The Wall

Today’s match would be the last ODI for Dravid….. Most of the followers of cricket loved to hate this guy but he went on to score more than 10K runs in ODIs.

Undoubtedly, His one the most remarkable ODI inning for me is against Pakistan in 2003 world cup. After Tendulkar got out, we still needed 100 more runs, Yuvi and Dravid made sure India’s win in that amazing match. That victory is second only to 2011 World cup victory for me.

Though it was never easy to watch him score runs, I never lost hope until he is on crease.

He wasn’t in team for last 2 years, to say the truth, India didn’t feel like missing him even for one match but the fact is others (his replacements) also failed to fill in his shoes.

Match of Equals

One of the most awaited test series is starting today. It’s a game between one of the strongest test sides in the world cricket.

The way India – South Africa contest turned out to be a worthy watch, and final result proved India’s mettle in the world cricket, upcoming India – England series will be almost there, in fact for me it will be few notches above that.

It is English weather which is going to test Indians. World knows Indians are not good players of Rising deliveries but they also know that swinging conditions can cause equal damage to Indian stronghold. It will be a great to see Indians performing against the likes of Tremmlets and Andersons.

This is a landmark series for Indian maestros, surely the last for them to leave their mark on Englishmen. Dravid and Tendulkar have already proved their class in those conditions. But that one last mark on the honor list at Lords is yet to be seen (To everybody’s pity Agarkar is the last Indian to have his name over there), name on that honor list can be compared with the name on Wimbledon Championship Wall only. Laxman was never as great as he is in those conditions, might he is waiting for that right opportunity.

In a way it will also be important for Gambhir also to perform. He has been one consistent performer for India. With Sehwag, Indian opening always looked very strong. But Gambhir wont have that support this time around. He is a senior pro now and Mukund will surely need Gambhir’s help to wither very much potent English pace attack.

This series, Indian will miss Sehwag sourly. It really doesn’t bother him whether there are swinging conditions or seaming conditions… He is one tormentor, who will unsettle the whole opposition camp and can turn the result in one session. His blows just impact the moral of the opposition.

Our bowling strength will be tested in English conditions. It was English County Cricket which has given us revitalized Zaheer Khan, whom almost every world class batsman recognizes as one of the most lethal bowler of world cricket. The best thing to come out from West Indies tour was Ishant Sharma. That’s the only positive from the tour and I am sure that he will extract lot of help from English weather, though he doesn’t seem to have enough experience of swinging conditions. It will be tantalizing to use Praveen Kumar in English weather but I would still say Srisanth is a better choice. He has pace, He has aggression and he can bowl much better with older ball.

It will also be a test of MSD’s leadership. Post world cup victory, he hasn’t been tested at International levels. Almost everybody says, he has been lucky, but this series would decide whether he is plain lucky or he does know cricketing tactics.

English camp is very much upbeat about their performance. It’s their home turf; they got to be very confidant. But for me important thing is their batting line up. It never looked so strong before. Strauss, Cook and Trot are world class performers and that wonder boy KP can turn results on his own. He is surely in the leagues of legends of the game. Though Indians are better players of Spin, playing Swan will be tough. He knows his strengths and surely will be dangerous for lower middle order.

Though Indians are top ranked and Englishmen are at third position in latest ICC Test rankings, It’s match of equals for me. It will be pretty interesting to see whether Indian batting (though on the wrong side of 30) lives upto its name or its lively, youthful English bowling attack.  

Billion March Required

I would like to clarify right in the beginning that I am Pro-Telangana. Though born in Maharashtra, my native is hardly 10 km away from Telangana border. I have many more relatives living in Nizamabad, Adilabad and Hyderabad districts than districts in Maharashtra. I would like to see Telangana as a separate state carved out of existing Andhra Pradesh. Undoubtedly it would immensely help in development of people living in that region.

‘Million March’ on Thursday, Mar 10th has irked me like never before. I don’t remember last time when I was so critical of my countrymen and I do not understand how exactly I should express my displeasure towards that march. The vandalism done by Pro-Telangana activists at Tank Bund in Hyderabad is an unforgivable offense.

We all be it Telangana activists or Raj Thakare supporters need to understand that we are Indians first and then comes our regional identity.

I felt terribly bad on watching that rubble on TV. Necklace road in Secunderabad is the jewel of the city. It is as important for the city as Charminar is. There must be thousands amongst those millions who have wandered on the same road numerous times.

