India’s star batsman is as happy piling up runs in Cuttack as scoring a century at Lord’s

One of the advantages of having a partner who isn’t especially interested in sport comes in the form of observations that are stripped bare of the fake patinas that we aficionados love to add on. Soon after Sachin Tendulkar’s unbeaten 96 had guided India to the easiest of victories in Cuttack, I was thinking out loud: “How does he still motivate himself to go to such venues and score runs?” She looked perplexed for a moment. “Don’t people go to watch the games there?” she asked. “Do they pay less money to get in?”

Touché. When you follow a sport like cricket, steeped in tradition, it’s easy to succumb to what I call the Houses-of-the-Holy syndrome. When a batsman makes a century or a bowler bowls a game-changing spell at a venue like Lord’s, the MCG, Eden Gardens, the Wanderers or the Kensington Oval, there’s a tendency to imbue it with mythical qualities. A hundred made at the Barabati Stadium or the Arbab Niaz in Peshawar isn’t viewed in quite the same rose-tinted way.

Tendulkar, though, scoffs at this particular form of snobbery. For years now, he has been a disciple of the first commandment that the great Bill Shankly preached; that it’s “their [the players'] privilege to play for you [the fans]“. Unlike the big-time Charlies who came to English football and became mice among men during trips to the wintry wastes of Wearside and north Lancashire, he has made it his business to score runs wherever he goes.

His 45 one-day hundreds have been distributed across 31 different venues, with Colombo’s Premadasa Stadium having been witness to four, including his first way back in 1994. The 43 Test centuries have been spread across 30 venues. Apart from the absence of a Test hundred in Zimbabwe and a limited-overs one in the Caribbean, there are no gaps in the résumé.

In 2009, despite India’s threadbare Test schedule and being absent from a few one-day games, he has already amassed 1,505 runs, 964 of them in coloured clothes. Each of the three one-day centuries has been memorable. The 163 not out in Christchurch lit the touchpaper Read more…

Administrator Indian Cricket Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Chennai, Christchurch, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Cuttack, Eden Gardens, Kensington Oval, Lord's, Premadasa, Sachin, Sachin Tendulkar, Tendulkar, the MCG, the Wanderers, World Cup, Zimbabwe

India deserve to be the best team in Test cricket after reversing their fortunes since the heavy loss to Australia a decade ago

Last Sunday, Bollywood luminaries and team-mates, his childhood coach, Ramakant Achrekar, and those he grew up admiring gathered at the south Mumbai residence of Mukesh and Nita Ambani, owners of the Mumbai Indians IPL franchise, to celebrate two decades of Sachin Tendulkar in Test cricket. There was even Asha Bhosle – of Cornershop’s Brimful of Asha fame – to sing that classic from Umrao Jaan, Aankhon ki Masti (The Magic of these eyes).

Tendulkar was a John McEnroe-admiring curly-haired bully of eight when the movie was released in 1981. But as much as he would have enjoyed the evening, it wouldn’t have been a patch on what had happened earlier in the day, as victory by an innings and 24 runs over Sri Lanka at the Brabourne Stadium took India to the top of the Test rankings for the first time.

To understand what it meant to Tendulkar, you perhaps need to go back a decade, to a Test tour of Australia when he was captain. A magnificent 116 at the MCG turned out to be a mere footnote as Steve Waugh’s side annihilated India 3-0, the margin that had been predicted by Jaywant Lele, the BCCI secretary of the time.

Those were the worst of times. The morning after the Mumbai victory, Rahul Dravid, who aggregated 93 runs in those three Tests a decade ago, spoke of how things had changed. “Back then, people were happy if we won one game,” he said. “No one expected much more on overseas tours. These days, when you play for India, you’re expected to win wherever you go.”

He and Tendulkar have played as big a part as anyone – Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, both now retired, were the others at the forefront – in scripting the turnaround over the past 10 years. In the post-match interviews, several of the players and coaching staff spoke of the last 18 months, in which India have beaten Australia, England, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but to get to the heart of the revival, you have to go back to Eden Gardens in March 2001.

