Rahul Dravid makes an ODI comeback

When Rahul Dravid's name was announced in the list of probables a couple of months back for the Champions Trophy, it almost made it certain that he would make it to the final squad. Were the selectors not to be serious about considering him for the final India Team they wouldn't have bothered to take this risk - or as some critics may say, take this backward step. Now that Dravid has indeed been selected for both the ODI squads - the Champions Trophy as well as the Champions Trophy, I would like to congratulate the selectors for making a wise decision.

For many years now, India's selectors have made too much of a fuss over the age of a cricketer, and the selectors always seem to have been worried about getting the team right for the next World Cup rather than for the immediate requirement, as if all the cricket that is played in the four years between two World Cups doesn't matter, and they are all practise matches leading up to the championship. I can understand a few new guys being blooded six to seven months before the World Cup and that too if it appears that the team is facing a certain weakness in or more departments. But dropping players who should be sure selections to make way for risky newcomers doesn't make any sense. Over time, some players drop form, get injured or need rest for some or the other reason and new players automatically make it - organically. Those who show promise will continue to be fielded and some of them will eventually become regulars. The not so good will fade out. This is a natural process, and unless there is an emergency requirement, I don't see much reason or merit in forcing something. Rarely has this strategy paid dividends in this past. Let's hope that Dravid's inclusion will set a right precedent for the selectors of the future. That the selections to represent India will be on the basis of merit and merit alone. If someone is 40, and still good, great!

Rahul Dravid equals Maximum Catches Record of Mark Waugh

The first wicket has fallen in the India vs New Zealand Test Series. Test debutant fell early - the bowler was Zaheer Khan, and when Rahul Dravid took a beauty of a catch in the slips, his tally of catches in test cricket swelled to 108. He has now equalled the world record for the maximum number of catchs in test matches and is now tied with Australia's Mark Waugh.

Stories from the Cricket Blogosphere

The prayers of a blue billion and about half a green billion have been answered - an India vs Pakistan final is one of the ultimate fantasies of a cricket fan and it's been delivered, and how!! With Twenty20 having caught the imagination of the world, i thought of surfing the blogosphere and see what fellow cricket bloggers were writing. Here are some random gems

1.

"I will smash your face, you just wait" - The Yuvraj Singh-Flintoff controversy. And Yuvi's "Pay-Back Drama." Karthikeya digs into this story on his blog A Cricketing View - while this is not the best time to criticize Mr. Sixes, but i think Yuvraj had ready sound-bites for the media post his 666666. You must have already heard the "God, this is not justice" crap. I don't know why the press or the electronic media let go off of the 'tendonitis/tennis elbow' nonsense so easily even though Nasser Hussain and Harsh Bhogle had supplied the world with enough fodder for thought.

2.

India v South Africa by the Left Arm ChinaMan

Thus spake the Atheist: So frustrated by their ineptitude, that the Saffer wicket keeper, Mark Boucher, began to slap the faces of surrounding players with his glove, followed by some sound punching and then he tripped them up with a cricket bat which has recently grown from his mid-rift.

Go there, if not for the text, for the image accompanying this post.

3.

"Its l like watching an Angelina Jolie sex scene" - Uncle Rod similizes Yuvi's power hitting

4.

Homer's Eeerie parallels between the autumns of 2000 and 2007

5.

This ain't a pure cricket blog, but she writes the cutest posts on cricket: Dravid Resigns at Pri's World

"I title my post Dravid Resigns and yet every other word in my post ends with a kar, you know like Gavaskar, Vengsarkar etc. "

6.

Visit Brian Carpenter's Different Shades of Green for the best/most elegant header image amongst all the cricket blogs in the world. Like everyone else in England, he too seems to be mch troubled with Mr. Yuvraj Singh and is trying to find succour in county cricket!!

7.

"Brett Lee bowled with speed and aggression, knowing a good performance here could help him push another million Bollywood singles. "- JC's report on the India-Australia semi-final at his Cricket Blog. A tad staid by JC's standards, but the comments make-up for the lack of spice.

8.

Catch Bhajji's Bhangra (India vs Australia) at Six and Out . And if you are there, you may as well read this brief piece titled Yuvraj's Jab in Freddies Jaw

9.

I love cricket, but if it could be combined with a bit of art and a bit of action, it would be perfect. Check out Cricket=Action=Art for some stunning cricket artwork. Here's an example.

Plenty of visual delights on this blog, including an image of the victory huddle that India formed yesterday afternoon at the Kingsmead, Durban.

