Bobji, Author at Cricket Critique

Indian teams for England and Sri Lanka

Posted on 20 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

India is supposed to play in two different continents at the same time in a couple of months. The first will be in England with the WTC finals followed by a lengthy England tour. The tour to England was decided longtime ago whereas Saurav Ganguly, suddenly sprang a surprise in one of the media briefing where he mentioned Indian touring Sri Lanka for a limited overs series. Just when we thought BCCI cannot function more haphazardly, the BCCI president proves that they can. Hence, there will be a need for selecting 2 Indian teams for both England and Sri Lanka. The Indian teams for England and Sri Lanka will be as different as chalk and cheese.

Indian team for England

The Indian team for England has already been announced. It is a jumbo squad of about 20 players with 4 reserves. Under the prevailing circumstances, this is only expected. Moreover, to get used to the pitch and the conditions, the team will have to play amongst themselves though I wonder why aren’t there any practise games with the counties? Surely, a couple of games could have been arranged before the WTC finals and a further 3-4 games during the England tour itself. Just like how it was done in Australia. It would have been ideal preparation. Alas, BCCI is not known to do things properly.

Presence of Umesh Yadav in the squad

The Indian team contains all the obvious names. However, I do wonder what has Umesh Yadav done to be in the squad in all the tours? Whenever given a chance, he hasn’t produced any unbelievable bowling. He may not be that capable but he must surely have been able to adequate to be considered but he hasn’t been. Umesh is 33 years old with not much cricket left in him. It has been 10 years since he made his debut as a raw quick. Back then, everyone in India were thrilled to have a bowler who can bowl consistently at 145KPH. India never had that luxury. Much was expected out of him but he has failed to deliver. 148 wickets at 30.54 in 48 tests in nothing to write about. However, his numbers in India is really exceptional. Probably it is time to consider him only for the home tests.

Absence of Kumar in the squad

Bhuvaneshwar Kumar will be the second name after Kohli in any team that tours England and New Zealand. His type of bowling suites those two conditions. Infact, his best in tests was in England. Added to his bowling, his ability to contribute with the bat will be invaluable. However, his name was missing when the team was announced. The reason being that he hasn’t played the longer format of the game for more than 2 years.

“The selectors think that he is still not fit to play long format especially on such a long tour,” said a source

Fair enough. Still, I would have certainly picked Kumar in the team. Afterall, it is a squad of 20 players and an additional player will not change anything. On the contrary, it would have given the team management to assess whether Kumar will be fit to play in the tests. He could have been part of the inter-squad matches which would have given him longer format practise.

New Zealand better prepared

New Zealand will play 2 tests against England before the WTC finals and will undoubtedly be better prepared. However, the Indian coaching staff is not too worried

“…Sometimes it can work in our favour as well, because that way you’re mentally more ready. It’s like playing with an injury. Sometimes when you’re injured, you tend to concentrate a little better. Sometimes when you’re a little under-prepared, you tend to focus more and maybe that will bring the best out of us as well, so that is the kind of mindset we are going in with.” Sridhar said.

I can only hope that he is spot on because New Zealand will be playing in conditions that they are familiar with whereas the Indians will be in alien condition and that too without any match practise. Not to mention the Covid induced quarantine.

Indian tour to Sri Lanka

With the entire first and second choice team members in England, the Indian team to Sri Lanka will certainly find a lot of players making their debut. Nonetheless, the team still promises to be strong for Sri Lanka who are in the middle of a bad phase. A whole host of experienced players are dropped for the limited overs series against Bangladesh. I do not expect this to change for the Indian series. Two completely newer teams will be playing against each other. The strength of the new-look Sri Lankan team will be known in that series. BCCI may wait till that series is finished to announce the squad.

The Indian team will likely to have experienced players in Dhawan, Hardik, Kumar & Manish Pandey. Kumar has been the standout bowler in limited overs. Even in the series against England, where everyone including the English bowlers went well over 6, Kumar shone with a bowling economy rate of less than 5. Though Dhawan made his debut a couple of years earlier than Kumar, I still think the captaincy must be given to Kumar for the short series. It will be a way of thanking for his services on the docile wickets of the sub-continent.

Prithvi Shaw, Krunal, the spin twins, Saini and a few others are likely to find a spot in the squad as will Surya Yadav, Ishan and Sanju. This team may be light in international experience but they are experienced enough for a Sri Lankan side that is struggling. Sri Lankan wickets are known to assist the slow bowlers and hence it will help to have both Kuldeep and Chahal in the playing eleven. I expect the Indian team to win all the games. This promises to be a good series but I expect India to prevail.

What does the future hold for IPL 2021?

Posted on 12 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

IPL 2021 as we all know has been shelved for the time being due to the increase in infections across the country. IPL in India during the middle of an enormous second wave was always going to be a challenge. The BCCI did their best but apparently it wasn’t enough. Quite a number of players across a few teams were infected with the virus. The BCCI had no choice but to postpone the 2^nd half of the tournament. However, the BCCI seems to be intent on completing the IPL this year itself. The timing looks a bit dicey. What does the future hold for IPL 2021?