When folk refer to Edgbaston 2005 as The Greatest Test, a lot of Indians are Read more…

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I was fortunate to take a couple of days off not long ago and drive down to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. All the advance advice that came my direction was welcome – don’t miss this, avoid that, eat only here, don’t drink there … but the real annoying chirps began after. “Did you like the Taj better at sunrise, with the mist and haze swirling about, or did you think the changing colours of sunset were more of a treat?”

It’s one of the most exasperating traits of humanity – the compelling need to compare one thing with another. Whether it’s something mundane like breakfast – the eggs were cooked better, yesterday, weren’t they? Or something personal, like music – Cold Play has its moments, but they’re not a patch on the Dire Straits, are they? Or something profound, like children – my five-year-old bats kicks like Ronaldo, what about yours?

Sadly when it comes to sport, and in India especially cricket, everyone has an opinion and no-one is an expert. This means that there’s never a shortage of discussion. And as anyone genuinely interested in winning arguments knows, the best way to ensure success is to compare two things that can’t be measured on the same set of parameters.

The classic one that has been doing the rounds has been the Test v Twenty20 debate. Why anyone who liked cricket – and let’s leave those who don’t out of this debate – would want to choose one over the other, defies logic. Another beauty that has dogged the recent India-Sri Lanka series is just how the pitches in India make for Tests that are so much duller than those in, say, New Zealand. Why the two can’t be both enjoyed for what they are is an a question that has rarely been satisfactorily answered.

And now we have the Virender Sehwag question. Since he threatened to go past Sir Don Bradman (and that other man Brian Lara) who have two triple-centuries each, the inevitable questions have arisen. Is Sehwag the greatest ever cricketer? Is he definitely the most destructive Test batsman, more so than Adam Gilchrist? Is he the most entertaining opener of all time? Is he better Read more…

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The first class cricketers in the country and many stakeholders have a legitimate right to know how the BCCI’s special committee picks players for the annual retainership, also known as the Central Contract.

There are cases where no explanation is needed, however, in several cases the BCCI has to make a convincing statement.

The chief selector, the captain and coach of the national team and the secretary are part of the special committee. It’s not known whether Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gary Kirsten were asked to give their inputs; however, K. Srikkanth must surely have consulted his colleagues.

The yardstick

To start with, performance with the bat/ball in the previous season is the only yardstick the special committee can consider while awarding contracts. If performance for the national team in Tests or One-Day Internationals is the basis, then one is left wondering why Mumbai’s Rohit Sharma figures in Grade ‘B’.

He has not been capped in Test cricket so far. In the previous contractual period Sharma played against England, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies and he scored 152 runs in 11 innings in which he remained not out five times. His scores were 11 not out, 3, 28, 8 not out (against England), 25 not out, 4 not out, 15 (against Sri Lanka), did not bat and 43 against New Zealand and 4, 0, 11 and 1 against the West Indies.

Thereafter, he was dropped for the tri-series in Sri Lanka and for the ICC Champions Trophy and he did not figure in the seven-match one-day series against Australia. He had suffered an injury during the Buchi Babu Tournament in Chennai.

He has since recovered, as evident from the selectors’ decision to name him captain of the BCCI President’s XI match against Sri Lanka.

Now, Sharma may be one of the brightest talents, but he doesn’t seem to have fulfilled the potential. He has played 41 matches and scored 695 runs. This, in itself, tells the Read more…

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The Wall stands as strong as ever after a brilliant but scandalously overlooked century against Sri Lanka

Spare a thought for Rahul Dravid. Even on the day that he made one of his finest Test centuries against Sri Lanka, most of the news headlines were given over to comments made by a cartoonist-turned-right-wing ideologue. But Bal Thackeray’s critical remarks were aimed at Sachin Tendulkar, and nothing gets India into a lather quite like unkind words about its cricketing Peter Pan. So, though Tendulkar’s first innings of a third decade in Test cricket lasted just three balls, Dravid’s magnificent 177, which led the team from the wilderness of 32 for four to 426 and included his 11,000th Test run, became “in other news”.

He’s had enough time to get used to it though. Cults of personality are rare in team sport but when present, they can be especially fanatical. Most people can name only one player from the Argentina team that won football’s World Cup in 1986. With El Diego around, who could spare the time for Jorge Valdano’s finishing or Sergio Batista’s tackling? It was always the No10 and the rest.

