Author: Bobji

Kohli’s concern about bubble and Ganguly’s confidence

Posted on by Bobji

In the middle of the pandemic, with most of the sporting action behind closed doors, it has become pretty important to look after the mental aspect of the players, officials and others. Some of the top players have spoken about this problem. Eoin Morgan, Jofra Archer and Mark Nicholas had written a beautiful piece about how threatening life in a bubble will eventually prove to be. Now, the Indian captain, Virat Kohli, has commented that the length of any tour must be limited within the bubble. Elsewhere, Ganguly has opined that India will not be having any problem in trying to negotiate the Kookkabura ball during the Adelaide day and night test. Let’s talk about Kohli’s concern about bubble and Ganguly’s confidence.

Responsibility on the players

 A lot of players in the ongoing IPL have spent more than 60 days in the bio-secure bubble. That is 60 days of absolutely no contact outside of the bubble. This is absolutely mindboggling number. These are the situations that leads to depression. Except for Pujara and Vihari, every one of the Indian team who will be touring Australia are playing the IPL. It means that all of them have been in the bubble for more than 60 days. The players will fly directly to Australia from UAE for a full length tour that extends for another 2.5 months. This is an exceptionally long period to be in a bio-bubble. Some of the Australians too like Steve Smith & Pat Cummins will also be in such an extended period of bubble assuming that they will be playing in all the tests.

In such situations, it is absolutely important the entire squad, be it IPL squads of the national squads, gels well with each other. They will have to ensure that there isn’t any hard feeling or animosity amongst themselves. Ofcourse, there are bound to be differences amongst the players over the course of such a long period but they will have to clear their differences immediately and get back to being friends. It is only the players who will have to support themselves in such trying circumstance.

Kohli’s concern about the bubble

Kohli has voiced his opinion about the bubble. He wants a limited on the length of a series and tournaments..

“These things will have to be considered,” he said. “Like what length of the tournament or series one is going to play and what impact it will have on players mentally to stay in a similar environment for 80 days and not do anything different.

“Or have space to just go and see family or small things like that. These things have to be thought about seriously. At the end of the day, you want the players to be in the best state mentally, based on how they’re feeling. Those conversations should take place regularly.”

What Kohli says absolutely makes sense. It is impossible to be in the bubble for way too long. With the Australian tour, that is an enormous time. This also raises the question of why have a full blown IPL instead of a short one? BCCI must answer this. Do they feel that the welfare of the players is less important than making a few millions? There should be provision to visit family and friends. Maybe a pre-defined date and time can be provisioned. Everything must be done by the boards to ensure that the players are free to concentrate on their game and entertain the public. It is afterall the players who the public pay to watch and because of whom some of the boards are raking in millions of dollars.

Now Sam Curran feels the that the bubble is taking a toll of the players. That is a growing list of cricketers who are voicing their opinion about the bubble. I am certain that the boards, probably with the exception of BCCI, will listen to the players grievances and will do something about it.

 Ganguly’s confidence

India will play their first day and night against a better side in the first test at Adelaide. The Australians are boasting of a formidable pace attack aided by the more than decent Nathan Lyon. India too have a decent pace attack though with in the likely event of Ishant Sharma not playing, will miss out on experience. The difference here is that Australia are playing at home and they have already played lot of day and night tests at Adelaide and they know what to expect. India played only one and that too against Bangladesh in India. So India is somewhat handicapped come the first test.

“They played with it in India. They will be fine, don’t worry. Players got used to the white ball and, ultimately, they will be fine with the pink ball, too,” he said.

“There will be a tough phase in the day [the second session] but they will get used to it”

 Whether Ganguly is complacent or over confident only he can tell, we will come to know in another 6 weeks but it is a fact that the BCCI failed to arrange for a day and night first class game in Australia which would have given the team the much needed exposure. Hopefully, Ganguly is proven right and the Indian team will be able to adjust to the conditions pretty quickly.

Conclusion

There are lot of expectations from this tour. Australia will be at their imperious best. It remains to be seen whether the Indians will be able to match upto them. The lack of meaningful practise scheduled before the all important test series will prove to be a problem. One good thing is that by the time the test series starts, the players will be well acclimatised to Australia. Indians have a box to tick. Winning a test series in Australia against the best Australian side that they can showcase. Only then, there will be some sort of legitimacy to their claim to be the absolute number one ranked team in the world as and when we achieve that ranking.

Other topics related to the Australian tour

Indian squad for Australia – an analysis

Does Ganguly want the Indian team to win in Australia

Is India prepared?

How to win part 1? – how to win part 2?

Does Rohit care about playing for the country

Posted on by Bobji

Does Rohit care about playing for the country? This is one question that I have been contemplating for quite sometime ever since it has emerged that Rohit Sharma’s name was missing from the Indian squad to Australia and his subsequent appearance in this year’s IPL. Multiple players have warned Rohit not to rush his comeback which may result in an injury must severe than the current situation. Nothing seems to bother him. He is determined to continue playing in the IPL.

Rohit Sharma injured his hamstring about 4 games before the final game for Mumbai Indians. Hamstring injuries are something that takes very long to heal properly. The players are advised to take enough rest to be able to recover a bit faster than usual. Probably Rohit Sharma was given the same advise. Some of the former players too advised Rohit to be careful about this injury. Ravi Shastri said that by playing again so soon, he runs the risk of injuring himself again. Infact, the medical report suggests the same as well.

“I have no say, neither am I a part of the selection. All I know is the medical report which says he could be in danger of injuring himself again if he is not careful,” Shastri told Times Now.