UAE first of the block

IPL 2021 will afterall be completed this year itself. Quite a few countries have expressed willingness to host the remaining games in their country. UAE which hosted the 2020 edition is at the forefront. If at all IPL 2021 will have to be staged again, UAE stands the best chance to host the event. They have had previous experience and their infection level is also low. More than that the perception of if it is UAE, it must be alright remains quite high in the minds of the international players.

England counties wants a share of the pie

Second in the line is certain English counties have expressed the desire to host the IPL in England. These counties were devastated last year because county championship wasn’t played which meant loss of gate revenue and TV revenue. IPL being such a huge tournament and with enough Indian expats living in the UK, they can easily fill all the stadiums, tickets sales will not be a problem. Most of these spectators would not have seen IPL from the stadium in India. A chance to watch the games from the stadium and that too in their own land will bring in spectators by the droves.

London’s mayor wants the IPL in England

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has already gone on record with his desire to host the IPL, not necessarily the current edition, in England.

“The IPL is a fantastic league but I’m desperate not just to see Kohli and others here when India come (to England) as they are this year but to see the likes of (MS) Dhoni, (Rohit) Sharma and (Jasprit) Bumrah come here on a regular basis,” Khan said.

So when the mayor of London wants IPL in England, he will surely get it. With the current edition being in limbo, there is every chance that the remaining half of the IPL will be completed in England this year.

Timeframe for IPL

BCCI is eyeing the September timeframe to complete the remaining set of games. This is just after the Indian tour of England and before the World T20. Most of the Indian players will anyway be in England. Having said that, the logistics will not be that easy.

IPL always had one criteria working for the tournament. It is usually staged during the months of April and May during which except for England, all other teams will not have any international match. The ECB have come around and have agreed for their players to participate in every IPL and be available right till the final if their team qualifies. However, the same cannot be said for the September period. Every team will be engaged during this period and it will be difficult for the respective boards to allow their players to participate.

English players will not be available

Ashley Giles, the ECB director has already stated that he expects the English players to be available to play for England. This makes perfect sense. The ECB allowed their IPL players to play the entire tournament eventhough it meant they will not be available for the New Zealand tests based on the understanding that they will be available for England for the rest of the year. This was a good bargain. So, the English players will do well to represent England rather than participate in any revamped IPL.

‘We do intend to look after our players but we’ve got a lot of high-profile cricket ahead of us this year, including a T20 World Cup and the Ashes, and we’re planning on the involvement of England players in England matches.’

Australia is also in the frame

In the meanwhile, Australia too have expressed willingness to host the IPL. It essentially means that the World T20 will be moved to Australia in the month of October. The IPL can be played in September. India will host the 2022 T20 World Cup. This is a reciprocal arrangement. This seems to be the least likeliest of all the options.

Other international players will probably be available

There is certainly question marks over the participation of the English players and so are the Bangladesh players. However, West Indies players who are anyway not playing for their country except Holder will be available. Australian season starts usually in November but there is not news about any Australian tours to any other country. New Zealand players are likely to be available because their season starts in November and usually they do not play that many games. The rest of the nations does not have much representation in IPL anyway.

If at all the event is held in September, the only stumbling block will be how will the BCCI or the franchise arrange for the support staff and the other players who are not part of the Indian team to travel? What about the bio bubble for them? Will the BCCI be able to come up with a foolproof plan for them? We will probably get the answers for these questions within the next one month because I do not think that the BCCI can take too long to take a decision. A whole host of activities needs to happen based on that decision.

The World T20

All of these brings us to one point of whether the World T20 must be held in India? My firm view on this regard is a gigantic NO. It must certainly be moved to another country. The country cannot afford one more embarrassment and negative publicity. It is better to move the world cup rightaway rather than wait for the tourney to start.

A captain’s knock to remember

Posted on 11 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

Captains across all the teams in different era, have played significant innings that have changed the course of the game or a series. Steve Waugh has played so many that it is hard to recollect which one was his best. Graeme Smith, the man who made a habit to scoring match winning 4^th innings hundreds as just another day in the office. India too have had their captains play some quality innings against all odds. The one innings that I still remember is the one that certainly ranks among the top 3 captain’s knock by an Indian skipper. It is none other than the 144 Saurav Ganguly scored against Australia at Brisbane in 2004. This is the story of that one innings of a much maligned captain and much criticised batsman played against the best side of his time. A captain’s knock to remember.

Ganguly was a suspect against fast bowling

Saurav Ganguly as we all know wasn’t that excellent player of fast bowling. Especially, on wickets that has a little bit of help for that kind. He was adequate but will always struggle if the conditions are in favour of the fast bowlers. His records in Australia, West Indies, New Zealand, South Africa and England proves this point quite well. He always has this tendency of playing well away from the body and thereby nick to the keeper or the slips. He will wait for the short ball and as a result became susceptible against the ball angling away from him. This showed a mind that was confused whether to go forward or to go back. Such was his prowess against fast bowling.

Hence, Ganguly was under tremendous pressure before the Australian series in 2003. To make matters worse, the Indian team of that year hadn’t won that many games outside India. So the pressure to perform was even greater. Ganguly being the captain and somewhat of a suspect against fast bowling and that too in Australia when they were at their best, the series and the personal performance can only go one way. A way that Ganguly would not have liked.