Reinventing the Power Plays

Rahul Dravid seems to be a nice sort of bloke - the kind of guy who won't trouble you or demand much. Now India's gentleman captain is very happy with the peanut of a modification to the powerplay fielding rules. The ICC has made an amendment to the rule allowing an extra fielder outside the 30 yard circle beyond the first 10 overs. Dravid rightly thinks that it will allow him and other captains to bring in a spinner within the powerplay overs and has welcomed the change - but it begs a question which my captain didn't ask. Is that all that can be done?

Even the ICC would agree, albeit grudgingly that the move to increase the powerplay duration from 15 to 20 overs has been a complete failure. The bowling captains have been very risk-averse, mostly choosing to go for the 2nd and 3rd powerplays in succession after the 1st and one can hardly blame them for it. In the few cases where an enterprising captain has taken the risk of postponing the decision, he has mostly ended up ruing the adventure. You might have seen Brian Lara who having deferred the final powerplay in the World Cup match against South Africa never got an apt opportunity to take it and ended up looking really silly when he was forced to take it in the 44th over. Fleming, arguably the best ODI captain of recent year did try experimenting but never really with much success. The fact is that the dice was loaded against any experimentation by the fielding captain.

But the batting captain? Did anyone think of that? Pass the buck to him and the situation changes dramatically. Imagine the batting captain's predicament! Should he let his rampaging openers continue unabated or wait for a cracker of an end? If he waits, he may lose the momentum. If he doesn't wait, he is letting the fielding captain - he is not hanging in suspense anymore and can rotate his bowlers freely. Noticed that? Suddenly the fielding captain is now forced to take decisions, to experiment. More decisions and more drama. Isn't that what the ICC wanted in the first place?

Enforce the Follow On

My first instinctive reaction to India's decision to not enforce the follow-on was Geoffrey Boycott's 'rubbish'. A lead of 319 runs, but with just under 6 sessions left in the test, on a wicket which still favours the bat over the ball, I don't understand the no follow-on strategy much. Let's look at the various option possible situations.

Scenario 1: Objective Win

India plays about 2 more sessions, declares half an hour after tea and bat at about 4.5 an over and get 270 runs. England needs an impossible 589 runs to win but India needs to get 10 England wickets in about a 110 overs, on a wicket which is unlikely to favour the ball much, even on the 5th day of the test.

Scenario 2: Objective Draw

India play on till close of play, may be even a bit tomorrow morning, play the way tests are played and match peter outs into a dull boring draw.

Scenario 3: Objective Win

Dravid is seriously looking at a 2-0 verdict. India bats for about 40 more overs, at an average of 5, one-day style, and give England a still-realistic chase of about 500. India too have over 6 sessions to bowl out England.

Now, let's add one more scenario, now a hypothetical one:

Scenario 4: If India had enforced the follow-on

Scenario 4.1

England bat solidly, losing just 3 wickets on the 4th day and reaching a healthy 250 or so.

Scenario 4.2

England bat like they did in the 1st innings, are at 250 or so for 5 or 6, at close of play on Day 4.

Out of the 5 scenarios we just discussed, where would be the highest probability of a win? I guess in Scenario 4.2, we are best off. Realistically England can go on to score about 350-400, leaving us to chase a smallish 50 - 70. Even if we look at Scenario 4.1, realistically England can go on to score about 500, still leaving us with a chance of getting the 200 odd in some 30 overs or so. Worst case, it would be a draw.

On the other hand, the follow-on has opened up a lost English cause - a chance to level the series. If we go defensive like in the first 2 scenarios, we lose the chance of winning. If we go aggressive, we allow England a chance to come back, however faint the chances may be. And there is the other possibility, the one which is happening as I write this: what if we don't bat well, and get out too soon? Unlikely, but not impossible na. And there was that other possibility, which can't happen now - England might have folded in meekly. Unlikely, but not impossible na - afterall, India are 10/2 already!

When Dravid lost his cool

A day after the India-West Indies warm-up match where Sehwag was India's only notable failure, the Indian captain lost his customary cool when asked by a scribe why he kept backing the out-of-form Virender Sehwag.

"I'm not backing a Joe Blog or a Ramdin or any non-entity. Viru is someone with proven ability - he's scored a Test 300."

(source: Hindustan Times, New Delhi)

You may also want to read "If I were Rahul Dravid.."

If I were Rahul Dravid...

If I were Rahul Dravid, I would be a very unhappy man today. You may think that we shot out the West Indies for a mere 85 runs, and then raced to victory losing just a solitary wicket – that should be a reason to celebrate, be happy. Instead, why the hell am I sulking? Actually, I have good reason to.

