The Cricket Blog

The Champions are Dead! Long Live the New Champions!

2011-10-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

The IPL and the Champion League seemed to have a popular joke going around the airwaves that, both the tournaments were for teams to compete with CSK in the finals. It was nearly true for CSK in 2 IPL’s and a CLT20(2010), where they looked impregnable. Slowly but steadily, their glow and aura seems to be fading off, and I am trying to wonder, what could be the reasons for CSK’s poor performance in this edition of the Champions league, where they just managed a solitary win, against old foes-Warriors.

The CSK, known to be a side, having a man for every occasion, somehow did not manage the crunch moments well, where one bad decision, could change the fortunes of the match. Though its easy to shrug it off and say that the law of averages had to catch up, there’s more to do with it than just the ‘law of averages’. In the first game, CSK after having got Mumbai 6-85, and with a mountain to chase, somehow did not manage to stifle the daredevilry that Harbhajan and Malinga put forth, having nothing to lose. CSK folded up in the crunch moments, without applying enough pressure to make the opposition struggle hard for runs. CSK, did a little Mahabharat, by almost slaying opposition warriors Mumbai, but allowed them to rest and recuperate to fight another day, instead of nipping them in the bud. CSK, ultimately had to swallow their own missed dosage of poison, when they were victims of their own den’s strength of slow wickets. CSK messed up chases, of 120 and 200, simply because they allowed large periods of play, where the batsmen took their time to get their eye in and gave away their wicket, without following their model of gradually increasing the run rate with a supercharged momentum. T&T and South Australia suffocated CSK, which tried to take many unwanted risks, in the aftermath of suffocation for long periods, which affected momentum build up throughout the innings.

The other 2 teams from last year’s semi finals, also suffered a similar fate, despite putting on a decent performance in the ‘Group of Death”. The South Australian Redbacks, were all set to get in to the knock-out, before Arun Karthik smote a six over deep midwicket, and the rest is history. The Redbacks were a very consistent unit, and actually were in complete contrast to the Warriors in terms of the way the tournament has panned out.

The Warriors started with 2 victories, one against a tough RCB unit, and the other being a crushing victory against the South Australian Redbacks. 15 overs into the next game, the Warrior had pummeled 96 runs in 12 overs, but failed to capitalize on the last 5 overs against KKR, which meant they had to defend a less than threatening 155, and they again let themselves down in the bowling unit, by failing to stop KKR coming hard at them, despite knowing weather predictions of a rain that night. A couple of attacking moves and wickets would have meant the balance in the D/L method could have shifted their way. They lost out on the crucial moments in the match. The next game against Somerset, was important in the sense, that they needed to win, to secure a knock-out spot, and again choked themselves in a bid to chase down a modest 146. The Warriors after, a brilliant start, had relaxed a bit, causing 2 adverse results in the last 2 games.

The Redbacks, on the other hand had a bad start, and it was in complete contrast to their last year’s performance, where they won all the matches, and had solid starts at the top. Micheal Klinger, was a pale shadow of the mountain of runs, he scored on South African wickets last year. The Redbacks, looked like a lack luster unit against the Warriors, losing by 40 runs, and were undone by some rain in a crucial ‘Ashes’ encounter against Somerset, where the teams shared points, while they managed to discover their form a game before the rained out game, where they trounced KKR by 19 runs. The last game against RCB, ws a humdinger, that so much reminded of the 434 chase that South Africa did to beat Australia, and the similarity ended with the fact that the teams at the receiving end on both occiassons were Australian teams. They were almost in the semi finals, before a last ball 6, undid all their hardwork in their game.

Quick Look at some stats reveal where the Champions went wrong in this edition of the CLT20. I took a look at Castrol’s Team Index, and had a few interesting numbers to sleep over.

· CSK finished 7^th out of 10 in the batting Index, and 6^th out of 10 in the bowling Index. Just shows you need to have atleast one of the performances in the top 3 or 4 depending on the wickets you play on(CSK played on slower wickets, where bowlers were making hay, while the floodlights shone)

· Warriors finished 4^th in the batting Index, but their bowling withered away, finishing 9^th out of 10, on batting heavy tracks of Bangalore, where a better batting Index could have given them an edge.

· The South Australian Redbacks, had a charmed life while batting, finishing 2^nd, while they finished 5^th out of 10 in the bowling Index, which showed that they were one of the unlucky teams to miss out in the knockouts, despite having a balanced batting and bowling. Blame it on the washed out ‘Ashes’ encounter against Somerset? Easy question, but a tough answer to frame!

· What did the teams(The New Champions), making to semi-finals do right?

o RCB- No 1 in Batting and No 10 in Bowling. It just shows how important your batting is in this format of the game. Despite a bad start, RCB came into the final 4 on the basis of 2 excellent batting efforts in the last 2 games, and have been successful in scoring 170 and above in all their games.

o Mumbai Indians- No 10 in batting, and No 3 in the bowling, just shows that Mumbai, having played most of their games on the slower wickets of Chepauk, made the bowling speak their way to the semi-final

o New South Wales Blues- The most dangerous looking side, for the balance they bring. 6^th in batting and 4^th in bowling, makes them better suited to reach the finals

o Somerset - 5^th in Batting and 7^th in Bowling, anda little bit of rain, helped their cause, with 2 victories coming in handy. They handled some of the crucial moments better, and that’s why they are here.

Nokia's Cricket Contest to meet Priyanka Chopra

2011-10-05T06:10:00.000-07:00

I guess, there's still time for some entries to get an evening with Priyanka, along with the cricket at the Chepauk Stadium. Click here to access the contest

Nokia Asli Champions Contest for Champions League T20

2011-09-29T05:51:00.000-07:00

I just came across a nice contest, that allows cricket fans to connect with Nokia's brand ambassador-Priyanka Chopra. All you need to do is to record your commentary on the site http://www.nokiachampions.com/ . Go give it a whirl, while I try a shot at it too!

Curses, and Choking on Them!

2011-09-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, when Indian cricket was on a jubilant high, after winning the World Cup(1983) and winning a multination tournament in Australia(1985),they went to Sharjah that year in the hope of winning the Australasia Cup, and were moments away from being crowned champions and adding silverware to the BCCI collection, that had just begun from the last couple of years.

Set 246 to win, Pakistan were tottering, except for the occasional brilliance of Javed Miandad, that kept them floating. Javed’s hitting brought Pakistan within a couple of hits of victory, but India seemed the undoubted favourites. 1 wicket to win for India, and 5 to win for Pakistan in 2 balls with number 11 Tauseef Ahmed on strike. Tauseef, the selfless bowler, set off on a nonexistent single against Chetan Sharma, in order to give Javed Miandad the strike, off the last ball. The problem was that the single was directed straight to short covers-Mohammed Azzaruddin,the best fielder in the team, and with 10 yards still to complete for Tauseef and the ball in Azhar’s hands, if you froze the moment, you’d expect India with the silverware in the next moment. Now that did not happen, as we know, and somehow, India’s luck changed from here on, to miss the run out off that ball, and conceding a last ball 6 that would trigger a series of losses to Pakistan at Sharjah on Friday’s for the next 15 years, post which India declined to play at that venue(India beat Pak only once on a Friday, in Oct 1991). The curse of Miandad’s last ball 6, left India transfixed and their next generation too, as it left them groping for a victory against Pakistan in Sharjah.

The thing with such curses, is the lasting impact a small set of events in the space of a couple of balls or an over, have over teams. Teams like South Africa, subscribe to the curse of the World Cup, where one exit in a World Cup semi-final, with heavy hearts and emotions, triggered a series of misgivings, where they failed to qualify for the finals by choking in games, crucial to qualify for the final 4 knock outs. They found different reasons to lose, whether it was to botch up a 264 chase against the Windies in 96, Donald chosing to get his adrenalin flow wrong in 99 against the Aussies, Pollock and Boucher choosing to mis-understand D/L scores in 2003, when a run was required and they played a maiden over, or whether the urge to finish it fast consumed them in 2007 and 2011, it showed that South Africa, despite years of consistent performance, always had a reason to fail at crucial moments in World Cups. Now the reason, I brought that up, is precisely a pattern I see with KKR emerging, of slowly losing steam, after a wonderful ascent to the top in the IPL.

KKR until May 22nd, after 39 overs in a 40 over T20 contest against Mumbai Indians, would have been heaving a sigh of relief that they were finally on their way to qualify for the CLT20, with 3 extremely unsucceful attempts in the previous editions of the IPL. One over remaining, and the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was attempting to be as raucous as they would during Durga Puja. 21 required off 6 for Mumbai, and KKR gleefully, sent their best bowler-Balaji to bowl the final over, against James Franklin. What followed was mayhem, and KKR slowly saw the invisible hope called Victory, evaporate like petrol in thin air, and ran out of gas exactly at the altar. 4 consecutive boundaries and it boiled down to a boundary required off one ball. If Balaji kept his nerve, I would not be writing this article, but he bowled a Chetan Sharma’eque full toss on middle and leg, and made Ambati Rayudu, a Miandad’esque hero, as the white leather, found its companion in the plastic chairs over deep midwicket. From that very moment,KKR choked in on a curse, that has not still lifted yet.[Do read more on that match here]

The problem with a curse or choking on a curse, is that it pushes a team to the extreme, that the team, instead of combating the issues, tends to go on a self defeating spiral. The spiral is accentuated with the increased cobwebs of self doubt that dominates the mind, especially when aggression is required to stay on the top. KKR, after the last ball mishap, lost the next match, when a wrong flow of adrenalin caught them again, while they attemped for revenge in the eliminator. A feigned aggression, due to the self-doubt made them 20/4 in 6 overs, and effectively helped them bury themselves, and helped Mumbai file the last nail in the cricketing coffin to close Kolkata’s 2011 IPL adventure and hopes of a CLT20 berth.

KKR have luckily made it this year, due to the addition of a 4th Indian team to play the qualifiers, and were seemingly short of aggression in the qualifiers. Both their matches, KKR timed their approach wrongly, and were lucky to have made it to the CLT20, after a close 1 run difference between them and Ruhuna. KKR look a pale shadow of their aggressive self, and need to come out of the shell, by aiming to be the side, SRK wants them to be and let this brief Don Quixotic phase, go away as soon as possible. Yesterday’s game against Somerset, showed that when KKR attempt revenge for a loss against the same opposition, they play into the hands of the curse. They seemed to play into Somerset’s strengths, and that showed when Somerset mustered a hundred runs in 10 overs, chasing a dimnuitively small total. Maybe a Sehwag’ian attitude of just focusing on the ball, instead of the bowler or opposition, can help them divert attention from the curse that KKR finds itself spell bound to, right now.

Will KKR stop and choke more on the curse, that only the remaining matches will tell, but if you are from the city of Joy, support your team to the hilt, to make sure that they have a rocking Durga Puja, as much as you do!

The Rain Therapy-Ruhuna vs T&T- What to expect?

2011-09-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

Ruhuna vs Trinidad & Tobago-Match Preview

In recent times, whenever you wanted rains, you just brought along a West Indian and Lankan side to play in the subcontinent, and lo- the rains tend to arrive. Tomorrow, 2 clubs sides, from these regions face off in an encounter to clinch their spot for the Nokia Champions League T20. The two sides, square off at Hyderabad, so should we expect rains, or would it rain boundaries, as this format has seen? Well, that’s a question these mercurial sides need to answer. Lets have a quick pen sketch at what we can expect from both these sides.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago, are the Carribean T20 champions, who would do well to remember that their claim to fame in this tournament, was framed in India, in the inaugural edition of the Champions League in 2009. Given that 2, of their biggest stars (Pollard and Bravo) wont be around, it’s a chance for them to throw up budding talents in this fierce pit for instant recognition in cricket’s equivalent of a beauty pageant. The side, did very well in the 2009 edition, and probably lost out in the final to the New South Wales Blues, as the natural Caribbean flair, did not probably have enough ammunition against the well oiled machine, that the Australian teams produce.

Trinidad and Tobago, had a wonderful season this year, as they beat Hampshire by a telling margin of 36 runs. What’s good about the system that the Caribbean islands have is, the entry of 2 English sides, which does increase the exposure and competitiveness a few notches higher, for the young and aspiring from the Carribean. The side, despite the obvious absence of Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard, has quite a few stars from their national side, who would be looking to stamp their authority to make the side storm through the initial qualifying phase. Adrian Barath, Darren Bravo,Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul and Dinesh Ramdin, add vitality to a side, that will be searching for consistency- a term, the carribean cricket has been missing ever since, Mark Taylor’s men vanquished the West Indies in 1995.

The men who would form the lynchpin of their batting would be Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo, who were 2 leading run scorers in the Carribean domestic T20 league. Both batsmen seem to have mastered the art of scoring gracefully, yet quickly. They score at a strike rate of 111 and 130, and have had equal number of boundaries and sixes in the Carribean T20 league.

The bowling will largely be dependent on the guile that Ravi Rampaul brings along, but is definitely bolstered by the addition the Chinaman bowler, Dave Mohammed. Another bowler to watch out could definitely be Samuel Badree, who could be a useful pick on conditions helpful to his nature of bowling. An Interesting stat about the T&T squad is they have a rather huge set of Off Break Bowlers( 5 including Part Timers). A few raw medium pacers, who barely make the grade, will be looking to complement Ravi Rampaul, and it would be an acid test for Ravi Rampaul, to mentor a relatively young bowling attack to keep sanity and discipline in a format that chaos reigns supreme.

Ruhuna

The Lankan contingent, on the other hand, has seen a new team coming through the ranks this time, from the usual suspects of Wayamba, who’ve been guilty of playing, just to turn up, without making teams sweat. They have lesser stars, playing for them, and that could be a god-send, as what it does is make the relatively lesser number of seniors/star command respect and form a proper communication channel without multiple ego’s acting as snarls at traffic signals, in the flow of ideas.

Sanath Jayasuriya is their biggest draw, followed by other new national stars like Chandimal and Udawatte. They will be missing the services of bowlers like Weeraratne,Randiv and Welegedara, who helped Ruhuna conquer the 2 time champion Wayamba.