Shane Warne and chin music

Shane Warne, the great Australian leg spinner, did not have kind words for Ganguly. He wanted Ganguly to be ready to face chin music. In other words meant short and fast bowling onto his head. It was meant to intimidate Ganguly and thereby defeat him mentally even before he had stepped onto the field.

It was under such a scenario, Ganguly took a trip to Sydney. He worked with the legendary Australian player, Greg Chappell. He learned the technique to play fast bowling on bouncy pitches from Chappell. It will be an understatement to say that Ganguly improved his backfoot play after his stint with Chappell. To all the Ganguly supporters, it was clear that he wanted to leave a mark on the series with his batting. It showed real intent on his part.

Ganguly in his auto-biography,

“The Australians, as a part of their well-planned strategy, always targeted the rival captain,” writes Ganguly. “But I had made up my mind even before fastening the seat belts on the flight that I was going to attack before they realised what had hit them.”

And then the series started

Australia have this habit of exposing the visiting teams to the bounce and pace of Brisbane Gabba. The big strong Australian bowlers will pound the visiting batsmen and by the time the series moves on to the next test, the visiting team will be mentally defeated and thereby effectively losing the series. This time it wasn’t any different. The Indians were expected to roll the red carpet for the Australians. The first couple of days were mostly washed out because of rain but Australia still managed a pretty good score. A semblance of fight was already seen on the 3^rd day when the Indian bowlers took the last 7 wickets for an addition of only 50 runs with Zaheer Khan leading the way.

And Ganguly came, saw and conquered

However, the start of the Indian innings wasn’t anything to write about. They were struggling at 62-3 with Dravid, Tendulkar & Sehwag back in the pavilion. In walked Ganguly. The captain and someone who was under great deal of stress. Not only to rescue the team from trouble but to prove a point to the whole world in general and to the Australians in particular. Prove he did.

Such was the brilliance of that innings. Never once during the course of 196 deliveries did he take a step back. He attacked right from the beginning.

He was convincing against the likes of Gillespie, Bracken and Bichel. MacGill was treated with contempt. Sure he was beaten. Sure the Australians had him in trouble in a couple of occasions. There were quite a few streaky shots that went over the slips but none of these deter Ganguly from aggressive batting. He even brought out the pull, a shot which Ganguly was never renowned for, into play. The authority that he showcased during the course of 144 was something few captains display when they tour Australia. He was a man on a mission. He decided to play aggressive cricket and he did not fail to deceive.

Those who had the privilege to witness the innings were all lucky to see a batsman who overcame his own fear and low confidence to come out and play an innings that will certainly belong to one of those innings that changed the course of a game and the series.

In his autobiography, Out Of My Comfort Zone, Waugh wrote: “After Brisbane, we also had to recognise that this wasn’t the usual soft-underbelly Indian touring squad, but rather a hardened force forged by Sourav Ganguly, their feisty leader.”

Conclusion

It will be a mere understatement to say that Ganguly’s innings instilled the much needed confidence on the rest of the batsmen to play a brand of cricket that was seldom seen from the Indian batsmen in Australia. He certainly inspired Dravid, Sehwag, Laxman and towards the very end, Tendulkar, to play the way they did. Indian cricket from that point onwards really believed that if they can draw a series against one of the greatest teams of any era, they can certainly win more games away from the sub-continent.

Other topics related to Ganguly can be read here and here.

Rahul Dravid and the magical innings

Posted on 11 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

Rahul Dravid, the name conjures up images of a player and a person who is calm and composed. The name brings in a sense of calm and someone who is under complete control. If at all there is one Indian player who can be trusted to brace himself on a tough wicket, it will be Rahul Dravid.

Yes, Rahul Dravid displayed all those attributes in his long career for India. During the course of his glittering career, he has played so many such great knocks and some of them have resulted in India winning the test and the series. It is quite difficult to pick and analyse just one innings of his in a plethora of such contribution. Nonetheless, the one innings that for me defined who Rahul Dravid was, was the one at Headingley. Rahul Dravid and the magical innings.

In Dravid’s words

This was the test that propelled Rahul Dravid from a good batsman to a great batsman.

“I must admit that during the last tour I went through a bit of a purple patch. I think it was the beginning of a very successful run which lasted almost two and a half years.” He further said, “I felt my game peaked at that stage, I was playing at the top of my game, playing really well. What made me happy was that we all played some good cricket on that trip – to win the Headingley Test after taking a decision to bat first on that wicket … that century was the highlight of the tour. It set the tone for us, allowed us to fight back in the series.

Rahul Dravid the forever journeyman

Throughout his career, Dravid never got credit for the sheer number of times he had helped India win the game. On the one hand, there was Tendulkar upon whom the entire media spotlight was focussed on and on the other there was Ganguly who was thought to be and rightly so, the captain who turned around the fortunes of the Indian team. Sehwag was feted for his belligerence and Laxman for his sheer class. However, Dravid always remained an afterthought. It was one because of the slow nature of his batting and two, he never shows any emotion on the field. Anger or otherwise. One thing that did not escape anyone’s attention was his steel like determination. It was there on show in all its splendour.

Headingley 2002

This innings was not only crafted under the most challenging of circumstances but also under intense scrutiny. This innings of Dravid most certainly ranks higher when compared to the 148 at Durban or even the 180 at Calcutta.

