. He was never considered for Australian captaincy. It is something that will certainly rankle him for the rest of his life. His showed his skills in the inaugural edition of the IPL. His team, Rajasthan Royals was the least fancied of all the teams. They weren’t expected to reach the playoffs. However, not only did they reach the playoffs, they went onto the finals and won the tournament itself. It was all down to Warne’s man management skills alongwith his on-field tactical awareness.

Off-field shenanigans

Despite such a stellar career, Warne too had his shortcomings. The legendary Warne image was built not just on his on-field exploits but also based on his off the field actions that made for famous tabloid headlines. He was a much loved figure for the Australian press for he has often given them loads of material to write about. The infamous hotel room liaison with some ladies, his extra-marital affairs, the pill controversy just before the 2007 World Cup and blaming it on his mother which did not go down well with the public and the information for money controversy. All of these made Warne a complete package for the press.

Outspoken individual

Warne has always been an outspoken person. He does not mince words. He calls it as he sees it. Warne’s lack of cohesiveness with Buchanan is very well known. I have written about that below. He also had an uneasy relationship with Steve Waugh. He has criticised Waugh quite often. Warne termed Waugh the most selfish cricketer whose only ambition was to average above 50 in tests. Relationship between Warne and Waugh began to sour after the infamous test in the West Indies where Warne was dropped, probably for the only time in his career, for performance. From then on, there wasn’t any love lost between them.

“Disappointed is not a strong enough word. When the crunch came Tugga didn’t support me, and I felt so totally let down by someone who I had supported big time and was also a good friend,” Warne wrote in his autobiography, The Spin.

A few years later, he criticised Mitchell Starc for being too soft. As expected Starc did not take kindly to that comment.

He even criticised Labuschagne’s batting antics. As expected his comments did not go down well.

More recently, Warne was at his relentless best during the Australian series against India. He criticised all the Australian bowlers and Paine for poor tactics. It was more of a personal attack. I will not be shocked if the rapport between the current Australian players and Warne have deteriorated beyond repair.

Warne and Buchanan

Warne never liked the Australian coach of that era, John Buchanan. For that matter, he always felt that a coach must be someone who has played at the highest level for a decent amount of time and John Buchanan never had that credential on his profile. Warne and Buchanan was diametrically opposite of each other. Warne, by the time Buchanan was appointed, was already an international star. Buchanan, by contrast, was a university lecturer with only 7 first class games. The dice was cast and obviously, it is difficult for any international player, leave alone the fact someone as extraordinarily gifted as Warne, to be able to adjust with a coach who was an academic.

Fitness and data analysis were central to Buchanan’s coaching methods. Whereas, for Warne, he prefer to needle the batsman and enjoy a nice laugh and immerse himself in a cold one.

For Buchanan, cricket is much more than batting, bowling and fielding. He encouraged the players to recite poetry and can often be seen arranging for a pre-tour bootcamp. The bootcamp had nothing to do with cricket. The Australians used to run around carrying water cans, hiking, pushing cars. These are activities that a heavyweight wrestler will be proud of. He also wanted the players to practise throwing with both the arms and he sort of wanted to produce ambidextrous players.

Warne explodes

Warne never had any time for fitness. He was clearly frustrated with Buchanan. Warne once told Buchanan “These boot camps are a big waste of time… after a bit I just turned to the coach and said: ‘I’m weak as piss, I hate your guts and I want to go home. You’re a dickhead’.”

Warne will have none of Buchanan’s shenanigans.  He clearly felt that cricket is a simple game and Buchanan was over complicating things. I do not think Warne really understood Buchanan’s methods because of the enormous amount of talent that he had. For Warne, everything came naturally. He was always able to control the flow of the game. He made the batsmen dance to his tune. Such was his brilliance. On the otherhand, there were Australians like Ponting, Steve Waugh and the rest who absolutely vouched for Buchanan.

Michael Hussey, for instance, had an interesting take on the Warne – Buchanan relationship.

“I think the way John spoke to and treated and tried to motivate Shane was genius. He almost tried to get into an argument with him or challenge him with things that were a little bit leftfield. So Shane would say, ‘John, you’re dribbling rubbish. I’ll show you how to do it’, and he’d go out there and do it. In my mind that’s absolutely genius coaching.”

In other words, Hussey states that it was Buchanan who made Warne realise this enormous talent.

Other topics related to Australia can be read here, here and here.

Shane Warne the greatest spinner

Posted on by Bobji

He had somewhat of a lethargic runup to the crease. Just a few paces along, a small hop and unveils a ripping leg-break. The ball pitches exactly on the spot he envisioned and makes the batsman dance to the tune of the ball. It was always like he could control the ball. Such was his mastery over his craft. It was none other than Shane Warne the greatest spinner of his era.