The men with timber who matter are the 2 young National stars(Udawatte and Chandimal), followed by Gunaratne(who also doubles up as a useful bowler) and Sanath Jayasuriya. The core batting unit should look to play its best players in strategic times of play, so that they could step up against professional sides. Their bowling is something, they need to seriously have a look at, as losing 3 national bowlers for a tournament of this nature is crippling. Gunaratne and Perera are bowlers who have done well for them in their provincial tournament. Ruhuna matches T&T in the bowling department for having 5 Right Arm Off Break bowlers(6, if Dinesh Chandimal does not keep wickets). It’s a strange coincidence, that both these regions, produce off break bowlers, pretty similar to the way India produces their engineers-en masse.
Lets hope its not the same quality, as unearthing of un cut diamonds via these tournaments are essential for payback over time, in quality players coming through.

Final Verdict- T&T looks the part in the side that may beat both Leicestershire and Ruhuna, given that they play English county sides in their domestic T20 set up, but always the best resources does not make up for the best performance, so here’s hoping Ruhuna, with their underdog tag, can make a repeat of the 96 World Cup, in conditions similar to their home conditions. I am going to against the norm, and bet on the Windies helping Lanka with some self destruction. Lankan Rawness all the way versus the Carribean Flair.

Whom are you supporting?

This article was originally written for t20times.com

Star Talk from CLT20- 2nd Edition

2011-09-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

I had the privelege of catching up with Shaun Tait, at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesberg last year(Sep 2010), during the Champions League final. Listen in to a former CLT20 star, sharing his view on the performance of the South Australian Redbacks

Shaun Tait Interviewed by Kartik Kannan by Katchucrap

Champions League T 20-The Quest for Eye Balls!

2011-09-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

In a week’s time, we shall forego the disappointment that the tour of the Old Blighty has been, and we shall turn our loyalties towards our favourite players and cities for the Champions League. Tendulkar will be an enemy for the sea of Yellow at the MA Chidamabaram stadium, while Kallis will be the guy to target for the supporters for RCB. With Short memories, attention spans as strong as that of a rat, and loyalties as strong a wet paper, welcome to the fantasy world of the Champions League T20.

The Champions League T20, despite its grand opening and successful cousin of the IPL, has never been in a more confusing position than before. The Champions league, has done what it was intended for, which was to bring the best winning teams across the world and pit themselves against each other. It was all hunky dory when it started in 2009, against the backdrop of the growth story that Lalit Modi promised. But over the last couple of years, the format has been in threat of ending up as the proverb goes ‘starting with a bang, and ending with a whimper’. The reason I say that is, that the tournament has depended on a huge consumer base in India, and we have seen that the crowds hardly fill stadiums for non-IPL team matches in 2009. The IPL itself, received lesser attention from the public in April this year(2011), partly due to most of the public still being in World Cup ending euphoria.

The Champions League partly received a commercial jolt from Airtel, who pulled out a couple of months prior to the event. Airtel probably realized that the investment for the tournament and the format is probably not commercially as exciting, as some of its other exciting investments in acquiring consumers. The champions League organizing committee also realized that the tournament is losing its appeal despite having champions, as the second string club sides from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and the West Indies have not really made the sides from India, Australia and South Africa sweat as much. It’s a welcome move to have qualifiers, which eliminates the bovine quotient away and makes way for better TRP ratings.

Also in a welcome move from the greedy behavior of cricket administration, seen during the IPL, we have tickets priced affordably, and sometimes the price is the same for 2 matches on the same day. Tickets are being sold online, and also being delivered home, as opposed to the high handedness and artificial scarcity reigning in the times of the World Cup and the IPL. I just bought a straight Long Stop view terrace ticket at the MA Chidambaram stadium for 600 rupees, and it includes the 4 pm and the 8 pm match. I also see tickets available for the semi-finals and the finals at reasonable rates. Administrators have probably realized that the common man, is their end consumer, and in order for the tournament to be successful, patronage by the common man in the form of his energy to drive to the ground, or his time to watch at home, is extremely essential in building a long standing relationship.

The CLT20 organizing team would realize that it does not make way for good word of mouth to have empty stands due to prohibitive pricing, and here is where they can invest in some goodwill for non IPL teams matches, by inviting school kids at concessional rates to fill in the stands. If the CLT20 can create a few smiles, and respect their consumers, the ripples on the organizers forehead to metamorphise into a bigger smile, as a feel good factor in life due to cricket increases exponentially, and if the CL20 organizers know their math well, they would do well to invest in a few smiles across all venues.

These external factors, when taken care of, would be the best the CL20 can do, as the cricket played in the centre can speak for itself, when the supporting acts are conduits to a wonderful experience. Here is hoping that the Indian administration matures, from its arrogant former self, translating into a brand that matures over time in its quest for eyeballs and TRP’s.

The case of the Overheated and Overcooled Wood

2011-06-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

When I look at a piece of wood, that makes my door, I wonder how temperature makes it grow and dwarf in size across summer and winter. The process of growth and reduction is gradual and slow, such that the door can retain its character and adapt as per the temperature outside. But for a moment, think how would it be, if it were subjected to intense heat one week, and intense chillness the next in alternating fashion. Will the wood in the door be able to maintain its character? Would the wood be as strong as its supposed to be and can it last the distance of time? My guess on that would be an obvious NO, and I am sure your guess would not deviate too much from my answer.

If we apply the same yardstick to the way the various formats of the game are scheduled, we see that switching between 20 overs, 50 overs and Test cricket at an alarming pace, is only going to harm the quality and shelf life of our players. 20 over cricket has transformed cricket into a consumer centric game, which unites the family when it comes to evening television. Is it 20 over cricket or league cricket that’s been able to hit the consumer jackpot? My gut feel is that league cricket has evoked higher TRP’s and with India’s latest World Cup victory this year, the feeling of watching India compete in a global completion could well be the flavor of what the consumers may want for the next few years, and its understandable that they also want to watch their favorite players in action, in a combination that has all the best cricketers across the world, on a single stage.

Keeping the above point, I am wondering, if ICC should shift the T20 cricket to a model, where its played as part of the domestic league (IPL,SPL,Big Bash and the likes) and the ICC World 2020. This is where the 20 over cricket can get the maximum bang for buck. 20 over bilateral cricket should be scrapped for the time being, so as to allow players to concentrate on the bigger formats of the 50 over cricket and Test Cricket. The difference of adjusting between test cricket and 50 over cricket is still not huge, as the average run rate is 4 an over in test cricket, and 5.5 runs an over in One day cricket, while T20 cricket hovers in the 7+ range. This is where the wear and tear to the subjects playing the game is witnessed more. The advantage of not having bilateral T20 series is that, it increases focus on tours to the traditional formats of cricket, and lessens the mental strains that players need to undergo while playing between these formats.

In the ongoing 50 over ODI series between India and West Indies, one can see the youngsters in both the teams, batting aggressively and mindlessly slogging against quality bowling. The problem with this approach is, youngsters having problems in their technique against quality bowling, will try to hit their way out of it, rather than correcting their technique. This approach to the game makes the game terribly one-sided, with either the batsmen winning a temporary short battle, or the bowlers winning it against batsmen who are risk prone. Cricket was supposed to be a war, which had a series of battles. The beauty of the war was to see the see-saw swings, between the battles to translate into a script that made the war beautiful to watch. If we have an overkill of the battles, then the game loses its character, players lose their natural abilities by shielding chinks with brute brawny abilities, and finally the TRP’s succumb to gravity.

So, should the ICC take a decision against bilateral ODI series, and save the wood from extinction? Or Maybe PETA can do a campaign against saving Leather and Wood, with a nice model, doing a brain dead nude photo shoot, since the ICC has tons of money.

What do you think about not having Bi-lateral T20 series?

50 First Dates

2011-06-07T22:56:00.000-07:00

The concept of Adam Sandler, trying to woo Drew Barrymoore, every single day for 50 days, to me reflected a sense of achievement, as it was against the tide of Drew Barrymore’s short term memory loss. Every day was a new day, where Adam Sandler had to start from scratch to woo her, and all his hard work would be negated at the end of the day, as Drew Barrymore would have forgotten what happened earlier in the day.

I am applying the same concept to leading to cricket and more specifically T20 sides. Every game gives both the teams an equal opportunity to go one up on the opponent. The skills on display are for a very short period, so flashes of brilliance doesn’t need to go through the test of sustenance across 50 overs. Teams that are used to waiting for things to happen, before going for the kill, would find that the format of T20 is sometimes unforgiving. M.S.Dhoni found that out one summer evening at Mohali, when an unknown youngster’s (Paul Valthaty)carnage helped Kings 11 Punjab, down the Chennai Super Kings, after a spectacular 180+ chase. MSD, has been one of the better captains, who has managed to win 4 major T20 titles, and if you notice, in each of the tournaments, MSD never looked completely in command, but managed to work hard every single time, when he was in a problem, by wearing a smile, and trying out different things to woo the lady called Victory.

Most teams, when they reach the mature phase of the winning curve tend to go off the boil, as they stop focusing on experimentation and start looking for a template to win. While it may be a nice methodology to study the DNA behind successful T20 sides, what works on most occasions is the fact that the single biggest factor is the ability to start from scratch to carve out victories every single time. Taking things for granted, is where you distance yourself from victory, as you believe that you don’t need to earn it, as it is already in your lap. The fact is the victory that is in your lap, is a memoir of the good times, you had as a team, and just that. To retain the victory in your lap, you need to fight doubly harder with sides, who keep throwing newer challenges at the champions.

The Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers, both had excellent runs of form, but it was not quite divided between all the members of the side, and secondly these teams opted for a lot of familiar tactics to keep the points graph go northward. The lack of focused experimentation, and the nerve to succeed when not placed in a comfort zone, proved to be their undoing.

The Chennai Super Kings have done well to keep their date with wooing the goddess of victory, time and again. It is very visible in their work ethic, with players like Hussey and Badrinath, who have been examples of sustained excellence over a longer time period. It was probably the creation of a new hunger every day, that made them chase success, resembling Adam Sandler’s enthusiasm and patience in the movie ’50 First dates’.

So, the 2 questions to ask yourself, to bask in the shade of the silverware would be to ask, how much have you done to woo your date? If you can manage to woo the goddess of victory that way, the silverware should be one of the many destinations on your road trip to the peak of Success

Kartik Kannan on a Talk Show

2011-05-02T19:38:00.001-07:00

I was invited by the student of Asian College of Journalism, a guest on their morning Video Show " Hello Chennai" on the 17th of March, 2011 to speak my thoughts on the World Cup. Do let me know, your feedback on the conversation.

Trends at IPL 4 - Starters

2011-04-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

10 days into this edition of the IPL, and we’ve seen an interesting pattern emerge in the top 12 high performance players. High performance, as I define it takes into account all your activity cumulatively on the field, which includes batting, bowling and fielding.

The top 12 players

· Michael Hussey

· Paul Valthaty

· Jesse Ryder

· James Hopes

· Yuvraj Singh

· Sachin Tendulkar

· Ravindra Jadeja

· Jacques Kallis

· Lasith Malinga

· Johan Botha

· Shane Warne

· Ambati Rayudu

Now, out of the 10 team captains, one sees 3 captains who are leading from the front in terms of performance. Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and Shane Warne. The Rajasthan Royals have been guilty of inconsistent and indifferent form since the 2nd edition of the IPL, despite wonderful performances by their showman, Shane Warne. Will Shane Warne inspire the blues, to a second IPL Crowm, with a reversal in the remaining part of the tournament? My guess is as good as yours on this, but he surely is better placed to command respect from his team. Yuvraj and Sachin, both in a purple patch this year, are leading from the front with some great individual performances. Its also interesting to note that each of them were captains, their country teams never had. Tendulkar, though was a captain for 2 yearly stints, but never really could bring success on the table.

The other leading performances come from hard hitting allrounders, who have played international cricket. This stat could vindicate the stand of some of the IPL owners who decided to invest their money on only a few-but high quality foreign players. Out of the top 12, 7 of them are multi skilled cricketers who’ve been big acquisitions for their teams for this precise ability to turn the ball over, and bludgeon the leather consistently.

Except for Hussey, Kallis and Malinga, the rest 4 are cricketers who are still searching for a permanent place in their country teams, and are using the IPL as a platform to knock on the doors. Hussey, Kallis and Malinga are like good old country wine. They just seem to get better with age, and are not showing any signs of cricketing senility.

This also goes on to show the importance of multi-skilled cricketers in a format that lasts for three hours. All rounders, and high quality ones are gamechangers on which team combinations can be sharpened and made better. In the quest to be better, at both-batting and bowling, one shouldn’t tinker around too much and lose your core strength. Someone like Jacques Kallis is a fine example, of what it takes to give your best every time, and also do it consistently over a longer period. An opposite spectrum example is the case of Irfan Pathan, who seemed to lose his pace and swing, the things that first got him noticed. So, looking at both these examples, teams would be careful on how they would want to use their allrounders, without having a testing workload.

Another trend, in consonance with previous IPL tournaments, are ‘new kids on the block’ and ‘comeback warriors’. India has managed to unearth quite a few talents via the IPL in the past like Yusuf Pathan, Pragyan Ojha and Ravindra Jadeja. The first 10 days of IPL4 has thrown at us a couple of cricketers, who are past their youth, but have been knocking on the doors, silently for a while. Ambati Rayudu and Paul Valthaty have come close to being selected, but faded away after selections for junior India teams. They have shown some promising talent, in this edition, and if they can be consistent for the remainder of the tournament, they get to write their own cheques for the next couple of years.

Paul Valthaty, who was part of the 2002-U-19 World Cup team, which had youngsters like Parthiv Patel and Irfan Pathan. After the world cup, he found himself in the wilderness, when he could not break into the Mumbai Ranji team. After 4 years in 2006, all he got was a solitary game, which went unnoticed, and 3 years later, he managed a couple of games for the Rajasthan Royals, but again did not have enough oppurtunities to make an impact, like some of his team mates-Yusuf and Jadeja, who blossomed under Warne. Paul, has been in exceptional form with thebat and the ball, and his test of mettle would come on pitches abroad, that would test if he is just a flat pitch bully or a Sehwag in the making. The reason, my mind wanders, is that 2008 IPL unearthed a replica of Kaluwitharana in the form of a Swapnil Asnodkar, but on South African pitches, Asnodkar could not quite adjust to the bounce and pace, and fell away. Lets hope Paul, is not a strictly one dimensional flat pitch bully.

Every year, the IPL also throws an Indian cricketer who’s on a comeback trail, and we’ve seen Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel, Ashish Nehra and a few other cricketers who’ve managed to get the selectors attention. This years IPL, so far seems to have seen an improved and mature Ravindra Jadeja, who is my pick for the ‘comeback kid’ of IPL 4. 10 days and 18 matches later, these are some of those signs that we’ve managed to see. Join us for some more analysis in the week to come.

