Every dark cloud, they say, has a silver lining; when it comes to Indian sport, however, the silver lining is nothing but a mirage. It is a trick played on our eye and will vanish when we blink.

      What else can you say when you see not only the country's most popular sport, but also its national game, embroiled in the vilest of controversies? How do you find something positive to hang on to, when you realise that the main source of this hara-kiri is politics?

      Let us begin with cricket: like always, Lalit Modi was patting himself after a job well done, when the clouds emerged. They started as a trickle, with the franchises simply holding on to their purse strings when the Pakistani players were put on the block.

      It was, without doubt, a reasonable gambit: why punt on a bunch of players who might not exactly be welcome in at least one city, if not the entire country? Why put their investments, if not the IPL itself, at risk when the government was not giving any clear signals?

      The clouds seemed to be quietly passing; but then, politics reared its hideous head: the government had no objection to the presence of our friends from across the border, declared the home minister. He turned a little spark into a fire by declaring that the IPL had done a disservice to cricket.

      Shah Rukh Khan, at the same time, gave a glimpse of the machinations behind the scenes: he revealed that there was a silent pact of a different kind among the franchisees; he even indicated that those who were keen on the Pakistani players were forced to back off. He turned the fire into an inferno by stating that the entire episode was humiliating.

      An already seething Pakistan became angrier: a team of parliamentarians cried off from their trip to India; another bunch of golfers too stayed home. There were calls to boycott the upcoming hockey World Cup as well. Clearly, the clouds had turned dark and they were ready to come down.

      The TOI, however, saw a hint of the silver lining, when it learnt that Deccan Chargers were on the verge of breaking the code; but the very next day, its team owner claimed that there were no plans to sign up Abdul Razzaq; Lalit Modi, as can be expected now, bad-mouthed Read more...

Bobilli Vijay Kumar IPL Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Deccan Chargers, IPL, Pakistan, Shah Rukh Khan, World Cup

The Pakistan episode of the IPL is turning out to be like a gripping murder mystery. The body is there for all to see; there are enough suspects, motives and witnesses too. But somehow we fail to zero in on the culprit, even though he is floating right in front of our eyes. The first clue behind the mystery surfaced on Friday afternoon. Even as Lalit Modi nudged her at the press conference, belatedly, Shilpa Shetty thundered: ‘‘Why should the Pakistan players’ security be our onus?’’ Then she said something-something about political parties and loony groups.

    The second part was important, but not critical; the first part was the real clue, the giveaway. A quick follow-up and a few calls later, the mystery solved itself: The government had refused to provide security for the players. For any player, not just Pakistan’s.

    The immediate thought was: Very good. Why should the government do anything? Isn’t this a commercial venture? If the IPL can pour out millions on players, and make billions in return, shouldn’t it take care of all aspects related to the tournament too, including security?

    Absolutely. Except that the motivation was not so straightforward. To unravel it, we need to go back a little, into the past: In the inaugural year, the government was like a silent partner; it turned almost every stone to make the ambitious project a runaway hit: visas, security, the IPL bosses simply had to name it, and they got them on a golden platter.

    The next year, however, the government became a hostile partner: it refused to play sweet ball, explaining that it could not guarantee foolproof security to the players, or to the tournament itself, owing to the General Elections. Instead of negotiating, or trying to convince the seat, Modi promptly whisked away the IPL to South Africa.

    Many in the Congress saw it as a slap on their face; more importantly, they were also worried that the backlash might hurl them into the wilderness again. Luckily, cricket proved to be a minor player, the mandate didn’t turn negative and it returned to power.

    But then, a hurt political party is more dangerous than a woman spurned: it was just a question of time before Modi would be made to pay for his audacity, for taking on the government itself. Is it a surprise, then, that the Congress mustered all its muscle in Rajasthan a few Read more...

Bobilli Vijay Kumar IPL, Pakistan Blogs.CMDN.com, Congress, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, IPL, Lalit Modi, Pakistan, Rajasthan, RCA, South Africa, Zimbabwe

The media has been relentless in panning the IPL franchisees for ignoring Pakistan players for the third instalment of Indian Premier League. Commentators and intellectual columnists have uniformly cried foul over this shameful omission.

  My take on this, however, is different. Whether there was an understanding between the franchisees before the bid began, or the government nudged the franchisees to ignore Pak players is irrelevant, really. Given the mood in the nation, I think having players from across the border makes little sense, at least not for the franchisees.

  I am not for a moment saying the Pakistani players are bad or do not have a fan following here. On the contrary, they regularly produce some of the most talented, and watchable, players in the world, so what if they play irresponsibly at times, and then surprise everyone with sterling performances that border genius. But the ground reality is different.