Ganguly says that Rohit was not selected only because he was injured and there is nothing else to this story

“Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national (limited-overs) team,” Ganguly said. “We will have to assess him. I don’t know (when he can come back). He hasn’t played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover.

With an important tour coming up for the Indian team and being one of the main player in the side, one would expect Rohit take all necessary precautions to make himself available for the tour. If not for the limited overs section, atleast for the test series that starts on 17 December. However, it wasn’t to be. Rohit is back in the field for Mumbai’s last game in the ongoing IPL and was promptly dismissed for a low score. He will certainly play in the play-off and if they qualify, will certainly play in the finals. I

f he is again injured, he will be ruled out for the entire tour. This brings me back to the point. Does Rohit care about playing for the country? Dilip Vengsarkar has rightly called for action to be taken against Rohit. Ofcourse, we know that the BCCI is an useless sporting body and they will let this slide by.

Mumbai players not caring enough

There are reasons why players from Mumbai are viewed with suspicion by the rest of the country. They aren’t that serious enough when they play for the country. On the otherhand, they are super motivated whenever they play for Mumbai. Sanjay Manjrekar, in his auto-biography, Imperfect, has mentioned the same. He has written that players of his era are much more motivated when they play in the Ranji Trophy rather than when they play for the country.

Their happiness when winning a Ranji Trophy is much higher than winning with the Indian team. No one who has seen that one and only famous Ranji finals between Haryana and Mumbai all those years ago will forget that game ever. Mumbai had all its international starts and Haryana had Kapil Dev. It was clear how passionate the Mumbai players were. Infact, at the end Dilip Vengsarkar was crying which I have not seen when they play for the Indian team. Is Rohit too belongs to the same category? Does he value playing for Mumbai and Mumbai Indians which is afterall a franchise in a nondescript event more than playing for the Indian national team?

Is Rohit afraid of playing tests in Australia and thereby save his career?

If the answer to the above question is no, it leads us to the next question. Is Rohit afraid of playing test cricket in Australia as an opener? Does he want to save his career by not playing in Australia? Everyone knows that Rohit Sharma has had a very long career. Inspite of that, he wasn’t always a fixture in the playing eleven when it comes to test cricket. He was played in the middle order until about a couple of years ago when he started to open the innings.

Since, then he has played some fabulous knocks including a double hundred against South Africa. His average is touching 50 at the moment. Probably, Rohit feels that if he plays in Australia where the wickets “were” known to assist fast bowlers and with Australia boasting of a good fast bowling attack and if he fails in tests, he will be permanently relegated to the sidelines when it comes to test cricket. Hence, he is afraid to play in Australia and wants to retain his place in the eleven when the home season begins.

Is Rohit Sharma the real culprit or is it the BCCI?

Who is the real culprit? Is it Rohit Sharma or the BCCI? If Rohit Sharma is really injured, how come he is playing so soon? If the only reason for not including Rohit in the tour squad is because of his injury, what about the video of Rohit practising released by Mumbai Indians? That too right after the squad was announced. All these leads us to question the BCCI. Is Rohit really injured or has he been dropped for reasons that were not revealed. Sunil Gavaskar has called for transparency in Rohit’s case

“We are talking about the Test matches, which are a month and a half way,”

And if he is practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody.”

Is there something else that is behind this entire fiasco?

Probably Rohit is not injured at all or his injury is not that serious to warrant exclusion from the Indian squad. There is something going on behind this entire story. This looks like some sort of disciplinary action. Whatever it is. The Indian cricket fans deserve to know the entire story.

Other interesting topics can be found here and here.

Stephen Fleming must cast his net wide

Posted on by Bobji

Stephen Fleming in a recent interview about the non-performance of the Chennai Super Kings in 2020 IPL, mentioned that there aren’t that many good players available and that the available talent fetches high premium. I had argued in one of the earlier post that Stephen Fleming must cast his net wide. If only CSK and Fleming had done that, they would have found that there are plenty of talented players available in India and in the world for the Chennai Super Kings to sign. Probably, the fortune of CSK would have changed if only Fleming and CSK had done that.

Fleming’s comments

“Teams now and squads are a lot smarter and they really want what they want, so talent is at a premium.

Jason Holder went unsold

The West Indies captain Jason Holder who is a very good batsman and a decent bowler was unsold in the IPL auction. He may not be a great cricketer but he certainly is a good T20 player. He proved that in his short stint with Sunrisers Hyderabad. In his very first game when he played instead of the injured Kane Williamson, he made an immediate impact. He picked up 3 wickets that included the in-form Sanju Samson and the brilliant Steve Smith.

In the game against Kings XI Punjab, Holder took a couple of wickets and went for under 7 an over. In T20 cricket, that is like hitting a jackpot. Against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he came in and scored a quick 26 of just 10 deliveries. This was after bowling 4 tight overs. His performances were so good that David Warner had to drop Johnny Bairstow to make way for Kane Williamson. Jason Holder was one of the prime performer in the Caribbean Premier League that was held earlier this year. How did Fleming and CSK did not see this is really not convincing.

Jason Holder is one of the many talented cricketers who went unsold in the IPL auction. How CSK would have loved to replace Watson, Jadhav, Chawla and host of others.

Shane Watson retires from cricket

As I write this, Shane Watson has announced that he will retire from all forms of the game. It includes IPL as well which means CSK will be one less player nearing the age of 40. Shane Watson when he first burst onto the international scene, was thought of a special talent. He never had any real weakness for any sort of bowling and on any wicket. He could play pace and spin with ease. However, he probably lost his confidence after being asked to open for Australia in Test Cricket. Watson was more of a lower middle order batsman who can be destructive and who can bowl few overs at good pace. Unfortunately, the Australian selectors decided to make him open the innings and that proved to be his downfall. Shane Warne certainly expected a lot from Shane Watson.

