Greats have Faults too.....

Those people who know me and the very few people who care to read my blog think that I am a big Sachin Tendulkar adversary. I have often been accused of being biased against him, of deliberately writing about his shortcomings and ignoring his tremendous contributions to the game.

On the contrary, I admire Tendulkar tremendously. I have always maintained that when it comes to skill and ability, Tendulkar stands alone. Technically he is close to perfection and his stroke making capabilities are second to none. Only Vivian Richards and Brian Lara can come close to matching his batting abilities.

However being a great player, and perhaps the best ever, does not make anybody immune to criticism. This is where I and million others differ. Tendulkar is no god and he is not bigger than the game of cricket. He is a magnificent player who has achieved success through hardwork, dedication and tremendous discipline. He will have ups and downs and because he is such a great player, his ups will be more than his downs. Like all other players, he needs to be congratulated for his ups and critised for his downs. The rules are same for everyone or atleast should be the same for everyone.

To be fair to Sachin, he has always maintained that the he is not bigger than the game. To be fair to Sachin, the hype around his land marks was created by the media. Sachin has always played the game the way it should be played. It is not his fault that his supporters have sometimes lost perspective and reason while supporting him. Unfortunately it is crime in this country to express an opinion against the great Sachin Tendulkar. Atleast according to his supporters.

That apart, a hundred hundreds is a tremendous achievement, something that no one will ever achieve. Even more remarkable is the time span between his first and last (till date) hundred. Tendulkar scored his first international hundred in August 1990 and last hundred has been scored in March 2012. Effectively this means that he has been at his peak for twenty two years. That is a staggering achievement, an achievement which propels Tendulkar to be a modern day sporting great ,comparable with any great sportsman.

However by being obsessed about his numbers, his supporters are doing a great disservice to Tendulkar. For Tendulkar’s greatness lies beyond numbers. His greatness lies in the fact that for twenty years he made a nation believe that the impossible could be achieved if he was around. His greatness lies in the fact that throughout his playing a career, a nation divided by caste, creed, ideologies and religion only came together when he was batting. His greatness lies in the fact that for the first 12 years of his career he made a mediocre team look good and compete with the best in the world in all conditions. His greatness lies in the fact that his adversaries respected him and had no qualms in accepting that he was better than them. His greatness lies in the fact that countries which resisted playing India and touring India changed their perspective towards this country only because he was playing. His greatness lies in the fact that he inspired an entire generation of great batsman who changed the history of Indian cricket.

His greatness lies in the fact that he made a nation believe in his team when it was suffering from a credibility and integrity crisis. His greatness lies in the fact that the game of cricket was made richer by his presence. His greatness lies in the fact that people all over the world felt honored to be in his presence.

Nobody can question the man’s greatness. Nobody can question his importance to the game of cricket. But every great has his faults. And he remains a great inspite of these faults.

Rahul Dravid- A tribute

When I heard that Rahul Dravid was retiring, I tried to compile a write up about his greatest innings as a tribute to him. It was not an easy job, how can one possible pick one innings in a 17 year old career in which he scored roughly twenty five thousand international runs. Which was Rahul Dravid’s greatest innings? It could be the 148 that he scored in Headingly, on a damp pitch where all experts had predicted a two and half day test match and a resounding defeat for India. Dravid’s 148 then ensured that India’s first innings itself last for two and a half days. It could be the two eighties that he scored on an absolute minefield at Sabina Park, ensuring that India won its first test series in the Caribbean in thirty three years. It could be his iconic 233 at the Adielede Oval or his monumental 270 at Rawalpindi, both innings playing a significant role in historic overseas test victories. It could be his hundred earlier in the year at Trent Bridge or his debut hundred in South Africa. It could be the epic 180 at Kolkatta. And I am even getting into one day cricket……..

But to write about just one innings would be a great disservice to India’s finest test batsman and perhaps Indian cricket’s finest ambassadors. Dravid will be remembered as a classical test match player but he should also be remembered as a consummate team player, someone who moved around in the batting order to suit the team's requirements, kept wickets and did everything possibly that one could do on a cricket field.

But for me Rahul Dravid will always be unique because he played the game of cricket the way it should be played. He was the model professional. No flashy statements to the press, no big money signings, no flashy accessories on the cricket pitch. No press statements complaining when the team declared on him when he was on 92 at Sydney. No complaints when he was moved up and down the order and no complaints when he was dropped from the one day team three games after he scored 92 in 67 balls in Bristol in 2007. When selectors called him to play the champions tropy in 2009 Dravid played with a smile and when they dropped after him the tournament, he left with a smile. He was the ultimate cricketer.

