Finally!!

December 15 has been a historic day for Indian Cricket in many ways. 75 hence to this day India hosted England at Bombay Gymkhana Ground in 1933 in what was the first test match to be played in India. 5 years back Rahul Dravid played a marvelous knock of 233, arguable the most valuable knock played by an Indian batsman in a match overseas, to setup an incredible Indian win in Adelaide. But it's today Sachin Tendulkar added an innings to his mazing CV which was missing all the while. Sachin today registered his first hundred chasing a target successfully in a Test Match. And what a moment he choose when India chased the highest target chased by any team on Indian soil and fourth highest overall. The value of his knock ws visible from the exuberance on his face and the joyous celebration. For once people did celebrate an Indian win rather than Sachin's century number XX. That itself is a testimony to the importance of the knock.



Its widely believed that a true test of batsman is in his ability to amass runs in the fourth innings of a Test match and that too on a 5th day wicket. Sachin has a poor record by his high standards. Among modern day greats Sachin till yesterday had no reply to a Brian Lara's majestic 153* or Ricky Ponting's 100*, 143* or 118*. Though Sachin played one of his best innings in Chennai 9 years back against Pakistan only to see his team loose in a tensed contest. Today's knock will be remembered in the same breath as that knock of 136 at the same venue, but Sachin would definitely value his knock today very high. Today Sachin seemed to remember every moment of that match and like a true genius made sure he didn't repeat the mistake he committed in that innings. Infact he was quick to advice Yuvi to stay put till the end when Yuvi played a loose shot of Monty Panesar. It was a controlled innings. It was fitting he brought up his hundred with a shot he invented after the back spasms he suffered at the same venue. His innings couldn't have been scripted better.

With today's innings Sachin stamped his greatness to silence few of his critics, including me :) But I wish there were few more of such innings. It may amaze people that it took him this long to score a hundred in a successful chase. Sachin had a perpetual habit of throwing it away when India needed a defining knowck. But if you get everything in life then you don't have the desire to achieve more. Even Sir Don failed to make those vital 4 runs in his last innings to achieve an average of 100. Its better late than never. I feel happy that Sachin finally added that missing link of a truly great champion. What else do we expect from the master batsman now. Probably a triple hundred if not a quadruple and a century in each innings of a match. Way to go...

Monopsony - Reason for lower wages in Domestic Cricket

Domestic cricketers in India can be labelled as poorer cousins of their counterparts in countries like England, Australia. Mulling into the reasons I came across an article sometime back which I tried to link with concepts of Microeconomics. One of the reasons is Monopsonic market for Cricket in India.

Monopsony referred to a market in which there is a single buyer. A monopsonist has the market power to set the price of whatever it is buying unlike a perfect competition where no individual buyer is big enough to affect the market price of anything. It is a buyer's monopoly (on the demand side). A common theoretical implication of monopsony is that the price of the good is pushed down near the cost of production. The price is not predicted to go to zero because if it went below where the suppliers are willing to produce, they won't produce.

A monopsony producer has significant buying power in the labour market when seeking to employ extra workers. A monopsony employer may use their buying-power to drive down wage rates.
Examples of monopsonic employers might be employer in a small town (a car plant, a major supermarket or the head office of a bank), nursing homes as employers of care assistants. The government also has monopsony power as the major employer in the teaching profession.
Another example in Indian context of a monopsonic employer would be the Indian Cricket Board – Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Playing cricket in India as a full time profession involves very high risk. Perhaps there are thousands of talented cricketers who struggle through life, while the money that can be earned from playing the game gets concentrated with a few dozen cricketers who make it to the international level. This market is made special is because there is only one buyer of their skills. The BCCI is a part of buyers' cartel. In a monopsonic market of BCCI you either are selected to play for the national team or you are confined to play domestic cricket in India where the money earned by players is much below what they should get to consider cricket as a full time profession. A cricketer not selected to play for any of the associated clubs of BCCI has no choice available. Whereas any attempt to provide competition is dealt with hostility as seen in the ICL–IPL face-off.

Changing Times!!!

As the cricket world takes a break for a change, I got an opportunity to think about what has been going on with the teams and cricket in general. There have been a lot of changes, introduction of T-20, introduction of the review system in test matches (tried out in India vs SL series in SL) but topping all that is the change in leadership for most of the teams. Some have been impressive some have not, some might taste success and some might not. Here is what I think is happening with various teams and my thoughts on them.

Australia:
Aussies have been at the helm of the game in all forms of cricket (barring T-20) for quite some time now. Obviously they had the best players of all times in their team but with Warne, Mcgrath, Gilchrist and Langer gone, they are undergoing a rebuilding stage. Mike Hussey and Michael Clarke have been the backbone of their batting order both in Tests and ODIs with Ricky Ponting playing his best cricket in recent years. Also they have seen a lot more committed and sincere Symonds who has been an asset in the lower middle order. It is going to be difficult to find players to replace the legends but they are headed in the right direction. With Phil Jaques coming in for Langer, he has done pretty well thus far in the tests. He still has to be tested against good spin bowling but I think he will be a good opening batsman for Australia with some more experience under his belt. With Hayden having fitness troubles, one doubts whether he will be able to continue for a long time and hence the Aussie selectors need to find another opener (both in ODIs and Tests). They have tried Katich, who has been scoring tons of runs in their domestic circuit but has been a bit inconsistent at the international level. On the bowling front, they have not suffered a lot in the fast bowling department though. Bret Lee has had a meteoric rise and has handled the role of being the lead bowler for the Aussies admirably well. He has been prolific over the last 18 months and has been a big factor in helping Aussies to maintain their supremacy. And then comes the most important part, the captain, Ricky Ponting has enjoyed a very successful stint as the captain, with two ODI world cups and being the best in the test arena as well. But I think he is not a great captain, he has been found wanting in situations where Aussies have been in trouble. He seems to have very limited plans and runs out of ideas when he has to think quickly on his feet. He has been winning as he has had the best players in the side. The Aussie selectors do a commendable job in preparing for the future and have been grooming Michael Clarke as the next captain. He has taken to the responsibility really well and seems to be an exciting prospect to lead Aussies after Ponting's reign is over.