The Indians had just come off of a series loss against West Indies a couple of months before. The West Indies team of that year wasn’t as bad as how they are now. They still had Lara and Hooper. Infact, the Indians won one test in that series which was the team’s first test win outside of the sub-continent after 1986. The paucity of wins did create lot of snide remarks on the team.

To make matters worse, most of the former English players expected England to win the series easily. Ian Botham, one of the English allrounder had predicted a 4-0 thrashing and he wanted England to concentrate on that year’s Ashes rather than worrying about an Indian team that was ripe for the taking. Until then, even Indians did believe that we weren’t that good because we had just lost the first test and the 2^nd test was drawn against much expectation.

The test

It was under such extenuating circumstances did the Indian team step onto the field at Headingley. It was a typical English morning. Cold and with tremendous cloud cover. With the Dukes in hand, the English bowlers who have grown on such pitches and under such cloud cover, will be able to swing the ball throughout the day. The England team really wanted to make short work on the Indians. They wanted to wrap up the series at Headingley. If possible within 3 days and not leave the series hanging until the last test. However, what they encountered on the morning of the first day was something they would not have imagined in their wildest dreams. Sure a 50 or a 75 run partnership and that would have been that but it wasn’t to be.

India won the toss. Usually, when India wins the toss on away tours, they will always bowl. More so, if the conditions are helping the bowlers. Not this time. Not this team led by the brilliant Saurav Ganguly. This time, Ganguly opted to bat. This was such a brave decision. The fact was that India were actually trailing in the series and were in a must win situation.

And the innings unfurled

India lost Sehwag quite early in the day. In came Dravid to not only steady the innings but to lay a platform for the belligerent middle order. He began the innings with a nudge towards gully and the ball sped to the boundary. It was a little bit too edgy for the fans however. A few deliveries later, he unfurled a beautiful cover drive of the bowling of Hoggard. Anyone wants to know how to play the cover drive when the ball is swinging will do well to watch the video of this shot again and again. Unfortunately, the video only has the boundaries scored over the course of the innings. However, the real technical skill was not in how important it is a punish the bad balls but also how important is playing every ball on its merit.

The technical mastery was there for all to see. Head in position, weight beautifully transferred to the front, shoulders moving towards the line of the ball, front foot right in front of the ball and eyes watching the ball right till it hit the middle of the bat. The result of such co-ordination among the various parts of the body will always be a marvellously driven boundary towards covers. When someone plays with such precision, it always means that the batsman is in good nick and he makes the most out of such form.

The innings had all the shots from the Dravid’s school of batsmanship

I do not want to go into the details of every shot he played in that superlative innings. It will take an entire book to describe the beauty of that innings. The innings had everything from cover drives, leg glance to pull shots of both the front foot and the backfoot. However, none of these came to define the Dravid of the following years. It was the power of concentration, the precise foot movement, the sheer determination and the ability to wait for a long period of time. Not just for that one delivery to score from but during the entire course of an innings.

A word of praise for Bangar

Sanjay Bangar, who played as an allrounder was thrusted into the role of an opening batsman because India during those days wanted someone to handle the new ball to protect the middle order. Bangar did play the greatest innings of his brief career. He not only withstood the assault of the new ball but he ensured that he played long enough to completely negate the threat of the English bowlers. His innings was the prime reason why Dravid was able to remain himself and not play too defensively. In a way, Bangar helped Dravid play the greatest innings of his career.

The win at Headingley did give a great deal of confidence to the Indian team. It was the test that showed the team that they can compete. Compete against the best of the team and against all odds.

Also read a youngster’s dream fulfilled here, here and here.

Cricket boards across the world are in the news

Posted on 11 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

Three cricket boards across the world are in the news over the last few days. They are the Australian board, the English board and the South African board. All of them are for different reasons. Some makes sense and some does not really.

The Australian cricket board

The ACB have ringed in changes in the contract system after the disastrous home season. They lost 2 of the 3 series against India with the test series loss coming against an Indian D side. Naturally, heads are bound to roll. The Australian cricketing scenario is not really flush with talents. Nonetheless, the existing players were either promoted or relegated from their existing contracts.

Some of the players who have lost their contracts like Travis Head is along the expected lines. As was Joe Burns. Head was thought of an captaincy option but his failure to score anything during the series naturally ruled him out of the contract.

However, the surprising omission was Will Pucovski. He is a promising young player. He made his test debut against India and scored an impressive 60 odd. Unfortunately, he was injured after that test. The injury has ruled him out of getting a contract. This is ridiculous. Australia, which is not exactly brimming with talent, finds one good young player but he is not given a contract because he is injured. This is stupid. Infact, Will’s injury must have ensured that he was awarded a contract.

The Australian board have seen his talent. He is someone who must be groomed for the long run and as such he must feel financially secured. What does the Australian board do? They do not even offer him a contract. What if there are already 17 players centrally contracted? Why cannot the board extend that to 20 or 25 players? One can only hope that Will takes this as personal injustice and comes back stronger.

The English cricket board

Ed Smith will no longer be a national selector. His tenure has been terminated after 3 years. Ed Smith was the chief selector with Chris Silverwood assisting him in selection. Now, Chris Silverwood, the current national coach of the English team has been given overwhelming authority and has been made the sole authority to select the players who can represent England in international games. Ashley Giles the current managing director of English cricket said,

“The current process of selecting England teams has been in place for over 120 years,” said Giles. “With advances in technology and a greater information gathering resource at our disposal than ever before, the restructure is in the best interests of helping England men’s teams be successful.”