In some cases, playing alongside a “living God” can be beneficial. Would Scottie Pippen have been a candidate for Hall of Fame induction without all those years of the opposition having to double-team Michael Jordan? Would Jairzinho have scored in every round of the 1970 World Cup without defences suffering collective paralysis in the presence of Pelé?

There was a time a decade ago when the fall of Dravid’s wicket was celebrated in the stands because it meant that Tendulkar would be walking out in his place. “It’s not easy batting before Sachin, that’s for sure,” he told me the first time I interviewed him. “Most of the crowd are there to watch him – and half the time, I’m waiting to watch him too.”

As the years passed, though, Dravid became just as important to Indian cricket. His nickname may have been The Wall, but in reality, he was the foundation, the rock on which India’s most impressive Test successes were built. Until the home victories against Australia (in Mohali) and England (Chennai) last year, where he was a peripheral figure, Dravid’s batting was Read more…

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How many times has Sachin Tendulkar played second fiddle to his emotions on the cricket field? How many times has he allowed his anger to sneak into your sitting room during the course of a match? Probably never.

On Thursday night, in front of a packed stadium in Hyderabad, however, he showed that he was human too: after diving forward to catch Cameron White, off the last ball of Australia's innings, he slammed the ball into the ground and walked away in a huff.

Instantly, you knew that somebody was going to be at the receiving end that night; that something special was cooking in his ageing willow. But then, Australia had already amassed 350 runs; a victory looked beyond reach, so you turned towards Sehwag for redemption.

As expected, the maverick played a cameo and perished even as hope flickered in the stands; Tendulkar shook his head, almost imperceptibly, and continued his vigil; four overs earlier, he had already expressed his state of mind.

He clips Hilfenhaus for three runs to go past 17,000 runs but there is no sign of joy or achievement; as the stadium roars in salutation, he merely takes guard for the next delivery. It was a monk-like Tendulkar, oblivious to the celebration and noise around him: he was on a bigger mission, a higher goal.

Two deliveries later, he makes room and lofts Hilfenhaus for a boundary: he hadn't played this shot in a long time. Maybe, in the deeper recesses of his non-thinking mind, the pressure had lifted, the smoke had cleared up; or maybe, he was just spurred on by a familiar Read more...

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The impact of Jacob Oram’s test retirement yesterday is likely to be seen as early as next month when Pakistan arrive for their three-match series.

It could lead to a reconfiguration of the New Zealand team and when the selectors cast about for Oram’s replacement, three of them need only look across the table at the fourth man.

Captain Dan Vettori has impressive allround credentials and to those who argue his batting methods can be unorthodox, he could suggest they simply look at the statistics.

Four test hundreds, 3484 runs at 29.77 over 93 tests - which leaps to 39.92 over his last 30 tests - plus the small matter of 302 wickets at 33.26 speak eloquently.

Two examples of why he is the person to step up, whether he bats at No 6 or No 7: in Bangladesh late last year, his second innings 76, grafted over 4h 20min after promoting himself to No 4, got New Zealand out of a potential pickle to win in Chittagong.

Then at Hamilton this year, coming in at 60 for six just before lunch on the first morning of the first test against India, Vettori hit 118, adding 186 with Jesse Ryder for the seventh wicket. The test was ultimately lost, but it could have been in far more embarrassing fashion but for the skipper.

So if Vettori moves up to No 6 - or wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum, the pair could be interchangeable at 6 and 7 - it will open the door for an extra bowling option, but with the proviso that someone will have to be found at No 8 who can contribute runs. A tail from No 8 is not on.

The option? Pick six specialist batsmen, leave McCullum and Vettori - or Vettori and McCullum - at No’s 7 and 8.