England:
England has had a very poor run in the recent past, both in ODIs as well as the Test matches. Especially when Michael Vaughan was the captain. He was indeed a good captain who had revived England but had nothing more to offer and was running out of ideas as captain. He failed to inspire the team and lost badly to NZ and SA. He was struggling for form with the bat as well which put added pressure on him and he failed to fight off that pressure and finally gave up the captaincy after the series against SA was lost. He could be back as a batsman if he regains his form with the bat, provided his dodgy knees hold on. Flintoff has made yet another comeback and this time it seems he is going to be fit for a while. He has had the frustration of having the same ankle trouble again and again but with the recent performances in Tests and ODIs against SA it seems he is back to his best and is enjoying playing cricket. Ian Bell has been doing well recently and has been a lot more consistent providing solidarity in the middle order. The top order seems settled with Cook and Strauss in the tests. They still need to find a batsman who can fill up the gap at No. 3 in the ODIs. Flintoff has been bowling really well, his spell against Kallis was superb and rejuvinated the England side providing them a much needed boost. And the most important thing to have happened to England - Captaincy for Kevin Peitersen. He has brought a much needed confidence and arrogance to his side. He has been able to inspire the team well and it seems that England now takes the field with only one thing in mind - to win. Peitersen has always been confident about himself and perhaps that has rubbed on to his team. He has backed Harmison to the hilt giving him confidence, and even talking him out of retirement from the ODIs. Harmison has returned the favor by delivering a much improved performance against SA. He took the old ball in the ODIs which I think is best for him. Anderson and Broad have been doing decent job with the new ball with Flintoff and Harmison being the first and second change bowlers. KP has also placed confidence in Owais Shah who has been in and out of the side due to incosistant performances and also limited opportunities. KP has promised him a longer stint and it seems to have worked for now. This means its worrying times for Paul Collingwood as he has not been missed at all in the ODIs and perhaps it is going to be hard for him to keep his place. Peitersen himself has been playing brilliantly with no signs of his batting being affected by the added burden of captaincy. In fact it seems to have challenged him and he always meets the challenges head on. Thats the nature of the beast. Hoefully, the success will continue for some time and England will prove to be a good test for Aussies in the upcoming Ashes.

South Africa:
South Africa has been the second best team for a while, behind Australia. The Proteas took a gamble with Graeme Smith as the captain and the gamble has paid off in grand style. They have enjoyed success in the tests but have been facing problem in ODIs ever since the retirement of Shaun Pollock. Smith has been good with the bat, leading from the front, scoring a match winning ton against England to finally get the elusive test series victory. Hashim Amla seems to have settled well into the no.3 position in the tests and has been quite consistent off late. He had a really good series in India. Kallis like Dravid for India, has been struggling for form off late. This year has been really bad for him. But it was bound to happen as the current poor form has come after almost a decade of relentless run scoring. He has been like a run scoring machine in the last decade, and this poor form only proves that he is human. I am sure he will fight back hard, he put in extra effort in his bowling to compensate with the poor form with the bat. He was the most successful bowler in the recently concluded series against England. Talking of bowling, Ntini has been the mainstay of the SA attack for the past decade but the age has started to catch up on him. He has lost a few yards in pace and has been a lot less penetrative than SA would have liked. Morne Morkel seems an exciting prospect and promises to be a long term prospect for SA. They have enjoyed the success of their new pace sensation - Dale Steyn. He has been the most successful fast bowler in the tests and has been consistant thus far. If Ntini manages to get back to his best then the opening pair can be quite a handful for the rest of the teams. The proteas are immensely missing Shaun Pollock, specially in the ODIs as he was their stock bowler who could choke up the runs. It has been a huge setback for them and Morkel has to work a lot harder to fill that gap. The form of AB deVilliers seems to be a problem as well. He is a good talent but has been very inconsistent. He did score a big hundred in the recent test series, but needs to be a lot more consistent for SA to keep being competitive in the near future. Boucher has been a great servant for the Proteas and continues to be a good contributor with the bat, although not quite in the league of Adam Gilchrist, he gives the same value to the team as Gilly did for Aussies. And finally, the captain Graeme Smith. He has handled the captaincy really well and has managed to avoid the added burden to affect his batting. In fact, he has regained his form and has been their best batsman recently, leading from the front. The tennis elbow however has been a set back, but that gives him the opportunity to take a break and focus on the series against the Aussies.

Sri Lanka:
Lanka have been doing quite well off late. The main reason being the super success of their 'Mystery Bowler' Ajantha Mendis. Batmen have struggled to pick him up and he along with Murali have been to much to handle for the batsmen on the subcontinent pitches. It will be interesting to see though, how effective Mendis will be on overseas wickets where the pitches don't offer any turn. Will SL give preference to Mendis over Murali on pitches outside Subcontinent, as playing two spinners in side will be a remote possibility on such pitches. It will be interesting times for the selectors and the management. Sri Lanka has been fortunate that the role of captaincy seems to have helped Mahela Jayawardene's batting as well. The additional responsibility has made him a lot more consistent batsman and he has been their leading batsman for the past few years along with Kumar Sangakara. They are still sorting out their top order in tests as well as the ODIs while Jayasuriya's career is nearing its end, his recent form has been good. They have a bunch of new bowlers but none seem to be exceptional. Lastih Malinga has been struggling with injuries since the WC and has been out of the squad. Vaas is towards the fag end of his illustrious career for SL. He has been a great servant for SL cricket and recently joined the 400 club in the ODIs, being only the 4th bowler to do so. Over all, I think SL will do well in Subcontinent where they can play 2 spinners in the team but will continue to struggle overseas. Unless they find a good pair of fast bowlers to share the new ball, it is going to be a tough period for them in the near future.

New Zealand:
New Zealand has always amazed me with their competitiveness. They have such a small pool of cricketers and still they keep on being a competitive side and give the best sides a run for their money. Daniel Vettori has been a decent captain thus far. It has been a really tough task for him to take over from Stephen Flemming, one of the best captains they have produced. But he has taken to the responsibility well and has improved on his batting to become a handy lower order batsman. His bowling has been as reliable as ever and being a spinner he has backed Jetan Patel to be his spin partner when the pitches have favored the spinners. Batting has been their main concern though, with Hamish Marshal quitting and no Flemming, their batting is their biggest weakness. Jacob Oram has been struggling for form adding to their troubles. On the bowling front, Chirs Martin and Kyle Mills have been doing a decent job with no services from Bond available anymore. Tim Southee has been their new star with the ball, coming in from the under-19 ranks and making a good impression at the highest level. Jessie Ryder seems to be an exciting prospect as well, but he needs to overcome his disciplinary problems to make his stay a longer one. Their best batsman, Ross Taylor, has loads of talent and can be in the same league as Martin Crowe, but needs to work hard on his concentration and temperament to be more consistent and hold up the NZ batting line together. In all, I think they will continue to compete as they have been doing for a long time.

West Indies:
West Indies really been struggling since their glory days. They have sliding down in the rankings and with lack of investment and basic infrastructure for developing the game they once ruled, it has been really sad to see them in such a state. However, things have started to look up a bit, with a small flash of light at the end of the tunnel. Shivnarain Chanderpaul has been Bradmanesque in the recent months and has tried his best to fill in the void created by Lara's retirement. He has been supported well by Ramnaresh Sarwan and these two form the backbone of Windies middle order. At the top Chirs Gayle has been doing well and his presence makes the team feel a lot more stronger. While Dwayne Bravo has been their best player, a true all rounder, contributing with the bat, ball and in the field. He provides the spark in the side. Another one to have joined him recently is Xavier Marshal. He fearlessness had caught Ausies off guard, him going after Bret Lee was a rare site to see and the ploy coming good was even more joyful to watch. He seems to be of the Virender Sehwag mould, who really doesn't care abt the situation and just trusts his style of play to take him through. If he comes good and manages to stay focused he can easily be their next star player. On the bowling side, Taylor and Edwards have started to settle down into their roles in the test arena, while Darren Powell seems to be settled in the ODI squad to support Taylor. However their is no backup and if anyone gets injured, it is very difficult for Windies to put up a fight against top teams. I think they are heading in the right direction but the selectors need to get over the politics and sponsorship struggles to keep up the rebuilding of the team and move in the direction of regaining the old glory days.