Yesterday’s match against the West Indies was a warm-up match. Just that and no more. You don’t earn any points for winning it, definitely no bonus points for winning it that easily. If you really want to, you may factor in the psychological advantage nonsense bit for whatever it is worth. However, after what transpired on the cricket field there is reason to sulk – and more than one.

I fought with the entire selection committee to get Veeru included in the team for the World Cup, not because I am fond of him – rather because I believe in his abilities, I know and you know that Sachin is not the Sachin that was. Nor is Saurav. On the top of the innings, Sehwag remains the only one who has the potential to break the back of the opponents, sometimes race away with the match on his own – yes, Uthappa has shown the sparks, but this is the biggest stage in cricket – and I would have preferred someone who has played a couple of hundred matches to someone who has played a couple of great innings. But look, what he has done now. With a total of 19 runs from two warm-up matches, how do I make a case for him now? Even I am beginning to doubt the idea now – continuing with Veeru may be almost insane now. To include Veeru in the team, either of Uthappa or Karthick has to make way – and these are the two guys who scored 100% of the runs yesterday, that too without getting dismissed.

My other bet was Irfan – the only genuine allrounder in the team. Did you watch him bowl yesterday? In spite of the fact that he got Brian Lara and two more top batsmen, he was all over the place. Just too many wides and no balls. On the other hand, Munaf was brilliant. He looked in complete control and his line and length was close to perfect. With Zaheer, Agarkar and Kumble, the other 3 bowlers on display all bowling well, how do I even think of including Pathan. The problem is that Irfan’s inclusion provides the team with a lot of flexibility – both the batting and bowling line-ups look longer and stronger. As a captain, his inclusion allows me that much more freedom in deciding on the rest of team. Alas!

Those twin disasters yesterday, I think overshadow the victory. I’d have happily traded off a good performance from Sehwag and Pathan for a loss – though, not the kind which we handed Lara’s men. That indeed would be a psychological disaster!

The World Cup doesn't make a difference to the Indian captain

Addressing a press conference in Mumbai, on the eve of Team India's departure for the West Indies, Dravid said he would not be under any added pressure because he was leading the side in this, his third, World Cup. "I've never viewed going into a tournament as being under less or more pressure. Obviously as captain there are some more responsibilities, the hunger to perform and to do well for the team does not matter if I am a captain, vice-captain or just a player," he said. "It does not make a difference to me. "

Dravid also dismissed the idea of the World Cup being "a final frontier", a term made much famous by the very successful ex-Aussie captain, Steve Waugh.
Just as the Indian captain was giving this soundbytes to the Indian media in Mumbai, a few hundred miles up northwest in Varanasi, a crowd of a thousand plus were participating in a "Shubhkamna Yatra". The procession moved towards the Ganges where they offered prayers to 11 cricket bats.

Now I'm not justifying the actions of these Varanasi crowd or anything, but the Indian captain needs to understand that he is not just leading any other nation into the Cricket World Cup - but India, which is home to close a billion cricket fans including millions of cricket fanatics like the ones at Varanasi. Even outside home, the stadiums in quite a few other countries are filled up with more Indian fans than locals. The Indian team doesn't need a Barmy-Army to travel across the world supporting the team, there is one, often more than one in every cricket centre across the world. Dravid needs to factor this in before speaking - he has a responsiblility, unlike any one else in the world.

Even if I were to remove the above factors for the sake of an argument, Dravid's words were unbecoming of any leader. How can the World Cup not make a difference? How can his being the captain not make any difference to him? Shouldn't it goad him on, motivate him only that much more. Can you even imagine Mike Brearley or Saurav Ganguly or Mark Taylor even saying that?

A World Cup win can stir the nation, leave a billion people happier, i would daresay that - even if temporary, the Sensex will rise. It makes a difference to me, Mr. Dravid and it makes a difference to a billion more like me. And I'm sad that we have chosen someone like you to lead us - someone, to whom it doesn't make a difference.

******

Read this quote by Dravid to see for yourself how amibitious / aspirational / inspirational my cricket captain is:

" India is one of the most dangerous ODI teams. There will be 7-8 teams that will be capable of winning the World Cup, and I want India to be one of them."

Now who can stop India from being one of the top 7 or 8 ? Is he fearing Bangladesh whom me see in our first match on the 17th March or Bermuda?!!

Want more gems from Dravid? I quote the Indian captain again.

" The World Cup is a big event, but i don't think you can base your career on winning it. There's a lot more you can achieve. You can't judge everything from one tournament."