Watson’s message

“It really does feel like the right time. Knowing that I’ve played my last game of cricket, ever, for my beloved CSK, who’ve been so incredibly good to me over the last three years. To think that I’m finishing up my playing days as a 39-year-old after all of my injury setbacks that I’ve had along the way, I feel so ridiculously fortunate.”

Watson must have decided

If only Watson had decided like Laxman never to open again, he would have been an asset for the Australian team. Especially, when they were struggling to find suitable replacements for their great players.

Shane Watson did not have a great international career but he did have more than a good IPL run. His hundred in the final against Mumbai Indians a few years ago was just a sample what Watson could have achieved if only he had placed more emphasis on his performance. His pull of a fiery Wahab Riaz in the 2015 World Cup game bears testimony to the fact how destructive Watson could have been.

How many knew that there was a series going on?

Pakistan and Zimbabwe were recently engaged in a short one day series. Outside of Pakistan, I do not think that anyone would have bothered about this series. As expected Pakistan won the series but Zimbabwe did manage to win one game. This despite the fact Pakistan were playing with their complete team. It is really confusing as to how and why Pakistan manage and lose quite often and quite frequently to teams that are not good enough? They are the only team to lose to West Indies even in Asia. They lose series consistently to other teams who find it difficult to win in India and Sri Lanka.

The highlight of this series is that it was played during the pandemic and that too in Pakistan. Apart from that, this series did not capture anyone’s imagination.

Other articles related to IPL can be read here, here and here.

Dhoni and the future of Chennai Super Kings

Posted on by Bobji

The performance or non-performance of the once famous team, Chennai Super Kings during the 2020 IPL has raised lot of questions. The primary being the fact that most of the team members were over 35. A couple above 40 or nearing 40. This is not the age to be playing T20 cricket where reflex, power and speed has lot of value. Remember the time when Sachin, Dravid & Ganguly collectively decided that T20 is not for them and moved aside gracefully? As expected, CSK have completed their assignments and have finished at the bottom. There are lot of question marks over Dhoni and the future of Chennai Super Kings.

Dhoni, the biggest problem in 2020

One of the biggest failure this season for CSK was Dhoni. FIrst, his inability to hit the boundaries and sixes. Second, his inability to rotate the strike. Third, his now firm inability to play the spinners properly were utilised to the fullest possible extent by every opposition. The fact that Dhoni came at number 4 or 5 did not help matters much. The moment Dhoni walks in, the opposition will employ one or two spinners knowing well that he will either struggle to score boundaries or he will not be able to take singles. Thus he ended up wasting lot of deliveries. Neither was he able to build on a good platform, if at all, set by the top order nor was he able to take command and score briskly. He prodded for few overs and got out without doing much and thereby piling up pressure on the rest.

He has scored a total of 200 runs in 14 innings. An average of around 25 and a strike rate of 116. These are not the returns of a top player. The fact that Dhoni’s reflex slowed down a few years ago is rather well known. Ideally, Dhoni must have retired from IPL alongwith his decision to retire from the Indian team. If not in the beginning, atleast towards the end, but

Dhoni has announced his intention of captaining CSK in IPL 2021

It seems Dhoni is not finished yet. He will be back to pile on even more misery on CSK next year.

“May be they thought I’m retiring – you know retired from international cricket, may be I’ll retire form the shortest form also,”Dhoni jokingly told Harsha Bhogle after the Super Kings’ win. When Bhogle checked to confirm whether that was actually going to happen, with a smile and a nod, Dhoni said: “definitely not.”

So Dhoni will definitely come back to CSK and will be the captain in 2021 as well. This is by far the longest anyone has been the captain of any team in any sport. If Dhoni refuses to go, then the CSK owners will have to take responsibility and will have to tell him that it is time for him to leave or atleast be removed of the captaincy. I do not think that Dhoni has anything left to contribute to CSK. He has had his fair share of success in the past and now it is time for him to step aside.

Dhoni & Fleming to revamp CSK in 2021 and a much needed one

Atleast, Dhoni seems to have learned from the failed campaign and has indicated that the entire squad will have to be revamped. Having said that, Dhoni is again talking about process. It is something he did with the Indian team and the number of embarrassments the team and the country faced in England, Australia & South Africa are too many to count. He probably wants to do the same with CSK as well. Giving a player sufficient amount of chances is well and fine but it is ridiculous to plan for 10 years.

Dhoni said on the Super Kings’ future plans. “We need to slightly change our core group and look at the next 10 years. Because at the start of the IPL we made a team it served well for us for the next 10 years. There comes a time where you have to shift a bit, change a bit, and hand it over to the next generation.

Admittedly, he has tasted much better success at CSK with 2 titles and 4 final appearances.

Stephen Fleming seems to suggest that he doesn’t feel that there is that many talented players around

“Teams now and squads are a lot smarter and they really want what they want, so talent is at a premium. But, it’s one of the challenges… good and exciting challenges of being involved with an IPL side.”

All Fleming will have to do is throw the net wide enough so that sufficient players are caught within the net. Tewatia, Padikkal, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Varun Chakravarthy, Natarajan are players who are talented and playing for other franchises. Sundar, Varun & Natarajan are infact Tamil Nadu players. They have performed rather well for their respective franchise. It clearly shows that neither Fleming nor CSK have really shown any interest to find talented players outside of the squad whose core was chosen more than 7 years ago. Infact, Fleming agreed that in Suresh Raina’s absence, the batting was brittle. This is a startling admission of error on the part of CSK. It beggar’s belief that a team was weakened because of one player’s absence. It shows clear lack of planning.

