The 2006-07 Irani Trophy match, the traditional opener of Indian domestic cricket season, will end tomorrow in the first session. A third day finish is a shame and shows the lack of depth Indian cricket batting finds itself facing. The argument raised would be that Rohit Sharma was excluded from the Rest of India team. Sharma has played in the Deodhar Trophy team before and despite how big this opportunity would have been for him, he will get his chances in the upcoming Duleep Trophy games. He has only played 2 first class games till now many more chances will come his way for sure.

Balaji, who wasn’t included in the squad initially, and only made the team after Sreesanth was injured found himself selected in the XI ahead of the young Yo Mahesh. Given Balaji has just come back to the game, he would cherish every chance of match practice and even though he struggled with his line in the game which showed he was no where close to international levels required, he has to be given more time.

Praveen Kumar played a rash shot before looking very good. He is an aggressive batsman though he has to improve on his average. The potential exists. Bowling wise, he is at 125-135 which is great for some one whom people are slating as not among the main bowlers. He has played very less so far and will be interesting to see how he develops. Definitely some one who can play at least one day cricket for India down the years.

Wasim Jaffer went back to his main pace bowlers after the good start Uttar Pradesh got when he could have easily gone for Ojha. It was a first day wicket and despite it slowing considerably after the good carry it offered in the first session, the move proved right as Uttar Pradesh folded for 148 runs. V.R.V. Singh was guilty of bowling no balls and not being upto it in the recently concluded challenger series despite getting the man of series award. However, here, he bent his back in humid conditions over after over for nine consecutive overs and bowled consistently at around the same spot which was a sight to see. He didn’t have any wickets to show for it but then cricket isn’t a fair game.

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In an interview, Tendulkar has said that experiments are good from time to time. However, experiments should not be so much that players do not know their roles in the team. These remarks come at the backdrop of numerous experiments by India over the past 18 months. Coming from a player of Tendulkar’s stature, the words carry weight. Before this, a lot of people - former players and media personnel apart from fans have been critical of the amount of experiments by India but they did not come to much as the players themselves had shown no sign of uncertainty.

The situation now is a bit different. A video clipping has also shown Md. Kaif speaking on the same lines. So do players know what is expected of them in the Champions Trophy at least if not the world cup? Do they even have a hint why they are being asked to perform the roles they are being asked? It is important the team think tank (Dravid and Chappell) answer these questions to the players as it is they who are to perform in the end and if they do not know their roles, they cannot obviously go out there in the middle and perform what is expected of them.

Given the world cup is just six months away, it is important the experiments stop to a large extent now as well. If you cannot decipher who has what role to play in 18 months, how can you do it in 22 months? How many of the current lot are certainties for the world cup? As we come closer to the tournament, we should have more and more players certain of their specific roles and more and more players should be close to certainties in the team so that we have a core group of players from whom we can expect a laudable performance.

The bowling attack has developed and moved from strength to strength but we still find a Sreesanth out of a crucial tournament like a Champions Trophy for example. Is he not in the plans of the team? If he is, would a young player like him not have benefited from a big tournament like the champions trophy? The problem is not if the answer to these questions is a yes or a no but the uncertainty which comes up when these questions crop up. What about Anil Kumble? If his poor fielding didn’t stop him from being a key one day player for all these years, why should it be a problem now? He had a poor run in one dayers after which he was dropped but his test match outings clearly show that he has not lost it. So why should Kumble, the best Indian bowler of the past 15 years, not be in the reckoning?

The batting, traditionally India’s strength, is more of the worrying factor. Sehwag has been poor in the past 24 months and has averaged only 28 this year. Harsha Bhogle has mentioned that only two players look good enough to enter the frame for the team right now apart from those in the team already - Laxman and Ganguly. The lack of options we have is the scary part more than whom we select in the end. That we do not know yet who will bat at which position adds to the problem.

It is not late still. The Indian cricket team consists of a bunch of talented individuals and Tendulkar seems to be finally back in form and some level of physical fitness. It is time we step up before it is too late and we look back at what could have been achieved rather than what was.

Update: Here is the cricinfo report on the topic with views of Dravid, Chappell as well.

Munaf Patel is tall but not very tall. However the high arm action means that he extracts awkward bounce off a length just short of good length. As a result, he is very difficult to play and not just get away for runs. Comparisons to McGrath have been made and they are not completely unjustified. However, it will be unust to Patel to put such huge expectations on him.

One aspect which he has lacked so far in his career has been the accuracy. How difficult it is to attain accuracy has often been under played. Patel has gone down the path of becoming more accurate at the cost of losing pace. Now pace is a weapon which not many have and so I am always against a bowler who can bowl fast to sacrifice his natural edge. One school of thought is that as bowlers have little room for error in a ground like Kinrara (small stadium), Patel is going for honing his accuracy. I have no qualms with this approach if it is only a short term measure.

