Author: Bobji

Yes, Gavaskar and Pathan must grow. Why so? I don’t mean in terms of their age and experience but in terms of understanding what is important. Why am I saying this? Well, Gavaskar and Pathan are furious that the English players have left for England. Yes, every England cricketer involved in the IPL, have left for the homeland. They have a series coming up against Pakistan for which the ECB asked their players to be ready. England and Pakistan will be involved in a series of T20 games, probably in preparation for the T20 World Cup. Hence, ECB thought that it is better to prepare as a team than individually in the IPL. It is not at all wrong.

I do not know what Gavaskar or Pathan is expecting from the England players? Do they expect them to sacrifice their commitment towards the national and get themselves involved in a tournament that is not their own? If it is so, they are delusional. I am 100% behind the decision of the England players to leave the IPL. Some of them have left while their respective teams still had a chance to either qualify for the playoffs or qualify for the final. I actually respect them for their decision. Nation must always trump any franchise cricket. Unfortunately, neither  Gavaskar nor Pathan can understand that.

Gavaskar and Pathan’s comments

“I am all for players choosing country before anything else, but having assured various franchises about their availability for the full season, it will be letting down the franchises if they pull out now,” the legendary former India captain wrote in his column.

“The franchises should not only be allowed to deduct a substantial amount from the fee that the player was bought for, but also not give the Board, to which the player belongs, the stated 10 per cent commission of the fee that each player gets.”

Pathan, “Either be available for full season or don’t come!”

My take on this

Both of them are pretty delusional, to say the least. It will be hard for them to understand that there are players in this world, who prefer playing for the country over their club. It is not that they left during the middle of the tournament. They left right towards the end when only a couple of games at the most were left for their team. Now, Gavaskar wants the franchises to be allowed to deduct a substantial part of the fee. I do not think that a Buttler or Curran or even a Topley, is going to worry about fees cut.

If they get to represent their nation, they will be more than happy to accept a fee cut. Moreover, ECB is not like the Indian Cricket Board. They announce their schedule much ahead. The dates and the venue will be known for the summer series will be known at the end of the winter games. This allows the supporters to plan and attend those games and cheer for the team. The Indian Board on the otherhand, will take their own sweet time to announce the schedule of a series that will be held next month only at the last minute. 

Every franchise must have known that England will be playing a series towards the end of the IPL because the games were already scheduled. Having known that, why did they anticipate the players leaving and formed a contingency plan? Or better still, why did they even hire some of them? The blame lies with the franchises and not with the England players as Gavaskar envisages. Which brings me back to whether their fees must be reduced? I do not think so. It is the fault of the franchises and they must have known that these players will leave.

Comparing to the Indian cricketers

It may seem that when Gavaskar spoke those words, he must have had the Indian players on his mind who are playing the entire tournament. What he fails to understand is that when your players become mercenaries, ofcourse they will play the entire tournament. Take the case of Bumrah. Not long ago, Bumrah was rested from the 4^th Test against England. The series was very much alive during that stage. He was supposed to have been rested for the 3^rd Test but better sense prevailed. Bumrah was ultimately rested from the 4th Test despite being the best fast bowler on either side. The reason given was to manage his workload. In the IPL, despite Mumbai Indians having a 0% chance of proceeding to the qualifiers, Bumrah played in every game until the final one. Why didn’t it feel necessary to manage his workload?

That basically is the difference between Indian players and someone from England or Australia or South Africa. For them, the nation matters more than the franchise. IPL will one day destroy Indian cricket beyond irreparable measure. India have not won a single T20 World Cup and has won only one ODI World Cup and one Champions Trophy since the launch.

Michael Vaughan counters Gavaskar and Pathan

“If you are going back to represent your country, which England players have done, I think that’s fair enough. They are playing a series against Pakistan. The England players wouldn’t have gone back if it wasn’t for the Pakistan series,” Vaughan said on Cricbuzz.