Conclusion – A better second half for Chennai Super Kings

CSK towards the latter half of the 2020 tournament tasted much better success. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored vital runs and got the team off to a good start early on in the innings. He must definitely play in all the games in 2021. It is time, CSK distance themselves from older players namely Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Faf Du Plessis, Imran Tahir, Dhoni, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh. They must bring in some young fresh legs. It will not hurt to bring in certain Tamil Nadu players to add the much needed local flavour. However, this is something that most of the teams lack.

Other articles about Dhoni can be read here and here.

Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya

Posted on by Bobji

The selection is a young player, the omission of a relatively older one and the question mark over the effectiveness of an allrounder is rather interesting in both the Indian and Australian squads for the limited overs series. This article is about Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya.

Suryakumar Yadav

There have been lot of noise because of the omission of Suryakumar Yadav from the limited overs side that will be touring Australia in November.  He was thought to be someone who will most certainly make the tour. He may not get to play in the eleven but he will be part of the touring squad. Such has been his performance in this season’s IPL. Having witnessed his performance in last night’s IPL game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, it is hard not to think that the selectors have probably made a mistake in not including Yadav in the limited overs squad.

Some of the shots that he played on a slow wicket were absolutely outstanding. The ease with which he played Dale Steyn is another case in point. Here is a batsman who is absolutely comfortable against the best fast bowler over the last 30 years. Admittedly, Steyn is past his best and he is never a great bowler in T20 and moreover the game was played on a slow wicket but he was still bowling at 145KPH and such great bowlers will not be that happy that an unheralded player is able to bat against them with so much time.

Suryakumar Yadav’s Ranji performance

Having said that, where was he all these years? With such talent he must have atleast been in the squad a few years ago. Why hasn’t he been able to go to the next level? A quick look at his first class statistics will reveal that he is quite experienced with more than 70 first class games for his team Mumbai.  

This means that he would have been around for more than 8 years. In that time, he hasn’t set the records on fire. He averages around 44 which for an Indian first class player is like averaging in the middle 30s at the international level. Obviously, this record would have gone against him during the Indian team selection over the last 8 years. There isn’t much to write about his List A & T20 records either. It is only when he plays for Mumbai Indians he becomes so consistent that he is able to win games regularly for MI.

Let us hope that he will get to play for the Indian team in the near future.

Cameron Green

On the otherhand, it looks like Australia have unearthed a potential great player in Cameron Green. He has been included in the Australian squad for the limited overs series against India. He seems to be an all-rounder of high potential. It looks like he is having a very good home season with runs and wickets. Alongwith his batting, he is capable of bowling at the 140KMPH mark. It is the hallmark of a genuine all-rounder. This is something every team in the world is currently struggling to fill. England are the only exception with Ben Stokes.

Greg Chappell is all praise for Green

“This is a serious player, this is a special player,”

“He is the best young player I’ve seen since Ricky Ponting. He is our next superstar.

“I’ve been telling anyone who will listen for a couple of years now. I saw him a hit a couple of shots when he was 17 one day and it was obvious he was a batsman.

Greg Chappell is not remembered fondly by the Indians but there is no doubt that he was a great batsman. When such a person says that he finds Green to be as good as Ricky Ponting, that is some serious praise.

Indians always has this habit of giving the newcomer a grand entry into the international scene. Witness Sam Curran in England who was the sole reason England won that series in 2018. Early this year, Kyle Jamieson made the Indian batsman look like idiots on a cricket field. Hence, the Indian team better watch out for Cameron Green as well.

The curious case of Hardik Pandya

Hardik Pandya is coming of a long layoff because of a serious injury. At one stage, he thought that his career has come to an end because the back injury was that serious.

“I genuinely thought that my career is over because I’d never seen anyone being stretchered off. I was knocked out for 10 minutes, after that the pain never went down,” Hadik Pandya said.

Now that he is back, he will add a lot of power to the Indian limited overs team. The problem occurs if he is going to be considered as an all arounder in the Test team. He certainly cannot bowl because the injury requires a longer time to heal. This will mean that he will have to play as a specialist batsman. The Australian wickets are known for high scores and that too at a brisk pace. Hence, 4 bowlers will probably not be enough in the tests.

A fifth bowler or someone who is capable of bowling 10-15 overs a day to give the regular bowlers some rest is very much required. Especially in Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane. High scores on these grounds are pretty common. It is the same case with Adelaide as well but since it is a day-night game, the bowlers will be much more potent in Adelaide and 6 batsmen will be required.

Team management’s responsibility

Kohli and Shastri will have to treat Hardik Pandya as a specialist batsman and play him only in Adelaide where with his shots he can take the game away from the Australians. He will not be required to bowl as well. In other grounds, it is better to go with Vihari who can bowl more than 15 overs a day.

Hardik Pandya belongs to the rare breed among Indian cricketers in that he can bowl at brisk pace and can bat really well. He is a genuine allrounder. Kohli and Shastri must not take a chance and play him in all the tests as an allrounder. He is someone who is required to serve the team for a longtime. Hence, it is important to take care of him at the moment.

Other topics on the same subject can be read here, here and here.

Indian limited overs squad for the Australian tour

Posted on by Bobji

The Indian limited overs squad for the Australian tour was also announced on the same day when the test squad was announced. After the 2019 World Cup debacle where India was expected to reach the final if not win the cup, the Indian limited overs team is fairly settled. Number 4, 5 and Number 6 slots appear to be filled be able players who can play the waiting game and at the sametime, will be able to take the game away from the opposition. Shreyas Iyer, Rahul & Manish Pandey are occupying these slots.