India:
India has had one of their worst batting displays in a test series in the subcontinent since I don't know when. The great India middle order was referred to as a Muddle Order for the lack of application and pathetic failures against the spin duo of Mendis and Murali. Even the hugely experienced Dravid, Sachin and Ganguly struggled to solve the mystery of Mendis and threw in the towel rather tamely, to much chagrin of the Indian fans. And the fact that the young ODI side was able to adapt to the spin duo without the experience has done the work of adding the fuel to the speculation that a change is needed in the test side. I agree that the change needs to happen, no doubt, but is it the right time to do so? Not quite. India should rely on the Famous Four to pull up their socks and show their class against the mighty Aussies in the home series. It will also give them the opportunity to redeem themselves and also the time to think about their future plans. I will not be surprised if one or two seniors announces his retirement after the Aussie series. However, if there is no improvement then the selectors need to look towards the change. The chief selector, Dilip Vengsarkar, admirably, has admitted that some of the youngsters are ready for test cricket. It is a big statement to make, hopefully, it will shake up the Fab Four and we will be able to see a much better performance from them. The selectors need to blood in the players once in a while to give them a feel for what lies ahead for them. This can be done by resting the senior players against the minnows or even when playing a dead rubber. I feel Yuvraj Singh needs to be given the same treatment as Veeru, Ganguly and Zaheer to make him work hard and ask him to make atrocious statements about his future plans. He talks about being a regular in the test team by the end of this year, while I see him struggling to keep his place even in the ODI side. If only the desire to be in the test team for India was a criterion for selection then I would not have been sitting here and writing this blog! Trust me. India has Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and S. Badrinath as the fringe players who have been doing well recently. I believe the selectors have not done justice to Badrinath for all the hard work he has been doing for the past three years. He has been among the top scorers in the domestic circuit and really deserved a test call up. He has been ignored and Yuvraj has been given chances, which he has been sqaundering again and again. On the bowling front, Ishant Sharma should get better with experience, he really toiled hard on the dead Lankan pitches and bent his back to help India to win the second test. I was heartening to see that. Zaheer was ordinary in the tests but gained his rhythm in the ODIs. In fact all the bowlers bowled well in the ODIs. Munaf was perfect as the first change, I think he needs to be backed up and given confidence. He really can be a good ODI bowler for India, if groomed well. The biggest concern for India is in the spin bowling department. It is a surprise as India have always been good in that department. With Kumble towards the end of a stellar career, Harbhajn Singh is pitted as the lead spinner for India in the future. That is worrying me the most. Harbhajan has become more of a ODI bowler and has lost his magic in the tests. His loop is long gone, with the trajectory getting flatter and the speed getting quicker. He has been consistently inconsistent, and get a 5-for only if the opposition batsmen help by playing rash shots and the pitch is a square turner. Hopefully, Pagyan Ojha or Piyush Chawla will be able to raise their standards and help fill in the big hole that will be created once Kumble retires. On the captaincy front, the choice is easy. Dhoni has been amazing, he has a great understanding of the game and he backs his instincts. He also has amazingly adapted to the need of the hour by bringing himself up the order and curbing his natural instincts to pummel the bowlers. He has managed to to so without having to compromise on the rate at which he scores the runs. He runs hard and takes plenty of singles and twos when offered. He has been a true blessing for Indian Cricket. He has been able to inspire the youngsters in the side and backs them to the hilt. Virat Kohli's call up to the ODI team was a surprise, no doubt, even I thought it to be an outrageous move, but Dhoni backed him and gave him the confidence which he has repaid well till now. India may also have to look back at Mohd. Kaif to get in some experience in the test squad for the future. He needs to grab the opportunity with both hands and needs to give consistent good performances in the domestic season to be considered for the opportunity that is sure to present itself in the near future. I hope that selectors will not look at the short term results and take the bold, but right decisions.

Pakistan:
There is really nothing to write about them. I just wonder how they are able to play cricket when the whole country is in such a mess. Really amazing!

Is time ticking fast for the Batch of 1973?

The setback to India in the recently concluded Test series has raised many questions in minds of Indian cricket followers. The 'strong' Indian middle order looked 'muddle order' and failed miserably in the Test Series withSachin, Rahul and Saurav together scoring less than what Virender Sehwag alone did in the entire series. But has the success of the young ODI team in the following ODI series tried to answer few of the questions? I personally thought the collective failure of the Indian middle order as one of those series where they failed to live to their potential but the success of the ODI team has pressed me to give it a second thought.



Traditionally India has had some wonderful batsman right from Ranjit Singhji, Lala Amarnath, Vijay Hazare,Vinoo Mankad, Sunny Gavaskar, Gundappa Vishwanath and Mohd. Azharuddin. But the current middle order has been one of the strongest in the history of Indian Cricket and perhaps world cricket. It has been pleasing to watch the Batch of 1973 donning Indian colours together and giving us some memorable moments in Test cricket and bringing about a turnaround in the fortunes of Indian Cricket. They have been instrumental in changing the perception of the Indian Team from poor travellers to one of the most competitive teams playing away from home. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguly along with VVS Laxman have stood firm and delivered consistently over the last decade. I am sure many Indian fans would feel as proud as I do aboutKolkata (2001), Kandy (2001), Leeds (2002), Adelaide (2003), Multan and Rawalpindi (2004), Kolkata (2005),Jamaica (2005), Johannesburg (2006), Trent Bridge (2007) and Perth (2007).

But should we read something in the failure of our strong middle order in the last two series. Probably its time to do a SWOT analysis.

The trio have distinguished records having scored close to 27000 Test runs between them with two (Rahul andSachin) averaging close to 55. Not long back Sachin returned from Down Under as the top scorer with two centuries and maximum runs he ever scored in any Test Series throughout his career. Dravid has seen one of his worst bad patches in the past 2 years but has chipped in with important innings like the one in Perth andChennai. Saurav played an one of his best test innings on a mine field at Kanpur to square the series against South Africa.

There is no doubt about their caliber and their contribution to the Indian team but the threat to the Indian team is they are not getting any younger. The T20 has influenced cricket in a big way and has increased the pace of the game and it has its effect on Tests and ODIs as well. Fitness is extremely important in today's context and fielding standards of the teams across the world increasing by the day, the batch of 1973 are not really the best to have on the field. Dravid has been extremely safe at slips, Sachin energetic at his best. Past couple of years have shown enough to believe that reflexed of Sachin and Dravid are not what they were few years back. Rahulhas spilled some dollies and Sachin is getting injured more often than he has been in the past. One needs to give them the credit for being so fit for more than a decade with so much cricket being played. Saurav has never been a good athelete and his bowling does not offer much variety either. This has made him a one dimensional player. The failure of all three to adapt to spin bowling in the recent series has raised doubts about the future of these stalwarts of Indian Cricket. One needs to give credit to Muthiah Muralitharan and Ajatha Mendis with the latter surprising the Indian middle order with this unconventional varieties. But the Indians with so much experience behind them and considered to be the best players of spin bowling were unable to decipher the puzzle Mendis and Co (not Muralitharan and Co) threw at them. The intent and application seem to be missing. Indians failed to capitalise on the good starts provided by the openers similar to what had happened when Indians last toured Sri Lanka in 2001.