This article was originally written for t20times.com

Wood, Leather, Legs and Malinga

2011-04-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

8 yards. Yes 8 of the 22, yards in a pitch that’s close to the striker’s end assumes the biggest importance whenever cricket is played in the subcontinent. If a bowler bowls in that zone, he is most likely to take a wicket, as he will tempt the batsman into an aggressive drive or an ugly edge. If the bowler, strays a little below the 8 yard mark, to signal his coming of age as an aggressive bower, the chances are high that he would be carted away to midwicket. So the 8 yards or below, forms the ideal line for a fast bowler to focus on length, and if the bowler is Malinga, there’s a high probability that nothing can come to stop the thunderbolts on that 8 yard strip. No Bat, Pad or Thigh(even if you happen to be Rambha), could probably dare to stop a Malinga Leather Invasion.

In an age where the bowlers are getting conservative and bowling with an aim to reduce and stifle the opposition in the times of high scoring pitches, Malinga’s brutal thunderbolts are a welcome sign. It just shows that sloggers cannot dominate T20, when you have a quality bowler in the middle. The games needs its balance and Malinga’s spell againt the Daredevils, just reduced Sehwag’s men stature a bit. The spell of bowling changed what an average ‘Fraand from Daaley’ would utter in a normal invocation to the female members of the family, from Ma-Ki to Ma-Linga. That was the impact the Sri Lankan had over the batsmen, when he produced a high quality spell, to shake the daredevilry out of Delhi.

Malinga’s action makes him tough to read, and if the ball starts to reverse, its tough to pick up the ball, as Malinga trajectory lands it an area near the foot that falls out of the normal eyesight. Given that sighting the ball is beyond a normal eye glance, and when it comes at a level of the umpire’s height, at a speed of 140+ miles an hour, it just instills a sense of “what-if-don’t” into the batsman. You can counter Malinga, either by concentrating hard and playing him out, but that straight away sets the tone for a game that lasts only for 20 overs, and it becomes extra hard for a player of Sehwag’s caliber, if he doesn’t dominate a bowler from the start. Sehwag had the added pressure of shielding a fresh bunch of recruits from Malinga’s thunderbolts and once Sehwag perished, the daredevilry went numb.

Malinga ran through the opposition like a knife slicing butter, and what can you do with deliveries bowled in that 8 yard corridor. Length deliveries outside off stump, would need to be driven or cut sublimely, without the getting attention from bat edges, else they would need the element of risk in trying to dig out a Yorker or go on the offensive. Going offensive against Malinga, can be done only if a batsmen has that extra time to cut the ball or use the pace of the ball to score boundaries. Playing against the direction and imparting force against Malinga’s deliveries requires a batsman to be a raging bully, who’sbuilt up enough momentum to go for the charge. Delhi were warming up to their first game, and were in no position to dominate Maliga, but they chose in a flawed attempt to show aggression and perished without a trace. When those thunderbolts, come near the legs, you either fend it off balanced, or try to dig it out, and Mornie Morkel found out the hard way of how leather can be used to slice timber. He got a new bat, the next ball, and Malinga found, what seemed like a non-existent gap between bat and pad, and landed like a scud missile shattering Morkel’s furniture. When a bowler who generates that much pace and momentum, the batsmen really have to choose between getting their leg or bat in the way, but the easier option is to let the stumps take the brunt, if one isn’t talented enough to negotiate his slinging trajectory.

This article was written for t20times.com

Shedding the Quixotic Armor

2011-04-24T07:36:00.000-07:00

Sometime’s when I look back to my library at home, and see the book “Don Quixote”, nothing else comes to mind other than the Kolkata Knight Riders. On paper, touted as the best team, especially during the auctions, they have not quite had the rub of the green going there way. It’s a huge baggage to carry, that of three treacherous seasons, which had them fighting for the bottom half of the table, almost always.

With a new look team, and big-ticket investment in cricketers who have been part of a winning unit( Yusuf, Gautam,Kallis etc), the KKR wants to shed the Don Quixotic tag,with a huge ASAP sign. Yesterday’s game against the man with the Midas touch-MSD, was a let-down for them, since they became the hunted, after wanting to hunt down the lions in their own den.

What does it take to make the KKR win. If it was Cricket 2007, I could abort the game in between. If it was a movie, I can reserve the euphoria for a last ball 6, or introduce funny graphics to take a last minute impossible catch on the boundary line. Wish life was simpler, for a generation that’s used to an F5 or a CTRL-ALT-DEL to come out of stupor. Kolkata Knight riders, were wanting to burst from the egg, to show the world, that this was finally that world-beater side that wants to dominate the world, but they probably tried too hard and didn’t quite have the mental nerve to think and play commen-sensical cricket. How else would you explain 3 dropped catches and numerous slip-ups of momentum.

KKR started well by removing Murali Vijay, by choking him against his strength of flicking though between the mid on-midwicket arc,a nd choked the run flow till the 6th over. Despite the three dropped catches, KKR found enough momentum to come back in the middle overs, pegging Chennai’s run rate to just a touch above 7 after over number 13. Anirudh, was looking vulnerable and all he needed was a few flighted deliveries to fall for thebait, but Ladda let the stranglehold off Chennai by wanting to bowl length and paid the price for it. KKR managed to keep CSK quiet till the 20th over, where the last 2 balls changed the mood in the CSK camp, with 10 runs coming in a canter.

153 was a little below par, but since it’s the opening game, and KKR were chasing against a wicket that was promising to put the super slow motion replays to shame, the dice was loaded against KKR. Kallis and Bisla had the most sublime starts, with very little slogging. A lot of their runs came through proper cricketing shots, showing that neither baggages nor pressure was going to be their enemy today.

Once Kallis fell, a string of wickets fell, and this is where KKR’s decision to play safe- backfired. They needed to be a little more alert and hungry, but a very laid-back approach of preserving wickets, came against their initial firepower in the first 8 overs. KKR needed to go full throttle at CSK, but allowed them to sneak in at the cost of playing safe cricket. That’s the beauty of the format, where you need to be plugged in throughout and time your ‘safe cricket’ overs well, so that you have the right men coming after these overs, to absorb the pressure and turn the heat on the opposition. KKR fought back well with Shukla and Tiwari involved in a partnership that seemed to miraculously lift KKR’s fortunes to a position of strength, when 9 were required of 8 balls.

To lose from that position was as much KKR’s inadequacy to keep a cool head, as much it was Tim Southee’s brilliant last over that cramped batsmen looking for those fortuitous edges. Overall, a wonderful performance to start IPL4, and despite losing the first game, KKR’s performance in the middle had some spine, and will not make me say tounge-in-cheek that SRK entertained us better.

This article was written for t20times.com

Pursuit of Excellence

2011-04-07T07:01:00.001-07:00

I've been reading a bit on the pursuit of excellence in sport. I came across Rasmus Ankersen(The High Performance Coach), and thats when I connected the dots with, Malcom Gladwell's 10,000 hour rule and high performance. I was enthusiastic about learning, what it takes to be succesful. Was it about the system or was it about the individual? It must be about un-knowingly creating a framework within which an individual's activities brings about success.

Today I glanced upon "IPL-An Inside Story" and the chapter on Shane Warne and How the Rajasthan Royals won, just makes for some lovely insights, that when you have nothing to lose, all your energy is spent at executing the goal, but the more you complicate matters with egos and hype, one does tend to lose out on the negative energy. But to win, despite all the flaws in the system is also something that needs to isloate the environment, and see where is it that simplicity, occupied a significant place.

The Adventures of Doctor ICC and His Secret Tonic

2011-03-28T07:40:00.000-07:00

The 5 over batting tonic, was meant to strengthen the batsmen’s claim to hit clear the boundaries, but the tonic has assumed alcoholic proportions. A lot of teams have fallen prey to the batting powerplay, due to over dosage, while some have had instant relief from getting choked and scored runs at will. Doctor ICC must be smiling all the way to the bank, as that means the predictability quotient is slowly evaporating in the 50 over format, after serious doubts surrounded the existence of the format.

The World Cup has reached its first round of knock-out stages, and with the 4 teams remaining, lets rewind to their performances so far, and study the impact of the batting power-play on the performances of the top 4 teams so far.

When to take the batting power-play, is a question that strikes a chord with the middle class cricket fan, as it pretty much resembles the bigger question in their lives, as to when to go for that big loan to get a dream house or car. It’s a big moment, and if life were to change for the better, one feels the pleasure of having unearthed a vital inflexion point. Since it relates so much to a cricket fan’s life, the debate continues endlessly on when it must be taken. For captains on the field, all the discussions on strategy off the field, need to be quantified by action on the field, and these 5 overs resemble the ‘grace marks’ scenario, where a captain can undo his mistakes with a single stroke. Whether he attains lofty heights, ground zero or plunges deeper is the question every captain has on his mind.

Batting Powerplay Analysis

A good measure of a team utilizing its batting powerplay well is the runs scored/wicket and the runs scored per over. The Best and Worst scores highlights the stability and the risk taking extremities of the teams, while the number of times a team has crossed 7 an over for a completed 5 over power-play, signifies the consistency with which the team approaches the powerplay.

Looking at India, If Gary Kirsten had to sign the report card, he sure wouldn’t feel happy with the progress. India has had the worst performance in the 5 mayhem, probably due to the presence of bludgeoning batsmen in their ranks and the desire to achieve a perfect shootout in the 5 over blitz. Instead, India has only become like a tamed lion, wanting to sign up for a mid-day meal scheme, as opposed to hunting down its prey. Only once has India, passed the 7 runs/ over mark, and that too against a pedestrian Bangladesh attack.

The Indian batsmen have been in two minds, and have not been wanting to put their mind at play in the batting power-play, as they have often seen a have chosen to go down the path of self destruction, in a futile to attempt to chase glory, by wanting to whack the ball. All of the other teams, have either chosen to play it safe, or go for the jugular and it reflects in the number of times the other three teams have scored above 7 an over. Sri Lanka, leads the pack, with passing 7 an over, every time they took the batting power-play. They don’t seem to have the attacking knack of New Zealand or Pakistan to plunder 70 runs in a 5 over session, but they have lost fewer wickets, consistently maintained upwards of 8 an over.

Pakistan and New-Zealand’s approach suggest some interesting numbers

• Pakistan and New Zealand have explored the power of big hitting on sluggish tracks, so they would know what it feels like to launch an assault against a not-so-testing bowling line up and free themselves of the pressure. But these acts of bravado have been achieved only against the minnows.

• Pakistan, though has seen the extremities of scoring 14 an over, have maintained a very high batting average, as they have just lost 3 wickets in the batting powerplay, while New-Zealand have marginally scored higher runs than Pakistan, but have lost a huge chunk of their wickets in in the batting power-play.

The Batting powerplay is a spoke within the larger wheel of the powerplay, and it has a few numbers and trends, that suggest sanity is around the corner for India.

Looking deeper into those 20 overs of powerplay, we see the following trends emerging[Refer Table Below]

a) Sri Lanka, get almost 50% of their runs from the power play overs, and lose 40% of their wickets in the power-play, maintaining a healthy run rate of 6.13 during the power-plays.

b) Pakistan haven’t seen much of a run rate difference between their Non Power-play overs and the Power-play overs, just like Sri Lanka, but they don’t heavily depend on the power-play to get their runs. The percentage of runs gained and wickets lost hovers at a stable 40% for Pakistan, while New Zealand, have lost 60% of their wickets to the powerplay, and still haven’t managed to stack a great overall power play run rate(except the batting powerplay). This may be an area of concern, as the risk taken to get the runs, is far too huge, when it comes to the overall 20 over power-play period.

c) Of all the teams, India has lost the least wickets in their powerplays and have a healthy difference between their non powerplay overs and powerplay overs. India’s achillies heel has only been their batting power-play, where they have not been able to force the pace.

The effect of the powerplay is visible on how teams have used it to their advantage, but come the 2-semi finals, and we could see that the more aggressively calm team, would get the home run. Will it be the Asian Block or the lone survivor across the Indian ocean? Tune into your TV sets for the next 2 days!
[Originally written for Castrolcricket.com]

The Loss of Aggression

2011-03-15T08:14:00.000-07:00

Year	Boundaries	Sixes	Extras	Catches	Runs	Wickets
2003	1793	240	1568	449	20441	734
2007	1809	338	1528	416	21333	725
2011	1271	182	967	239	14627	498

*Note: Number of matches in 2003/2007/2011 were 54/51 and 34(49)[At time of writing]

If you were a cricket follower who, grew up in the 90’s, when you were asked what came to mind, when you thought of South Africa and West Indies? What would your response be? I am guessing, your mind would stop by Durban and Jamaica and think of the bounce the quicks would extract. That would mean a bowlers paradise, where batsmen with the right technique flourish. That would further mean, lesser runs. But, as TRP would have it, these pitches have been made run scoring paradises, for the TV audiences to watch 300 plus totals and 100 over matches, and no longer retain the character it once used to have. The reason, I brought this parallel, was that the last 2 world cups were played in these countries and its been quite a run fest there, as opposed to the flat pitches of the subcontinent.

The number of boundaries are far lesser, and given that there are only 15 matches to go in the tournament, I don’t see the number going beyond the 2003 and the 2007 World Cup numbers, or even we pro-rate the boundary hits, its below the par levels set in 2003 and 2007.Though the earlier World Cups, did not have the T20 format in prevalence then, It still had the batsmen playing well, and being far more aggressive. With the introduction of the T20, we have seen 300+ totals being scored easily and also chased easily, but the perplexing thing has been in the statistic of boundaries and sixes, which is way below the earlier formats.

Three factors that should have increased the number of boundary hits in this World Cup from the previous ones are

Introduction of the IPL in 2008
Prevalance of regular international T20 match Introduction of the bowling and batting power play, as opposed to the 15 over mandatory-2 fielder rule
Introduction of the free hit rule in One Day Cricket off a No-Ball.
The presence of minnows for a larger part in the 2011 tournament than in 2003 and 2007

The extras, have been reduced and its on expected lines, due to the stringent laws on free hits, coming into place, and the fact that on subcontinental tracks, the bouncer would not really be the most potent weapon, as it would come on slower and be like a snake without its fangs. As a piece of Trivia that corroborates to the above fact, 176 bouncers have been bowled till now, and none of them have produced a wicket yet.

