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.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Friday, April 9, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
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...
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...
Thursday, January 28, 2010
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.
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.
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