Imagine a situation when the three would leave Test Cricket and India losing on experience of more than 350 test matches put together. It would create a huge void in the evergreen Indian middle order. The situation would be similar to what Australia faced in 1984 with retirement of Greg Chappell, Kim Huges and Dennis Lilllee in January 1984. It took Australia almost a decade to be a force to reckon in World Cricket post 1984. India with its set up can face a much worse situation. Indian cricket administrators with their vision shorter than memory of Indian cricket fans don't seem to look very far. The problem is India would not like a situation where they have to loose so much of experience within a short span of time. ODI is a different ball game than test cricket. Replacing players of calibers of Sachin, Rahul and Saurav can be no easy tasks. Test cricket throws its own set of challenges where a bowler is not tied with limited overs to bowl at a batsman and rules and pitches increasingly favouring batsman. In ODI's players probably have to worry about 10 overs of Ajantha Mendis and can plan to score against the rest of the attack, but in Test cricket a bowlers comes at you as long as he likes.

Has the time arrived to break the 'Fab Four' as it is called and blood youngsters into the rusty middle order? This can be tricky given the next series this winter against the mighty World Champions. Or does these great batsman deserve another chance to redeem themselves as the best middle order in the world. The current Indian team has had a habit to raise their game when pitted against the best. Playing against the mighty Australians should be motivating enough for Sachin, Rahul and Saurav. Sachin and Rahul have extremely good records against the Aussies and have always lived up to the challenge. It was against the same opposition in 2001 thatRahul Dravid emerged out of his self imposed shackles to script an amazing turnaround in the history of the game with VVS Laxman in Kolkata. Sachin has carried a threat with his name and has been a pain forAustralians most of the time (though his second inning performance in tests have been indifferent by his standards). Sachin and Rahul have been two giant pillars of Indian middle order for the past decade. This leavesSaurav who has made an amazing comeback to the Indian team as the weakest link. I believe somebody needs to talk to our senior players and carve out a plan and help shape their future and of Indian team.

A look at the alternatives is necessary before jumping the gun and closing doors on anybody.

• Yuvraj Singh has established himself as a premier ODI player for India but in Test matches he has been patchy. He has his problems against quality spin bowling and bouncy pitches. Off late he speaks more than he scores :)
• M S Dhoni is a very good leader and brilliant ODI player but he still needs to establish himself in Test matches to earn the respect he needs to lead the side.
• Rohit Sharma has shown promise during the ODI series down under but he needs to tighten his technique and show the hunger for runs to replace players of such high quality.
• S Badrinath has shown promise while handling spin in his first ODI and has been consistent in domestic matches
• Suresh Raina has learnt the lesson the harder way and is showing how good a player he is. He has shown the tendency to throw his wicket away after establishing himself at the crease
• Mohd. Kaif though he doesn't feature in the memory of Indian selectors but is a hard working cricketer who has the experience of representing the country

The options India has are good but they need to be nurtured and mentored to really serve Indian Cricket for a long time. I feel its time for the selectors to blood maybe one of the youngsters in the middle order. This should shake the middle order a bit and create a window for a youngster. Rahul (if he overcomes his own apprehensions and comes out being the wall of Indian middle order) and Sachin (as nobody in Indian Cricket has guts to show the door to him) I believe have another year or two of cricket remaining. After all Steve Waugh and Shane Warnewere fit enough to stretch their careers beyond 38. The youngsters will in return learn a lot from our experienced middle order and will be ready by the time our senior batsman decide to call it a day.

The success of the young Indian ODI team I feel is one of the best things to happen to Indian Cricket in recent times. It has put pressure on the Indian middle order to perform or perish. If they push the middle order to redeem themselves as the best middle order in the series against the Australians then they would add another crowning glory to their distinguished careers. That would be another proud moment for Indian Cricket. If the middle order fails then it simply makes the job of the Indian selectors easier. But do they have the guts and the vision to comply, time will be the best judge!!!

Yuvraj Singh - All Talent No Deliverance

India being a cricket crazy nation and thousands of youngsters taking up the game dreaming of making it big one day and representing the Indian Cricket team, it is not surprising that every now and then it keeps on producing some fresh new faces (more so in case of batting) with a potential of being a good player at the highest level. But they go as they come and the search for the new potential great players with the ability to take up the mantle from the batch of 73 (Sachin, Saurav and Rahul) still continues. Among these youngsters was a player with immense talent and his potential of being a great player for India was recognized by anyone who saw him bat in the U-19 World Cup in January 2000. It was none other than Yuvraj Singh, the tall, lanky left hander with a lazy demeanor who would transform into a stylish, hard hitting yet classy and a fearless batsman with the bat in his hand. He dominated the bowling attacks in the WC and easily built a reputation of being a match winner with the ability to clear the boundary with ease and at will. Winning the U-19 World Cup provided him the perfect launch pad to perform and get noticed by the National Selection Committee to earn a call up for the national duty. His performances did not go unnoticed and he was immediately sent to the then newly formed National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

India, known for its tradition of blooding players at a very young age, Yuvraj did not have to wait long to represent the Indian team in colored clothing. He made his debut against Kenya at Nairobi, in the ICC Knockout Trophy in Oct. 2000, billed as the "Mini World Cup". He did not get much of a chance in that game but it was the next match that marked his arrival onto the big stage. It was the perfect set up to stamp his authority and cement his place in the ODI team, and he delivered in grand style. It was the quarterfinal against Australia, with India being put in to bat. Yuvraj batting at the number 5 position, came in to join Vinod Kambli at the crease with the team in a precarious situation having lost the big three (Sachin, Saurav and Rahul) with the score at 90. Yuvraj occupied the crease and played one his most memorable innings in the ODIs. He scored a jaw dropping 84 in only 80 balls, never showing any nerves of playing against the World Champions in a knock out match. He played his natural game with much aplomb, taking the attack to the Aussie bowlers even though the wickets fell regularly at the other end. He helped India to a decent total of 265 that India managed to successfully defend. As a result Yuvraj became an overnight star and it was as if he was destined to become the next big thing in Indian Cricket.