Oram’s decision is a smart one in a personal sense. His departure from the test game will disappoint those who make a living out of medical mishaps; since his debut Read more…

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A spell in South Africa should make Monty Panesar a more assertive – and therefore better – cricketer

All is very much not well in the cricket world of Monty Panesar. His top-dog England place has gone for now, and with the advent of Adil Rashid so has the touring that has been his for the last four winters. He has endured a miserable season in which his confidence has bled dry, and there are stories, overheard and recounted by Afrikaans-speaking members of the opposition, of a lack of respect from overseas players at his county which he must have sensed. Monty would have been aware of an atmosphere but oblivious to the detail. Northants will be considering whether they can afford his wages now his central contract has gone but in any case he needs to get away from such a pernicious, disrespectful atmosphere as soon as he can. He is at a low ebb.

On Sunday, though, Panesar is flying to Johannesburg where he will spend the winter playing for the Highveld Lions as their overseas player (and perhaps learning Afrikaans) and those who know him well believe it will be the making of him in his attempt to climb once more cricket’s greasy pole of fortune. The change of scenery will do him good. There will, it is reasoned, be a responsibility on him, beyond that which is normally associated with an international spinner, on which he may thrive. He will, in a sense, be required to be a leader.

No one should regard the bitter pill of rejection now as the end of Panesar as an international cricketer. When first selected for England four years ago, in Nagpur, he was already an extremely good bowler, and he remains no less than that. In fact it is easy to lose sight of that fact until his statistics are perused. He has 126 wickets from 39 Tests, which places him in the top 10 of England spinners, those above having all played more matches. In a side that generally has been based around pace, he has an average of 3.23 wickets per match, a rate exceeded from that top 10 by only Derek Underwood, Jim Laker, Tony Lock and Hedley Verity, all of whom bowled in eras when uncovered pitches offered helpful conditions more frequently than now. Read more…

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Twenty20 cricket is the fastest growing new sport in the United States. And Indians, including some from Bangalore, are behind it?

Hold your breath. Cricket could be the next big thing in the United States. The gung-ho T20 format appears to have the caught the imagination of white, black and Hispanic youngsters across campuses and neighbourhoods in the US. And Indians, from places like Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai, apart of course from the influential diaspora, are proving to be the catalysts.

Venu Palaparthi, co-founder of DreamCricket.com, which runs a full-fledged cricket academy in the US, said: “Earlier, there used to be the notion in the US that cricket was played over many days, and produced little or no result. Every American allocates finite time for sports and leisure. These are still early days, but T20 is definitely making an impact in the US. Americans are willing to try new stuff.”

BANGALORE CONNECTION
There are a couple of Bangaloreans who are batting hard for cricket in the US. Venu Myneni is CEO of Radiant Info, the firm which organises and sponsors cricket tournaments in the US in a big way. Then there is Aravindan Pararajasingham, another co-founder of DreamCricket.com. There are a couple of Bangalore players too. Aditya Mishra, who represented Karnataka in a single Ranji season, is part of the New Jersey Daredevils squad, which participates in the American League, while 30-year-old Aditya Thyagarajan, a former Karnataka player, went on to don the Team USA national colours.

GRASSROOT PROGRAMME
The US already has 200 domestic leagues. In the state of New Jersey, there are five leagues, comprising some 200 teams, for hard ball cricket and another league for soft ball cricket. The growing popularity of the game can be gauged from the fact that 200,000 people Read more…

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The BCCI’s initiative to encourage the corporate bodies across the country to provide jobs to cricketers will have a big impact on the development of the game at the grass-root level.

The 2009-10 season will kick off with the corporate tournament in Bangalore, and it will give the discerning public a chance to see the best of players in action. Since this tournament is conducted by the BCCI, the participation of all the top players is guaranteed.

The very fact that this tournament has been scheduled at a time when there is no international cricket underlines the serious intent as well the importance of this event. The BCCI has taken this initiative to encourage the corporate entities across the country to provide jobs to cricketers, which will have a big impact on the development of the game at the grass-root level.

Over the years, cricketers in most parts of the country had either scarce or no job opportunities and their existence depended on their cricketing graph. A few cricketers would find some employment opportunities if they performed well enough in the first-class circuit, but the majority struggled and yet carried on playing the game out of passion.

If at all there was one region where cricketers had no such worries, it was — and it still is — Chennai as the corporates in this city have always encouraged the game, and any reasonably good cricketer was assured of a job. I wonder what would have been the plight of Read more…

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