If you also notice, the number of wickets taken and catches taken have also considerably got lower. I am going to throw in an extra stat, that so far 67% of all maidens have been bowled in power plays. So, the bowlers have gained a few brownie points amid all the newer formats introduction, but all they have managed to do, is to restrict batsmen, but not been able to get them out. So, with newer rule changes, we’ve seen a balance approaching, where teams seem to be a little conservative of all the new found freedom. The balance, has seemingly reduced the aggression in the game, from either side, and one just hopes that the perceived aggression loss, doesn’t upset the finer balance that the batsmen and bowlers have discovered.

Do you agree with the tone of the article? Please leave your comments! Looking forward to your views.

Statistics - Courtesy Castrol Cricket

Indian Cricket-Health Card at the World Cup

2011-03-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

India’s Health Report

It’s a tough time to be an Indian cricket fan. The recession has hit India, with the greedy cricket administrators, who’ve seemingly made wrong choices in their investment on bowlers. No amount of X rays or Scans, can hide the skeletons in the cupboard. Its time to look at some of the positives and the negatives that India have had in the 5 matches so far, and where they stand. We’ve lost a game, almost lost one, and won 3 games. We lead for now, but can face the ever slight possibility of elimination, if we lose to the West Indies.

I was taking a look at the Castrol Index, which rated India as number 1, getting into the World cup, based on ODI form, over the last 2 years. In the past few matches, India’s chances have progressively been like the brilliant sun, fading away obscurely into the ocean. India, now are 6^th, 1 place ahead of Mercurial England, who are rated 7^th out of 14.

1 + 1 = 11 is an equation that focuses on teamwork, and though India have looked good as a team, they have not been served well individually. Looking at the top 50 performers in the World Cup(http://www.castrolcricket.com/performance-zone/all-players-list), and treating the 50^th players index as a minimum par index, one realizes that India’s squad of 15, has just 4 players playing above par( Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh).

Looking a little deeper, We see that the batting has reasons to cheer and worry. The good thing is that the openers have been in terrific form with Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj performing(Yuvraj’s also looked the best spinner India had in a while), but the rest have failed to make any sort of impact in the last 5 games. Blaming non responsive pitches cannot be a reason, as the best cricketers overcome external conditions to perform on all tracks. The Indian bowlers have failed to rise to the occasion, except Zaheer Khan, who’s been the only standout performer, despite the mediocrity that huddles around him.

I think the way forward is to prepare mentally for the next 4 matches (assuming India is at Wankhde on April 2^nd), and focus on having the best 11 men. India’s batting Achilles heel has been the batting power play, where they seem to get desperate in getting runs at any cost. If one looks at the stats in this World Cup, the average runs scored in the 20 overs of Power play is around 93-95 runs. India anyway, score these 60-70 runs in the first 10 overs, and if they can aim to score at just 7-8 an over for the rest of the 10 power play overs, without creating undue pressure for them, they can avert extreme collapses like the ones against the 2 South African sides(England is one of them). It is lovely if we can score 60+ runs in a batting powerplay, but we cant expect that every time. Lets get realistic.

Going into the next set of matches, India need to blood players who are high on the following

· a)Proven match winners on any surface

o Just like Sehwag,Sachin, Zak and Yuvi, we need more players filling in this category. Maybe Ashwin and Raina can be welcome additions.

· b) Proven performers in Extreme Pressure Situations-

o India needs to get Bhajji and Ashwin as the spinning options in crucial overs. Sometimes just plain common sense and street smartness can help, win matches.

o Some of India’s death bowling has lacked character and shows that they have been susceptible to initimidating tactics by the opposition batsmen. As a team, India’s ‘Extreme Pressure Performance’ is a round zero, as per the Castrol Index.

o The “Extreme Pressure” batting and bowling is also woefully low, with India not finding its rating in the top 4 sides.

· c) Make specific roles for the slackers-

o India’s fielding unit needs to identify, the right men manning the boundary. There’s only so much we can do with single skilled cricketers like Munaf, Zaheer, Harbhajan and Nehra.

o India needs to look at the fact that most of the runs in this world cup has been scored in the finer arc from Long Stop to Deep Square Leg. We need the swiftest fielders to catch and throw from the deep. It would be great, if we can just focus on getting Ashwin, Raina and Sreesanth in, as it adds a lot of energy to the side, despite the risk Sreesanth faces of spraying the ball around.

o Sreesanth, can be quite a handful on reaching Zaheer’s efficiency levels, given that he can retain his focus on the field.

· d) Rejig the Batting Line up

o India’s been far too predictable in its approach, and the oppositions have a fair idea of what to expect from India, and have been able to plug in the gaps when required. The day, we have a bad start at the top, will when we will be tested.

o We need to keep Pathan to play atleast 10 overs, for him to get some time in the middle and then stroking the ball. There is no point spoiling him at the far end, by not giving him time to get going.

o We need Dhoni coming up the order. He needs some confidence at the top of the order to be effective in crunch games.

o Don’t change the openers. Its about recycling players from positions 4-7. We need 1,2 and 3 for building stability, and we’ve done that well. Lets continue doing that.

These are the few things, India has been missing, due to investment in variety and perceived balance that the team management wanted to badly have. Its good that most of their best though tactics have been tried and tested in the group stage, that allows them to focus just on their strengths for the rest of the matches. Its important to understand, what YOU as a fan think. Please pass on your thoughts below.

India Vs South Africa-Preview

2011-03-11T10:10:00.000-08:00

India Vs South Africa [Preview]

We’ve always had a sense of elation when the Blues play the Greens. The eleation was originally meant for an India Pakistan clash, but these days, We reserve a similar sense for an India South Africa encounter, given the intensity shown in the past few clashes. What makes the clash so interesting is the resemblance to a “Lagaan” like movie setting.

With India, you can always expect anything as long it vacillates between insanity and belligerence. We’ve grown to expect the extremes from Dhoni’s men, and somehow have been known as the side, that makes the best use of whatever is their at their disposal, despite having a batting line up, that feels like the shark in the ocean, on the sub continental flat beds. South Africa, on the other hand, have been the side, that’s always aspired to be Australia, in clinically crushing the opposition. They’ve been the standout side of the tournament, with a very balanced batting momentum and bowling efficiency, bringing them into the top 4 sides, for each of the disciplines.

As an Indian, we’ve never liked the organized, clinical, ruthless approach to the game, but preferred to be mercurial, in rising to the the call of the delirium, when a Tendulkar gets going, or going into national mourning at work, when Piyush Chawla bowls a few dollies to tailenders. So the hate factor for sides likes Australia and South Africa, have a very deep rooted desire for being chaotic and basking in the orgasmic pleasure of the extremes.

Looking at the Castrol Tournament Tracker in the tournament so far, Its good to understand the fact that South Africa has been miles ahead of India, in the way they’ve played the overs 0-10, Power Play Overs and the extreme pressure overs. India has a marginal nosedive on the batting front, largely resting on one big innings from Virender Sehwag. South Africa, have the stats that matter on these flat sub continental pitches. They’ve bowled their opposition out every time, and their batsmen have had a strike rate of 87% against the bowlers, as opposed to India’s towering 101%. Both the teams, have had 50% of their deliveries, for scoring shots, which doesn’t mean much to India, as they have made hay, while the white ball shone after the 34th over, but South Africa, haven’t quite reacted well to pressure, when they have been contained.[ India has scored 107 boundaries and 20 sixes, compared to South Africa’s 50 boundaries and 10 sixes]

Statistics have little bearing on a match of such stature, where Smith would do well, to remember that an Indian team that’s wounded and high on salt, would bounce back, as if nothing had happened. India, may be the more rustic team of the two, but have developed an uncanny knack of coming back, out of the mediocrity that surrounds them.

Despite South Africa’s polished approach to the game, they would know, that they sometimes are un-oblivious to reacting to reality. They haven’t been able to face pressure and come to terms with it, when they are sitting pretty. It’s a bit like grown up men, not wanting to deal with vagaries of their newly married wife. You ignore your wife’s squeaks at your peril. You may need to lose a bit of patience, but solving the problem, is like investing in a trade-off to eventually win.

As the game unfolds tomorrow, it would be interesting to see how the “LAGAAN” script moves on. Will it be the imperial attitude or rural rustic theme that would come through? Get plugged on to your television for a Super Saturday and find out

PS: You can also find out, if you watch any of the new channels, who hire astrologers to find out the match’s outcome or study it as a flash case study at 2 pm, at a B school that dares to spam us with a zillion full page ads, (and encourages you to count your chickens before they hatch)

Half Way Stage of the World Cup

2011-03-10T18:07:00.000-08:00

We have reached the half way stage of the ICC Cricket World Cup. Comparing it to the last World Cup, we see that the number of runs scored so far, is pretty much similar to the 2007 World Cup. I guess, once you make flat pitches and throw in a few minnows, the format doesn't seem to matter much. So the ICC has not really had an improvement in their report card to make the World Cup, more exciting and meaningful. The minnows have stayed longer enough, but have provided semblances of a fight in the matches involving England, India and Pakistan.

Do check how this World Cup has performed when compared to the past World Cups.

The ICC 'Sanjivani' Awards for the 'Cup That Counts'!

2011-03-02T19:05:00.000-08:00

'Sanjivani' could very easily have been the name of the chick next door, or a 'Saas Bahu' sob-fest on television, but if we Indians had studied our ancient texts well, we'd realize that it was first referred to in the Ramayana, as the herb that induces life into people. Yes! The same herb for which Hanuman, preferred to do a cross country flight, to bypass a mountain trek. That herb, brought Laxman back to life, and induced into Laxman, some energy from his state of stupor.

The ICC just got some "Sanjivani', which has injected some life into the otherwise dull Cricket World Cup. The ICC is trying to award the winner, but its not able to decide who could be the fitting recipient. Investigations reveal that there are three main characters in the revival of the Cricket World Cup, but Haroon Lorgat seems to be a little non plussed at how to arrive at the winner. Maybe we could help him solve this case study( This case study is not 40 pages long for starters, and neither is it as boring as the HBR caselets that you recieved at B-School)

The Usual Suspects

a) England Cricket Team

The three closest matches of the World Cup 2011, so far have been whenever England has set its foot on a ground. England, have followed the ICC Spirit of the game, a little too seriously and they have strived to make every game very close than it actually could have been. In England's practice game against Canada, they made a hero out of Rizwan Cheema, and in their first game against the 'Oranges', they made Ryan Ten Doeschate an instant investment material for the IPL4.

Last Sunday, England did well by allowing the Indian batsmen make hay as the floodlits shone, but also showed their 'spirit' to fight back in spectacular fashion, only to lose it in the last few overs, and then raise miraculously to tie the game. Shahrukh and Deepika, who were watching the game from the stand, are peeved to hear that their new movie 'Lagaan-Part 2's script has been matching every bit of what happened that day. Aamir Khan, The Director, has confided with the media, that the cricket match's similarity for his script will help him lobby better during the Oscar Red Carpet next year.

Yesterday, Strauss had the game against the Irish in his bag, when the 5th Irish wicket fell at 111 in the 25th over. His thoughts were to spend a 'Bevda' evening after the 40th over, with the RCB Bosses, to check if his new brand of cricket, could help him win a contract for an extended Indian holiday, after the Cricket World Cup, for the IPL. But, Kevin O Brien, read his dreams and beat him in the race to the Bar. Kevin and the Mallyas, were meeting up to launch Kingfisher-Green beer for next week's St Patrick's day, while Strauss was seen sulking with Inzamam and Habibul Bashar at the far end of the "Ireland Anonymous" section.

Phew! That seemed like an appraisal justification document for England. They could not have done more within a 3 week period to revive cricket.

b) The Indian Cricket Team

India's start to the practice matches, angered the sponsors, as India wrapped up both the matches convincingly, and all that money put on the bowler's apparel, was going up in smoke. So, the Indian team has silently been wanting to have a World Cup, where each match has 100 overs bowled. Their dotted line bosses(The Sponsors), wanted to the team to be on the field for a little more time on the field, so that their Logos's can stay strong in the already evil world of Ambush Marketers.

India have certainly done all that it needs to make it the "Cup That Counts". They've got the Mad Mallu bowling without any control set on him, they've asked Bhajji to match Afridi in pace, and told Zaheer, that he is on official match-rest duty whenever he is not setting the 22 yard strip on fire. That explains, why Zaheer runs in slowly, whenever the ball nears the boundary, fervently hoping that the ball boy gets to the ball first and throws it back to him.

India have made 2 matches close, and have their best chance to make it three in a row, this Sunday at the Chinnaswamy. The TRP ratings are set to reach an all time high this Sunday. The people who've bought expensive tickets at the Chinnaswamy, last night in a moment on impulse driven frenzy, slowly are beginning to connect the dots to predict the results. Google has reported that this resulted in huge traffic migration from Kyazoonga to eBay, where the match tickets were being sold! In a special move, an ailing Steve Jobs, has also been bitten the by the World Cup bug, and is offering a ticket at the Chinnaswamy stadium, for every iPad 2 that's been bought legitimately by Indians.

c) Bangalore

Every time, Kumble bowled India to tournament victories in his heydays, he would feel betrayed at the final being played either at Bombay or Calcutta. Now that Anil and Javagal, are into cricket administration, they have taken every measure to make sure that Bangalore will be cricket's most famous destination for nail biting moments(Err.. on the Mallya's insistence, its been changed to 'Magic Moments'). Anil Kumble, feels that had the England-Netherland match been awarded to Bangalore, they could have created a pitch, with a few lines of code from Bangalore's techies to create a potboiler.

If you are one of the Cricket Administrators at the World Cup Venues, Did you recieve that document that talks about Anil's Affiliate Marketing Plan? Ok, Now before you check your 27 page email, that is still downloading on your new 'high speed' 3G Connection, let tell you the story in short. Anil, wants the match in your city, to be transferred to Bangalore. He gives you a 20% cut in a landmark leasing deal, to make a match out of it. The stadiums anyway dont make any money with 100 spectators. Now that's a Deal!

Lalit Modi might say " Mere Paas Building Hain, Propery Hain, Swiss Bank Balance Hain, Bungalow Hain, Gaadi", but we can proudly stare and say with a nonchalance that even Shashi Kapoor could not, " Mere Paas Anil Kumble hain"

d) Haroon Lorgat- Haroon's been a little confused on what made the World Cup spring back to life. Now if we do not help him, he will most probably in his confused state of stupor, award it to himself. Now be patriotic and select an option in the comments box below!