However, as everything that shines is not gold, Yuvraj's scintillating performance was only a momentary flash of brilliance that he could not produce on a regular basis. The failures and inconsistency were attributed to his youth and lack of experience and over the years the selection committees always backed him to come good and deliver based on his talent. He kept on struggling for consistency but kept on producing a match winning innings that would re-affirm the faith and trust that the Indian fans and the selectors showed in him. One such innings was in the Natwest Series Final at Lord's against England where the hosts had scored 325/5 with the help of fine centuries by their captain Nasser Hussain and opener Marcus Trescothick. It was always going to be a formidable total for Indians to chase but they set up the chase in the best possible manner with Virender Sehwag and Captain Sourav Ganguly providing a flying start. The duo had an opening stand of 106 in a little over 14 overs. Ganguly went first and was soon followed by Sehwag allowing England to get back into the game. The next 3 batsmen could add only 40 runs to the total and India was looking at a big defeat being 146-5 even before the 25 overs mark was reached. Yuvraj Singh and Mohd. Kaif played the innings of their lives building a partnership of 121 runs from just 17.4 overs. Yuvraj again showed no fear and played his natural attacking game scoring 69 off 63 balls studded with 9 fours and a six. Although Mohd. Kaif played equally well, the finesse in Yuvraj's strokes was breathtaking. He took the attack to the English bowlers who had no clue where to bowl him at. Again, the hopes were raised in the hearts of Indian fans that a prospective legend had finally matured and understood his responsibility. It was all too flattering to deceive as Yuvraj failed to gain any consistency, yet again.

India then were fortunate to get Greg Chappell as coach in 2005, who emphasized on selecting a team based on performance and not on reputation. He had made it clear that one had to perform well to be in the team and would remain in the team only if one performed consistently at the highest level. Many players including Yuvraj had criticized this policy alleging that the players were under too much pressure to perform. But as some of the senior players were shown the door based on their poor performances, players did not have any other choice but to perform well. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Yuvraj as he had the best three years of his cricketing career under Greg Chappell. He appeared to have matured and become responsible after being appointed as the Vice Captain of the ODI team. He averaged 41.95, 53.06 and 45.96 in 2005, 2006 and 2007 respectively. This was the longest run of consistency that he has exhibited in his entire cricketing career till now. Once Greg Chappell's term as the coach got over (after the early exit from the WC 2007) Yuvraj Singh appears to have gone back to his old ways, playing short, exquisite innings reminding everyone of how gifted a player he is, but getting out playing reckless and irresponsible shots way too often to get dismissed cheaply. He has failed to show any grit and determination to struggle it out in the middle if the batting conditions are not favorable, his weakness against quality spin bowling has become even worse. It seems he has failed to put in any amount of effort to work on his batting against spin bowling as his weakness against a turning ball has become way too obvious and one is not surprised to see him being easily foxed by the spinners. Off late he has been able to get high scores only against weaker sides on flat batting tracks of the subcontinent. The only exception being the T20 World Cup where he played some memorable innings in crucial matches. But the Australian tour that followed was his worst and he struggled to get a decent score throughout the tour (including the practice games, test matches and the Tri-Series).

What has been disturbing even more is the way he has been publicly speaking of harbouring dreams of being the ODI captain of India. He should just have a look at his batting record, he has been playing for Indian for 9 years and still at no point in his career till date has his career batting average touched 40 (which is considered the benchmark for good players). It would be much more beneficial for him personally as well as the Indian fans if he let his bat do the talking instead of using his mouth. It has been baffling to see his statements about critics slamming him for his partying ways off the field, defending it as his personal life and stating that he wants to live his life to the fullest. Well, no one really cares what he does off the field as long as he performs well on it. It is high time the Indian selectors took a heed of things going on with Yuvraj and make him aware of his run scoring duties. Make him realize that playing for India is not a child's play and demands a lot of discipline on personal level. The fans have been patient thus far but I guess their patience has started to give away as well, that is the reason it did not surprise anyone when he was dropped from the test side that has been picked for the upcoming series against Sri Lanka. It is really important for him to realize this at the earliest or else he will be forgotten soon and will be an addition to the long list of cricketers who had the talent but could not leave their mark at the highest level. He has been fortunate enough to have survived for 9 years at the highest level, but it seems that even the time is running out on him.

Greg Chappell - A Blessing In Disguise For Indian Cricket

This time I have chosen to express my views about the topic that I think would have been discussed by all the keen followers of Indian Cricket. The contribution of the former coach of India and legendary Australian batsman - Greg Chappell, to the Indian Cricket.

Greg Chappell was appointed as the coach of Indian team after the former Kiwi batsman John Wright, successfully completed his tenure and decided not to extend his contract with the BCCI as the coach of Indian cricket team. The process adopted by the BCCI for the selection of the next coach was a really lengthy but a rigorous one. A set of criterion was decided upon for screening all the candidates that had applied for the prestigious, but a very scrutinizing job. Also the BCCI had appointed a committee of former captains and players to help them select the right candidate for the job. The committee comprised of Venkat Raghavan, Kapil Dev, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. They screened each and every candidate, looked at their credentials and interviewed them. The committee finally decided on two candidates to be considered for the job, Greg Chappell and Mohinder Amarnath. Both the candidates were asked to make presentations pertaining to their future vision for the development of Indian cricket and how they could help the Indian team as a coach. Based on the presentations Greg Chappell was offered the job which he gladly accepted.

Greg Chappell had always been a very shrewd cricketer when he represented Australia and was known to do anything for winning a game. He was the captain who had ordered his younger brother, Trevor, to bowl the final ball of the match as an underarm delivery against NZ, to make sure the Kiwis were not able to score the required 6 runs from the final delivery, bear in mind not to win but to tie the game. This meant that Australia would go on to win the third match of the five match series to be played in the finals of Benson and Hedges World Series Cup in Feb 1981. The delivery was not technically illegal but was considered against the spirit of the game and since is considered as one of the most disgraceful incidents ever to have happened in the history of the game. Although he was considered a lesser astute captain than his elder brother Ian, he still managed to win 21 out of the 48 tests that he played as a captain, losing only 13. Since his retirement,he had been an Australian selector, a coach for Queensland, and a consultant for Pakistan's National Cricket Academy before becoming the coach of the Indian cricket team.

When he was appointed as the coach of the Indian cricket team, the team had been doing well under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly (one of the best Captains India has ever produced in my opinion) but had started showing loss of form in ODIs and had made a habit of reaching the finals of a tournament and ending up as the runners up, hence being tagged as chokers in the media. Ganguly himself was having a difficult time as a batsman and questions were being raised over his place in the team as a batsman. Chappell wanted to have a playing eleven selected on the basis of performance and not reputation and thus, was himself not happy with the selection of Sourav Ganguly. Things got worse between them and finally everything came out in the open when a letter by Greg Chappell to the BCCI about his concerns and the factions that Sourav Ganguly was creating within the team to keep his place, was leaked to the media. India were touring Zimbabwe at the time and Ganguly, to his relief, had scored a century, though against a weakened Zimbabwean side. BCCI finally acceded to Chappell's request and Ganguly was sacked as the captain and was unceremoniously (but justifiably) ousted from the team. Even Ganguly himself has stated that his only disappointment was with the way he was removed from the team and not why he was shown the door.