“The series was on the calendar. With English cricket, the defence of the 50-over World Cup was a poor one by England here in India. So I think, Jos and his team, 5 games against Pakistan, they get together. The actual lead-up to the 50-over World Cup wasn’t perfect either. There were a lot of swaps and changes. They have now gone back to 5 matches, get all the squad together, work on a bit of culture, everyone playing their right roles, I think it will give them a better chance,” he further added.

Nothing more needs to be said.

Wrapping up Gavaskar and Pathan must grow

Gavaskar, Pathan and everyone else who complains that the English players must not have left must understand that they are not mercenaries. If there is a clash between country and franchise, they will always choose country.

Some blogs about India

https://icricketcritique.com/this-indian-team-is-an-embarrassment/
https://icricketcritique.com/this-indian-team-is-an-embarrassment-2/
https://icricketcritique.com/why-and-where-did-india-lose/
https://icricketcritique.com/trust-in-over-the-hill-senior-citizens/
https://icricketcritique.com/india-deserve-to-lose-the-series/
https://icricketcritique.com/the-wisdom-of-indian-selectors/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-openers-for-world-t20/
https://icricketcritique.com/indian-team-for-world-t20/

Ever since India made our debut in Test cricket, we have been languishing in good fast bowlers who could send shivers down the throats of the opposition. There was Mohammed Nisar and Amar Singh back in 1932 but they did not play long enough. Moreover, cricket in India during those days wasn’t as popular as it is now and hence, we the number of games was also less. India’s neighbour, Pakistan, were and are producing fast bowlers by the truckload whereas India were languishing. The less said about the rest of the world, the better. You had Pascoe, Lillee & Thomson for Australia. Botham, Willis and others for England. The giants emerging from the West Indies. India was longing for one of their own. That is where Kapil Dev emerged from nowhere. Ofcourse, he could have achieved a lot more but couldn’t. This is a tribute to Kapil Dev.

The biggest moment of Kapil Dev’s career

This is undoubtedly, the 1983 World Cup triumph. I do not think that any other achievement of his, including the fact that he was the leading wicket taker in the world for sometime, can even come close to this. The 1983 World Cup triumph came against every conceivable odds. No one, absolutely no one gave the team any chance. If events of the movie 83 were to be considered, the players themselves did not believe that they can win the tournament. Let us also remember that the West Indies at that point were unbeatable. They won the first and second editions and with a quarter of pacers and extraordinary batsmen like Richards, Lloyd and Greenidge in their ranks, it was child’s play for them to win the World Cup for the 3^rd consecutive time.

Kapil instilled not just confidence in the players but a belief that they can give the mightier teams, a run for the money. He alone believed that he had the team to win the cup. He led by way of example with an all-time great 183 against Zimbabwe. It is a pity that the footage of that innings can never be viewed because of BBC strike. Be that as it may, that sole innings exhibited his unflinching desire to win the World Cup itself to the team members.

The Richards catch and the aftermath

The Richards catch in the final was another extraordinary moment in the World Cup. It was a difficult catch made to look easy by a boost of adrenaline. The smiling faces of the entire Indian team during that game were soothing to every Indian supporter. Srikkanth’s exuberant celebrations, running all the way from the boundary every time a wicket falls, will melt the hearts of every Indian fan. All of these were made possible by one man, Kapil.

Cricket in this nation gained a major fillip after India won the World Cup. The game was popular before but the single achievement, not only was emotional for an entire nation but it also made everyone believe that we as a nation can rise and compete against the powerful nations.

Lone torch bearer

For a very longtime, Kapil Dev remained the sole torch bearer when it came to fast bowling for India. When he made his debut, there was a story that went around that until then, Pakistan batsmen who never really rated Indian fast bowlers, started to wear helmets. It was an admission by Pakistan as to how quick and accurate was Kapil. India finally found a fast bowler who could scare the opponents. To this day, it will remain a mystery why Kapil choose to become a medium pace bowler instead of the fast bowler that he started off. He seemed to have decided that the slow and low Indian pitches will not offer him any assistance and that if he wanted to extend his career, he could not be bowling quick and it was better to become a medium pacer than a real quick.

