India - A world cup full of dreams

Over the years, I have been gadually getting disilluisioned by the cricket world cup. The greatest achievement by the Indian cricket team is still the victory in the 1983 edition. Since then we made the finals once and the semi finals twice. Quite a good achievement. But in a country that a billion cricket fanatics, is that good enough.

In 1987, Graham Gooch's century put paid to India's hopes of reaching a consecutive final and effectively paved the path for a peiod of Australian dominance. Though India did not even make it to the semi finals in 1992, it was one damn good world cup. Fresh faces emerged in the Indian team. Sachin Tendulkar and Ajay Jadeja were two of the names that really established themselves in the team around that period. It had been a decent campaign that would have been better if Javagal Srinath had managed to either clear the boundary or at least get back for that run instead of getting run out. A semi-final place had been lost there.

Even in 1996, the team was on a roll until it got rolled over by Sri Lanka. That abject display in the semi-finals at the Eden Gardens still lingers in memory. Vinod Kambli crying as he left the field was one of the most shameful displays ever. Not because he was crying, but because he was crying after the way the entire team (Tendulkar included) played that day. They did not deserve any sympathy.

I dont even want to count the 1999 world cup as that was one of the worst (of course, the worst was yet to come). One fabulous performance by Ganguly and Dravid (while me and my brother were stuck on a delayed train to Rourkela) aside, there was nothing to really talk about. Why Tendulkar was dropped down the order is a mystery I still dont understand. Not even Hercule Poirot or Sherlock Holmes can probably figure that out.

Now 2003 was our best chance to win. Everyone contributed immensely. Sachin was playing like he was God (of course he is) until the final when he showed he was still human. Convincing wins in the group stages and in the Super Sixes did their confidence a world of good. An easy semi-final against Kenya was possible by a superb innings this time from 'dada' Ganguly. But the final again turned into a once sided affair after a Zaheer Khan 'nervous' first over that cost 15 runs gave the Kangaroos the momentum they needed. Sachin failed in the final and there is still a chance that his highest score in a World Cup final is 4.

2007 was a world cup no Indian (or Pakistani) would like to remember. Right from the opening match that saw India losing to Bangladesh things just did not go right. That loss coupled with the loss to Sri Lanka meant that the most cricket crazy nation on earth was eliminated in the first round and the stands were not going to be full for the Super 8s.

Coming into 2011, the team has been on a high. It has performed consistently, but with a weak bowling attack, progression in the knockout stages could be tricky. Neverthless, this could be their best chance to win simply because one of the strengths of the team (GOD) may not be around in the team for another campaign. Hope this cup fills our dreams and furthers our passion for this game.

Is this good for the game

In the past few years, I have been hearing a lot of things that are unethical or even downright illegal. In many cases, I used to think, "Ok, at some point people will change". Well, it doesn't seem to be the case. The latest "Spot Fixing" controversy that has clouded cricket yet again is not good for the game. And who is the major party "allegedly" involved? Pakistan.

In recent times, Pakistan has been involved in almost every major controversy that has affected Cricket. Lahore; team buses were bombed and attacked with players inside. Dubai; Asif was arrested for drug possession. Australia; the team fought like babies and had to suspend major players. Not to forget Jamaica, Bob Woolmer was found dead in his hotel room.

And now in England, Pakistan’s bad luck with controversies refuses to stop following it. “Spot Fixing”. Hmmm. I did not hear this term until I read a report on Cricinfo about it. I then had to go in and actually read up articles about what spot fixing actually meant. I was quite surprised by the details. Not because of what happened in the past, but because of the ease at which this can be done. Who can really with absolute conviction determine that a particular incident on the field was a result of spot fixing? It is the easiest forms of fixing and can go unnoticed unless some bookie blows the whistle. This must have happened in Pakistan’s case recently and so now we actually are investigating it.

Controversies of this sort are never good for the game. People lose interest because the game loses credibility. I am a diehard fan of cricket and will watch (well these days I can only follow as I am in the US and due to factors of cost and convenience of time, I am unable to) any form of cricket that is on TV. So far I have not shied away from a cricket match because of these controversies. But slowly my faith in the system is beginning to break.

Take for example, the situation when Sehwag was on 99 in the India-Sri Lanka game. Why did 4 byes have to be conceded at that point? And then the beeeeg no-ball, that the bowler and a fielder partly acknowledged was deliberate. To say that was definitely not a “Spot Fixing” moment would be unwise.