  We all know the fan following in the current scenario is fickle. Fans may adore someone, but one brutal attack in Kashmir or elsewhere will change the situation diametrically in a jiffy. Now, if I am a franchisee who has invested in a Pakistani player, why would I risk it? And it is not just risking the franchisee’s reputation, it is even risking the safety of players from all over the world, on the ground, in the hotel where they stay and while they travel. Why would a franchisee invest heavily in a great player if the wrongdoings by his country somewhere works against his interest? The franchisee, after all is investing in these teams for brand building, not negative publicity.

  Even from the organisers and government’s point of view, not having players from Pakistan helps. Sporting events are organised so that there is great competition and everyone enjoys a good contest. But if that contest has even a small chance of endangering spectators and players safety, it is not a risk worth taking.

  Now back to Pakistani players, I once again reiterate that they are among the best in the game, and to be fair to them, the way the auctions were held was unsavoury. Here, assuming that the IPL or the government was instrumental in nudging franchisees not to bid for Shahid Afridi and others, as a respect to the sportspersons at least, it should have been handled differently. Instead of including them among the players available and then ‘humiliating’ them, they should have simply said, sorry, given the current scenario, we are unable to welcome you Read more...

Rajesh Kalra IPL Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Kashmir, Pakistan, Shahid Afridi

Pakistan are the current T20 world champions. Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Mohammed Aamer, Saeed Ajmal and company played some enthralling cricket to claim the trophy last year. Since then, Pakistan have seen another exciting batsman emerge on the horizon: Umar Akmal. Therefore, it defies logic that nobody wanted to buy the 11 Pakistani players in the IPL 3 auction on Tuesday.
 
What's the reason? Let us go through what has been proffered by the men and women involved with IPL. Some team owners have said that the Pakistani players had a problem of availability during the period. That's nonsense. Unlike the top Aussie players, they are available for the entire duration. In fact, West Indian Kemar Roach, a Deccan Chargers buy, will miss the first two games. That's because the Zimbabwe tour of West Indies gets over on March 14 while IPL 3 begins on March 12.  The second Deccan Chargers game will be held on March 14.
 
Another gentleman was heard mouthing that the Pakistanis were not chosen because this was a short auction. There were too few players to be bought, he said. This logic doesn't hold either. The truth is that the owners spent sums as high as $720,000 and $610,000 for the likes of Parnell and Roach, while ignoring Aamer and Gul. Are we saying that the former two are better bowlers than Aamer (who is also emerging as a handy bat) and Gul? Or that the Pakistanis are not even worth $100,000? And have we forgotten that Afridi was the man of the series in the T20 World Cup 2009.
 
One logic being offered is that franchisees were not keen to have Pakistani players because there is an element of uncertainty involving them. Simply put, the relationship between the two countries is already edgy and could always get worse. In that case, the Pakistani players might go back. So why take the trouble?
 
Even this argument is specious. Sure, nobody would want to invest a huge amount in a 'risky' player. But then isn't investing over $750,000 in Keiron Pollard any less risky? What's the guarantee he will succeed? What about investing $750,000-plus in Bond, once a great bowler, now extremely injury prone. Let us not forget he's currently injured too. Besides, he Read more...

Avijit Ghosh IPL, Pakistan Blogs.CMDN.com, Bond, Cricket Blogs, Deccan Chargers, IPL, Keiron Pollard, Kemar Roach, Mohammed Aamer, Pakistan, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, T20, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul

In the latest world rankings, released after the Joburg and Hobart Tests, England are without a single batsman in the top 20 for the first time, by my reckoning, since 2002.

Andrew Strauss has slipped seven places over the course of the series with South Africa to No 21 and Kevin Pietersen’s fall has been sharper: down from No 4 at the start of the year to No 26 now.

Pietersen has fallen behind Paul Collingwood (up to No 22 despite not scoring a hundred in his past 11 Tests) and he is only one bad innings away from falling to England’s fourth best batsman with Alastair Cook in 28th place.

Heck, by the end of the Bangladesh tour, Pietersen could even have slipped behind Ian Bell, who is at No 32 and rising.

Four, or even five, batsmen in the top 30 isn’t in itself a bad thing. We’ve had as few as three in recent memory - and no more than six. Sri Lanka and Australia have only four each at the moment. South Africa have five and India have six, but England have two more than New Zealand or Pakistan and one more than the Windies.

That reflects our overall world Test ranking of fifth. The problem is the lack of one or two superstars. Depth is one thing, class is another. There are six different nations represented in the present top ten and England’s finest is 11 places outside that list.

This may be only temporary - Strauss could slip back into the top 20 next week if VVS Laxman (No 17) pays for a poor match against Bangladesh - but it has been a long time since we were without any top 20 representative. Pietersen had been in the top 20 since 2006 and was as high as No 3; before him there was a Trescothick or a Vaughan to fly the flag and, apart from a slump in 2000 and a brief dip in 2002, Graham Thorpe was in the top 20 between 1995 and 2003.