Silverwood will be advised by Morgan for the limited overs squad and Root for the test squad. It remains to be seen how a single person will be able to select the squads in all the formats though he will be advised by 2 captains. This is likely to lead to certain conflict of interests because the coach is too close to the action to select the squad without the assistance or influence of someone who is outside of the team.

Calls to drop Graeme Smith

Alviro Petersen, the former South African opener, has called on Graeme Smith to be replaced because with him being a good friend of Boucher, who is the current South African coach, it is unlikely Smith will remove Boucher as the coach and that his friendship with Boucher is to the detriment of the team itself.

“Unfortunately‚ Mark Boucher and Graeme Smith have a very good and friendly relationship since their playing days and it is highly unlikely that Smith will fire his friend. Unfortunately that is the position that we are in as a cricketing country and we have to deal with that.”

The South African team have lost eight out of the eleven series since Boucher took over. Smith was brought precisely to avoid this kind of a run but I think Smith is helpless. South Africa, with their quota system and player exodus is not really brimming with talent and confidence. It must be noted that out of the eight, most of them were outside South Africa and teams nowadays are not that good travellers. The series loss to Pakistan at home came in ODIs and T20s were the South African team did not have their main players.

Petersen must realise that South African team is losing not because of want of trying but because there simply aren’t enough quality players. Even the few good ones like Markaram is taking a long time to mature.

A good and strong South African side is certainly required for international cricket to thrive and survive. For that, they will have to look at their first class system and maybe just maybe, the quota system must be replaced with merit based selection.

Other articles about South African cricket can be read here and here.

Whether the IPL must continue

Posted on 11 May 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

The IPL is clearly at the crossroads. The country is witnessing a surge in the number of infections. The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the country. Absolutely no part of the country is left alone. The situation is quite grim and it is under such climate the IPL is continuing across the country. There are growing voices whether the IPL must continue. Should the country even rejoice watching meaningless games when there are lot of families in mourning? These are valid questions and it is pretty much impossible to answer convincingly. However, I do believe that the IPL must continue.

Foreign players are leaving

Andrey Tye, the Australian fast bowler, Adam Zampa, the spinner and Kane Richardson, have all left the IPL for Australia. The reason that these players gave was for personal reason but we all know that they were really scared with what is happening around the country and we want to be in the safe environs of Australia. This is perfectly understandable. They must have felt whether they will be allowed to return to Australia at the earliest.

David Hussey has opined that there are other players as well who would like to go back.

“Everyone’s sort of a bit nervous about whether they can get back into Australia. I dare say there’ll be a few other Australians a bit nervous about getting back into Australia.”

Liam Livingstone, the English batsman wanted to get back to England before the deadline of not allowing anyone from India to land in the UK arrives. These are perfectly understandable decisions because afterall for these players, India is a third world country and is always vulnerable. It is impossible to blame them.

I just feel like because it’s India, we’re always being told about the hygiene over here and being extra careful … I just felt like it was the most vulnerable. The IPL that was held in Dubai six months ago didn’t feel that way at all.” Adam Zampa.

Ashwin left

Ashwin too has left his franchise to be with his family. It is quite noble of him. At this time, every family needs every support that they can get.

“I would be taking a break from this years IPL from tomorrow. My family and extended family are putting up a fight against #COVID19 and I want to support them during these tough times.

By allowing himself to be released from the bubble, he has become vulnerable to the virus. He is happy to endure that for his family which is adorable. Ashwin wants to comeback if the situation improves but we all know that his season is finished.

The only problem with this is that this player exodus will paint the tournament in general and the country in particular in grim light. It conveys an impression that everything is out of control when the reality if far from this. Yes, the situation is alarming but not impossible.

Amidst such doom and gloom, there was a significant piece of news. Pat Cummins, had donated 50,000 Australian Dollars to the PMCares fund to fight the virus. This was an incredible gesture from Cummins for which the entire country is grateful.

“As players, we are privileged to have a platform that allows us to reach millions of people that we can use for good. With that in mind, I have made a contribution to the ‘PM Cares Fund,’ specifically to purchase oxygen supplies for India’s hospitals.”

I am not prepared to ask whether the Indian players will contribute as well because there are a lot of Indian players who contribute without anyone knowing. However, I will certainly criticise the Indian board for not doing enough for the same population who have made the BCCI rich.

BCCI hasn’t contributed

Last year, the BCCI contribution a mere 51 crores towards the PM Cares fund. This is actually a pittance. It is a tight slap on the faces of all the fans who are suffering now. Shame on the BCCI. For the sheer amount of money the board gets, only because of the fans, they must contribute upwards of 1000 crores of rupees. They have the wealth. BCCI is like a secret society. They keep the money to themselves. I sincerely wish that the BCCI is brought down to its knees for lack of contribution during these testing times.

The BCCI, over the last 2-3 days, through the commentators have appealed to the public to follow the Covid norms. This is too little and too late. I wonder why they didn’t do this from the start? BCCI needs to do more. They can aid in the procurement of oxygen. Distributing free masks, sanitisers, assist the frontline workers, police and lot more.