Cricketers are making millions these days through match fees and other endorsements. But I feel they may be still tempted by the prospect of making “even more”. People who are heavily involved in betting don’t mind giving the players a cut just to make a fast buck. That not only devalues the game, but also causes sincere players to be investigated because of faults of other unscrupulous players. Whatever the ICC decides to do, it needs to do quickly. And it needs the support of local cricket boards to make sure it succeeds. Otherwise we may see a “Spot Fixed” World Cup with plenty of surprising stats.

Just before the Clay

With the clay court season about to start, I felt it was time to provide a roundup of the first 3rd of the 2010 season. What really struck me was the fact that not one tournament was won by a “favourite”. Hmmm… The Australian Open. Well that had to be the best right. But among the others, a Davydenko here, a Lubicic there, but no real big name wins. The only 2 that really matter were The Sony Ericsson Open and Dubai Tennis championships.

Dubai produced some great matches. Dubai actually missed Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal this year, but had its fair share of big names. Murray exited early. Second round. The match went to 3 sets, but Murray never looked like he had the match in control. Youzhny was provided an easier passage that he would have hoped for because of the loss. He stepped up his game when it mattered and reached the final to face off against Djokovic. The road for Djokovic was not that easy. He was a set down in the 3rd round, quarters and semis before going the full distance to win against Mikhail Youzhny. He became only the second player in the tournament’s history to win back to back titles. The first had to be the Fed, of course.

Before we go off to Miami, let’s take a look at what happened in Indian Wells. A star studded line up. All the top seeds were present. Roger Federer lost in the 3rd round to Marcos Baghdatis in 3. Even the previous match against Hanescu was not convincing by any means. Murray fell to Soderling in the quarters and Davydenko lost to Lubicic early on. The real stunner came in the semi finals. Rafael Nadal was up a set and then lost to eventual champion Lubicic. The 3rd set went to a tie break, but Nadal could not get going as he won just one point. The final was closely fought between Lubicic and Andy Roddick who was bidding to win the only US title he hasn’t won and Lubicic denied him in two tie breakers. Hard luck Roddick. Maybe next time.

Miami… Federer fell again, but this time in the 4th round to Tomas Berdych. Berdych had a giant killing run in the tournament by taking out Federer, Verdasco and Soderling before reaching the finals. Nadal went really close this time but lost in the semi finals to Andy Roddick. The biggest shock I should say were Andy Murray and the Djoker. Murray in the second round in straight sets to Mardy Fish and the Djoker to Olivier Rochus in 3. Nothing more to add about this. All this time Roddick was playing serene tennis and met the giant killer in the final. There was not giant killing from Berdych this time as Roddick took the title in straight sets.

As we move along to the clay court season with Monte Carlo coming up, I noticed that Federer was not on the list. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion (well he has been for the past 5 years now) and favourite to win. Then we have Barcelona, Rome and Madrid, finally culminating in Roland Garros. Let us see if we have a semblance of order restored in the tennis world.

This year at the Open - Australia

When the Australian Open started this year, there was talk about new forces emerging in the tennis world. I was really excited at the prospect of new challenges that the top 4 would face. Mainly because towards the end of the year, two unlikely heroes sprung up.

Nikolay Davydenko and Juan Martin Del Potro.

Nikolay was one of the top players until about 3-4 years ago. All of a sudden he lost form, lost motivation or what ever it was, he slowly slipped down the rankings. He lost to unlikely opponents and never showed the talent he initially promised. Then, all of a sudden he had back to back victories. He won the year ending ATP World Tour Finals (formerly the Masters Cup) and then won in Doha. In both the tournaments, he beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Del Potro, or the "Tower of Tandill" sprung into the limelight a couple of years ago by winning back to back tournaments and then successfully defending a couple of those titles. He slowly started making progress and his prowess was never fully realised until he beat Roger Federer at the US Open denying the Fed a chance to gain his 16th Grand Slam Crown.

So when the tournament started all eyes were on these two. People (and I) wanted to see how much damage they could do. The first few rounds were as usual. Uneventful. No major upsets, until Cilic upset Del Potro in one of the finest 5 setters I have not completely seen. After that match all eyes were really Cilic to see if he could take that form and game forward. The same round actually produced one of the most anticipated matches (well in Australia, by the Aussies at least) of the open. Roger Federer vs. Leyton Hewitt. That turned out to be a walk in the park for the Fed. Federer literally destroyed Hewitt in one of the most one sided matches ever seen.