Here, I would like to ask everyone very basic question, why do we put up statues? Or it is like, Mayawati’s Statue building activity has adulterated the whole meaning of erecting statues. I believe it is always with the intention that these statues would inspire people to think on the similar lines as those great people have thought. It is with the intention to follow the path shown by the legends thus developing society in all. Have you ever seen Hitler’s statue being erected anywhere? No it is not possible, we don’t want our society to go his way. Looking at what has happened in Hyderabad, for a moment I forgot that these are my people, I suddenly remembered the most infamous person of Telangana, Razakar. Nobody else but he would have only thought such a Talibani destruction.

I would like every Telangana activist to remember that, their mother tongue is Telugu, respect Telugu language and Telugu culture, otherwise it won’t be late to see another Nizam coming out of Telangana who is ready to align himself with Pakistan.

Amongst those whose statues were demolished was a King who supported enrichment of Telugu culture, language and in all the people of the region. There was an Engineer, British, who devoted his life to irrigation in India, thus making the Andhra region Rice-full moreover what is more surprising is statues of purely religious figures like Annamacharya, Vemana and Kshetrayya were desecrated. Protesters had desecrated the statues giving warning that one of their leaders Kondaraman (don’t know the exact name) has to be released from jail, every individual who took part in this rally must ask this question to himself, whether Kondaraman’s contribution to society is bigger than of those whose statues were there. We Indians take pride in our history, in our forefathers, that’s our culture we should not be supporting such a destructive mind.

For the destruction, there isn’t any repentance. We all Indians need to condemn such kind of activity. I don’t want government to rebuild all statues over there; it would pacify the purpose of having statues. What I want? If a million march has dismantled Indian history then a billion march required to reinstate the same.

Why It cannot happen in India...

The protests in Egypt and subsequent resignation by Hosni Mubarak have really made me look into my own country. With due reference to Dipankar Gupta's article in ToI The tenacity of hope where he basically uncovered the reasons behind the unrest in Egypt and comparing those with Indian republic, he clearly singles out 'Indian democracy'; howsoever ineffective and non-performing it might be, people of India recognizes power in their hand to choose the government.

The public outcry in Egypt was due to rampant unemployment in the country along with corruption and autocratic governance of Hosni Mubarak. The only factor differing India is democracy but situation in India doesn't look as revolutionary as it should be. This shows that world's largest democracy and second largest populous country's lack of sensitivity towards corruption and unemployment. Though this insensitivity infuriates almost everyone, It doesn't bring out people on road protesting against the government.

So what exactly has prompted people of India to come on road and protest against the government?

Looking into the post-independence India, we can see that there are only three instances when India has come on road. The first one was against Emergency in 1975. When we look into the details the important cause behind the anger was the rejection of basic democratic rights. In 1975, we were pretty young nation enjoying fruits of freedom. By then we had just 5 general elections; though Congress had been 'The One' party across breadth and width of India, people started understanding power of democracy through new governments in Tamilnadu and Kerala, who had different ideologies. Its little far-fetched but one must not forget role of British-Raj here. Though we used to call it 'Raj', British Parliamentary was also one of the main reasons behind instilling appreciation for democracy in Indian DNA.

The second time Indians fought collectively against the government was during Mandal commission protests in 1990. It was fight against the reservation. My understanding is 80's was a kind of tough time for majority of Indian populace. Youth in late 70's and early 80's had grown up seeing a secured life with government job after graduation but suddenly youth realized that there are no government jobs on offer for them and as India was still reeling under 'license raj' there were not many industries to accommodate them. There was very high rate of unemployment across the graduate youth and during such torrid time a big jolt came in the form of reservations. For majority of the youth it was denial of opportunity as reservations were basically securing job for less-deserving candidates and providing much required security in life.

Many might argue on third instance but the third time Indians got angry and came agitating against government was during Ayodhya dispute. There was anger in Hindus as well as Muslims  against the government after Babri demolition. We, Indians are religious people and thats how we have grown up in our society. We always look for spiritual - devotional gateway through-out our life. When Ayodhya happened, it basically shook this sentimental side of individual and unfortunately we fought against each other because their basic right of practicing religion was denied. 

These three incidences show that we Indians revolt against rejection of rights. Post economic reforms, employment opportunities have surely increased. There have been significant growth in employment in non-agriculture units changing the nature of Indian society. There is hope in every individual's mind that he can surely find a job in cities and can survive on that. Through numerous government initiatives also lot of job opportunities have been created reducing dependence on agriculture.