It was a period when fast bowling was in the ascendancy. The likes of India and Sri Lanka, where spinners have always ruled the roost were thinking of developing fast bowlers. Spin bowling and spinners around the world were losing patronage. Captains weren’t willing to use spinners as an attacking weapon. At the most, they ended up holding one end and leave the rest to the fast bowlers. The famous West Indian bowlers of the 70s, 80s & 90s had firmly swayed almost every board’s opinion towards bowlers who can bowl fast.

It will not be wrong to state that it was Shane Warne who made spin bowling and that too, leg spin fashionable. A whole generation of Australian youngsters turned to leg spin and tried to spin the ball like Warne. Even today, whenever, in some corner of the world, if a child spins the ball, it is Warne who is immediately tagged and his view sought. The impact that Warne has had on the game cannot be quantified. It will always remain enormous.

Gatting delivery

Warne announced his arrival on the international scene with what is now known as “The Ball of the Century” or “The Gatting Ball”. A leg spin that pitched on the 6th stump down the leg and hit top of off. Gatting stood there for a few seconds. He just could not believe it. The specific delivery would have got anyone. Until then, no one had spun the ball and that too from a negative line. There are enough articles written about that delivery and hence I do not want to get indepth of that one.

Basit Ali

Shane Warne’s bowling was more of poetry in action. He was a master in mind games. Quite a few player’s career were ended by Warne well ahead of their time. A couple of such players were Basit Ali and Daryl Cullinan.  If there is one beautiful example of the kind of mind games that Warne can perform, it was against Basit Ali back in 1995 at Sydney. Here he was, bowling the last ball of the day. Basit Ali made him and the Australians wait throughout the last over to ensure that there wasn’t one more. Warne, the ever showman, called Ian Healy over, just before the last ball. Now it is his turn to make Basit Ali wait. He could clearly see Basit Ali getting nervous and frustrated. All he wanted to do was to play out the delivery and return to the confines of the cosy pavilion.

Warne would have none of that. He made Basit Ali sweat. Warne and Healy, as he would later reveal did not discuss about the game at all. They were talking about dinner but that was enough for Basit Ali to become nervous.

Warne went towards the mark, ambled in and let rip a ferocious leg spinner that pitched on well outside of the leg stump and Basit Ali was bowled around his legs.  The delivery was as good as the Gatting delivery. Only difference being that this one hit the leg stump around Basit’s pads. The magician in Warne had risen to the call. These sort of deliveries only Warne could conjure. It was so poetic to watch.

Allan Border, Warne’s first captain

Allan Border, who was the captain when Warne made his debut, actually delayed his decision to retire so that he could watch something special during the last days of his playing career. He liked what he saw. Warne on his first series was treated like a school kid by the Indians but Border kept the faith and Warne repaid that faith in Sri Lanka with a series winning spell.

1993 good ploy to Hick

Then came the tour that really showed the world the real Shane Warne. The England tour of 1993. The English press expected a lot from Warne and at the same time they were confident that their batsmen were capable of handling him. Before the start of the series, the Australians played some warm up games one on which Graeme Hick, the Zimbabwe born British was involved. Hick was thought to be a tremendous talent and as such they English were keen to see how he went against Warne. True to form, Hick absolutely mastered Shane Warne in that tour game. He scored against Warne by sending the 5.5 ounce to all parts of the boundary. The English truly believed that they have conquered Warne and it was only a matter of time before they regained The Ashes.

As it turned out later, Allan Border did not want Warne to reveal his skills in the very first tour game lest the English batsmen will probably be able to play him well in the subsequent series.

“We didn’t want to show England anything, that we had this kid up our who we suspected could be the real deal. I was really excited about what I was seeing and what he potentially could bring to the table so I was keen to keep him under wraps.” he added.

Warne was however frustrated and he really wanted to use his complete repertoire but Border prevailed over him. Eventually, Warne went on to bamboozle England in the series and Australia won 4-1. Alas, if only Border had known that even after 15 years, England still weren’t able to read Warne any better, he wouldn’t have cared in that first game.

Daryl Cullinan

Cullinan, the South African batsman became Warne’s bunny in a rather short time. He just wasn’t able read Warne in any format of the game. Whenever Cullinan walks in, Warne walks alongside him. The hold Warne had over Cullinan was extraordinary. It would be fair to say that Warne finished the cricket career of Cullinan. Warne made Cullinan surrender to him. It was bullying at its best. It felt thrilling, funny and awful. All at the same period.

Warne said about Cullinan “Usually when I give him a serve he just looks down at the ground.”

There was one instance when Cullinan opened the innings in an ODI game. He must have thought that Warne who usually comes on in the middle of the innings will not open. As such, he will have the overs to get himself a good score. However, to his horror, Warne opened the bowling and got Cullinan first ball.

Warne’s hold over other batsmen of his era are stuff of legends.

to be continued….

Other topics related to Australia can be read here, here and here.