Ok,Commercial Break Time! Humor yourself to some Castrol Stats in their cool Widget below!

March 1st-Some Pointers Till Now At The World Cup

2011-03-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

Its been 11 days and 14 matches since the World Cup started. Thought its a good time to take a look back at some of the trends emerging

Batting

40.53% of all runs have been scored in singles.
54.02% of all runs have been scored on the offside.
46.15% of all the ducks scored have been golden ducks
36% of all free hits were dot balls.
Average Run Rate in Powerplay overs was 4.81 and run rate in overs 41-50 has been 6.45
13.36% of all runs have only been scored by openers.

My Thoughts-

Just shows that despite the flatness of the wickets, the batsmen still regard the singles as an important material for the skyscrapers, otherwise largely carved out of boundary hits. But the suicidal tendencies of all or nothing, is more so better emphasized during the free hit period, where I am getting the feeling that most of the bowlers have become smarter and know what length to bowl to get a dot ball in. 36% of dot balls during a free hit is a huge number, as we know the amount of damage a batsman can inflict when he is given the licence to murder,with a bullet proof covering.

The openers largely decide the course of the tournament, as they have the most time to play out the bowling and score runs. But this world cup, has probably seen the bowlers dominate the openers by pricing them out early. An average of 13, is probably going to hurt sides that have struggled to get their bowling in place, and MSD, you may just need to watch out. Without the openers firing, the run rate in the power play has dipped and it just goes on to show that, teams prefer building a solid base and keeping wickets in hand, to go for the final kill(reminds me of Greame Smith's strategy for 2009, when he solely depended on Albie Morkel for the slog overs)

Bowling

45.93% of all dot balls have been bowled in Power Play overs.
Nuwan Kulasekara has bowled the most number of dotballs yet(94)
58.65% of all edges have been introduced by fast bowlers.
No bouncer has resulted in a wicket yet
27.15% of all appeals have been successful
The fastest bowling by a spinner has been Shahid Afridi(129.4 kmph)
Murali has been the bowler to rap the batsmen on his pads, most number of times.
13.56% of all maidens has been bowled in the last 10 overs.

The bowlers have bounced back very well, despite the lopsidedness of the contests on flat Indian tracks. 1 out of every 7 maidens bowled is bowled in a power play over, which shows that the bowlers have been able to wrest control against the batsmen. 46% of dot balls in a power play over, suggests that the batsmen, dont see it as a slugfest, but decide to get their eye in, and thump maybe one or two balls out of 6 balls, as opposed to using a slogger to charge at most deliveries.

The bowler's long time Brahmastra against batsmen have been the bouncers, and sadly none of the bouncers have resulted in any wicket. Does that mean that the batsmen are more confident against the bowlers, or they are just restraining themselves? Well just for stats, I observe that the 'Upar Cut' and the 'Hook" together have contributed less than 2% of the runs for batsmen so far.

A disturbing trend though, has been to see spinners send down shooters, as opposed to wanting to flight the ball. The art of spinning is dwindling, with the pitches doctored for a run fest. One saw Yardy, Bhajji, Swann and Chawla send down balls that were short in length or balls that were bowled faster but over pitched to the batsmen to prevent them get time to club it. Afridi, with his faster ball has just shamed some of the seamers who bowl in the 120's.

Fielding

14.42% of all edges have resulted in catches.
Number of decisions made by the Leg Umpire- 2
Less than 2% of all runs scored have been via Square cuts or slogs. Most of the runs have been flicks towards square leg(22%), and the most productive shot has been (21.8%)
Most number of catches(apart from the Wicket Keeper-24%) have been in the areas of Long on and Deep Midwicket(8-9% each), whereas the catches at Thirdman have been the least at 1.69%
Most captains, who have won the toss have won the match(57%)

Looking at the way MSD was fuming at the UDRS, I doubt if he even wants the on field umpires. Maybe his first salvo can be fired at the position of the Square Leg umpire. 2 decisions given in 14 matches out of a probable 280 decisions, just goes on to suggest that most of the stumpings and run outs, anyway go upstairs, so why the middle man at Square Leg?

Looking at the catches held, one sees that most of the catches have been held in the arc between the Sightscreen and Deep Midwicket, and it reflected in MSD's field placings in the batting and bowling power play, where his men were patrolling at Long On, Deep Midwicket and Deep Square Leg. Looks like that's the Bermuda Triangle for batsmen in this World Cup.

Match Notes-The Chepauk Diary

2011-02-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

Chepauk Diaries

Kenyan Kamikaze

When I arrived at the M.A.Chidambaram stadium this morning, I didn’t expect to be seeing anyone from Nairobi to support for Kenya, nor did I expect the painters near Pattabiram gate to be painting the Kenyan war paint on many faces. I must confess, that the only Kenyans I saw in the Anna Pavillion where Jimmy Kamande’s boys who were practicing before the toss. What must it feel to be travelling half way around the world and playing in the pinnacle of cricketing glory, to actually go unnoticed without home support? Must be hard on the Kenyans, I thought and as I scurried form Anna Pavillion to the A stand tier, I spotted someone wearing a Kenyan T Shirt buying refreshments below. As I spoke to him, I realized that a bigger Kenyan contingent was above in the A stand Terrace, cheering and rooting for the men from Nairobi. These weren’t Kenyan’s exactly, but were the Indian expatriates who’ve been in Kenya for close to thirty years. They had come armed with the Kenyan war paint, Kenyan shirt and a few goodies which are goodluck enhancers, and also had with them a Voodo magician. The voodoo magician wanted to get to the boundary line and touch the soil to perform his act, which he believed would make Kenya win. Given the tight security arrangements the Kenyan’s decided to get into their Voodo magic from 30 tiers up on the A stand terrace with a Masai Cloth and a bunch of gourd shells from the Akamba tribe. Even before they could start something, the Kenyan batting collapsed like a pack of cards. The fans were pretty vocal about their support for Steve Tikolo and Thomas Odoyo, but were never disappointed that their cricketers failed to live up to their expectations today.

Cconversations revealed that the Kenyans don’t have too much exposure to international teams. Indian expatriates, through their Gujarat connections get a few teams from Baroda to play some light double wicket tournaments twice a year. Stars like the Pathan’s and Parthiv Patel are pretty famous in Kenya, when they arrive playing for the teams from Gujarat. Kenya’s domestic structure doesn’t have too much of competitive cricket, and as a result they seem to struggle, when they play international teams. But what was heartening to note was that these expatriate Indian’s seem to identify themselves as Kenyans and have flown all the way from Nairobi to follow their team at the World Cup. Mr GRB Rao, an ardent Kenyan cricket supporter, feels the thrill of watching their team at the world cup, itself is a great feeling for them. The Kenyan fans despite the bad batting performance, enjoyed their day out gyrating to “Sheila Ki Jawani” and hope that the Kenyan Cricket team would emulate their marathon runners some day! Hope never dies!

Toss ka Boss!

I happened to meet a young man from Vijayavada, who’s been flown all the way by Frito Lays to toss the coin for the match. He would have had a lovely experience of meeting Jimmy Kamande and Daniel Vettori. Maybe, we could use him when we MSD to win a few crucial tosses J. Our Young man, won a contest with Lays, where he had to sms a code to a number. To make sure he won, he sent 200,000 short messages and made sure the law of probability tilts towards him. That’s quite an investment on time and money, but hey at the end of the day, Its for the “Cup that Counts”

Beige Brigade

Beige was the Kiwi colour before the 90’s before they finally settled with the Black caps. In between they had experimented with Light Grey and a Cyan variety before settling with bold black. It was interesting to spot a couple of fans, who were part of the “Beige Brigade” that has a bunch of Kiwis who are touring the country following their team. The 2 Kiwis that I met, Ashwath and Fraser are heading to Nagpur next, where they are anticipating the Kiwis to up their ante against the traditional Trans Tasman rivals.

Ashwath from Wellington, is an Indian settled in New Zealand, who’s just finished studying and is on a holiday before he joins work. His best Kiwi moment was the 2007 series, when the Kiwis drubbed the Kangaroo
clean with a 3-0 series victory. He’s hoping the Kiwis can make his day on the 24^th of February when they play Australia in Nagpur. Ashwath, also tells me that the instrumental music that does the round before play starts, is the theme song of the “Canterbury Crusaders” and is played a lot in New Zealand’s rugby games. As I am speaking with Ashwath, he’s completely charged up, shouting his support for the Black caps from the terrace, and hoping fervently either Ross Taylor or Scottie Styris, gives him a smile. Fraser on the other hand, comes across as a calm personality, who honestly doesn’t give New Zealand a chance at this World Cup, post their 0-4 and 0-5 subcontinental debacle, but still is willing to be around and support them. Fraser prefers the sound and din of the Eden Gardens to Eden Park, and wants to someday experience a match amidst a 100,000 people.

Pictures available at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150136843845860&id=643415859&aid=330985

The Misplaced Zen of Calmness

2011-02-19T09:59:00.000-08:00

The Misplaced Zen of Calmness

How would you feel , if crocodiles nibbled at your flesh, all of a sudden? Would you press the panic button and fight the crocodile OR sit back calmly,watching it devour you? The latter approach can show the world that you are in control, but you would cease to exist once the croc has eaten you. That’s exactly how the first match of CWC 2011 unfolded. One couldn’t quite understand why Shakib Ul Hasan chose, to let the opening ceremony hangover lose its steam so easily to the nibbling crocodile in India. Bangladesh weren’t quite upto matching India, but one did feel they could have competed harder and made a point to the other teams in Group B.

Nevertherless, Bangladesh did just enough to show that they are not here to make up the numbers. Measuring it on the Castrol Index, Bangladesh were miles behind India(120 to India's 235).

The Cricket World cup and India could not have got off to a better start. What was remarkable, was the patience and restraint shown by the Indian batsmen to power India to 370 on a slow track. Restraint? You may feel, the word(restraint) looks out of place in a game where India scored 370 batting first, but if you did watch the match, you would realize that India paid a lot of respect to seemingly innocuous and toothless bowling. It just showed that India wanted to make sure that they motor along at 5-6 runs an over for most of the game and reserve the slog for the powerplay and the end overs, so that they would end up with a safe 300 plus total. It was important India got the runs on the board, because history has not favoured the side bowling second at the Shere’e Bangla stadium. 3 out of 16 games have been won by sides batting first and if India were to hoodwink a burgeoning billion at Dhaka, they needed to set the platform for the Houdini act.

This is just where Bangladesh faltered, as the initial 'Quick Start' overs, India did well to preserve its strengths with increased batting momentum from Sehwag and Saching taking India to 32 on the Castrol Index, as opposed to Bangladesh's lowly 8.

India did remarkably well to get to 370, on a slow wicket, where batsmen needed to work that much more harder, to get the ball past the square. They need to be credited as they succeded by applying caution, and getting the odd boundary when required. 29 fours and 7 sixes seemed enough to light a billion smiles for next Diwali, but you got the feeling India were still restrained in their aggression, until they exploded after the 34^th over. It was that sort of a start, but it ensured that adrenalin didn’t take India to a subdued 250-270 in pursuit of aggression.

From the 34th over the carnage that started, ensured that India zoomed ahead on the Castrol Index, taking advantage of the Power Play and the Extreme Pressure overs. The gap between Bangladesh and India, which was 40(52 and 12) after the first powerplay, increased to 91(104 and 13) at the beginning of the second powerplay. The rift was even more visible during the Extreme Pressure overs, where India's batting momentum tilted the scales totally in India's favour with a difference of 148(168 and 20).

India never seemed to be in any spot of bother by a listless Bangladesh attack, and got their boundaries whenever they felt too bored. This was billed as ‘revenge’ for the 2007 debacle that put India out, but this seemed like one way traffic, where Shakib as the traffic police was not too strict with the India driving through Bangladesh. It was as if Shakib felt that Bangladesh were banking on a different secret route, than the one India was taking and he would be up to chasing anything that India set them. The crowd, quite didn’t echo Shakib’s plans, as they could have done with one more round of Runa Laila’s “Duma Dum Mast Kalandar” to wake them up. The Bangladesh spinners hardly were able to turn or make any dent into India’s batting. It was visible when India seemed to play all their cut shots and inside out scoops by moving away from the stumps and not wanting to cover it. It worked beautifully for most of the while, as Bangladesh were content being lovely hosts, and would not trouble India, unless and until India did hara-kiri and if you did notice none of the wickets taken were due to Bangladesh’s brilliance or alacrity.

Virat Kohli and Sehwag sizzled with some dazzling strokeplay, while Gambhir was more sedate with his focus largely being on getting the ones and two’s through nudges and inside out drives. India stepped up the gas in the 34^th over and never looked back, as runs came in a canter, which Shakib Ul Hasan could not do anything to stem the flow of runs.

When India’s turn to bowl came, they bowled straight without straying much, but with little luck as Bangladesh still managed to cream a few mishits from a newfound aggression. India suddenly found themselves in a spot of bother when Shreesanth’s 3^rd over was taken apart for 24 runs by Imrul Kayes. Apart from the one wide ball, which sped to the boundary, Shree looked like getting a wicket on each of the deliveries with his volatile swing , but Imrul Kayes took him apart with some stunning stroke play that had the ball play a traveler when it visited fine leg, square leg, long leg and covers with unflinching regularity 5 times in 6 delieveries.

That was the time Bangladesh zoomed briefly on the Castrol Index to 60, reducing the Castrol Index deficit to 100.

Once Imrul Kayes departed, Junaid Siddique briefly sizzled with a six over square leg, but Bangladesh chose to defend from this point on to keep wickets for one final big bash during the chase(which never happened). India, on the other hand bowled very well with Munaf Patel hitting a beautiful Mcgrathesque line, keeping things tight and straight, while Harbhakjan managed to extract turn on wet skidding surface. Tamim Iqbal looked a pale shadow of his aggressive 2007 self, and played himself in and just when Bangladesh needed to press the accelerator Shakib and Tamim fell for well made fifties. Bangladesh needed a few lusty hits every couple of overs and that sadly never came, but Bangladesh, showed that they have matured as a side, putting up a brave 283/9 in their 50 overs, but Shakib Ul Hasan would realize that the zen of calmness works only if you have a plan and the ammunition to smoke down 300 plus totals.