Why must the IPL go on?

During this time of doom and gloom, when entertainment of any sort is restricted apart from watching some soaps on TV, IPL offers legitimate entertainment to the fans who for about 4 hours can forget about what is happening around them. It gives them a much need respite. Moreover, IPL is not just a cricketing activity. It is also an economic activity. The hotels, though only a few, that are otherwise devoid of any guest is occupied. In most cases, the entire hotel is booked.

Chartered flights, catering, housekeeping etc. So many get some work to do in these distress. IPL keeps a small part of the economic engine running. This must not be stopped. IPL itself is well managed and with zero spectators allowed, there is no risk of the virus spreading because of the IPL. Hence, there is no justification to stop the IPL other than moral which is not the correct way to go about it.

So, let the IPL continue and provide the much needed succour during these unprecedented and difficult times.

Sam Curran the batsman and IPL coaches

Posted on 25 April 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

How many coach does a team needs? 3, 4? Batting coach, yes. Bowling coach, sure. Fielding coach, maybe. A head coach, sort of a delivery manager in a corporate company? Alright no problem. Beyond that, a physio and a trainer. The fitness levels of the current players are way higher that how it was a decade ago. Beyond this, I fail to understand because every IPL team have a complete squad as support staff. Sam Curran is certainly a good batsman. He is just like India’s Sundar. Let me write about Sam Curran the batsman and IPL coaches.

Coaches galore

This link will show a complete list of all the support staff in every IPL franchise. All the teams have a long list of support staff. It starts with the director of cricket till analyst. It is an entire eleven. Why would any team needs so many support staff is beyond me. Money spent on such backroom staff can be spent on something else. Something useful. It could be on the players who are the real heroes of the game. What will be the contribution of so many support staff is anyone’s guess. It is time every IPL franchise is trimmed.

Sam Curran is a batting talent

Sam Curran is a proper batsman. Let me announce that right at the outset. Curran came into the England side as a bowler who can bat. He is not an express fast bowler. He is more of an if I have use an Indian colloquial term, military medium pacer. In the sense, he is someone who will be hard pressed to bowl consistently at 135 KPH and above. Nevertheless, he made his debut as a bowler and came into bat at number 8. Yes he did pick a few wickets in his test but it was with the bat he contributed significantly in that series against India. He won a couple of tests with his bat rather than with the ball.

He repeatedly bailed England out of tricky situations. Such was his impact in that series as a batsman that the Indian team chose him as the man of the series. As the man who made a real difference in the series. If not for him, India would have won that series.

However, it didn’t dawn on the England selectors and they continued to treat him as a batsman. Curran himself is not believing that he can bat better. In many ways, he is like Sundar of India. Sundar is a proper batsman. So much so that he can easily replace Rahane in the playing eleven. Sundar and Curran are in the same position. Neither the players themselves nor the selectors and the team management believes that they are contribute significantly with the bat. This is a piece about Curran and so I will stick to him.

Curran must believe

It is time Curran understands his talent as a batsman and promote himself as a proper batsman. There are places in the England’s top order that he can fill. If he starts to concentrate more on his batting, he can be an real asset for the England batting order. Someone like Smith though not upto that standards. Smith too started as a leg spinner and a lower order hitter. Just look at where Smith stands now after he relinquished his bowling.

The 95 that he scored in the last ODI against India when he very nearly won the game and the series against all odds denotes that he is much better batsman than a bowler. As such his position is in the top or middle order in both tests and ODIs. By sending him so low down the order, England’s is wasting his batting skills.

Allan Lamb who has coached Sam Curran and his brothers had this to say

“That’s what he is. He’s a proper batsman and he’ll just get better and better but he needs chances to show that.

“If they’re going to keep using him like this then I think he’ll get a bit frustrated. Long-term he would able to bat at six.

Hope the England selectors and the management listens.

Cricket at the Olympics

It looks like the BCCI is exploring the opportunity of playing T20 at the Olympics. Though it is not a bad move, it is not something I will vote for. Cricket remains an elite sport. It must be played amongst a handful of nations only. Olympics, some unknown country may also play and just imagine the gulf in the abilities. It will only make a mockery of the game. If at all cricket needs to be played at the Olympics, it must remain an under 19 game and certainly not a professional one.

Please let me know your comments about Sam Curran the batsman and IPL coaches.

Dropping Smith and Rohit’s fine

Posted on 25 April 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

The unthinkable happened in the IPL. Yes, Steve Smith was dropped for the first and second games. This is an insult Smith will never ever face in Australia. It sounds so ridiculous like the decision itself. Elsewhere, Rohit Sharma was fined a substantial amount and the cricketing world is facing a crisis just a couple of months away from the WTC final.

Smith an asset

We all know how great a batsman is Steve Smith. He is certainly not perfect. He has so many flaws as a cricketer but his batting pedigree is unquestionable. Nonetheless, Smith is among the modern day greats and his status as one of the great Australian batsman is set in stone. Steve Smith’s T20 credentials is not that great like a Kohli or Rohit but it isn’t that bad either. Such a legend when he went for just over his base price in the IPL auction, eyebrows were raised. It was felt in some quarters that Delhi Capitals stuck a pot of gold with such a cheap purchase.

Ricky Ponting, the current Delhi Capitals coach went on record to state that Smith will be an asset to his team.