As usual there were huge protests, specially in Kolkata, by the supporters of Ganguly. The then chairman of the selection committee, Kiran More, had made it clear that Ganguly would not make it back to the team unless he gained his form and worked on his fitness. Rahul Dravid was appointed as the captain and India started really well under his captaincy. He too was impressed with Chappell's idea of selection based on performance and the ability of the batsmen to play at any position as required in the game. Unfortunately, the Indian players took it as a threat to their secured positions in the team and started to raise questions. Concerns over the coaching ways of Chappell were being raised from within the team. Meanwhile the team did really well in test matches, specially overseas where they won series in the WI, won a test in South Africa, drew a series against England but then had a tough tour against South Africa and WI in the ODIs, just before the 2007 WC that was to be held in the WI. Despite Chappell's efforts to prepare a young side for the WC, the selection committee surrendered under the pressure to bring back the players based on reputation for the WC. Obviously, Chappell was not happy with the team given to him but had no other option but to take the squad to the WI for the WC. What happened next will never be washed away from the memories of the Indian Cricket fans. India lost to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to crash out of the WC in the first phase.

As expected, fans back home were furious but unfortunately the blame was being put on Greg Chappell. Chappell had finished his contract and decided not to extend his contract as the coach after taking the responsibility for the abysmal performance in the WC. Before he left though, he submitted a report to the BCCI on his assessment of the players that he thought would be the future of Indian cricket team. He specifically mentioned that India were lucky to have found MS Dhoni, as he thought Dhoni was a really good captaincy material. He also mentioned that Suresh Raina was as talented as Tendulkar and should be given time to mature into a great batsman. Although Raina was not able to live up to the expectations and was rightly shown the door, he has come back strongly and has started to realize the talent that he has been blessed with. Dhoni has already proved how good a captain and a player he is, with wins in the T20 WC and the astonishing series victory over Australia, in Australia. He has improved by leaps and bounds as a keeper too. Dhoni has followed the same policy that Greg Chappell had initially embarked upon, rewarding the players based on the performance, as a result India has seen the rise of Gautham Gambhir who had been a consistant performer for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, but could never make a place for himself due to Ganguly's presence. Now that Dhoni has clearly told the selection committee that he wants a young side, and has done well thus far, it has proved to be the right policy to keep Ganguly, Dravid, Kumble out of the ODI side.

Having said that, I would like to make a point to all the Ganguly fans, who would say that Ganguly showed a lot of character by coming back to the Indian side and making runs consistently since his comeback. I agree, it was really heartening to see Ganguly show some guts to fight it out and come back to be on top of his game, but the only reason he was able to do so was because of Greg Chappell. Ganguly was ousted of the team and was as a result able to work on his batting, spend some time playing in the domestic season, working on his batting and fitness, which resulted in him regaining the lost form and making the incredible comeback that everybody has witnessed.

Indian cricket fans should be thankful to the former coach who fought his way through the traditional establishments of Indian cricket and changed the mindset of the selectors to focus on the performance rather than the reputation of the players. I hope that his contribution to the development of the new era of Indian cricket will not be forgotten, and will be and should be appreciated by the cricket crazy fans in India and all over the world.

25 June 1983 - Defining moment of Indian Cricket

25 years hence to this day, it is unbelievable that 25 June 1983 still remains the biggest day ever in the history of Indian Cricket. ODI number 223 still is the biggest upset and India's most memorable win. Yes, India did win the Prudential World Cup and created history which is still fresh in the minds of many Indians. The decisive moment when Mohinder Amarnath trapped Micheal Holding plumb in front of the wicket and what resulted was total chaos. Indian players ran with whatever memorabilia they could have viz. stumps, balls, bails etc straight into the Lords Pavilion. Few images of that win which are unforgettable are - Balwinder Singh Sandhu castling Gordon Greenidge with a big in swinger, Kris Srikkanth square driving Andy Roberts and later hooking him for a six, Kapil Dev running backward to catch the World Cup (yes. It was Viv Richards who was standing in between an Indian victory and defeat and was threatening to run away with the game), Kapil lifting the World Cup in the Lords gallery, Sunil Gavaskar holding Kapil's hands waiving the tri-colour recreates that magic.

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It was believed to be a mismatch and West Indies expected to pulverise the Indian Team which had few achievements in ODI before the series began. The only exception was defeating West Indies at Berbice by 72 runs. That was the only notable victory. India's previous disastrous campaigns are well remembered for Sunny Gavaskar's pain stacking 36 n.o. off major part of 60 overs. But the Indian Team under Kapil Dev were destined for great things. They started the World Cup with an unexpected win over West Indies which I believe gave them the confidence to match the strong West Indies team in the finals. India's road to final was not extraordinary but had important contributions from most of the players. Roger Binny and Madan Lal share the honours of being the highest wicket takers in the Prudential Cup. Sandeep Patil, Yashpal Sharma, Kirti Azad and Kris Srikkanth chipped in with important contributions at crucial moments. Mohinder Amarnath sizzled with both bat and ball in the semi finals and final. Gavaskar and Srikkanth gave a steady and important first wicket stand in the semi finals. Kapil Dev contributed with the brilliant catch to dismiss Sir Viv Richards in the final and with the bat in what is still the most amazing and most important one day innings in the history of Indian Cricket. An inning which any cricketer would dream of. An unbeaten 175 n.o. against minnows Zimbabwe when none of the other batsman were able to put bat on ball and hence saved India from an embarrassing defeat and paved the path to the knock outs. Syed Kirmani admits to have made the most important 24 runs in the same match when Kapil was going berserk at the other end. That innings really brought the self belief in the Indian team and they started believing that they could go on and win the tournament. Sadly the innings was not broadcasted because of a strike by BBC (the broadcasters)



25 years down the line when we look back, the summer of 1983 was more than a turning point in Indian Cricket and for more than one reason.

1. Indian Cricket started believing in itself and the win laid down a platform for many more victories like the World Series victory in 1985 down under. Kapil's Devils showed how to play a team sport where each individual felt himself to be a part of the team and it reflected in the performances.
2. It played a key role in popularising the sport in India. Colour Television had just entered Indian space an year before the World Cup. It helped to bring cricket World Cup outside England and Asia successfully hosted the subsequent edition. It was the first step towards India becoming a cricket superpower.
3. The achievements also inspired many fellow Indians to dream. Dream about playing cricket, emulate Kapil paaji when you have a ball in hand, play like Sunny Gavaskar. A young all rounder from Haryana inspired people from smaller centers to dream of making it big in cricket.
4. Cricket in India started to be taken seriously and the players started earning more as cricket brought big money into the country. In fact BCCI at that time had to organise a show by Lata Mangeshkar to raise money to pay the World Cup winning heroes.

But 25 year since that golden summer it is disappointing to believe that World Cup still remains the biggest achievement. Subsequent teams have failed to learn from the champions of 1983 and live the true spirit of the game. Sadly, intolerance and impatience is the new definition of aggression. Today players believe age and belligerence are a substitute to skill and performance. Teams with promise fluttered briefly before losing steam but there was the BCCI which was able to make the most of the popularity and became one of the richest governing bodies of sports in the world.  They made all the right moves when it came to unleash their clout and prowess making India the financial powerhouse of the world. But the fortunes of the BCCI and Indian team always suffered from perennial astigmatism. There have been flashes in the pan but the enthusiasm and hope fizzles out. The effort of the board has been too short sighted. Few innovative ideas which tried to bring a new dimension to the sport and propel the development process needed in the infrastructure to run the sport progressively and efficiently, unfortunately had to surrender to the monopsony of the BCCI. BCCI lost some of the jewels of Indian cricket to rebel league and the stand off even threatened to dampen the silver jubilee celebrations.

