Rash of Blood

Inertia can be a dangerous thing. Ever since India's ignominious early exit from a World Cup which itself was no less ignominious, the ink in my cricket-pen dried up never to show signs of life, until today, when in an unlikely venue, in distant Ireland, Sachin Tendulkar showed life, after a long, long time.

However, what has prompted me to be back from this self-imposed hiatus was not the beauty of Tendulkar's strokes, but the high stupidity quotient of his opening partner, Saurav Ganguly. Everything was hunky dory, till Saurav began to display his regular mid-inning impatience. It's been happening for quite some time now...Remember the Bangladesh match ? India may still go on to win today's match, but that's beyond the point. What should have been a cake-walk has been converted into yet another unnecessary struggle.

I can understand one getting out at any point of time to a good delivery. I can also accept the occasional rash of blood! But a regular bout of stupidity from an ex-captain is not acceptable. If you were watching the match today, you could have almost predicted that Ganguly's fall was round the corner.

It's too late in the day to explain to Ganguly the merits of patience. Sadly instead it's time to show India's finest ODI southpaw the exit door.

Did India get it right at Capetown?

I didn't see the match yesterday, so this late comment - now based on today's cricket stories in the morning's Hindustan Times...

Neil Manthorp, the newspaper's cricket correspondent reports from Cape Town - Bennet Hewe has prepared a pitched that might have been easily imported from Delhi. " Bone-dry and short of grass, it offered the home side's seamers nothing........but even worse for Grame Smith's team were the scuffed and worn patches at either end that will deteriorate quickly as the match progresses - to the delight of Anil Kumble."

India are comfortably placed at 254/3, but still a few questions cannot be completely stifled:

- If the wicket was a belter, and so similar to Delhi's, was this the right time to demote Virender Sehwag? With all due respect to Jaffer and Karthick, who have both done a wonderful job, if Sehwag had succeeded the scoreline could have been well in excess of 300. High scoring rates is a major weapon with which the Aussies have slaughtered opposition relentlessly now - we will know about the impact of this slow batting rate once the Proteas start batting.

- If the wicket is so very likely to crack, shouldn't Harbhajan Singh have been picked up ahead of Munaf Patel? ( and not the fittest either )

In my previous post, we had discussed the importance of one pre-match element: the toss. This one, one which happens before the toss, might be almost as crucial - it's called team selection!!

TAILs up: India aHEAD after day 1 at Capetown

Come to think of it - Rahuld Dravid could have as easily said HEADS, and the belter of a wicket that has been created for the India vs South Africa decider Test would have possibly resulted in day 1 ending with South Africa batting at 250/3. But at the all important toss, the Indian captain predicted correctly and when the coin completed its short U-journey back and came to rest on the Newlands surface, it was TAILS up for India. In both the previous Tests on this tour, the captains who has won the toss has gone on to win the match. And just like Dravid did today, both chose to bat first.

Come to think of it

- the most crucial event of the match may have actually happened before a

single ball is bowled!!

Come to think of it

- lots and lots of matches are actually decided not on day 4 or day 5, but on day 1.

Come to think of it

- Cricket is a funny game!! No wonder they keep saying it all the time.

If you are the kind who prefer statistical evidence to prose & poetry, you may check out this wonderful effort on the importance of the toss in cricket, by a Stephen Samuleson. Click here.

The importance of Saurav Ganguly

After Sachin became Pollock’s bunny,
and Jaffer, Sehwag, Dravid batted funny;
One man arrived to stop the kill,
With a bat of wood and a heart of steel.

The Indian cricket team, currently in South Africa began their quest for the One-day series on Nov 16th, with a warm-up match against a Rest of South Africa XI. Little under a month later, they played another warm-up match, this time in preparation for the test series, again against a Rest of South Africa XI. Though, with one small difference - a man called Saurav Ganguly was absent in the first one and present for the second. And, one big difference - India lost the first match and won the next.