Before him, Mike Atherton and Alec Stewart were regulars in the top ten - and briefly, in 1992, we even had the No 1 and 2 batsmen in the world, in Graham Gooch and Robin Smith. Read more…

Administrator Views Alastair Cook, Alec Stewart, Andrew Strauss, Bangladesh, England, Hobart, Ian Bell, Joburg, Mike Atherton, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paul Collingwood, Pietersen, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thorpe

Not even a surprising decision by a third umpire prepared to ignore the evidence provided by Hot Spot, and so the review system, could take the gloss off a superb chase by the West Indies or a deserved victory by Australia. The West Indians can be proud of their performance. In times past they were granted five-match series but their stocks have fallen and they stand near the bottom of the rankings.

On the face of it, a 2-0 defeat has not significantly improved their reputation but the result conceals a substantial improvement reflected in sharper fielding, improved running between wickets and more committed lower-order batting. Lazy habits had taken hold and the basics had been neglected. Now a healthier culture has developed. The players looked like cricketers and performed with their hearts and heads. As much could be told from Kemar Roach and Gavin Tonge’s audacious and ill-starred last-wicket thrust.

Twice in the series the touring team came back from cricketing death. Further humiliations were feared after their heavy defeat at the Gabba. Instead, the visitors stirred sufficiently to shake up the hosts in Adelaide.

Heavy defeat was likewise expected after the tourists fell 208 behind in the first innings in Perth. Instead, the West Indies skittled Australia for a paltry total and chased with such grit that at one stage their chances of taking the spoils were put at 3-1. In the end they fell short but they went down fighting.

Numerous members of a hitherto mostly anonymous outfit made their marks. Hardly any of them had previously toured Australia. Roach’s sizzling pace, Sulieman Benn’s stilted legs and climbing tweakers, Adrian Barath’s daring strokeplay and bright fielding, Dwayne Bravo’s skills and gusto, Narsingh Deonarine’s pluck, Travis Dowlin’s grit and Denesh Ramdin’s promise all attracted high praise. The West Indies can build around these players. Australia have lost some lustre but remain hard to conquer. These blokes had a good crack at it.

Chris Gayle deserves credit for the awakening of his side. Plain and simple, he saved the series. Beforehand his leadership had been questioned, not least hereabouts. The criticisms Read more…

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Honours just about even.

New Zealand might disagree and bemoan the rain which ruined a likely march to victory over Pakistan yesterday - and their first significant series victory since beating the West Indies three years ago - but a one-all draw was a reasonable outcome.

Put it this way: New Zealand won a thriller at Dunedin which could have gone either way; Pakistan walked the second at the Basin Reserve against a wretched batting display; and New Zealand had a clear edge in the decider but ran out of time on a pitch which, despite confident predictions that it would be perkier than usual for the bowlers, proved to be another examination of their spirit and perseverance.

There wasn’t much between the teams and that added to the intrigue. Some of the cricket was of pretty poor quality - from both teams.

Pakistan spilt a barely believable 17 catches over the three tests; New Zealand had the batting horrors over the first two matches; but both had bowlers with penetration and skill.

The final test threw up a bright newcomer in debutant opener BJ Watling, who turned on a dazzling little cameo, slipping into one-day mode in the vain chase for victory; and an unexpected bonus in Martin Guptill’s offspin which - and don’t snigger here - might yet turn into a handy backup option on a hot day for the specialists.

Neither team was good enough to get and maintain dominance, and so there could be few complaints at a drawn series.

Pakistan’s best? Teenager Umar Akmal - top scorer in the series on debut with 379 runs at 63.16 - and new ball champion Mohammad Asif, whose 19 wickets at a terrific 19.78 apiece was comfortably the finest return of the bowlers.

As for New Zealand, the batting needs more work.

Even at McLean Park, the best batting surface in the country, there were those among the top six who missed out. Hard questions need to be asked and Daniel Flynn may have used Read more…

Administrator PAK vs NZ Basin Reserve, BJ Watling, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Daniel Flynn, Dunedin, Martin Guptill, McLean Park, Mohammad Asif, New Zealand, Pakistan, Umar Akmal, West Indies

The last time a Test match was drawn in South Africa was three years ago; since then 17 Tests have produced results. In fact, South Africa have drawn only two of their last 27 matches at home, against England in 2005 and New Zealand in 2006. Australia’s 57 home Tests in this decade produced 48 results.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting says that he fears for the future of Test cricket because of the low percentage of decisive matches in the subcontinent. There are two messages here, the obvious one and the one implied, which is that the subcontinent, or more correctly India, probably hold the future of the longer game in their hands.