“I think the fact that he’s been released from the franchise that he’s been at for a long time will make him a bit hungry as well this year. So, if he gets an opportunity with us — I think it will be in the top three somewhere — if he gets an opportunity, I’m sure he’ll have a great year for us,” cricket.com.au quoted Ricky Ponting as saying.

Rahane for Smith, that is stupid

Naturally, Smith was expected to be the mainstay of DC’s campaign. However, things took a bizarre turn. Smith wasn’t considered in the playing eleven for the first couple of games. This was so ridiculous and who was the player who replaced Smith? It was none other than Ajinkya Rahane. This was nonsense. A proven player like Smith replaced with a failure like Rahane. That too, in a format where Rahane is least comfortable with.

It is another story that Rahane has failed the Indian team in all formats but in this specific format, if you have a choice between Smith and Rahane, you always pick Smith 10 times out of 11. The 11^th time, think and pick Smith. It is as simple as that. Better sense seems to have prevailed and now Smith is in the playing eleven. Infact he played a decent innings in DC’s win over Mumbai Indians after 5 attempts.

Rohit Sharm fined

Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain has been fined 12 lakhs Indian rupees. This may not sound much when converted to dollars but in India, it is a substantial amount of money. It is the equivalent of a year’s salary for millions of Indian families.

For once, I appreciated the BCCI because to place such a hefty fine on a superstar, it is something BCCI has never done unless their authority is threatened. This makes me wonder. How is IPL able to be so strict where ICC is not? For such offence, in international games, the captain will only be fined match fee which is not a significant amount. IPL has shown the way and it is time for ICC to lead. Impose strict fines on slow over rates, bad behaviour etc.

WTC is in crisis

The inaugural World Test Championship (it definitely does not have a World Cup feeling to its name) is facing a major crisis in the days and weeks ahead. India is reeling under the second wave of Corona virus. It has wreaked havoc across the country. As a result, the British government have placed India under the red list which means travel from India will be highly restricted or it may not be possible at all.

All the Indian players who will be part of the WTC are involved in the ongoing IPL. There are 4 New Zealand players too who are involved in the IPL. The red list essentially means that except for unavoidable travel, no one will be allowed to enter The UK. Even then, everyone from India will have to be under strict quarantine for 10 days. IPL will finish on the 29^th of May whereas the WTC finals will be on 14^th of June. 10 days quarantine hardly leaves any period for the teams, especially India, to practise. Mind you, New Zealand would have played couple of tests against England by then. It remains to be seen whether the Indian team will be allowed to enter the UK.

Will BCCI seek postponement?

BCCI will do well to request the ICC to postpone the finals by a couple of weeks. This will give additional time for the teams to acclimatise and play a couple of games. On the otherhand, if the finals itself is cancelled, it will severely affect the finances of the ECB and ICC. It is a scenario the ECB cannot afford. I am sure there will be some sort of a compromise.

One vital factor in the favour of the World Test Championship final going ahead is its chosen location at Southampton’s Rose Bowl, a ground and on-site hotel capable of functioning under a fully bio-secure setup.

Looks like a lot depends on how events pan out over the next 2 months.

A B de Villiers return and Lara about Padikkal

Posted on 25 April 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

Among the players who had retired in the recent past, if there was one player who the world community would like to see return to the game, who will it be? Who was that one player almost everyone thought had retired a few years too early? It will be, the one and only, the multi-talented player, A B de Villiers. His exploits on the cricket field is legendary. Let me write about A B de Villiers return and Padikkal about whom Lara has high opinion.

Shocking decision

Everyone were absolutely shocked when AB announced that he was retiring. Here was a player at the height of his abilities announced his retirement. Just a few months before, he had played some memorable innings that actually allowed South Africa to win their first test series against Australia in South Africa from the time they were readmitted. If not for AB’s runs in that series, Australia would have won that series. Such was his impact. Prior to that, he had complained pressure and being over played. I do have some strong opinions about that because, a Kohli or Dhoni or Tendulkar usually plays more number of games and the expectation of their shoulders is something none of the players from other countries will even experience.

However, de Villiers felt that he was being made to play lot more games than he would like. Now, these were all in the past and let me know talk about it any further.

Absolutely, no one expected de Villiers to retire. Everyone believed that Cricket South Africa and de Villiers will be able to come to an understanding. Afterall, South Africa had recently lost the services of Kallis, Smith, Steyn and Amla. This left the team extremely weak and then just cannot afford to lose de Villiers as well because he had lot of cricket left in him. However, the board wasn’t able to come to an understanding and as a result de Villiers retired.

South Africa have struggled

In the three years since his retirement, South Africa have experienced what it meant to have lost de Villiers. They have lost more than 70% of their games. This is not to say that de Villiers would have magically transformed that 70% into winning games but he would have certainly ensured that that percentage is well below the 40% mark. Now, de Villiers has expressed his desire to play for South Africa again.

Having seen his exploits so far in the ongoing IPL, he is in great touch and South Africa will stand to gain. However, it is not clear whether they will only play in T20 or is he open to playing in all the forms? If it is the latter, cricket will be blessed. The world for a few more years can see the brilliance of de Villiers. If it is the former, South Africa will stand a good chance at this year’s T20 World Cup.