They did well to bat out their 50 overs, to finally have the Castrol Index deficit hover around 100, but never did anything to reduce the deficit by playing above par. This just showed the impact India's batting in the later stages of their innings had on the match, which made the Castrol Index deficit hover around 100-115, and finally had Bangladesh finish with an Index of 120 to India's 235.

The Castrol Index for the match is shown below.
Image Courtesy- Castrol Cricket

Positives

Bangladesh’s ability to pace and score runs against test playing sides.

Sehwag’s intent in wanting to bat 40 plus overs

Bowling of Zaheer,Munaf and Harbhajan.

Rubel Hossain’s pace bowling. His short stuff was not easily scorable.

Negatives

· Bangladesh’s bowling. Never looked like getting wickets

· India’s new ball attack-Sreesanth remains a worry

· India’s fielding leaves a lot to be desired.

When the going gets good, Get the runs going!

2010-11-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

Virat Kohli, emerging India player and a key component on the RCB team, speaks about how important it is to make the most of the good form. Virat has hit a purple patch now with 3 international centuries in a calendar year and has also come of age as a finisher in the T20 format for the RCB during the recent Champions league.

Cricketers go through sine waves in their form, and Virat Kohli realizes that as a professional cricketer everyone is subject to bouts of indifferent form, so when the purple patch is on, it is important to play more and keep the confidence flowing.
For someone who has been a reserve player for the last couple of years, Virat has done admirably in the limited chances he has got with a Bevan’eque average of just over 50 in ODI’s. Virat was in Chennai as part of Delhi’s Ranji campaign at the MA Chidambaram stadium.Virat feels that the Ranji trophy is a good platform to come and get some match practice, irrespective of the lack of competitiveness and the lifeless pitches. Virat feels that despite some of the Ranji matches being decided on the first innings lead, one can still use the Ranji matches for match practice. One needs to take a peek below the equator to see Ricky Ponting leaving the national side in the middle of a dead rubber to play in a Sheffield Shield game to work on the chinks on his batting. Would we get to see a national cricketer turn out for Ranji in the middle of a series? One doesn’t recall Indian cricketers attaching so much importance to Ranji for a knockout, but Virat seemed forthright in setting his expectations on match practice as opposed to concentrating on the competitiveness of the format that Ranji is. Virat feels that scoring heavily in Ranji was critical to Cheteshwar Pujara breaking in to the Indian team, which makes him confident to face international sides.

On his IPL stint, Virat was persisted with for the first 2 seasons and the dividends have been paid in a big way this year in the IPL and the champions league. That probably marked him coming of age, due to some stellar performances, the best being his twin finishing innings during the champions league against the Mumbai Indians and the Highveld Lions.

I am going to digress a bit and then come back to Virat Kohli. There is a story of Sachin Tendulkar during the 1999 World Cup, where he rushed back to India, on learning of his father’s death and was back for India’s next match with a century(140) against Kenya. It was such a poignant moment as I saluted the little master, who showed people what passion for playing for India was. Same was with Anil Kumble, when he had his jaw broken in the West Indies by a rising delivery from Mervyn Dillon. Kumble had his jaw patched up and was ruled out for the series. India was struggling to get past the West Indian defence, when Kumble from the dressing room signaled that he wanted to have an over at Lara. Out came Kumble to everyone’s surprise and Ganguly handed him the ball. 4 balls later Anil Kumble was delirious with joy when he trapped Lara leg before and the whole nation saluted the spirit of the man, whose passion for the game overcame all physical and mental barriers.

There's a similar story of courage with Virat too. Virat Kohli is a determined cricketer and plays with a lot of passion, that makes you sit up and watch him. There are very few stories of cricketers overcoming physical and mental blocks to play the game that they love. Virat Kohli’s one such story puts him in the same league as Sachin and Kumble. Virat was playing a Ranji league game against Karnataka and Delhi was battling to avoid the follow on the next day, when at 3 am, Virat learnt that his father passed away. In that mental state, Virat knew that his father would have loved to see him go on with the cricket, and proceeded to unflinchingly head to the stadium to bail Delhi out of trouble with a gem of an innings(90). After getting out at lunch, Virat rushed to his home, and proceeded on with the last rites of his father. It shows that somewhere inside him lies the deep urge and passion to play the game, and with such a strong desire for excelling at the game, the cricketing fraternity at large hopes Virat Kohli will go on to be one of India’s best cricketing sons.

The Full Interview is available for listening and download at http://soundcloud.com/katchucrap/virat-kohli-interviewed-by-kartik-kannan

Quick results versus the Learning Curve

2010-11-11T03:26:00.000-08:00

Today’s generation focuses a lot more on quick results and this article explores why such a methodology is not helping Indian cricket. The anxiety of performance during crucial matches and big ticket tournaments are wrong performance goals that some of today’s youngsters focus on, as a result of which the focus is not on basics, but on trivial short term interests. In an interview with the former Indian ace swing bowler, Manoj Prabhakar, what comes to fore is a sad disease that’s plaguing Indian cricket. Manoj Prabhakar is in Chennai as part of Delhi’s coach for their Ranji campaign against Tamil Nadu this week.

Manoj reflects on the sad fact that today’s pace bowlers have set the wrong performance goals like going after the pace gun on the pacementer and losing focus on important elements like swing and the right action. Manoj feels that for a bowler to mature, he needs to go through the complete learning curve where he experiments and always keeps coming back to check if his basics are fine. Today’s bowlers in India don’t seem to have the right interest levels to work hard and want to use the shortcuts to fame. He feels part of the problem is also due to the wrong set of people/coaches heading various committees for spotting grassroot talent in India, who use the wrong yardstick for picking youngsters.

Manoj reminisces the fact that there were many legends in his time like Lilee,Imran,Hadlee and he never missed an opportunity to speak with legends and credits them for passing over a lot of information and tricks of the trade. His interaction was them was more than just a coaching session, but an education into the techniques of what makes a legend and gives an insight into their work ethics.Today’s youngsters don’t seem to be wanting to learn and are more bothered about dropping their sunglasses than their kit, and the work ethic needs to be paid more attention. An interesting observation was made over why Ishant Sharma had lost some of his fire. Ishant non bowling arm shoulder was dropping, as a result of which rhythm,swing,bounce,line and length got gradually affected and he was like a snake that had lost its fangs for the better part of a season.

Manoj also rewinded back to his playing days where he still cant offer an explanation as to why India had the mental block of beating Pakistan at Sharjah and considers David Boon,Gavaskar,Sachin and Gooch as the toughest batsmen, he really doesn’t enjoy bowling to.

In Manoj’s time of the early 90’s India’s yearly international cricketing commitments were never more than 7-8 test matches and 20 ODI’s. In such a context, India’s national players were available for a large part of the Ranji season, and therefore could work on their shortcomings in the Ranji season, and also get to interact with legends. Today the shortcut to the fame that a legend like Kapil Dev has got for himself, are things like endorsements and contracts with IPL Teams which puts you on a high income category and the focus is more on remaining in the high interest category, rather than working on the game to remain an ardent student.

It’s a fine line players have between commercial interests and working on their game, in the times of grueling schedules and shorter cricketing careers, but its in their hands to choose their priorities for the long term. No legend today has risen on the basis of just 2-3 performance but a sustained run of good performances against adverse odds over time. Living examples like Sachin,Dravid,Sehwag and Kumble should be the role models for the youngsters to drive home the message that the movie ‘3 Idiots’ dwelled upon (Focus on Excellence, Success will follow) that once the runs or wickets are taken, the dollars automatically takes care of itself to fall into your lap.

Though India under Gary Kirsten have progressed to the top of the rankings, to be there at the top like Australia did, unless the BCCI focuses on an excellence program at spotting talent and nurturing them, India may not quite have the wherewithal to last at the top. So in the race to Quick Results, if you have reached there fast, keep the smile with you for a little longer, for braving the problems that soon follow, and once you have crossed the arc of the learning curve in due time, your gold at the end of the rainbow is waiting.

The Full Interview is listenable and downloadable at http://soundcloud.com/katchucrap/interview-with-manoj-prabhakar

Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Men!

2010-09-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

When dire straits pop up, it’s the men who rise to the occasion and Virat Kohli is slowly showing why he has made this huge leap from a boy to a man. His twin innings of 48 and 49 have gone a long way towards the RCB qualifying for the semis. The Royal Challengers looked flattened after their loss to Mumbai and the Redbacks, and they needed confidence boosters pumped into their system at regular intervals, whenever they were staring at the wall. The confidence boosters, came in the way of stirring performances by leaders like Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and the new brigade of Virat Kohli, Vinay Kumar and Manish Pandey. After having lost the first match in a similar chase, the RCB was well served by its arsenal of players the second time around, where they made sure the scent of victory didn’t evaporate at the last minute.

Somebody once said” Experience is the comb life gives you when you are bald” and thankfully RCB didn’t need an exit to learn from their mistakes, and when the opportunity was presented Kumble and Kohli grabbed it with both hands. What makes their performance stand out was the manner in which both of them executed their task to perfection, amidst tough circumstances.

When Kumble came on to bowl, the Warriors had got off to a racy 77/3 in 9 overs and were threatening to go 180+ with their strong batting line up. Kumble, just back from a horrible spell against the Mumbai Indians came back in style, preferring to bowling it slightly short and off the good length, rather than bowling full. With the slowness in the track, it was left to the batsman to put in all the energy to put wood on leather, and with Kumble’s nagging accuracy, the Lions just wanted to watch him out and wait for the loose ones. The loose ones rarely came and when pressure stifled the Lions from the other end, they realized that they had gone into a shell with Mckenzie and De Bruyn, having a 28 run partnership of as many balls, after Peterson was cleaned up by Kumble.

Once Kumble was off the attack, the Lions feasted on Du Preez and Steyn and managed to botch up a respectable, but not daunting 159.

Chasing 160 in a knockout match, comes with a lot of pressure, so as to make the total look a lot higher and with the Lions’s fielding, you could always add the runs that they save via their athletic dives. The way Dravid and Pandey reacted to the chase, you could sense that the RCB were using all of their experience from the 2009 IPL campaign to good use, when they managed to motor on at 6 an over, and showed no signs of panic. Panic is that one button, to absolve yourself the sins of the dot balls and get instant redemption, but it never happens that way and it leads to kamikaze behavior without a vision in mind. The RCB team was ably led in this department by veteran Rahul Dravid, who chose to exercise caution, knowing that a good start is the job half done in a knock out match. Dravid and Manish showed the right intent, mixing aggression with caution. Manish started off with a straight boundary of Deacon and Dravid followed it up with an aggressive pull of O’Reilly, signaling that the Challengers were just game for more in this crunch encounter. The Mid-on,Covers and Point-Gully area were the heavy scoring areas for the openers, and showed that the RCB had telling answers for anything marginally short and full length and unless the Lions were going to make the ball talk, it was going to be tough to get a breakthrough. Given that both the batsmen were in form, none of them were playing away from their body, and so the Lions were forced to depend on mistakes made by the batsmen, and it came their way in the 9th over, when Dravid charged the gangly spinner Phangiso, and surprisingly missed the line of the ball to be bowled. Kohli was brought in at number three, a move that truly needed to be commended. Kohli, being the man in form, was able to steer the side through the middle overs and then launch into a brutal assault which helped RCB win. Kohli’s sublime batting was often punctuated by wickets at the other end, where Pandey,Taylor and Uthappa were like chief guests at a function, who came for a quick cameo appearance.

The Challengers also found themselves distanced from the skyscrapers of the early overs, when they found themselves in a recessionary period in the middle overs. They needed Kohli to wake themselves from the slumber and two shots from Kohli off O’Reilly in the 17th over, just tilted the scales towards RCB. The first shot was a flick that was swatted away 5 rows behind the boundary line to long leg, and the next one was struck like a death blow straight over the pale faced O’Reilly. The final nail in the coffin was when Cameron White invaded the starry Wanderer’s night sky with a length ball off Bruyn being dispatched with disdain over midwicket.

So, when you look back, when the going got tough, the tough got going and qualifying for the semis must have been a huge relief for the boys in Red. Now they need the other folks in the team to put their hands up and mute the ‘Whistle Podu Campaign’ when Brigade Road meets Besant Nagar in the semi final clash at Durban on Friday!

The Binary Side to Flat Tracks

2010-09-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

When I studied Binary numbers a school, the concept of the extremes seemed like aliens from outer space to a guy who’s neither got the first rank, nor the last rank. I could never appreciate it those days, but over time, having got used to the eccentricities displayed by the Indian cricket team, the binary concept has stayed for a while in my head. The last 2 days in the Champions League has been an extensive study in understanding the binary concept even better.

Here is the binary thought for the last 3 days

Option 1
Both sides have equally competent bowlers and batsmen and matches are evenly contested high scoring contests
Option 2
Both sides look equal on paper, but on the match day, by way of weight of performance, one side is light years ahead of the other.

No matches in between at all. The last three days has seen results vacillating between the extremes listed above. The option 2 matches, which have seen CSK and RCB record some thumping wins has for sure made the fans of each of these franchisees extremely happing seeing their heroes conquer the opposition. I feel personally liberated when I see CSK and RCB walk the talk, and go on to take care of some of the smaller things which ultimately make the difference. Both the teams, have not wanted to experiment much, and have not bowled loose full tosses at the opposition at critical junctures. More importantly the mark of a champion bowling side, is in the way they don’t allow the opposition to settle in at all. RCB and CSK have been bang on, in terms of getting wickets early and also in keeping the noose tightened on the opposition, such that all recovery routes are blocked. Also another commendable observation is the way the bowlers of both the teams have overcome the odds of a flat wicket, and have gone on to kill the opposition.

Taking a look at the Option 1, matches, If you noticed the way Mumbai played against both (Lions and Redbacks),they lost the match because they didn’t lift their game when the situation mattered and allowed the opposition to strangulate them slowly. Against the Lions, Mumbai looked very comfortable after 13 overs with Duminy and Tendulkar at the crease. Maybe if they had played cautiously scoring singles and a boundary an over, they would have had their best batsmen for the final 2-3 overs. Against the Redbacks Mumbai lost out in allowing the opposition to break free at the end. If Mumbai had held on to the catches and had not misfielded, the Redbacks would have lost early wickets and that could have jolted their chase, but that wasn’t to be.