In the 2019 World Cup, the Indian team experimented with Dinesh Karthik, Rishabh Pant and Vijay Shankar. Just a look at the names will tell us how wrong was the selection. Tailenders were asked to bat at the crucial spot of number 4. No wonder, the team failed miserably against New Zealand in the semi-final. The BCCI alongwith Kohli and Shastri must be blamed for such shoddy selection. The BCCI, Kohli & Shastri have learned their lesson albeit it took the magnitude of a World Cup loss. Shreyas Iyer is firmly in control of number 4 with Rahul at 5 and Pandey at 6. Players who should have originally played at the World Cup. Since then, the team has witnessed mixed results with 50% wins but the sample is too less to be subjected to any judgement.

Most of the players are automatically selected because of their performance over the last several years. There isn’t a question mark against most of them. However, the selection of some of the players does raise questions.

The selection of Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan is one of the mainstay of the Indian ODI team. He has been prolific at the top of the order. There is absolutely no doubt about this spot in the playing eleven in ODI cricket. However, his selection for T20 raises a lot of questions. Wasn’t he recently dropped from the T20 team because of non-performance? Didn’t Rohit & Rahul form an explosive opening partnership? Understandably, Rohit is injured but what is the need to go back to Dhawan? Hasn’t the so called IPL thrown enough options? If not, why is that tournament even conducted? Ishan Kishan, Surya Kumar Yadav, Padikkal, Jaiswal or some of them who comes to mind. Why does the BCCI always goes back to the tried and failed players?

The non-selection of Kuldeep Yadav

The selectors have taken a good decision in not selecting Kuldeep Yadav for the T20 team. Yadav is among the rare breed. A left arm leg spinner. He will do really well in Test cricket and probably in ODI too but T20 will certainly set his confidence back. Hence, this is something that must be appreciated.

Rahul’s role

If Rohit Sharma is definitely ruled out of the limited overs, I hope Kohli will not push Rahul to open the innings. It is fairly well known that Rahul does not like to open. His performances are a proof of that. The same Rahul in the middle order is a different beast. He can tear any bowling apart and propel the team to high enough scores. This is not only in ODI but also in T20. Agreed that in the IPL he has scored lots of runs as an opener but opening is not his favourite slot at the international level.

Bumrah & Shami

Bumrah and Shami are very much essential in the test series. They will be coming off from the gruelling IPL. It does not make any sense to play them in T20s. Let them play the ODIs to get an understanding of the Australian wickets but they must not play in T20s.

Absolutely no information about Kumar

Again, it is baffling that Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, who is an absolute best in limited overs, is not mentioned anywhere. He is neither in the T20 squad nor in the ODI squad. Yes he is injured but isn’t the selectors atleast have the courtesy to inform the public that Kumar was not considered only because of his injury? Wouldn’t that give the bowler some confidence as well? Now, Kumar himself will be unsure why isn’t he in any of the team.

Mayank Agarwal & Shubnam Gill

Also, it is time the selectors looks at Mayank Agarwal as a test specialist and a backup opener in ODIs. He must not be part of T20 squad. He is a technically sound player and T20 will certainly mess up his technique. India cannot afford that. Shubnam Gill, who is touted as the future of the Indian team, will have to play in all the games especially in Rohit’s absence. It is time to build a team for the 2023 World Cup.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a balanced team but this tour is more about the test series than about limited overs. Certainly, T20s are the last priority. The team must focus on winning the ODI series and the Test Series.

Other topics on the same subject can be read here, here and here.

Indian Test squad for the Australian tour

Posted on by Bobji

The Indian squad for the Australian tour that starts towards the middle of November has been announced. It is more or less predictable but there are some unanswered questions and some selections that raises quite a few questions and some omissions that has found no mention anywhere. Let us analyse the squad indepth.

The Test squad

The test squad consists of 4 openers. Rahul, Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal & Shubnam Gill. Pujara, Kohli, Rahane, Vihari are the middle order batsmen with Saha & Pant as the wicket keepers. Kuldeep, Ashwin & Jadeja are the spinners and Bumrah, Shami, Siraj, Umesh Yadav & Saini are the fast bowlers. This will look like a balanced team with a good mix of youth and experienced players from the outside. However, a deeper analysis of the squad is very much required. There are some players that should not have been there and some players who must be part of the squad. To make matters worse, the BCCI is tight lipped about Rohit Sharma’s availability.

The omission of Rohit Sharma

Let me be clear. I do not rate Rohit Sharma very highly. Afterall, anyone who has played the game at the international level for more than 10 years is bound to come good at some point in time. Hence, Rohit Sharma playing exceptional cricket albeit in the short formats is not something that must be praised more than what it deserves. He actually owe these white ball performances to the team and to the Indian public in general. Afterall, all of us have placed tremendous trust on Rohit for a very long time. Having said that, Rohit is not a natural opener and when it comes to Test Cricket, he wasn’t even in the playing eleven until a couple of years ago.

During this short period, he has performed very well with few centuries including a double. Hence, he deserves a longer run as an opener. His name missing from the final squad is puzzling. Admittedly, he is injured during the on-going IPL but if reports are to be believed, his injury does not seem to be serious. Apparently, he has already started to play in the Mumbai Indians nets sessions. This raises a question as to why was his name missed in the original squad? Is his injury really that serious? BCCI must come clean and will have to reveal the reason behind not naming Rohit in the original squad. He may be picked later but that is besides the point. Ofcourse, this is BCCI, a body that is not known for transparency. The entire selection committee and the board president must be held responsible for their opaqueness.

Gavaskar has rightly said “A bit of transparency and openness about what kind of injury he has will help everybody, because the Indian cricket fans deserve to know,” he said.