When Patel can get the batsmen in uncomortable positions on a Kinrara pitch because of the bounce from the just short of good length, the potential on a more bouncier pitch like say pitches in South Africa is immense. Get back to the normal 90 miles Patel bowls at and keep the accuracy close to what he is getting in Malaysia and you have a dangerous bowler.

What is missing in the Patel armoury? Variation. You need to swing the ball both ways and even reverse it if you can and keep the batsmen guessing. A hindrance for Patel which has been stated often is his high arm action as opposed to the round arm action of say Ajit Agarkar (who has every delivery in his kitty). I don’t see why Patel cannot develop variations in his bowling. Patel has already shown that he is a keen student of the game and in due course, he is bound to get more weapons.

South Africans are among the best players of pace bowling in the world. You need more than just pace and accuracy to get the best of them. You need to pitch the ball at the right spot and outfox the batsman as well with variation. I hope he doesn’t change the length drastically there because a common mistake bowlers have made when they get more bouncier pitches is start bowling shorter. The hook and pull not being a problem for the batsmen, that means easy runs. It is a mistake Srinath often made.

I am looking forward to how Patel bowls in South Africa and regardless of how he fares, it will show us how far he has developed and give us a glimpse at what more Patel needs to do to improve further.

Update: Visa problems at the last minute means I can’t leave Calcutta. The plan has been cancelled. Maybe some other place for some other sporting event some other time. Sigh.

Just as Sachin hit his 100, I got the idea to go to Kuala Lumpur to watch the matches. After all, it just about three hours journey from Calcutta. So, I will reach Calcutta tomorrow, be in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow evening and in the stadium the day after that to see Sachin bat and India take on Australia.

How long I will be there isn’t decided yet but it should be a lot of fun! Do let me know if you are there in Kuala Lumpur for the matches as well.

So, see you there!

Kiran More has come out against the voting system which is a part of the selection process to choose the Indian cricket team. The zonal system is often criticised and an overhaul has been long overdue. For, how can the selectors act with conviction if they are bonded by pressures from their respective zones? The selection committee should be an independant body for a period of three to four years. The selectors should have had some experience in picking sides at some level to some degree. Also, they should have a reputation and not be some one whose motives can be easily questioned when taking tough decisions.

In addition to More’s remarks, VB Chandrasekhar, the South Zone selector, said this:

The chairman should be a strong person who sets the vision for the committee. Interaction with the captain and coach is important. Then there is no question of voting.

I don’t see why voting should not be there. Without voting rights, a person has little power and his word doesn’t really matter. A system of a chairman and two other selectors plus a vote for the captain and coach would mean four votes in total. So, a 2-2 tie would mean the final word would go to the chairman. That way, the chairman has the final say on close calls but over all, decisions are taken with general consensus.

Two of the three selectors More mentioned have retorted as expected. What is important to note is this - More finishes his tenure in three weeks. So why make the comments now and not earlier when he was not happy with the way things were going? What is More looking at in the near future once this tenure is over?

The Indian selection committee will be changed in the near future. It is likely that the current system will finally see an end. That is essentially a good thing. That the new process which will be put in place is a huge improvement is equally important.

Update: More has apparently done a U-turn now. Heh.

Update 2: My more detailed take on the Indian selection process and the way ahead can be read in Haftamag here.

India has taken a big step. Manish Varma has more on it.

Earlier, India had opposed Twenty20 cricket, whether it was the old Jagmohan Dalmiya regime or the new one. The reasons, as stated by me back then:

As its 40 percent of a limited overs match (in terms of overs and time involved), it results in 40 percent of income… This year, Pakistan has continued with the successful experiment domestically. However, PCB Chairman Shahryar Khan has opposed Twenty20 for international cricket.

So what has changed now? The big factor which Lalit Modi believes in, if summed up - earn money wherever the opportunity lies and let free markets prevail. On free markets, Modi had infact stated precisely that in a detailed interview with Rahul Bhatia a couple of months back:

Absolutely. I believe in free markets deciding everything. If there is no value, there is no value. Let people decide. In certain cases you might lose, in certain you might win. You have to be risk-prone too.

Either that, or pressure internationally has forced the change on Twenty20. Whatever the reason, that and the other initiatives indepth and proper broadcasting of domestic cricket on national television, inter city leagues have been taken. The big question should not be why but why not. India brings in the majority of revenue in the cricket world. So, if the Indian audience wants more, why not give it more cricket. If there can be a market for domestic cricket, why not exploit it?

Domestic cricket has suffered for long. Why not go even further? If the NBA or English Premier League can prosper, why not go for inter city leagues bringing in international stars as well? International cricket is sustained due to the competition and the money generated. As Modi says:

The inter-city league will be on the lines of the Premier Football League (of England), and we will have separate television, merchandising and grounds right for that,’ he disclosed, and added it would not be part of the rights that Nimbus holds.