Frankly speaking, you know what kind of contests you’d like to see and the one’s the advertisers want. Option 1 is the option that engages you till the end, while Option 2 initially starts looking great for the fans, but gets boring after a while as the law of diminishing marginal utility hits in . Maybe if games can tilt towards an option 3, which is a low scoring version of option 1 due to a bowler friendly wicket, the TRP’s can head northwards, with a little more variety thrown in. Gang Bang on Flat tracks isn’t the only Nirvana for the tournament, and if the organizers can get themselves out of the Binary mindset, by providing sporting pitches, the viewer and the game of cricket can be joint winners!

Royally Yours

2010-09-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

They say, if you haven’t worked hard to get something, the likelihood is it wont stay long either. So if you have reached that pinnacle somehow, you need to recognize, what it takes to stay there.

Guyana have reached here by beating some of the top teams in the carribean T20 league, but somehow the silver lining was not really glittering. The standard of carribean cricket, due to being a very closed league system has not really tested them to face global competition and they arrived on the African shores knowing fully well the limitations that they posses. Its another thing that T&T made it to the final on some of the flat batting wickets in India last year, due to nature of tracks being largely similar between India and West Indies (Jamaica is far from the bouncy paradise it was) and the fact that they reacted well last year, in a first of its kind tournament.Playing in South Africa and under all the spotlight, is quite a bit of pressure already on Guyana, and with no quality cricket leagues in the carribean, their exposure levels needed a lot of testing.

Guyana comes into the tournament with Sarwan leading the team, but coming off a bad news where Sarwan’s carribean contract was not renewed. Either such news lifts a player’s inner instincts where he comes back much stronger or he carries the scars with him into a tournament like this. The scars make the cobwebs of the mind, much stronger than what the opposition measures it, and overcoming it takes quite an amount of vision.

Ideally Guyana should have preserved their wickets and should have looked to score at 5-6 an over, and then once they have had a feel of the bowling, they should go beserk just like CSK did against the stags yesterday. Stability surprisingly is something that is available in rare commodity, and if a team can pace their innings well, where they respect the dangerous bowlers and go after the lesser experienced one’s, Guyana would do well to get some feel-good moments to start with. They looked all at sea, without a set strategy to counter them and that proved their undoing. Only Barnwell looked the part, with a decent bowling performance and a patient innings, ending as the top scorer.

On the other hand, the Challengers put in a spirited effort and showed why they were one of the most consistent T20 teams, by sticking to a plan against Guyana. Praveen and Steyn kept the pressure on, not allowing the Guyanese batsmen to open up. Once the gateway was choked, the Guyanese batsmen just chose the wrong set of bowlers to try forcing the pace, which resulted in an innings bordering on 60% dot balls, amidst 30% mistimed shots for minimal scoring, and 10% of runs coming through the boundaries. Kumble and Kallis, inflicted further damages on Guyana sharing 19 dot balls and 4 wickets between them.

The batting didn’t really need any measured approach, as the Guyanese bowling wasn’t experienced enough to contain the sheer beauty of the stroke play that emanated from stalwarts like Dravid and Kallis. The lone wicket of Dravid, bowled of a faster one that kept low, was the only solace for Guyana, which soon vanished as Uthappa finished the match with a few telling blows scoring 25 of just 8 balls.

The Royal Challengers and Super Kings have made it a great weekend for Indian supporters, and a dream start for themselves with the heavy margins of victories against Guyana and the Stags respectively. To see how the competition unfolds for the Indian franchisees, you would do well to stay cued on to this blog.

Connect the Dots

2010-09-11T13:30:00.000-07:00

OMRW(Overs Maidens Runs Wickets) is the general set of numbers you would be reading for a bowler in the traditional form of cricket, but since the advent of T20, tracking the dot balls has become an important consideration for bowlers to study the statistic behind their success. So today’s bowling analysis reads ODRW(where dots have been incorporated). In today’s match between the CSK and the Royal Stags, out of a total of 232 balls bowled in the match 101 were dot balls, which shows how much the leather made the timber dance to its tunes.

At the interval when Chennai had 40 dots in their innings, I felt that had Chennai had consumed quite a lot of dot balls, but had made up for it in the late surge in the second half of the innings with a 104 runs coming in the last 10 overs. Central Stags were bordering on the extremities by allowing themselves to play too many rash shots, amidst the snowballing number of dot balls they submerged themselves into. At the end of the day, the winner was the side that managed to assess the situation better, on when to launch into the bowling.

Strategically if one looked at the stats, the first 10 overs had 40% of deliveries bowled short to the CSK and it fetched the Stags 3 wickets, but after over 10, when the batsmen had got their eye in, 80% of the short deliveries were actually boundary balls, and so the stags changed strategy midway and started pitching the ball, further up and that meant bowling to CSK’s strength. On the other hand, the CSK started by sticking to the basics, where if you pitched the ball in the good length and a little shorter, the pitch would do its bit to draw the batsman to play an unsure shot. The Central stags suffered because they did not have any strategy against an attack that comprised of world class players. Instead of playing out Bollinger and Morkel, the openers from the Central Stags went on the offensive trying to manufacture shots that weren’t worth the risk. As a result wickets kept falling steadily, and no single player looked settled against the CSK bowlers and once Ashwin and Murali came on, 3 quick wickets fell signaling an early dooms day for the Central Stags.

Earlier in the day,It was a pleasure to see the way the ball was seaming and bouncing, and the CSK had the worst start they could ever get to. They lost Hayden to a mistimed pull and Raina was out, caught in the slips trying to fend a bouncer. Vijay, who was at sixes and Sevens against the bowling, was also out trying to defend the raising ball. In came Badri and Anirudha, and they managed to get their eye in, before a few loose balls from the Kiwis let the CSK batsmen off the hook. Anirudha’s aggressive strokeplay, coupled with Badri’s technique against the moving ball with doses of aggression just ensured that Chennai would have a total for their bowlers to bowl at.

The Central Stags need to firm up a strategy to counter attack quality sides, and a blind aggressive approach maybe works for a while on batting friendly wickets, but not at Kingsmead Durban, which tested the technique of some of the batsmen today. Overall a towering performance by the Chennai Super Kings, and definitely a reason to Whistle Podu, before you bid the telly, a very good night!

As Steve Jobs says "You cant connect the dots looking forward, you need to connect it looking backwards" and the Central Stags would do well to back and research that playing 61 dot balls, built a lot of pressure on their batsmen, which resulted in a disastrous batting display...and the dots were probably the difference between the sides. So while One MS (Dhoni)relaxes, the other MS(Mathew Sinclair) has a lot to worry, and needs to connect the dots, and look forward to the next game against the Bushrangers.

CIRCA-2010- When David Conquered Goliath!

2010-09-11T05:28:00.000-07:00

If you did a freeze on how the Mumbai Indians performed in the last stages of the IPL, you would come across the following sub plots, Great Start from Shikhar and Sachin, Big Innings from Sachin, Cameos by Pollard and Duminy, Great Bowling from Malinga, sloppy fielding, questionable tactics from the team management at a critical phase. Whenever someone else from the side joined in a performance or some of the sub-plots assumed a larger significance, it helped Mumbai look larger than it was in the IPL. When a team decides to continue with the same sub-plots, and the other team can overtake the canned performance, it does make for a sight to watch. The Highveld Lions performance in the first match of the CL T20 resembled a David conquering Goliath act, and it probably just reminded Mumbai that a team performance can get you much ahead than a collection of individual contributions.

Mumbai for long has held an arrogance, that has come by way of dominating the domestic circuit, and though its taken a while for it adjust to the T20 format, the arrogance came back in IPL 3 by way of a dominating performance with certain sub-plots as above. That arrogance just came in way of Mumbai’s success against the Highveld Lions.

The Highveld lions started unsurely, against the Mumbai Indians. Initially they were trying too hard to nose ahead, and it showed in the way they played. Vandiar played and missed, played some shots ungainly in the air, but managed to hold forte, even as wickets tumbled at the other end. Mumbai seemed to experiment with going with Mortaza in the first half, preferring to ease into the tournament rather than go all guns blazing with Malinga. You don’t want to give confidence to a team that’s trying to put up a brave face and that’s exactly what Mumbai did, by not choosing to continue with Mclaren or open with Malinga.
The Lions did well to recognize the fact that despite their efforts to get the scoreboard moving, Mumbai was adding to their scoreboard with some lousy fielding. In T20 the value of a run is far higher in percentage terms than in a 50 over match(1/20 as opposed to 1/50), and the more you give away extra runs, you are eroding the total value you build in a T20 match.

The Lions were helped by excellent consolidation in the middle by Mckenzie and Vandiar and by the time 12 overs had passed, the lions knew that they done well and if they had a decent set of slog overs they would be able to the give Sachin’s men from Bombay a run for their money. 41 of the last 21 balls and 86 of the last seven overs gave them a total that was quite daunting to chase, in the opening match
Mumbai started off really well with Sachin and Shikhar scoring at a healthy rate of about 8.5 an over and losing their first wicket only in the 10th over. They soon lost Rayudu for a measly contribution, and then came Duminy to join Sachin. Mumbai were gaining in strength with both, Sachin and Duminy scoring at a scorching pace, against the spin of Phangiso, when Burger did the Houdini act by aiming for the timber twice against Sachin and Pollard. This was a blow Mumbai was never able to recover from, and when JP Duminy also fell to a mistimed drive, Mumbai was staring a defeat from a position of strength. 3 quick wickets in 4 overs, despite some lusty blows, pretty much laid Mumbai flat. The lack of fight showed towards the end (21-3 of 19 balls), just showed that Mumbai lacked the will to plan a last minute assault and lost by 9 runs in the end.

Knowing the team that Mumbai is, I am sure if they can rewind to some of the better moments during the IPL, they would do well to realize that they need to have other players contributing rather than heavily depending on the individual masterclass of Sachin,Malinga,Pollard and Duminy. If Mumbai don’t do well from now on, I am quite sure where Mukesh Ambani is not going to have a tough time deciding where the 4.5 million(used in retaining 4 players) would be going.

A collation of My Cricket Articles and Videos

2009-09-08T00:18:00.000-07:00

I thought I shall keep an online account of some of my interviews/articles.

Written Articles

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/once-bitten-always-shy/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/been-there-not-done-that/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/anil-kumble-has-the-sun-set-on-his-illustrious-career/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/d-company-is-it-d-day-for-dhoni-yet/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/rebuilding-requires-time-and-planning/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/how-vaas-zaat/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/india-in-the-emerald-isles-over-the-decades/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/sports-in-india-have-we-monetized-it-enough/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/whose-trophy-is-it-anyway/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/when-stats-didnt-make-an-icon/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/t20-the-master-stroke-that-changed-equations/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/0-2-down-what-england-must-do-to-seize-the-moment/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/home-turf-experimentation/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/reminiscing-about-cricket-in-the-midst-of-terror/

http://www.crickblog.com/entry/champions-trophy-edition-through-the-ages/

Video Shows

My Show with Ravi Shastri , (Medium-Star Cricket/ESPN), Time Oct-Nov 2007 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_qy7MKhrg4

My Interview with Sunil Gavaskar- Channel- My Blog, Sep 2006(Medium-Mobile Phone) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpgEl4v-8xU

Interview with Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia-Part 2(Medium-Mobile Phone) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1THHd8uNEQ

Interview with Mashrafe Mortaza-Bangaldesh Cricketer -(Medium-Mobile Phone) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoNseCPObXk

Interview with Sunil Nair- MD,Nautanki.tv –(Medium-Mobile Phone) Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUekistE8Hg

Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luX1s9VsG8c

Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuf3LriR2kQ

Interview with Chandresh Dhebhar- MD of a strategic HR condultancy firm(Medium-Mobile Phone) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byPep6cWJr8

Interview with South African Cricketer-Albie Morkel(Medium-Mobile Phone) – Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Xr-qNRi42I

Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaoX-zbbjwk

My Sports Shows with www.indiainteracts.com – June 2007- Oct 2007 –( Medium- Professional Video Shoots)

1) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/2339/

2) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1667/

3) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1663/

4) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1570/

5) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1568/

6) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1466/

7) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1361/

8) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1254/

9) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1253/

10) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1118/

11) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/1008/

12) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/871/

13) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/693/

14) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/517/

15) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/266/

16) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/246/

17) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/231/

18) http://indiainteracts.com/newplatform/218/

Sports Shows Update

2007-09-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

The part 2 of the ESPN dream job audition would come latest by tommorow morning and this weekend would also have a review of CHAK DE, which I managed to finally see. Till then, get some dosage of sports events around the world, through my sports show Part 1 and Part 2 The other shows so far
Episode 10

Episode 09

Episode 08

My Latest Sports Show

2007-08-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

The Last 2 Episodes of My Sports Show

2007-08-21T04:33:00.000-07:00

An Update on My Sports Show

2007-07-26T03:23:00.000-07:00

My Sports Show series till now

- July 19th Edition

- July 5th Edition

- June 20th Edition

- June 13th Edition

- June 6th Edition

-May 30th Edition

Right now these shows only have me analysing the game. I also plan to have some interviews, but given an extremely hectic schedule at B school, right now it looks a little tough.

Third Episode of My Sports Show

2007-06-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Here goes episode 3

Interview with Albie Morkel(South Africa)

2007-06-10T19:34:00.000-07:00

Albie Morkel

I happened to meet up with Albie Morkel, the rookie South African Pace bowler, during the Afro Asia Cup. Here is a small 2 part Interview with him

First a heads up about him

"Albie Morkel, like Lance Klusener, is a right-arm fast-medium bowler and left-handed batsman. He rose to prominence playing for his provincial side Easterns against the touring West Indians in 2003-04 when he defied food poisoning to score a century and take five wickets at Benoni. Ray Jennings, his provincial coach and a former South African wicketkeeper, predicted some time ago that Morkel would become a world-class allrounder, and Morkel was promised his first taste of international action when picked for the tour of New Zealand in 2003-04. Morkel comes from a cricketing family, with father Albert having played for Transvaal B and brothers Malan and Morné having represented SA schools. Morné also plays for Easterns."

Source Cricinfo

THE INTERVIEW : (Taken on my Sony Ericcson W550 i Mobile Phone)

Part 1

Part 2

My Second Sports Show

2007-06-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

My Other Sports Interviews

2007-06-04T23:49:00.000-07:00

1) The First Episode of my "Sports Show" on Indiainteracts.com

2) Interview with Mr Sunil Gavaskar- at Blogcamp- 2006 September

2) Interview with Mr Ramakrishnan- Indian Team Cricket Analyst

Part-3

Part -2

PART-1

Interview with Mr S.Ramakrishnan,Indian Cricket Team Computer Analyst, PART-1 from Katchu21 on Vimeo .