The stupid selection of Rahul & Prithvi Shaw

 Rahul has had a very good IPL tournament so far. He has among the leading run scorers in the tournament. This is not really a surprise. Everyone who has been following Rahul’s career knew pretty well that he is an extremely good white ball player. His name must be among the top three names for every white ball game. This is absolutely no doubt in that. Especially now that he has started to keep as well, his important has increased manifold.

However, does this mean that he must be selected for Tests as well? Certainly not. Rahul has had his chances in Test cricket. He has played in excess of 35 tests and has failed to impress save for some innings few and far apart. The last time he toured Australia, he was a complete failure. He was even dropped after the first couple of tests. He failed in England as well in the previous tour. It is a shame that the selectors keep going to the same player who has been a proven failure. It is also a shame that runs scored in IPL, a T20 entertainment against not so threatening bowlers, on wickets that are made of the batsmen and for scoring runs at the breakneck speed is taken as the criteria for selection in the Test squad.

Prithvi Shaw

Prithvi Shaw is another who should not have been in the team. He is young and is someone with loads of talent. There is no question about that. However, he is someone who has lot of technical shortcomings. It was clearly evident in the last New Zealand series in which he struggled against the bowling of Boult and Southee. After that series, with the advent of the pandemic, he never really had the time to rectify his flaws. In Australia and with the first test being a day-night test where the ball is expected to swing and against much better bowlers, he will be a sitting duck. Even in the IPL, he hasn’t shown any willingness to adapt his game. Is this his way of circumventing his technical shortcoming by trying to hit every ball is something only he can answer.

No backup for Rahane

Rahane has been going through a horrendous run over the last 4-5 years. Such has been his drop in form that his average is now down to 42 from the heights of 51 about 4 years ago. With Pujara, Kohli, Vihari & Rahane, there isn’t any middle order batsman to replace Rahane as and when he starts to fail. Rahane did have a wonderful beginning to his career but that is in the past. It is time to move on from him. Why trust him and select him in the first place?

Umesh Yadav

How many tours will Umesh Yadav go on? He is one bowler who despite playing for more than 10 years, hasn’t improved at all. He maybe suited only for the slow and low pitches but he is a luxury on wickets with bounce and carry. Even Ishant Sharma has learnt to bowl after 10 years but not Umesh Yadav. He was someone who belonged to the rare breed. An Indian fast bowler. He was someone who had lots of potential when he made his debut but till now he has remained the same.

Shane Warne famously said: “Monty Panesar hasn’t played 33 Tests, he has played one Test, 33 times.”

The same holds true for Umesh Yadav.

The curious case of Ishant Sharma & Bhuvaneshwar Kumar

Ishant Sharma & Bhuvaneshwar Kumar were injured during the on-going IPL. The selectors have said that they are monitoring the progress of Ishant Sharma. However, there isn’t any mention about Kumar. Why is that? Australia wickets are not the same as the old ones. They have become batting paradise. Teams scoring in excess of 450 has become a regular feature on Australian grounds. Bumrah & Shami, assuming that they will start the series, are fast bowlers who will need sufficient rest to bowl at high speed but they will need a sufficient backup who will bowl the hard overs. Ofcourse there will be one spinner who can be expected to bowl 25-30 overs a day but a third fast bowler is required to do the same and also to keep the runs down.

Kumar will be vital in Australia. Not only for his steady seam and swing but also for his runs down the order. His presence in England would have most certainly titled a couple of tests in India’s favour. Bumrah, Shami, Kumar & Kuldeep would have been the ideal line up. Kumar’s situation was not mentioned anywhere. Does it mean that BCCI have decided not to play Kumar in Tests at all? If that is the case, Indian cricket will be the loser. The BCCI will have to answer for such glaring omission.

I am afraid that this is not the best team that will travel to Australia.

What do you think of the Indian Test team? Please leave your comments.

Other topics on the same subject can be read here, here and here.

Bairstow opening and Boycott accusation

Posted on by Bobji

In this analysis, let us look at a couple of recent comments made by former England cricketers. One by David Lloyd. The other by none other than the magnificent commentator, Sir Geoffrey Boycott which is about Bairstow opening and Boycott accusation.

Bairstow’s numbers

Johnny Bairstow has been playing for England for about 8 years though he is not part of the test squad any longer. During his career, Bairstow has played 71 test matches, 83 ODIs and about 40 T20s for England. Eight long years is a good period to form an opinion about the effectiveness or the lack of it of any player. In the case of Bairstow, sadly, his performance does not guarantee a place for him in the England test side. In limited overs format, Bairstow is among the top 3 names that England will want in their side but tests are something that is completely different.

He played as a wicket keeper who can bat. For a period between 2016 and 2017, Bairstow had a purple patch. He scored 4 of his 5 hundreds and most of the fifties during this period. It was a time when Bairstow could do no wrong. His wicket keeping was also safe if never spectacular. He seems to have found a spot for himself in the England batting lineup. Unfortunately, the advent of Jos Buttler into the test team, seems to have affected Bairstow rather adversely. Not only was the wicket keeping gloves taken away from him but he lost his favourite number 7 position in the batting order. All of this just to accommodate Buttler. It was rather known that Bairstow never favoured to bat higher than number 7. He probably understood the limitation of his batting.

Bairstow’s confidence severely affected

It is obvious that Bairstow’s confidence was severely affected. He was now seen as a batting wicket keeper partly because he played at number 5 and also because of the form that he showed previously. His decline as a batsman started from early 2018 and has resulted in him being dropped from the test team altogether. The England team management must share the blame for converting a decent enough wicket keeper who can also bat into a specialist batsman.