The silver jubilee celebrations at Lords were possible because of the ingeniousness of Kapil Dev and Sunny Gavaskar who tried to put aside the differences and celebrate a truly great moment. Now that we have rejoiced, Indian cricket lived another day, let us hope that by the time next celebrations occur, Indian cricket fans shall have many more joyous moments to cherish and savour. Team India might have won T20 World Cup, played out of the skins down Under and playing consistently with youngsters contributing to the teams success but let us hope this team will emulate the feats of the 1983 team and give us another moment to savour like the Kapil's Devils.

Curtly Ambrose - The Ultimate Bowling Machine

Immaculate line and length, speed fast enough to make the best of the batsmen hop around, height to gain that extra bit of bounce on the most placid of wickets, and a stare that sent a chill down any batsman's spine - that is what comes to one's mind when one hears the name Curtly Ambrose. Everything about this bowler from the small island of Antigua was big. A height of 6ft. 7 in. with long stilt like legs, long arms, humongous hands which made the cricket ball in his hand look like a ping pong ball, big staring eyes and yes the big lips than made one think what would they look like when they would be swollen!!!

With all the attributes for being a fast bowler, it wasn't cricket that Curtly loved as a sport when he was a young boy. In fact, he never loved cricket, quite an astonishing fact given the dominance of West Indies in the world of cricket at the time. He loved basketball and football. Despite the fact that he did not like the game, the physical attributes that he possessed were too obvious to be ignored and fortunately for us, he was forced by his village to play for his school. He played his first serious (with actual cricket ball and not a tennis ball) game at the age of 21 !!! Which by today's standards, is almost the age by which bowlers in India have represented their state (if not the country) in more than 50 matches! Fortunately, Curtly took it as a matter of pride to excel in whatever he did and as a result he took to cricket as a pure profession and aimed to be at the top of it. He quickly made his way up through the ranks, from representing his village in 1984, to representing the Antigua and Barbuda XI in 1985, and then making it to the Leeward Islands XI, playing alongside some of the biggest names in the West Indies; Viv Richards and Richie Richardson. He had a rocketing start to his career and was soon able to break through into the West Indies team in 1988. He was now in the team that had the famous fast bowling attack headed by Malcolm Marshall, who was joined by another upcoming bowler at that time - Courtney Walsh, with whom Curtly would form a formidable pair for the next decade.

Any young bowler would have struggled to keep up with the pressure of being a West Indian fast bowler and the reputation that was associated with it. But Curtly took it as a challenge, of not being the weakest link in the West Indian bowling attack. He was a quick learner and acquired as much as he could by watching and speaking with Marshall and Walsh. He honed his skills under their watchful eyes and soon acquired the skill of bowling the nagging line and length to the batsmen that he later became famous for. His desire to be on the top of his profession made him the most aggressive and meanest of fast bowlers to have ever represented the West Indies. His duals with the Waugh brothers are legendary, specially the one with Steve Waugh, where both the players were seen eyeballing each other only to have Richie Richardson, the then West Indian captain and a good friend of Curtly, to drag him away to prevent any mishap. Steve Waugh has later mentioned about the incident in his autobiography stating that it was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made on a cricket field and for a moment feared for his life. He also went on to say that Ambrose was the best fast bowler he had ever faced.

One of the defining moments of his career was the spell of 7 for 1 (Yes, its 7 wickets for 1 run !!!) that he bowled at the WACA (Perth) against the Aussies. He had not bowled well in the morning session and knowing the fact that his team relied on him for a comeback, he bowled the devastating spell after the lunch. Aussies were all out for 119 and the Windies went on to win the game by an innings inside 3 days. Another of his many outstanding performances was his effort of 8-45 against England in Barbados, where the Windies were trailing 0-1 in the series. The effort won them the test and helped them to carry the momentum into the final test to win by an innings and keeping their record of not losing a series to England in the West Indies intact. There was also the unforgettable demolition of England at Trinidad in 1993-94 where he took 6-24 to skittle England out for 46, the lowest total in the history of test cricket at the time. He always enjoyed bowling against England and also against the Aussie in Australia. He never lost a test match playing at the WACA, Windies won them all when he played !!!

There was also another incident that comes to the memory, an ODI between Aussies and the West Indies, where Dean Jones asked Curtly Ambrose to remove his white wrist bands, as he claimed, were making it difficult for him to spot the white ball coming out of Curtly's hand. Curtly had to, unwillingly, remove them and replace them with red ones. This angered the giant and he bowled one of his fastest spells in ODIs, Jones was lucky enough not to have faced him as he got out early to another bowler, but his teammates were cussing him for what he had brought upon them. Curtly was not only aggressive and mean but was also a very clever bowler, as was seen when he bowled a slower ball without any change in his action to clean up Ian Healy in an ODI. Healy was so undone by the change in pace that he was already through with his pre-determined hoick over midwicket before the ball reached him and was clean bowled. He was so embarrassed that he could only afford a smile and watch Ambrose laugh his guts out as he enjoyed it to the hilt. Another of his trademarks was his celebration after getting a wicket. The hand jiving wicket celebration, with his wrists twisted to make them look like wings of a dove and the high fives with all his team members.

Curtly had done it all, but the only regret that he had when he retired was not having won a World Cup, he came very close to realizing that dream in the 1996 World Cup in the Sub-continent where they suffered a heart breaking loss to Australia in the Semi Finals at Mohali, by 5 runs. He finally retired at the age of 37, on September 4, 2000 playing his last test against England at the Oval. He finished with the tally of 405 wickets in 85 tests with an astonishing average of 20.99 and 225 wickets in 176 ODIs with an average of 24.12 and a mean economy rate of 3.48 runs per over.

He has now started a musical band with one of his best friends and former West Indies captain Richie Richardson where he plays the bass guitar. He does not follow cricket diligently but manages to watch a game or two once in a while.

My favorite fast bowler, the mean bowling machine and professionalism personified - Curtly Ambrose.

New Zealand Tour Of England

Well, I have been looking forward to write blogs on the sport that I have played, loved and adored my whole life. I am a fan of the game and not a team per se. I do have a few favorite players but not just from India. Finally, with the help of my friend I now will be able to express my views in this world of blogs.

Let me start with the current series between England and the New Zealand. England has been the team of not so great players, that you are made to believe are or were great players. May be it has to do with them being the "originators" of the game. New Zealand on the other hand is a nation that loves sports, be it Cricket, Hockey or Rugby (Not necessarily in the same order). Despite having a really small population and an even smaller pool of players to choose from it is quite amazing the standard of cricket that has been on display by their team for the past decade or two.