MY OTHER NON CRICKET INTERVIEWS

>

India Vs Sri Lanka-Part 3 -Podcast

2007-03-23T11:21:00.000-07:00

Podcast Part -3

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Podcast 2-Overs 46-50-Longish

2007-03-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

India Vs Sri Lanka-Podcast -1 Overs 1-40

2007-03-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

ODEO not functioning

2007-03-21T07:44:00.000-07:00

The ODEO server seems to be down. I will try recording later tonight and have it uploaded. Let me see if any other audio Blogging service provider can help me.

Inconvenience Regretted

Cricket Podcast Schedule

2007-03-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

I have decided to have PODCASTS for key matches and "Thought-PODCASTS" when the minnows are playing. The first round of "Thought-Podcasts will make a debut around 10 PM IST.

Thanks for viewing the blog, and if you do like, do spread the word around.

First Podcast-World Cup-West Indies Vs Pakistan at Kingston,Jamaica

2007-03-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

Podcast 4-The Pakistani Chase(187 all out)

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Podcast 3- Overs 37-50 West Indies Batting (241/9)
(Tip- Please Click Play and then Pause it after 10 seconds.Let the file buffer for 2 minutes and then click PLAY, as sometimes on a Narrow band it stops and starts suddenly.This is a 11 minute audio.Slightly long.So it's advisable to buffer it and then play)

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Podcast 2 Overs 10-36 West Indies batting

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Podcast 1 Overs 1-9 West Indies batting

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Videos of the match- West Indies Batting- Wickets

Video-2

Video-3

Video-4

Video-5

Video-6 External (First Half Highlights)

My Take on the Teams

2007-03-13T05:24:00.000-07:00

Team Sketches

India

The Indian Team comes into the 9th world cup with a lot of hopes, after recent victories against West Indies and Sri Lanka. But do these victories on docile Indian pitches inflate the Indian psyche? I feel, we are going into the World Cup under prepared for the Big show, as against quality oppositions India’s one day performance has been extremely abysmal in the last 9 months. We struggled to score runs last time around in the West Indies and our bowlers don’t have a killer strike bowler like most of the other sides. So what would be India’s plan going into the World Cup. On paper, it looks a strong side but if it faces some amount of pressure, this doesn’t look like the side that will make the cut for the semi finals. But going on World cup form, They have done pretty well since the 1996 world cup, qualifying for the second league once, semifinals once, and finalist once. On a humorous note, India stopped the Windies from making a Hat-Trick meal of the World Cups. India stopped Australia from that record 17 Test Wins. So would it stop Australia in its tracks this time?

Pakistan

Pakistan has been an unpredictable side in the last year or so. Their strength and problem is their batting. It is their capricious nature that makes me say a statement like the previous line. Pakistan has been good at defending totals and if the trio of Youis Khan,Yousuf and Inzy play well, the concept of a Pakistani bulwark may just materialize. Their bowling, surprisingly has been their saviour throughout last season, irrespective of whether Asif or Shoaib make the 11 or not. Having a number of useful bowlers like Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Rana, has made the variety in the Pakistan attack, a vital cog in their line up.Their bowling can defend any kind of a score well, as when Pakistan starts to bowl under pressure, they seem to be at their best. The best recipe for success would be to bat first as much as possible as that seems to be their strength and if Afridi and Nazir fire at the top, the game is going to be that much out of reach, of the opposition. My Verdict- A Semi finalist

Sri-Lanka-

They seem a pretty explosive line up, in the batting and bowling departments and have vastly improved their performance since the 1-6 tennis score line drubbing at the hands of India. Sri Lanka has built a good reputation solely through performances in the last 9 months, in terms of winning percentage, but their performance in crucial matches against quality oppositions leaves a lot to be desired. Their victories have come against West Indies, England, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They have struggled against the Kiwis, India, South Africa and Australia. They need to lift their game against quality oppositions and once this becomes a habit, their young team can do wonders. But right now, They are quite a conundrum for the cricketing world, and need to get their act right. I’d be surprised, if they make it to the semi finals.

South Africa-

Though they come into the world cup with the “No 1” Tag, they still come with a lot of chinks. They cannot chase for nuts(sans the 434 chase) as their batting last season failed miserably. Generally its either Kallis, Prince, Boucher or Pollock who have bailed them out of trouble. Their Top order still has not found a way to find wood on leather, in the first few overs. South Africa has been an excellent side in defending totals as it has an amazing pace battery that seems to regularly knock the stuffing out of oppositions. The South African jigsaw puzzle would look all complete if their top order can get some sanity there, and not lose early wickets. Their bowling is their strength and should be a side that would look to earnestly make it to the final 4.

Zimbabwe-

Zimbabwe has seen a huge turnaround in their team dynamics, as most of the top players have called it quits and the team it has now, is weaker than a Grade C County team. The Zimbabwean team of the yore took some time to mature and it took them 3 world cups to start playing well as they have had some stellar performances in the 1999 and 2003 edition of the World Cups, as they made it to the Super Six stage, where some top teams were knocked out. This time they don’t have the ammunition to fire but the heart to run around and use stones for warfare. I don’t expect them to get past the first round, but sometimes inspiration is what it takes to make the cut. Whether Zimbabwe has enough of that depends on how much self belief they have. The best recipe for shocking established teams is to bat first and then apply pressure on them. Zimbabwe in my view, are here to make up the numbers and will hope to be back on the plane a couple of weeks later(just in case they decide to sit and watch the world cup).

New Zealand-

A Team that doesn’t have too many stars, but is high on self belief and all it lacks is sometimes the guns for the big occasion. Twice, it was knocked by Pakistan in the semi-finals( 92 and 99) and they did not make it to the final four of the 03 edition, because they forfeited a game in the league stages. New Zealand has looked a potential dark horse and their renewed brilliance against the Aussies in early February, just seemed to have brightened their chances. New Zealand have an outside chance of reaching the semis, provided they maintain the same levels of inspiration that shook the Aussies, otherwise they have had a pretty ordinary summer, having drawn against the Lankans, pummeled by the Aussies and Poms in the CB series. The defeat to Bangladesh in the warm up games, must have shook them up, to perform better in the league stages. All in all an outside chance to the semis.

Australia-

The huge favorites and the most dangerous team in the World cup. Their chinks have been exposed in the last few days by New Zealand and England, after losing while defending and chasing, but all that makes them is a wounded tiger. The last time they were left licking their wounds was when they lost the ashes, but bounced back terrifically to announce to the world, who the king was. They have since then played some awesome cricket and sans the 434 blip and the recent reversal of form, they have been in top gear. Australia seem vulnerable in the middle overs where either their bowling or batting seems to vegetate.If they can retain more focus on the middle overs, Australia will steal a march over most countries and will remain the undisputed champion,who may well cruise to complete a Hat trick of world Cup triumphs.

ENGLAND-

Hope is where heart is. That summarizes the Barmy Army’s motto. The English cricket team, may be on a high following the CB series victory, but inspiration and hope are the only things they can take back from the last season, into this year’s World Cup. England’s batting seems to be an area of major concern as it is heavily dependent on Collingwood, Flintoff and Peterson. The bowling too has nothing special, but they did manage to choke the Aussies didn’t they? All through the summer England’s bowling in the initial few overs has been very good, but sadly the momentum to attack aggressively after the first spell has been very poor. England have also had the habit of developing injuries during tour. As long as injuries and hype is minimized, they may be in the right mood for some competitive cricket. England still have a long way to go, but go into the cup inspired. Not really a team that would select itself, but definitely a dark horse that is capable of stirring upsets.

Bangladesh:

They have had a miserable run against the test playing nations, but have shown that they are the king of the second rung, ICC nations that fight it out for associate member slots(Though Bangladesh now, are a Test Playing nation).
They are a fired up unit and have shown glimpses of form and have beaten India and Sri Lanka before at home. They need to carry the same fire and gusto against these former World Champions in the first round. One win against either India or Sri Lanka still cant guarantee them a place in the Super 8, but they just need a dose of self belief instilled into them, and no better a man to do it than Dave Whatmore, as their coach. My take on them- they would have to catch a flight back home in 2 weeks.

Kenya-

Minnows it was, and still is. The last world cup semi final slot was largely helped by team boycotts against playing in Nairobi. This time around, it’s a much smaller first round and they need to pull up their socks if they need to pull a fast one on the teams in their group. England and New Zealand have never lost against Lowly ranked teams since 1992.It is quite a tough ask for Kenya to qualify, but considering England’s indifferent form, Kenya may just fancy their chances if they can sneak a victory against an established side.

West Indies

The team to really watch out for, as they have put up a largely improved performance and are capable of bouncing back after being pushed to the wall. They are largely a side that is capable of inflicting self destruction as recent observations of the Caribbeans snatching defeat from the jaws of victory has been seen. Their side nevertheless is a strong unit that will be banking on a strong batting side and a useful bowling attack, if not lethal. West Indies goes into the cup, being bundled out abysmally for 85 runs against India, but definitely have what it takes to surprise teams. I would rate the West Indies a strong entrant to the semi-finals, given their familiarity with conditions.

Practice Game-India Vs West Indies, March 9, 2007

2007-03-09T20:37:00.000-08:00

India and the West Indies came into this match, after victories against minnows.This was the first battle of equals in the practice matches(The Aussies were also playing the Poms yesterday).The recent battles in the last one year had the West Indies with a slight edge with a 5-3 win loss record. The Indian's carried optimism from their last series victory at home. The Venue, was Greenfields, the Trelawny stadium in Jamaica, a relatively new venue, with empty stands.

West Indies won the toss and chose to bat on a strip that seemed to offer some lateral movement and bounce in the first half hour, that resulted in Zaheer and Agarkar scalping the Carribean openers leaving them at sixes and sevens.Zaheer had a slightly different action, which similar to a Left handed Steven Harmison. Zaheer induced an edge off Chanderpaul, and Dhonui came up with a regulation catch to set the wicket registers flowing. Agarkar got one to nip off a bit off the seam and a little away movement caught Gayle off guard, and he ended up knicking it behind to the keeper.

In came Lara and with Sarwan, the partnership just started to bloom, when Lara miscued a cut straight into the outstretched hands of Yuvraj, but Yuvraj failed to latch on to it.At 44/2 It seemed that this would cost India dearly, and with Pathan coming in to bowl, a Lara storm seemed imminent, but a rather innocuous delivery from Irfan Pathan had Lara in a fix as he struggled to deal with the slower one and gave a simple return catch to Irfan Pathan.
Sarwan was done in by a Munaf Patel special,forcing the outside edge to give a sitter to Uthappa at second slip. After Sarwan, a mini Procession followed 52-2 became 62-8, with the middle over caving in to some insipid batting.Click below to see a video of the West Indian -Fall of Wickets-

Dwayne Bravo pulled Patel tamely to midwicket attempting a hoick in a manner, what we Indians would call the Chappati shot(mastered by Ravi Shastri); Kieron Pollard, in his first major outing, was a victim of nerves, as he struggled, making 2 runs of 14 balls, before frustration made him play a rash shot, and a rather tame end to the debutant's tenure.Marlon Samuels was trapped in front, playing across the line and Dinesh Ramdin flirted with a deliveryl outside off, to give catching practice to the Indians. 62 for 8 and it looked like a club cricket game, that was in progress. Eighteen runs later, Dwayne Smith, after a few attempts at self-destruction, fell going for a pull which he failed to connect and when Anil Kumble trapped Jerome Taylor in front, it was all over.

Irfan Pathan, despite getting three scalps, did not look too menacing. There was no bite in his bowling, nor was there considerable pace and swing.Some poor shot selection by the Wwest Indian batsman made Irfan's figures look a lot respectable than what it was. Munaf Patel,who was the best bowler on view, was a major reason, India did wel yesterday.Bowling close to the wicket, he hit the good length area and moved the ball off the seam. Nagging line and the right length meant he ended up with a rich haul.

India started off disastrously with Sehwag getting caught in the corridor around the off stump.Sehwag's failure means a lot of problems for Dravid as a captain to include him in the coming matches, given the statement made by the chief selector on Viru's selection in the squad.

India got off to a sedate start with Kartik and Uthaapa preferring to spend some time in the middle and get used to the pace of the wicket. Darren Powel bent his back to extract some lively pace, to suprise the batsmen, but sadly that suprise didnt get converted into a wicket. Uthappa and Karthik saw India through the game, and India romped to a deserving 9 wicket triumph.

The West Indies go back emptyhanded from the whole experience of playing against India. If i remember right, the West Indies made a similar poor start in the Champions trophy,being bowled out for 82 against the Lankans. They did emerge very strong after that, reaching the finals of the cup. Will the West Indians bounce back? That remains to be seen.

Another interesting stat is that the host who has played the first match, in the last few worldcups have lost their first match.

India in 87
Australia in 92
South Africa in 03

The 96 and the 99 world cups had a different story as the first match in 96, did not involve the hosts and in 99, England as the host beat the Lankans

The Windies take on Pakistan on the 13th. It remains to be seen, what would happen on the Cup opener. So be back to this blog on the 13th to see some live updates and ofcourse my Commentary in a podcast form.

My First Blog

2007-03-09T03:29:00.000-08:00

The NIKE Indian World Cup Shirt

The Official Indian Team Cricket gear, was launched a fortnight back, and it seems to have hit the stores. Its pretty highly priced with the shirt alone costing 2399.The higher price is seemingly for the NIKE brand and of course, the material quality of the shirt. As an Indian fan, I really would be game watching the world cup with this shirt on, but the price of the Indian uniform is to expensive.I have decided to wait for some fakes in the market, at a lesser price. I remember PEPSI selling the 1999 World Cup Shirt for 210 Rs at Cozee Stores, along the Besant Nagar beach, in Chennai.I guess a walk down to T Nagar, would have Saravana stores selling the faked version, for a steal.The colour is what matters, not the brand.

Here is a shot of the Indian Cricket Apparel(World Cup),which was spotted last night at a nearby NIKE showroom.Infact the only difference between the Actual world cup shirt and the one shown above, would be the fact that The NIKE logo would be replaced, by the ICC WORLD CUP 07 Logo, due to the anti-ambus marketing declarations signed by the ICC cricketing nations.