David Lloyd’s suggestion about Johnny Bairstow opening in Tests

Now, David Lloyd, the respected English commentator, wants Johnny Bairstow to be tried as an opener. He wants Burns & Sibley to be dropped to accommodate Bairstow. He also wants Zak Crawley to open with Bairstow.

“Both Burns and Sibley have quirky techniques and I doubt that they batted like that when they were 16 or 18 years old. There just seems to be so much that can go wrong.”

“If you’re just plodding along at 2.4 an over, you’re getting back to England in the 1960s and 70s! Look all around the world, in the modern game after 80 overs when you get the second new ball, you need to be about 270 or 280 and then you’ve a chance of getting 350 plus. If you’re just 210 then you’ve every chance of being all out for 280 and you’re not in the game.

“You’ve got to be able to push the score along, if the opposition can control the game at 2.4 an over then they will do and they’ll be very happy. They can keep all the slips in and attack for the world. If you’re going at 3.5 then they’ve got to push a couple back and look after the score.”

Run scoring must be left to the stroke makers in the middle order

All well and good. Yes, both Sibley and Burns are pretty slow. They take their own time to get going. They do not attack and as a result of that, the opposition is always in the game. However, it has to be admitted that a decent part of England’s success in South Africa and in their home season was mainly because of the time Sibley and Burns took. They ensure that the top opposition bowlers are extremely tired for the likes of Stokes, Root & Buttler. Infact, Root credited the English openers for their success in South Africa.  

A couple of years ago, India went onto win the first ever series in Australia because of the time and the quantum of runs scored by Pujara. Sibley & Burns belongs to the traditional mould of test batting. It is upto the middle order and the lower middle order to ensure that tired bowlers are taken for runs. The only drawback on the part of Sibley & Burns is that they do not go on and score a big hundred despite the time spent at the crease. If they cannot correct that, they will be an asset for the England test team. Hence, I do not agree with David Llyod’s view about opening with Bairstow and Crawley instead of Sibley & Burns.

Geoffrey Boycott’s criticism of The BBC

Geoffrey Boycott, certainly one of the greatest commentator over the last 35 years, has been left out of the Test Match Special commentary team. It is not clear whether he was left out because of his health complications or because of something else. Now, Boycott has criticised the BBC that they have favoured equality over quality.

“They have sacrificed quality for equality. It is now all about political correctness, about gender and race. When you work for them you are wary and frightened of saying anything.

“It is a minefield out there and that is sad.”

It is well known that once the Black Lives Matter movement started, a lot of companies, sporting associations etc have started to look at the racial balance in their organisation. Let me be clear. It is not a mistake to give preference to an individual because of his race provided the competing candidates are of equal quality.

However, if a job or a position is given to any particular individual just because he or she is a black or white or coloured is not the correct method. All things being equal, the best person for the job must be chosen. I do not find anything wrong in what Boycott is criticised if the BBC had chosen equality over quality. In the cricketing field, the spectators may not be get the correct information if the wrong person is commentating. The youngsters who are watching the game, may probably be deceived by the commentary though involuntarily.

What do you think of Lloyd’s suggestion and Boycott’s criticism? Leave your comments.

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The irresistible Ben Stokes

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Jofra Archer

Bio-secure bubble and the mental impact

Posted on by Bobji

The pandemic has thrown every sporting event out of the window. It has made every sporting nation not only be remain cautious but to innovate new methods just to ensure the safety of the players and everyone else involved in organising a sporting series. Bio-secure bubble is one such thing. However, the bio-secure bubble seems to affect the players mentally.

What is bio-secure bubble?

Bio-secure bubble is an environment that is completely cut-off from the rest of the world. Everyone who is involved in a series or a tournament like the players, officials and support staff are limited to move around a few places only. The aim behind such a bubble is to minimise if not eradicate the chances of getting impacted by the virus. The players and the officials will not be allowed to contact their families or friends during the duration of the series or the tournament. They will not be allowed to visit anyone outside the bubble. This is like getting lost in a remote island with no way of escaping.

The players are not even allowed to visit any restaurant of their choice. They will have to eat whatever that is prepared in the hotel where they are staying.

Eoin Morgan, the English limited over captain, has raised concerns about the bio-secure bubble.

“We’ve spoken about this [issue] as a team and we’ve accepted that guys will come in and out of the bubble if they feel it is affecting their mental health. I do think we will see people pull out of tours. That is just going to be the reality of things. I don’t think people should look down on it and they shouldn’t feel like people aren’t doing their job or not committing to their country.

Jofra Archer spoke about how tough it is inside the bubble.

At times it can be mentally challenging – it’s going to (feel strange) going home and being normal again as this has become the new normal,” Archer was quoted as saying by Sky Sports.

“I’m not sure I’ve got much more bubble left in me for the rest of the year. I haven’t seen my family really since February and we’re in September now.

As can be imagined, this is very tough on the players and the officials. Imagine a series that goes on for more than a month. It is just impossible to stay in a confinement even if it is meant for the safety of the players. Humans are not designed to stay in a particular area for a very longtime. They are always on the move.

Having said that, the authorities cannot be faulted either. They are trying their best to organise a series in the middle of a severe crisis. The authorities have ensured that atleast a few will be able to make a living from this series. This must be lauded. However, the mental aspect of the players and the officials are bound to be affected severely. The boards will have to become much more innovative to minimise the mental impact on the players.  

Some of the things that they can try is

First, the boards can think of having completely different set of players for Tests & ODIs. T20s must not be held between the countries.

Second, anyone who is part of the Test team must not be part of the ODI team and vice versa. This will ensure that the number of days players need to be in the bubble is limited.