“It will be fantastic to play for South Africa again, I will be speaking with Boucher late end of IPL – last year, he asked me whether I am interested and I said ‘absolutely’,” AB de Villiers.

Let us hope that Boucher is able to convince de Villiers and let us hope to see the magician in action soon at the international stage.

Padikkal has impressed Brian Lara

If someone like Brian Lara says nice things about a player, that player ought to be if not special, atleast good. Now, Lara is impressed with the quality shown by Devdutt Padikkal. He is from Karnataka and is young with loads of time on his side. Padikkal caught everyone’s eye with his dazzling strokeplay in the 2021 edition of the IPL. He played in a fashion like he was born to play the game. Like a duck to the pond. It some games, he even managed to overshadow Virat Kohli and that speaks a lot about his talent.

“He’s (Padikkal) such a great talent. Last year he got a couple of fifties, he batted well, he supported Virat Kohli very well. What I want to see in 2021 IPL is for him to go on and get a few man of the matches and get a couple of triple figures under his belt. Such a great little player! A few little things to iron out. I hope he did that in the break and comes back really storming hard for this IPL.”

Such words and it shows how far has Padikkal come. If he manages to fulfil his talent, it will be great news for India. Being a left handed opener, he will add a great bit of variety at the top of the order. This lad sure has talent but is he good enough to capitalise on that? Only hard work and dedication will help him in achieving great heights.

Let us for the sake of Indian cricket hope that he justifies Lara and becomes an excellent batsman in the future. With talented youngsters like Shubnam Gill, Prithvi Shaw, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna & Tyagi, Indian cricket looks to be in the healthy hands of these players.

Please comment about A B de Villiers return and Lara about Padikkal.

Indian players contracts and Babar Azam overtaking Kohli

Posted on 17 April 202128 December 2023 by Bobji

Just ask yourself, who is the only current batsman who is averaging more than 50 in all formats of the game? Next one. Who is the only current batsman who has scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs? Who held a record 43 weeks as the number one batsman in the world in the ODIs? Now, who among the current batsman holds the record for the most number of hundreds? The answer to all these questions is Virat Kohli. He is in an exalted position that comparing him with mere mortals is sacrilegious. Such has been the hysteria over the last couple of days after Babar Azam managed to overtake Kohli and become the number one batsman. Let me comment about Indian players contracts and Babar Azam overtaking Kohli

Let me first comment on the new contracts for the Indian players

It is not really clear who was the criteria used to categorise every player into A+, A, B & C. Just a cursory glance at the players who are in various categories will reveal the fact that not much thought has been applied. There are only 3 players in the A+ range. Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma & Jasprit Bumrah. I really wonder whether international cricket is the only qualifier when the players were chosen for various levels. If that was the case, except for Kohli, the others do not merit an A+ contract.

Bumrah

Especially Bumrah who has hardly played a handful of games. Yes, he has talent and he has good average and excellent economy rates in the limited overs but is he that talented to warrant an A+ contract? Remember, all grade A+ players will earn 7CR every year. In the recent series in Australia, Bumrah hardly played a role in the series win. He didn’t play a significant role in the Champions Trophy loss and the 2019 World Cup loss. Infact, because of his no-ball India lost the Champions Trophy finals.

Most of his wickets have come on helpful foreign conditions and even there, except in the West Indies, Bumrah has never really managed to run through the opposition. I am not begrudging his earning but all I am saying is that the board must have waited for few more years before elevating anyone. Going by the same yardstick, even Saini or Prasidh Krishna are talented. Will they be given A+ contracts after a few games?

Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma, who is not even a regular in tests until recently, is also in the same bracket. Yes, he has played a lot of games and he has been playing at the international level for more than 10 years. Hasn’t he been that consistent? Records will suggest No. If he had been, he would have been the captain in all the forms before Kohli.

Grade A is even more appalling. Rahane who does not deserve a place in the squad is in grade A and so is Ashwin. Pant who has already played a couple of match winnings knocks and that too in Australia, is in grade A. If Bumrah is deemed as grade A+, Pant too deserves to be in A+. Ashwin who has won more games for the team than anyone else, though in favourable conditions, is in grade A when he must be in A+.

What mistake did Kuldeep Yadav did to be downgraded to C is not clear? He wasn’t given sufficient number of chances even when there weren’t anyone around. Also, why stop at just 27 players? If BCCI wants to preserve their best players for a longtime, shouldn’t the contract be extended to upto 50 players? That would have given a bigger pool to choose from. All in all, it looks like this system has just been copied from another country without sufficient thought.

Babar Azam overtakes Kohli

Yes Babar Azam has overtaken Kohli in ODI rankings but is that really a big deal? Almost every cricket related website has this at the top of their site. Someone replacing some other player in part of the game. This is not even worthy of a mention leave alone as the top news. Babar has age on his side. He needs to travel a long way to even match Kohli in terms of performance. Kohli and Babar may have had the same figures at the same stage of their career but Kohli even at the stage had proved himself in every country. Especially in Australia where he has scored bucketful of runs. Such has been Kohli’s mastery over his game. A closer look at Babar’s statistics reveals even much damaging details. He has hardly done anything in Australia, South Africa and surprisingly, even in West Indies.

Until then, any comparison with Kohli will always be one-sided.

About Kohli‘s batting