His finest and one of India’s finest has to be his 148 at Headingly in 2002. That innings typified Rahul Dravid the batsman. On a very very difficult wicket, where the ball was seaming around and bouncing unevenly, he started scratchily. Along with Sanjay Bangar, he ensured that there were no early inroads. Post tea the shots started flowing. There were some stunning cover drives and trademark flicks and when Alex Tudor pitched short he was shown the pull shot as well. Dravid got out just after lunch on the second day, India made 650 and won by an innings.

But Rahul Dravid’s moment, according to me, came on a hot sunny afternoon on the second day at Multan in April 2004. Dravid was leading in that test match due to Ganguly’s back injury .India were in a strong position thanks to Sehwag’s triple hundred and had crossed six fifty with declaration eminent . A delayed declaration had cost India a test and a series victory in Australia three months back and Dravid would have realized that on a flat wicket, time was of essence to allow his bowlers to take twenty wicket. Unfortunately for Dravid, India’s great batsman and icon was approaching a double hundred. When the icon was on 194, Dravid got up from his seat and nonchalantly waved to the players. India had declared.

With that one wave of his hand Rahul Dravid showed us what he was all about. Personal milestones never mattered to him, unlike a lot of other greats, a team victory did. Unfortunately the icon went and expressed his disappointment to the press thereby indicating that personal milestones mattered a lot to him. Pathetically an entire nation cast him as a villain, with media houses debating various conspiracy theories. However there was no explanation from the captain, no press interviews, no statements pointing out that three months ago when Ganguly declared at Sydney he was not out on 92. He carried on with his job and on the fifth day led India to its first test victory in Pakistan.

Rahul Dravid played the game the way it was supposed to be played. And that is why there will always be only one Rahul Dravid.

Indian cricket will never be the same again.

Enough Is Enough

I have been maintaining this blog now for nearly 5 years. At all times I have tried to present my views rationally and tried to take into account all factors before presenting my thoughts.

But today I am going to let my emotions flow. I am going to try and bring out my frustration as an Indian supporter. I don’t care if they are rational, I don’t care if they are unreasonable, illogical and stupid. Because today, I am not disappointed………. I am not depressed……. I am angry. I am very very angry. I have been religiously following the Indian cricket team for close to 25 years now and I have never seen such a pathetic display from a cricket team

Indian Cricket stands at a crossroad. The cricketing world is laughing at us. We have been thrashed and humiliated in the last 8 overseas tests. Forget winning, we have not even competed in these test matches. Our players have been ridiculed for their lack of skill, lack of application and lack of interest in the test game.

India has been let down by a lack of will, lack of planning and lack of preparation in the last few months. It has been let down by the lack of foresight on part of its selectors. It has been let down by a lack of ability to take bold decisions on part of its tour selectors. It has been let down by its three great batsman- who should have taken the high ground and retired after Sydney- certainly Lakshman and Dravid should have. India has been let down by an indifferent captain and an indifferent coach. It been let down by its poor fielding and its poor fitness.

It has been let down by the importance given by its players, supporters and the media to individual landmarks rather than to the achievements of the team. Tendulkar’s hundredth hundred has no relevance now. It is not going to wipe out the hurt and humiliation suffered in England and Australia by the team and its supporters. Kohli’s hundred in Adelaide gave us some hope for the future but apart from that it was of no use.

The IPL has become a convenient scape goat for all of Indian cricket’s problems. Fact of the matter is that the IPL is not responsible for India’s debacle in Australia. The IPL cannot be responsible for Lakshman’s continuous failures since the tour of England. The IPL cannot be held responsible for the technical flaws that have crept up in Rahul Dravid’s game. The IPL cannot be held responsible for Sachin Tendulkar’s inability to handle the pressure generated by the expectations his fanatical supporters in relation to an irrelevant landmark. The IPL cannot be held responsible for Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s poor captaincy. The IPL has plus and minus points but to just blame the IPL for India’s failure is to slaughter the wrong cow.

Bold decisions need to be taken because we cannot have a phase like this again. If we don’t take bold decisions now, we well as might stop playing the game.

Enough is enough. Its time for a change.

Its time for a change

These are very difficult times for Indian Cricket. India left for Australia as firm favorites to win the Test series down under. After eight days of cricket they have been resoundingly defeated in two test matches and have no chance of winning the series.

The defeat at Sydney means that India has now lost six consecutive tests away from home. It is not the fact that the team has lost but the manner in which they have capitulated that hurts. It hurts that our batting stands exposed, it hurts that our bowling has conceded twice over 650 runs, twice over 500 in these test matches. It hurts that we have not looked at any moment like winning any of these six tests inspite of being the world number one team in test cricket prior to the start of the England tour. It hurts that the cricketing world is laughing at us.

When you consider that Indian cricket was on such a high in the first six months of 2011, with the drawn test series in South Africa and the World Cup win at home, it might surprise a few as to how quickly the Indian team has sunk to such lower depths of performance.