Third, the boards may think of replacing an entire team after a couple of tests. The 3rd and 4th test will have to be held with a sufficient gap in the middle. This will also help the travelling team to fly a different set of players for the 3rd and 4th tests at a later date.

The current situation is extremely tough on everyone. It is imperative on every board to help the other board in whatever way they can. For eg, the England tour of South Africa and Pakistan.

Eoin Morgan has welcomed the tours

“There is a huge amount of responsibility not only to get just your home country’s fixtures under way but to facilitate other countries around the world and do what we can to try to get cricket back on.

Let us all hope that this will not last for a longtime and that the pandemic will soon be over.

Other reads

India tour of Australia will go ahead but is India prepared

Posted on by Bobji

It is confirmed that India tour of Australia will go ahead. The series consists of 3 ODIs, 2 T20S and 4 Tests. The tour at one point was extremely doubtful because of the strict quarantine rules put forward by the Queensland state government. With no end in sight, Cricket Australia turned towards New South Wales. Sydney has readily agreed to host India and now the tour will start in Sydney. It is an important series for India because a series win will add some legitimacy to their claim to be the number one team in the world. However, the real question is, is India prepared?

The thing that is at stake

The main challenge for the Indian team is red ball cricket. In other words, Test Cricket. Mainly, because that is where their legitimacy of being the number one team in the world is often questioned. This is especially true after the team were annihilated in New Zealand a few months ago. India is yet to win a series in South Africa and they won their first series in Australia a couple of years ago and that too against a Steven Smith-less Australian team.

Ofcourse, the Indians cannot be blamed for something Smith did to himself. Nonetheless, the Indians lost the last series in Australia when the Australians were in full strength. It exactly is the reason this series has added significance for the Indians. It is true that they are not the number one ranked team any longer but eventually when they do attain that position by virtue of wins in familiar surroundings, lack of wins in Australia and South Africa will be questioned. So, it is all the more important to be well prepared. Is India really prepared? Do they really want to win this series badly?

IPL – Poor preparation

Every Indian player who will eventually travel to Australia are engaged in the IPL. They have been playing a T20 tournament for close to a month and will be engaged for another 5 weeks and in conditions and wickets that will be in stark contrast to what they will find in Australia. Even someone who has never heard about the game will be able to say that this is poor preparation. The Indian team must be engaged in red ball cricket. They must travel to Australia 4-5 weeks in advance. They must play series of first class games in Australia. This will be ideal preparation but they are engaged in a meaningless tournament miles away from Australia.

The Indian team might still be able to land in Australia a month in advance because the first test starts only on the 17th of December. The initial couple of weeks will be taken away by quarantine and then the limited overs leg will take away a further 2 weeks. This will not leave any time to play proper red ball games against the local Australian sides. This essentially means that with 10 months of absolute zero exposure to red ball cricket, the Indians will start the first test and that too a day-night game in Adelaide against an Australian team that is high in confidence.

Responsibility on the part of the board

The board must talk to the Australian board and postpone the limited overs leg to be played after the tests. The team can utilise that 2 weeks period to play proper first class games. It is highly unlikely the board will do that because they do not care whether the team wins or lose. They are only worried about their revenue.

The Indians are given an extremely favourable tour itinerary with the first test to be played in Adelaide and the Melbourne, Sydney and finally in Brisbane. The first 3 venues are not knows for assisting pace. On the otherhand, Melbourne & Sydney are known to favour spin which is the strong point for any Indian team. The Indians have a good chance to win the series by the time the last test is played in pace friendly Brisbane. I am afraid the team has already blown its chance away first, because of lack of serious red ball practise and second, because of complacency.

Will Ganguly listen?

Ganguly wants the Kohli to win the series but it is onething to say and a completely different ball game to not create any conducive environment for the team to win.

Australians preparation

If reports coming out of Australia are to be believed, the Australians are preparing rather well for the series. Tim Paine & Head have scored 100s for the respective teams. Nathan Lyon is among the wickets and so is White. Starc is also bowling well. Marnus Labuschagne is continuing from where he left off. It is only Smith, Warner, Cummins & Hazlewood who are engaged in the IPL. Since, the series is held in their own country, they can easily adapt.

Nathan Lyon still has not forgotten the 2018 loss and is looking forward for revenge. He is even billed this series as the battle for the number one ranking. This certainly will give the Australians added motivation to not only defeat India but to annihilate them. Lyon is closing in on a major milestone. 400 test wickets. He will be charged to get to 400.

Added to this, Justin Langer is seeing signs of Australian cricket returning back to its glory days.

“That’s what I want and I’ve said it from day one. I want players knocking so hard on the door that you can’t ignore them and therefore, what that creates, the guys in the team, gee they’ve got to stay on their toes.

“There’s not a second for complacency or mediocrity. The guys who are working so hard to be knocking on the door have to be getting better and better and better to be getting the opportunity”

Conclusion

The pity is that the Indians and especially, Virat Kohli does not seem to be listening. Kohli is very busy in trying to win his first IPL trophy when he should be concentrating on winning his first series in Australia against a legitimate Australian team. Rohit Sharma & Mayank Agarwal are determined to hit the white ball out of the ground when they should be practising playing against Starc & Cummins armed with the red ball.

Bumrah, Chahal, Kuldeep, Ashwin & Jadeja instead of formulating plans for each and every Australian batsman, is engaged in duels with fellow Indian cricketers who will be forgotten after the IPL is over. Vihari, Pujara and Rahane, don’t even know where they are. Ishant & Kumar are injured and it is not clear whether they will play the series. Kumar will be an asset in Adelaide evening sky with his swing but thanks to IPL, his participation is in doubt. I know that it is illogical to except the Indian team to win but we can always hope to prevail.