‘It will probably become the single largest revenue earner for the BCCI in the years to come, if we structure it right. It will also help us drive crowds back to domestic cricket and help build more stars.’

The big dangers in an inter city league with international players would be - 1) could it generate as much interest given international cricket’s interest is based on rivalry of countriesm and 2) There aren’t as much talent base of players in international cricket like say in football.

However, what’s the harm in trying? We may not see a level of an NBA reached in India. However, what we can see is money generated which can be a huge impetus for infra structure and further development of a talent pool of players. I had asked what is forward, BCCI?. One of the points I had raised:

However, domestic cricket promotion and marketing, initiatives to develop the game in the country remain missing.

One step forward has been taken then. The recent initiatives will please most Indian cricket fans who have been deeply saddened at the plight of domestic cricket for so many years. I am one of them.

Usually quite Sachin Tendulkar has reacted to recent comments of former team mate Sanjay Manjrekar. I doubt if he would have even bothered to make give a statement had it not been a player with whom Tendulkar had played a lot of his cricket.

In the piece, Manjrekar mentions:

But my guess is that Tendulkar seems reluctant to play any international cricket unless he is physically and mentally 100% fit. A state he will never ever be after 16 years of international cricket.

Not true. Tendulkar has played despite pain. The issue here is not whether Tendulkar is 100% fit or not but who should decide when Tendulkar should make a return to international cricket. Should it be Tendulkar himself on the advice of the doctors/physios or a former player who cannot expect to understand how Tendulkar’s body is functioning right now?

If Tendulkar decides to ease his way into international cricket by playing a few non-international games or delaying come backs, there shouldn’t be issues with it. As far as we all know, Tendulkar loves his cricket and is always raring to go. I don’t think we can cast aspersions on a player for him selecting when to make a return to the competitive international cricket arena. The men that count - the selectors always have the option of not selecting a player if they feel the concerned player is taking things for granted and missing crucial matches without legitimate reasons.

The Tendulkar of today gives me the impression that his main focus is not to fail! And he wants to give himself the best shot at that. By competing only when he feel he is in his prime, physically and mentally.

He is also stating through the piece that Tendulkar should play more often like Lara has done in the past. Now, people have the right to their opinions. However, they cannot try and make decisions for others. Not the least while making guesses. Maybe he could have tried to know Tendulkar’s side of the story before writing on the given topic. Maybe he could have given advice to Tendulkar in private if he felt it was that important.

The timing of Manjrekar’s comments when Tendulkar has finally made a come back to international cricket is poor as well as right now the issue of Tendulkar missing matches is over for the short run at least.

Australians are sending a team to assess the situation in Mumbai ahead of the October-November Champions trophy. They are going to hear independent views as well.

Financial Express reports:

“We have a good procedure in place with Cricket Australia to assess overseas destinations,” Marsh said. “We will have a pre-tour visit with Cricket Australia officials to India and we will also rely on independent advice.

What did they do when London bombings took place? If you don’t recall, see this post by Will.

The Australians played a one dayer versus England the same day as the bombings took place. Also, they went on to play the rest of the tour normally.

The Australian government website puts India on exercise caution level even after the blasts in Mumbai. No big deal and same level as UK. So why is the Australian Cricket Board creating commotion over this? The goverment doesn’t put India in reconsider travel list either.

I can already tell them: We cannot guarantee your safety in this world full for terrorism as neither can the USA, UK or any other country. We will provide you the best security in the world and that is it. If you want to come, do so and we will welcome you. If you are still afraid, please don’t come. BCCI should not allow this security analysis in my opinion.

Thank god every one does not think like Cricket Australia.

Update: Cricket Australia (CA) has clarified their stance as this report from DNA informs us. They are indeed going to tour India for the Champions trophy. I was surprised by the initial reports which were being circulated in the media and Cricket Australia must be applauded for coming up with a statement so quickly.

The confusion may have happened in the media because CA conducts such checks as routine procedures as Rick informs.

Photograph courtesy Richard Hingston.

Result? Tendulkar scores a century - his fourth for Lashings.

Friend Richard Hingston is an excellent photographer. Here are photographs of Ajit Agarkar, Tatenda Taibu and Chris Harris.

You can see more of Richard’s photography and request for photographs you want to buy from here. Really good stuff.

The last test match at ARG produced a draw. Little fun in draws usually at the ARG when you think of the boring ones we have had there. This one was different though. The match had two of three results possible, an Indian victory and a draw, which made it exciting till the last ball.

We saw Dave Mohammed take revenge for the bashing Dhoni gave him yesterday, adding to the legend of the guy with the cool name. Dave, or tadpole, as he is more popularly know by his cult following, kept making runs. That didn’t cause the torture though. The constant play and miss, topped by the stumping miss by Dhoni was the real sweet revenge.

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