And then came the big matches. Two of the most anticipated matches in the tournament. Federer vs. Davydenko and Murray vs. Nadal. From the beginning, the tournament was billed as one of these four's tournament. For about the first set and three quarters Davydenko looked like he was going to pull of the upset of the tournament. A 6-2 first set and a 3-1 lead in the second and it looked like it was curtains for the Fed. It was one of the most amazing turnarounds from there on. 13 games in a row was what Federer took to get a 2 sets to 1 lead and a 2-0 lead in the 4th. The match was all done and dusted for Davydenko when he decided tot fight back. He broke back and took the fight back to the No. 1. But Federer was not to be denied this time. He kept on the money and closed out the match at 7-5.

The other match was more one sided, but partly because of a knee injury to Nadal. But before it reached the climax Rafa had to retire. This was one of those rare occasions that you would see Rafa retire. But he took the decision to retire rather than press on with a mind on making sure he does not aggravate the injury. So at 0-3 down in the 3rd set with 2 sets down, he retired and handed the match to Murray.

So it all came down to the US Open finalists from 2008. At that time Roger had steamrolled Murray for the title. But Murray made a lot of progress since then. He came up in leaps and bounds and worked his way almost to the top. So I was expecting a real tight match this time around. But the master had other ideas. A British Grand Slam champion had to wait. Roger finished the match in much simpler fashion than in any of his past meetings with Murray. Championship No. 16 had come.

How many more will the "best of all time" win? Only time will tell...

Tendulkar - Now on 90

He did not play in the Tri-Series before the India-Bangladesh test series had started. When I heard that news I was sort of disappointed, but then I thought he is such a player that he can decide when to play and when not to and the selectors will respect his decision. I knew he "has" to be back for the test series against Bangladesh. How can a fit Sachin Tendulkar not be in the team other than for personal reasons?


So when the test series was about to start, and I saw Sachin back in the team list I was obviously happy. I was hoping the Sachin bashers would not be given a chance to say "he should retire", "he is past his prime", "he doesn't score consistently anymore" and other similar things.

The mood and tone of the test series was set by a pre-series needle by Sehwag. He mentioned during a press conference that Bangladesh is just an "ordinary" team. Well this did not go down well with Shakib Al Hasan. But he did not retort back. Instead on the opening day of the first test the Bangladesh bowlers were firing on all cylinders to prove a point. The famed Indian batting line up took a beating. I did not watch it live, but when I woke up in the mronign and saw the score card, all I cared about was how much Sachin had made. I knew if he had been one of those people who failed with the bat - it wouldn't be curtains for him - there would be people out for his blood, simply because they expect so much from him. I was relieved to see that he was still batting on 76.

That day I was just hoping the tail would at least hang around long enough for the little master to get his century the next morning. Well, they did just that and that was century number 44. He remained unbeaten. I was disappointed when he did not score one more in the second innings after that gem from Gambhir. But I was totally satisfied that he scored a century that eventually turned out to be the key for our victory.

When the second test started, I was hoping our boys would put on a much stronger batting performance. Well, Bangladesh batted first and the fast bowlers broke through pretty quickly and wrapped up the innings on the first day. When our openers put on a furious partnership, I was hoping to see Gambhir join the "Don" and share the record for the most consecutive centuries in tests. Well that was not to be. It was pretty late in the day so after the first few overs of the Dravid-Tendulkar partnership, I just fell asleep. By morning my computer was playing the Federer-Hewitt match for some strange reason. I slept again, let this match complete and woke up to check the score.

Tendulkar had reached 90. 90 centuries in International cricket. And it was a pretty quick one as well. I was overjoyed, but then again a little disappointed to know that Dravid had his face in plaster.

The closest anyone else is to Tendulkar is Ponting and he too is about 20 centuries away. Well that is a lot even for someone like Ponting. I was hoping India would win the match and Sachin would again be the Man of the Match. But then Zaheer Khan had other ideas. And I don't blame him at all. I'll probably talk about that spell another time, but for now I will continue to hope that the little master carries on just the same way. He notoriously started getting out in the 90s recently and I wish and hope that this is not one of those 90s.

Return of the King

With 78 days and 16 hours to go i pleasantly found out that the seven time world champion was back. What does this mean? Well it certainly means a lot more interest in what will happen in F1 in 2010. Not just for me but for fans all over the world. But one thing that now is pestering me is WHY?