It was really a shame. Perhaps, with the benefit of hindsight, if he remained a fast bowler, maybe he would not have played for a very longtime but would have been much more effective and picked up his wickets at much less.

The batting that he ignored

In his entire career, he scored 6 hundreds. For a batsman of his ability, who did not have any weakness, either against pace or spin, that was a meagre return. Yes, it is not easy to be the primary bowler and also score runs. The sheer belligerence of his strokes makes one cry in anguish as to how little he managed with the bat. The bouncy pitches of South Africa did not bother him either and that too towards the fag end of his career where he scored a brilliant 139. South Africa at that point, for Indians was a tough environment to score runs.

Nowadays, Indians are enthralled by the batting of Hardik Pandya but if only the current youngsters had seen Kapil Dev’s batting, they would realise how far behind Pandya is. I am making this comparison only to show how good with the bat was he. Unfortunately, he did not give much importance to batting.

Low point of his career

The last 3 years of his career. The single-minded focus to hold the World Record. By that time, he was way past his best. There was the young Javagal Srinath who was bowling at his fiery best. Upwards of 147KMPH. A rare Indian fast bowler. Manoj Prabhakar saved his position on the basis of his ability to open the innings in Test cricket. Kapil Dev lost much of his pace and guile. Yet, he did not find it necessary to leave and allow a youngster to make use of his potential. Infact, I will go onto say that Srinath’s progress was blocked because of the presence of Kapil Dev.

India played a lot of Tests in India with primary method of attack being spin. Kapil Dev never got to bowl more than 4 overs per innings, yet, he persisted with the only ambition of getting to the world record. For someone who played throughout his career with the sole intention of winning games for the nation, it was so depressing to see him playing just for the World Record.

He refused to retire despite achieving the world record. By that time, he lost considerable pace and was ineffective to say the least. It took a Phil Simmons sweep to sweep him into oblivion.

Wrapping up a tribute to Kapil Dev

Off the field, Kapil Dev has remained a respected figure and an ambassador for the sport. He has been recognised with numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Wisden Indian Cricketer of the Century award.

Rohit Sharma is perhaps the most evolved Indian batsman. For someone who started his career as a promising kid with lots of talent, who played some stellar knocks in Australia to win the ODI series back in 2008, who was drafted into Indian Test team and thereafter, who lost his way immeasurably, the sort of turnaround he has effected into becoming the captain of India, he has come a longway. This is a tribute to Rohit Sharma.

Rohit Sharma, the lazy elegance, the player with supreme touch and the ball races to the boundary. The bowler is not offended at all because he never felt the impact. Instead, he is also in awe looking at that shot. The murderous pull of anything pitched short is also treated by the bowler as something that is expected on the cricket field and he never responds with the same ferocity as is normal. Such is the impact of the shots that Rohit Sharma plays.

A brief look at his initial years

In the earlier days, it was really tough for Rohit to get into a team that consisted of Rahul, Laxman, Ganguly & Tendulkar. Even the opening slot wasn’t available. Despite this, he still got some chances but he failed to make use of any. If only he had scored, he could have easily replaced a Laxman or a Ganguly.

Eventually, doubts were raised about his ability to deal with test cricket. He was thought to be not fit for test cricket. Heck, he even had multiple forgettable time in limited overs. All of that changed when he began to open the innings in ODIs. Couple of good outings and he had never looked lost since then. The fabulous 2019 World Cup was the peak of his achievement as an opener with 5 hundreds. Eventually, he opened in test cricket too after Vijay, Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw and a few others were deemed unfit for test opening.

Rohit the opener

Rohit had a great series against South Africa at home but his real test was in Australia and in England. He didn’t travel with the original team to Australia citing injury though he turned out for Mumbai Indians. Even I casted aspersions on his will to survive in test cricket. I had written that Rohit is afraid to travelling to Australia because he fears failure. He fears losing his test spot once and for all. He proved me wrong and though Rohit wasn’t a grand success in Australia, he did contribute meaningful runs.