Enough, about the history, lets focus on the current series where NZ have, once again, shown great character, a great fight in the second test but all being too flattering to deceive at the end. A lot was expected from Daniel Vettori on the final day of the test, with the ball spinning and gripping the surface. And with England needing a target of over 250, it should have been a good target to defend. Traditionally, Old Trafford has been the favorite hunting ground for Monty Panesar. And he once again proved that he is the best in England when it comes to spin bowling. He bamboozled the NZ top order and stopped them from getting an unassailable lead. This should have given the NZ captain a lot of confidence to win the game for his team on the final day of a test match. He had claimed a five for in the first innings stamping his authority on the English batsmen, but could not do much when a big effort was required from him on the final day.

For England, Andrew Strauss had a good game after a long time spent in the wilderness. He has at least managed to save his position at the top for a few tests. Ryan Sidebottom has been a revelation for England and has been rewarded for his untiring efforts last season with the Player of the Year award for England. Overall, it was an evenly contested test match that went to the last day and had all the attributes of being a humdinger but the expectations were too much and the pressure showed on Vettori and his men.

Looking forward to the 3rd test, England will be very confident with the win but would be looking forward to Kevin Petersen to score some runs as he has been out of form for a while. Also Paul Collingwood will be coming back from an injury and should be fresh and ready for the final test. England have found another prospective all rounder in Stuart Broad who has been successfully able to fill in the void created by Flintoff's absence. On the other hand, NZ have plenty to worry about, their batting has be erratic, James Marshall who was the most in form batsman during the warm up games has not been able to produce the same at the highest level, Ross Taylor needs to be a lot more consistent to do justice to his immense talent. The biggest worry for NZ will be the form of Jacob Oram, particularly his struggle against Sidebottom and the short ball. He did produce a great hundred under pressure in the first test but he has openly admitted of his problems against Sidebottom. One can only wish that he stands up to the challenge and raises his game to give NZ a chance at leveling the series.

As is the case in most of the matches that they play in, NZ will go into the third test as the underdogs (which they admit is a tag which they enjoy as it takes the pressure off their team) and England with a resounding win at Old Trafford, will be the favorites to win the series. So will it be another occasion where the Kiwis will fight hard but will still be short of pulling up a win or will the momentum take to a series clinching victory? Only time will tell.

One of the toughest fighters of all time - Steve Rodger Waugh

I start this blog as a die-hard cricket fan along with a very old friend of mine who is as crazy as me for this wonderful sport. We share similar passion for the sport which I feel is above any individual who has ever played cricket.

It was 1996 World Cup in India which really pulled me deeper into this sport and since then I have been an avid cricket follower sometimes following some of the most insignificant games between weakest nations but still there was fun in doing that. There are few players who have been my personal favourite since long time. I want to write first blog here on a player who I simply admire. It was a tough choice to select between these two fantastic cricketers – Steve Waugh and Brian Lara. Both have contrasting styles and different approaches to the game but both have been truly great players.

I decided to write on Steve Waugh. My decision may have been influenced because today being his birthday. But nevertheless he has been a legendary player with some terrific qualities as an individual. He had limited talent as a batsman but he maximised it. A player who was always susceptible to short pitch bowling throughout his 17 year long career but bowed out with 10000+ runs in his kitty. Though he was not very exciting to watch as a player but the number of valuable knocks he played for Australia makes him stand apart. He is an icon and a role model for many of his team mates. His trademark stroke - square drive which was not the best to watch but was very effective. He had his own share of superstitions as he always kept a red rag in his pocket and was obsessed with his 168-match old ‘baggy green’ cap.

As a player Steve Waugh left an impression early in his career during the 1987 World Cup when he played a major role as an all-rounder in Australia winning their first World Cup. Allan Border using him brilliantly as a bowler on slow low Indian pitches. Steve Waugh showed first signs of what a brilliant player he was to be and showed terrific temperament performing under pressure which has been a hallmark throughout his career.

Steve Waugh was very good at playing mind games which he used as an important weapon later in his career when he captained Australia. Some 13 years ago Steve Waugh was instrumental in changing the world order in cricket when an inspired Aussie team defeated West Indies in their own den. West Indies were never defeated in a home series for 15 years prior to that epic series. Waugh brothers were the chief architects of that historic win against an intimidating West Indian attack with Steve Waugh making a brilliant double hundred and his twin brother Mark Waugh making a scintillating 126. Steve Waugh took the attack to the opposition throughout the series and walked away with honours during that series which proved to be a tectonic shift in Cricket. He has played many such inspiring knocks.

There were innumerable instances where he proved his worth to his team. He reserved his best for England and was a nemesis for them throughout his career especially during the 1989 Ashes. He played another gem of an innings during 2001 Ashes when he had torn a muscle in his leg and could have easily sat in the pavilion. But he decided to grace the Oval crowd (incidentally this was his last test on English soil) with a chance less 157 not out.

Adversity brought out the best in Steve Waugh. That was the value he brought with him to the team. Some of his best knocks have been under tremendous pressure and he always seemed to make his wicket count mostly when the chips were down. Be it the 1999 WC Super Six encounter where he saved Australia (who were on verge of being ousted from the tournament) with a fighting 120 against South Africa in a do or die match. The match will always be remembered as Steve Waugh passing a mocking remark to Herschelle Gibbs - "How does it feel to drop the World Cup, Herschelle?". Australia went on to win the World Cup for the second time.

Steve Waugh captained Australia with distinction in both forms of the game and his captaincy moulded his Australian team into world beaters. He has been one of the most successful captains in history of Australian cricket. Captaincy also helped him become a better player. His team was instrumental in pushing the pace of Test Cricket as his mighty team won many matches well inside four days. It was this aspect of his captaincy which took the game of Australians to a higher level and made them invincible. He was never affected by the hype or media scrutiny which as a high profile captain he might have gone through.

Steve Waugh carried forward the legacy of strong Australian captaincy and led Australia to a record 16 consecutive Test victories which was halted by the Indians at the famous Test Match in Kolkata. But again in that match he fought hard and played with the tailenders to amass a huge total. His knock of 110 could not help Australia to a world record 17th consecutive win as he underestimated the resolve of an Indian team inspired by VVS Laxman which would go down as one of the few aberrations in an above distinction career both as a player and as a captain. He ended his career with most capped Test player making over 10000 runs with an excellent average of 51 and centuries against all Test playing nations.

He inspired his team on many occasions with his resolve and determination. Though his statistics would not reveal his true contribution in fourth innings of a match as he has only 2 fifties in the fourth innings in his entire career. But his mighty Australian outfit hardly played in 4th innings as they would finish matches much before that. It was apt that he played his most important knock in the fourth innings of a match in his farewell match at Sydney where he stood in between the series win for the Indian team with a solid knock of 80 which in a sense was a meriting culmination to a wonderful Test career.

Steve Waugh’s association with Kolkata has been a long one. Right from the memorable first World Cup win to the historic loss to India to his efforts to raise funds for children suffering from leprosy in ‘Udayan’, Kolkata. I am in total awe of this truly great player and an image which first comes to mind when I recall Steve Waugh is his ability to produce something special in difficult conditions. Steve Waugh is an icon in an era where his fighting contributions have been overshadowed by flamboyance and genius of players like Sachin Tendulkar, Brian Lara and Mark Waugh. But in terms of value as a player and as a captain Steve Rodger Waugh would be much higher.