Over the past 2 decades, Schumacher won everything there is to win in Formula 1. He broke almost every record there is to break. He brought Ferrari out of a slump and strung together a series of world championships that dominated the news. In between all that he tried running Jacques Villeneuve off the road, parked his car at the "La Rascasse" corner, took Damon Hill out on the last lap and served time by campaigning for road safety.

So what more does the king want to achieve. Like he mentioned in an interview, he wants to win at least one more title. Title number 8 will mean a lot to him. After he won 7 titles (5 in a row), nobody doubted his ability. But two years in a row when he lost to Alonso must have hurt. Especially that engine failure in Suzuka that literally handed Alonso the title.

In August after Filipe Massa crashed in Hungary and could not come back for the rest of the season, there was a murmur and then an announcement that Schumacher would be back in Massa's seat. However, he had to drop out due to a neck injury sustained during a previous biking accident. This did not stop him but prompted him to train harder and get back into shape. There was even a talk of a possible comeback towards the end of the season since Luca Badoer (oh! my God. What a Drone) was literally sleeping on the track. Ferrari however found Fisi to replace the drone.(that can be a different story if one feels like it).

Schumacher lives for racing. The one thing in his life that keeps him going is racing. So after he retired he took a nice little break with his family and then came back to the track at Ferrari in a different capacity. Ferrari created that role of an advisor just to keep Schumacher with them and on the track. You could see that at many races, he was actively involved on the pit wall. Racing just does not go away from a man like that. He must have felt there is more to achieve. He was surely looking for an opportunity. Eventually his hunger for more victories, his thirst for more titles and his endless passion for racing brought him back. What probably made his decision easier was the fact that he was joining Ross Brawn. And with Mercedes having a bigger stake in the team now, Schumacher will surely have the confidence and resources for developing another championship winning car.

I just hope it ends just like when Aragorn came back to Minas Tirith and claimed his rightful place.

Reactions to Carnage

"Ullu bana rahe ho kya?"

was the response i got when i told my mate on the bus that India scored 443/1 on the second day of the 3rd test against Sri Lanka. I had a hard time convincing him that it was not 243/1. Only after another person on the bus pulled up the score on his iPhone did he believe me.

When Viru slams the ball, it does not require Jay to say

"Maine kab ka aankhen band kar liya".

With your eyes open you will not be able to see the path the ball has taken. You can make a wild guess as to what the path could have been. The next ball bowled in the same spot will get the same treatment and it will repeat itself over and over and over again. When a team batting first in a test match scores close to 400 in their first innings, they should feel pretty confident of not losing the test. In fact with a decent bowling side, they would fancy putting pressure on the opposition if they can pick up a few early wickets.

People on the bus started to immediately reflect upon Viru's previous innings.
"Melbourne was a treat. If only he did not try to hit that six"

"Multan was madness."

Apparently there was an interview given by Sehwag sometime back and in that he stated a couple of interesting things. He was getting starts, but was not able to convert them to big innings. So he decided to take his time initially and then open up. Unfortunately for the bowlers, taking his time did not mean 10 overs or so. It was just a few extra deliveries. When he got out on 195 trying to hit Katich out of the ground it seems Tendulkar told him that if he ever tried to hit a six again when he was close to a milestone, he would break his head. And who had to pay for that. Pakistan. The mauling in Multan was done in the presence of the master. The irony was that the master was denied a double century in the interest of the match situation.

"Is he the most destructive batsman ever?"

Maybe. There were others too who could take the match away from the opposition in a flash. But did they really drive so much fear. Poor Welegedera must be wondering why he did not have that injury and walk off the field instead of being asked to bowl that one over that brought Sehwag his double century in double quick time. Gilly, Richards, even good ol' Jayasuriya could create carnage, but that would not be carnage in the minds. It was just on the field.

"Why does he not do this in ODIs?"

Well that is a totally different mind game if you ask me. In Tests, the pressure of having to keep up the run rate is missing. You can take all the time in the world to settle down before you go on the rampage. You dont have to worry about powerplays, you dont have to worry about running out of partners because they are trying to accelerate the run rate, or you dont have to worry about a bowler being taken off because he is becoming too expensive.

So just sit back, relax and enjoy reading about his innings in peace, because you will not watch his innings in peace anyway. It is like watching a Michael Bay film or more appropriately a Roland Emmerich film.