Inbetween Australia and England, Rohit played a gem of a knock against England on a turning pitch. It was the decisive innings of the series. England having won the first test, never recovered after that innings.

Rohit has become so efficient at opening that nowadays it is always who will partner Rohit. He has certainly grown in stature. He proved his credentials in all the 3 tests in England so far. Having started with 3 successive scores in the 30s he got out everytime just when he was looking too comfortable. Alas, that was to change at Lord’s when he was the chief aggressor against an England side that was confident after Anderson returned one more five-fer. The 80odd is easily the best innings Rohit has played in his short test career. He saw Rahul virtually score-less at the other end and took it upon himself to score the runs. At one stage, he outscored Rahul 5-1. Such was his domination. No one would have grudged a hundred for Rohit but it wasn’t to be.

Having seen his prowess as an opener, it is only a matter of time before he starts to score heavily even in the SENA countries.

The outspoken Rohit Sharma

At the end of the 4th Test against England, Rohit Sharma was at his fiery best. He said all the right things to say in the press meet. It was so heartening to see the national team’s captain say such things. The youngsters are more and more influenced by money and they opt for the shortest version. They prepare themselves to excel in that format alone. This is not enough. More needs to be done but atleast, the captain is voicing his concern about some of the youngsters. By the way, India have won the series against England after much anxiety. Overall, well said Rohit Sharma.

What did Rohit say?

After the game ended, Rohit answered quite a few questions rather frankly. It is refreshing to hear an Indian captain being so open about playing Test cricket and it is also heartening to note the importance the current lot gives to Test cricket. A few days ago, the BCCI secretary, Jay Shah, warned players who did not play for their respective states in the ongoing Ranji Trophy that they would stand to lose the central contract. Some like Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan choose to ignore that warning. They did not play for their state teams in the final round of the Ranji games.

First, the audacity of these players, both of whom played for India recently, is disturbing and second, the power an IPL contract gives to each player is scary. Here are a couple of players who had hardly played a handful of games for the nation going against the diktat issued by the secretary of the most powerful cricketing body in the world. At this moment, it is not clear whether the contracts of these players and a few others will be terminated but it does not matter to them because their IPL worth is much higher.

Rohit was point blank

“This [Test cricket] is the toughest format,” Rohit said after India won the fourth Test against England in Ranchi to take an unassailable 3-1 lead. “And if you want success and want to excel in this tough format then you need that hunger. It is very important. We will give opportunity only to players who have that hunger. You come to know [easily] the players who don’t have that hunger, [or] players who don’t want to stay here [and play this format]. We come to know that.

“Players who have that hunger, players who want to stay here and perform, [and] play in tough conditions, we will give preference to them. Obviously, it is pretty simple: if you don’t have hunger, there’s no meaning playing such players.”

These words were directed at Kishan, Shreyas and perhaps even Hardik Pandya. Ever since the South African tour, from which Kishan asked for a break, he has not been involved in any competitive cricket. He was asked by the team management to play in domestic games to be eligible for the national team. However, he choose to skip Ranji Trophy. Evidently, to prepare and keep himself fit for Ranji Trophy. There was also a murmur of Shreyas’s insubordination. These are serious attitude issues. The IPL contracts are so much worth that the upcoming players do not want to play for India. Rishabh Pant has on record said that his only intention was to play T20 cricket and nothing else. However, success in the longest form seems to have straightened his priority.

Yes, I do realise that I have been a bitter critic of Ashwin all along. I have commented about how ineffective has he been outside of favourable environments. I have also commented on how he is adamant that he has all the bases covered and will not practice, as Shane Warne once said, despite not being that effective. The statistics of Ashwin in the SENA countries are in stark contrast to his statistics in India, West Indies and Sri Lanka. However, this blog is not about all of that but about celebrating the bowler Ashwin. It is just not that easy for anyone to play 100 Tests if you aren’t that good. However, there are some exceptions like Ishant Sharma who no one knows how he played that many games. This is a tribute to Ashwin.