With two back to back half-centuries followed by a small yet important cameo, Saurav Ganguly has almost single-handedly resurrected the dying spirits of Indian cricket and more importantly, he has laid the foundation for a historic victory, India's first ever test win in South Africa. Two days back, even the wildest Indian supporters would not have cherished any hopes of an Indan victory - so bruised and battered have the Indian batsmen been. In the situation, there was hardly a surprise when India were soon reduced to 110/4 in the first innings of the current test. It's in this context that Ganguly's half-century becomes important. Compare it to India's last tour of Australia and you will know what I mean. No one gave India any chance, and again, in the first innings of the first test India were in a similar position at 127/4. One man's steely resolve set the tone for India, then. The same man, after being dropped, humiliated and finally recalled is doing it again for his country. That's why, Saurav Chandidas Ganguly is important - he lifts his cricket when it's needed most, and alongwith it he lifts the whole team, upwards!

*******

For a complete score-card of the India vs Australia 1st Test, Brisbane 2003-04, click here

An extract from Kadambari Murali's piece in today's Hindustan Times:

" Ganguly's half-century was worth much more than just 51 and he and everyone watching knew it. In a sense, it was a more defining knock than his 144 in Brisbane three years ago."

Thinking aloud....

Please Saurav, please....shut them up forever.

As I write this, Ganguly has just scored a beautiful boundary, piercing the slip cordon with complete control.....Boy, don't i get excited sometimes, or rather everytime this man, Saurav Chandidas Ganguly steps out onto the cricket field with a bat in his hand. For more than 3 years now, this guy has been under test every single time - why? Shouldn't it rather have been Sehwag, Jaffer, Tendulkar and the battered Indian captain who should have been under scrutiny? But no, the jury is constantly out on my man. I don't know if a good innings here will silence them or not, for you can only explain things to a logical, rational sort of chap. But even the biggest idiots will find it difficult to complain if Saurav strikes a big one here.

At the moment, the Wanderers is experiencing a unique combination of rain, sun and bad light. Ganguly is on 12, and I've a prayer on my lips. Amen.

Playing Selector: India vs SA, 1st Test

What should the Indian team for the 1st test against South Africa look like? I know, going by the current state of our cricket there ain't much hope but none-the-less cricket lovers like nothing more than playing selector, so here i go.

I will take up the easy ones first - amongst the batting slots there's only one that should be a certainty on current form and record. Ironically enough, that's the last of the slots for the specialised batsmen - at no.6, Saurav Ganguly looks a certainty. Of course, master batsman Tendulkar too will make it to his two-down position on the sheer dint of his records and sheer class, though his current form looks more than a little wobbly. More than anything else, it's the twin failures that he has just collected at Potchefstroom that's worrying me. The two Vs will make it too - Sehwag & Laxman, at #1 & #5 respectively. Latest news suggest that Rahul Dravid will be fit by the time the first ball is bowled at Johannesburg, and in that case he is definitely in at No.3.

Among the batting positions, we are still left with one slot which we we will deal with later. Amongst the bowlers, Zaheer has already ensured his place in the team with his performances on the tour. Against the Rest of South Africa, VRV impressed with his bowling and wins a place in my team. Kumble finds a place too, and so does Harbhajan Singh. Spin has been India's strength, and history has shown that selecting a lone spinner has often hurt India in the past. On the second or third afternoon, when the fast bowlers begin to look insipid when a partnership lasts for more than a full session, the attack needs variety. The duo of Kumble and Harbhajan provide that much needed spice to the attack - unfortunately for Sreesanth, i can't offer him a seat in the starting XI.

That leaves us with 2 empty slots - the wicket-keeper's one is a sitter, so we can ignore that and move to the final one. Who should open the innings with Virender Sehwag? In all probability, the Indian cricket think-tank will persist with Jaffer but this is my blog and i have my liberties which i am going to make full use of. Jaffer was on display recently and looks terrible - there's no point going into a match with a sure-shot failure. Problem is, we don't have an option. In that case, let's not waste a slot completely. Induct Pathan, afterall he has been your best batsman so far. Let him open. He will probably not fare worse than Jaffer. Even if he does fail with the bat, he can provide you with a genuine 5th bowling option. What say?

My team:

Sehwag, Pathan, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman,

Dhoni,

Kumble, Harbhajan, Zaheer, VRV