India is led by the most overworked cricketer in the world. M.S Dhoni looks tired, jaded, overworked and lacking in idea and inspiration. His captaincy during the tour and particularly at Melbourne was shocking-there were 7 fielders on the boundary to Ben Hilfenhaus when he was on nought in the second innings. India lost the Melbourne test as much due to bad, defensive captaincy as it did due to bad batting. If Indian cricket wants to preserve Dhoni the batsman- and what a wonderful destructive batsman he can be- it is time for to let him go as a captain. Yes he has achieved a lot as a captain and for that Indian cricket will always be indebted to him. But Indian cricket is in desperate need of a new direction.

Who will provide that direction? It is time for Gautam Gambhir to step up. Gambhir is a fine young man, very intense, very passionate but also very competitive and tactically very sound. He has impressed one and all in his brief stints as captain for Delhi and Kolkata Knight Riders. His form of late has been patchy but I have no doubt that the added responsibility of captaincy will make him more focused and ensure that he delivers with the bat as well. I will also go a bit more left field and make Ravichandran Ashwin, another impressive young man, as his deputy. Ashwin has struggled with the ball in Australia but through out his batting and bowling vigils, he has stood out as a competitor. He comes across as a confident person and that together with his combative streak will ensure a bright future for him as an Indian cricket.

Indian cricket also needs to look at the fact that in the last 12 innings India has crossed 300 only once. That is a depressing statistic and perhaps the fact that its regular opening pair has missed a lot of test cricket this year has contributed to this. But the chief contributing factor to this statistic has been the very very inconsistent form of its famed middle order. The famed fabulous three of Indian batting have their own issues to deal with- one is weighed down by unbelievable hype and frenzy surrounding a landmark. The other has had a fabulous year at the test level but increasingly looks tired and out of place on the cricket field. And the third has produced the odd good innings this year but frankly looks totally spent and physically unfit.

I am a great VVS Lakshman fan but he averages 20 in his last 12 innings and has scored only one test hundred since his match winning efforts at Galle in August 2010. His footwork against quality fast bowling is increasingly looking very uncertain and his fielding, when he is out of the slips is shocking. Irrespective of how he plays in the next two tests- and Sanjay Manjrekar India’s finest commentator has suggested that he should not even be given those opportunities now-the selectors need to have a quiet word with him at the end of the series and chalk out a farewell plan. VVS will be sorely missed but I want to remember him as a player who pulled and flicked fast bowlers at will, not as someone who struggled to score his next run against him.

Rahul Dravid is an interesting case. He has had a remarkable 2011 when he was clearly India’s best batsman in test cricket. His innings in Melbourne suggests that there is still some form there but one should take note that he is dropping a lot of catches at slip and getting bowled very often. Often this is a sign that eyesight is not as good as it once was. Dravid should at the most play the series against England in October and then another farewell plan should be prepared for him.

What does one say about Sachin Tendulkar? Every comment made by anyone on Tendulkar evokes emotion. “You can’t write about Indian Cricket without critising Tendulkar”, some one said to me the other day. I am, like many others, a big Tendulkar fan but to say that he is immune to criticism just because of his achievements is ridiculous. The very fact there is so much discussion and debate around Tendulkar shows that something is amiss. Critics will point that he has gone almost 12 months without an international hundred. Incidentally his last test hundred was an absolute master class against a rampaging Dale Steyn at Cape Town. Tendulkar batted freely without a care in the world in that innings. Contrast that with way he played on the third afternoon at Sydney or the way he played against Clarke and you can sense the difference. It seems that Tendulkar is weighed down by this unreasonable hysteria surrounding his next hundred. However, notwithstanding this hype, the signs are very clear that the end is very near for the Bombay Bomber. Tendulkar, who used to be one of India’s finest and most committed fielders, is a liability on the field on most days. The numbers of misfields are increasing. His batting form may suggest that he has some cricket still left, however the lack of big innings suggest that age is catching up. A farewell plan has to be chartered out soon for him as well.

It will be unreal, say 12 months from now to look at an Indian team sheet and see the names of these three fine cricketers missing. But as ace writer Gaurav Kalra mentioned in his blog “permanence in sport is nothing. Succession is inevitable.” It is time for Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara to occupy the Indian Middle order. It is also time for a new Indian team to emerge.

13 years ago India went through similar horrors when it was whitewashed in Australia in 1999. That was followed by South Africa clean sweeping us at home. A new Indian team under the captaincy of Saurav Ganguly emerged. Ganguly’s era saw the emergence of Lakshman, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Sehwag and Yuvraj. Tendulkar and Dravid flourished and a golden chapter of Indian cricket was written. If this Australian debacle lays down the path for another golden chapter of Indian cricket then all the hurt will be worthwhile.