Yes, he has been the most effective in India. 363 wickets out of 515 wickets makes it more than 60% in one country. Let us remember the fact that eversince the rejuvenation of Jadeja, Ashwin didn’t get to play in most of the Tests in the SENA countries. He was the second choice spinner. He was let down by his batting as much as his bowling. Kohli and Shastri needed a spinner who is good enough to bat in the top 6 and who could, if the need arises, take advantage of final innings pitches. Jadeja’s batting improved so much that he was always considered as the first option. Perhaps, in the absence of Jadeja, Ashwin would have certainly played a lot more Tests than the 100 that he has just completed.

Ashwin’s best moment

Ashwin’s best moment of his career will not be the 100^th Test nor will it be the 500 wickets that he has taken. It will always remain his meticulous preparation before the 2020 tour of Australia. He studied tapes of Steve Smith and analysed him to the point of becoming obsessed with him. This despite the fact that he knew pretty well that he will not be part of the team management’s calculation unless there was an injury to Jadeja.

As it turned out, Jadeja was injured and Ashwin started from the very first Test. His dismissals of Smith for a few low scores eventually paved the way for India to win the series. It was borne out of the hours of planning and preparation. It took Smith few Tests to realise the plan of attack and by that time, half the series was done with India and Australia at one apiece.

Then came another moment that he will not forget ever. His partnership with Hanuma Vihari at Sydney to draw the Test. Ashwin later revealed how they planned to bat through the innings and against which bowlers. It showed how his mind works. The Australians who themselves are the masters of mind games, didn’t realise the happenings in the middle. It was planning and execution at its best.

I realise that Ashwin has won an extraordinary number of Tests for the nation but these instances will always trump. It showcases the professor, as he is known by his team, in Ashwin. It is the same attitude that has worked against him on multiple occasions when he over thought instead of keeping it simple.

Anil Kumble, India’s highest wicket taker, perhaps paid the best tribute to Ashwin.

“With some players, people miss what they brought to the table after they have retired, right?” he says, matter-of-factly’. “Some players are like that. Maybe people will realise the quality of Ash…. I know people are talking about him and what he has achieved already but especially in a country like India, bowlers don’t get the same kind of adulation that batters do. That’s the nature of how we look at cricket in our country. We will probably realise his quality when retires and moves on. But in my book, Ash is in the top tier of players who have played for the country.”

Ashwin’s worst moment on the field

It is now done and dusted in history but that no-ball, turned the game in the favour of West Indies. Ofcourse, it was a sub-par score at the Wankhede but with a couple of quick wickets and Lendl Simmons caught of the bowling of Ashwin with not many on the board, the game was in the bag but that fatal no-ball call turned decisive. Ashwin himself made it worse when he said after the game that when someone told him that he never used to bowl a no-ball in the nets, yet, how come he bowled one in the crucial semi-final? I firmly believe that he must not have said this because the whole country was fuming.

Nevertheless, Ashwin will always be remembered as the bowler whom the opposition feared, atleast in India. It is more or less half the battle won. All India has to do everytime in India is to deliver the knock-out which will ensure victory. Ashwin is the primary reason why India have been so tough to defeat at home. We have lost only 5 Tests in India ever since the debut of Ashwin. It speaks a lot about how good and effective Ashwin has been over the years.

Wrapping up a tribute to Ashwin

I for one believe that Ashwin has not been felicitated properly. For his immense game awareness and the relentless brain of his, it would have been prudent to have made him the captain of an Indian team. He could have been the captain of the teams that were led by Pandya or Dhawan or even Surya Yadav. He could have been the captain of the Indian team that won the Asian Games gold. That would have been a fitting tribute. Just like Shane Warne, this will always remain an unfulfilled wishlist in his book.

https://icricketcritique.com/ashwin-wants-to-disallow-the-non-striker-backing