Only 29 of 47 matches in India, or 62 percent, have produced results and that is cause for worry. Should public interest and thus television and advertising money move away from Tests as a result of too many inconclusive games, then that format is in danger. A major attraction of the shorter formats is that matches end in victory or defeat. Cricket has seen some exciting draws – but not too many in the subcontinent where the fate of a match is often decided by the third morning and everybody merely goes through the motions thereafter.

But – and this is a point that Ponting has missed – it is not only the tracks that hold the key to a result. There is such a thing as temperament, and psychologically Indian captains play safe, ensuring first that at least a draw is assured before thinking about victory. No Indian captain – Tiger Pataudi, and possibly the early Sourav Ganguly were exceptions – would let go of a bird in hand for a speculative two in the bush. A defeat is such a national disgrace that few captains are willing to take a chance on losing in order to push for victory.

Rahul Dravid’s refusal to enforce the follow on despite a 300-plus lead in the Trent Bridge Test of 2007 or Sourav Ganguly’s similar response after India made 700-plus and restricted Australia to under 500 in the Sydney Test of 2004 are examples of captains who realize that the effigy-burners and editorial-writers are just waiting for a single mis-step to swing into action. It is worse at home where Indian captains are expected to win every time, and the unreal Read more…

Administrator Australia Australia, Bangladesh, Blogs.CMDN.com, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting, Sourav Ganguly, South Africa, Tiger Pataudi, Trent Bridge

Sometimes we focus so much on what is wrong with Test cricket that it is easy to forget the joy it continues to provide, never more so than in this particularly frenzied period of Tests.

The recent series between India and Sri Lanka may have been too batsman-friendly but it provided some extraordinary passages of play. Who could not have wished to see Virender Sehwag’s assault in the third Test, elegant and brutal in equal measure? For Sri Lanka, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s innings were also moments when you had to bin ideas of work and focus on some ball-by-ball Test cricket. There were personal narratives too – Sreesanth, suddenly the grounded, almost geeky bowler of immaculate line and length, Murali suddenly lacking in fizz and accuracy. And Angelo Mathews – doing an Atherton when on 99 and in sight of his first Test hundred.

The Ahmedabad pitch immediately came under fire in the first Test of that series and rightly so: it failed to offer the bowlers enough on day five. But up until that point it was a good, subcontinental Test match. India will not provide the seamer-friendly conditions found elsewhere but that is the appeal of Test cricket around the world – players must adapt to different conditions and this brings a rich variety to the cricket.

Over in Australia, the prospect of a series against West Indies underwhelmed the local media, but there were things to admire about the visitors even in that first Test drubbing: Kemar Roach bowling at 150kmh, and pitching the ball up admirably (as he has done all series); Adrian Barath, a 19-year-old debutant, making an attacking hundred in the second-innings and scoring half of his side’s runs.

In the second Test the West Indies would hold the upperhand throughout. Chris Gayle, who apparently has no time for defensive shots or for Test cricket, played with fascinating constraint to set up possible victory and Dwayne Bravo, outstanding in both disciplines throughout the Test, nearly conjured a win on the final day.

The New Zealand-Pakistan series is the ace in the pack. Two sides entirely uncertain of themselves and bowler-friendly conditions have produced tumbling wickets and Read more…

Administrator Views Adrian Barath, Ahmedabad, Angelo Mathews, Australia, Blogs.CMDN.com, Chris Gayle, Cricket, Cricket Blogs, Dwayne Bravo, India, Kemar Roach, Murali, New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Test Cricket, Tillakaratne Dilshan, West Indies

Have you even heard of that story about the King Frog whose hubris finally lead to his demise? It goes like - once upon a time there was a big fat frog who was under the impression that he was the biggest thing that God created ruling a good well with a large number of inhabitants, all smaller than him. At the same time he did not fail to gloat over that fact and made everyone always keep that in mind.

One day a junior member of the tribe had an accidental ride to the surface and while hopping around he happened to see a medium sized cow grazing close to the well. The junior who was living under a false impression could not believe what he witnessed and made a B -line back to the well and reported the matter to his beloved king claiming that he saw a living thing bigger than him. Disbelieving the junior the king blew himself up and inquired “Was he this size?” Then he just kept blowing himself on till he finally died of a heart attack.

That is a good lesson for anyone not to live by a myth.

A while ago the ICC had protruded the Lankan cricketers to be ranked the second best in the world Test rankings and we believed we were there in reality. However we first began to challenge the status quo when the Australians hinted that there should be a division among the Test rankings with the top four of Australia, England, South Africa and India slotted together in the big-league while Sri Lanka, Pakistan, New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh playing in a lower rung. This was one their solutions to the problem of the dwindling competitiveness among the Test playing countries. When this call first came Sri Lanka was at the number two slot and obviously we were rather perturbed.

The events that followed made us think more pragmatically. The ICC rankings are given on the current form of a country ranked on the results they yield. Ironically it is only a yardstick, Read more…

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