Though the demons of unemployment have been won by India (considerably), corruption is still present in society. I might sound pessimistic but I don't think that Indians will come on roads against corruption in India. Just try to remember last two years and you will see that almost every  month some scam had been unearthed showing loot by politicians but even after so much theft by politicians, I don't remember seeing any agitation by common man. There have been agitations by political parties but those could not catch the imagination of general public. On this particular issue what I feel is, as employment in private sector has increased, our exposure to corruption has reduced. We, the youth of this country come across corruption only when we are caught by traffic police in our day-to-day life whereas it was very different for our parent's generation. They were exposed to corruption in their every day life much more than a mere traffic police incidence. Even in offices, if they have to withdraw their GPF, they have to pay bribe to their colleagues, such was the pathetic state of people. Though we see that in 2G scam or in CWG scam, enormous amount of public money has been stolen, it has not directly affected an individual and thus his anger remains limited to a short burst on social media only. Thats why I think a revolt against corruption could have happened in last generation, but with our generation, Its just impossible.

World Cup: Batsmen to watch out for

No! this list won’t include Sachin or Ponting, they are the stalwarts. This is about the less-known guys who can make it big during world cup; who have capability to perform at the biggest stage.

1)       Kane Williamson: He has just one century in 11 ODI matches until now but the kind of patience and strokes he has showed during his debut test century against India proves his mettle.

2)       Adrian Barath: He caught the eye of Brian Lara as a 11-year old when batting in the nets and has developed to become one of the most exciting batsmen from West Indies. He has just played five ODIs but has already become the youngest West Indian to score a Test-match century. Much is expected from this attacking opener (From Cricinfo)

3)       Chamara Kapugedra: It’s a surprise entry, isnt it? But this highly talented batsman is one of the most under-rated batsmen. He is one guy, who can clear the rope easily as well as play a patient knock. Playing in home conditions would surely help him perform better.

4)       Umar Akmal: In very short span of time, he has turned out to be one of the pillars of Pakistani batting. His exploits in the world cup would be very keenly followed. I won’t be over-estimating if I say that Pakistan’s chances of reaching semi-finals depend heavily on how Umar Akmal performs at the matches.

5)       Johan Botha: I have intentionally included Botha as batsman in this list. Everybody will be looking forward to him to lead South African spin bowling attack but one must not forget his batting credentials. There is every possibility that South African will remain loyal to their ‘Chokers’ tag. Their top-order do fail under pressure but this is the guy who has capability to build South African inning from there on and salvage South Africans from further agony in world cups.  

6)       Yusuf Pathan: I must include his name in this list. He has been off-late batting wonderfully but I strongly believe that he is yet to receive due recognition from his countrymen. His brother received lot of adulation from people but same is not the case about Yusuf and almost everybody counts him as one strong hitter who is perfect for T-20 cricket. I will include him in Indian cricket team for his bowling abilities also. On Indian wickets, he will ball much better than Yuvi or Raina.

7)       Tamim Iqbal: In Bangladesh Squad everybody recognizes Shakib and truly he is one of the best all-rounders around but explosive batsman Tamim Iqbal has capability to turn games on his own. I would love to call him Sehwag of Bangladeshi squad. At very young age of 21 years, he has been made the vice-captain of Bangladeshi squad.

8)       Steven Smith: This Australian if comes out of his hip injury can play very constructive role in Aussie challenge. A very stable batsman down the order and good googly bowler is a potent combination on sub-continental wickets.

9)       Eoin Morgan: The man in form. He has been performing consistently for England. Very under-estimated cricketer. He is capable of building English inning in case of top order failure. With his medium pace bowling, he brings in good option for English think-tank.

Aussie Selection

Australia declared their team for World Cup. Being reigning champions, Its important to have a look that Aussie armory. Their selection panel is already under attack due to heavy losses in Ashes and I think attacks will continue after looking at the selection;

Australia squad Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, David Hussey, Cameron White, Tim Paine (wk), Steven Smith, John Hastings, Mitchell Johnson, Nathan Hauritz, Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger

Its really surprising that Aussies are bringing just one specialist spinner to play in subcontinent. Anyways, Hauritz is surely better bet than Dohorty or Beer whom they have selected in Ashes campaign. Another part-timer they would be using in almost all the matches is Smith but he is an average bowler; his googly is pretty easy to pick up for most of the sub-continental players.

Aussie Bowling looks very weak on paper. Brett Lee is a wicket taker but he leaks lot of runs and same is the case with Mitchell Johnson.Doug Bollinger is one bowler they rely a lot on in subcontinent.

Their batting is looks decent on paper though, Ponting and Clarke are completely out of form but one must not forget that they can easily rise to occasion and make merry of subcontinent conditions, at least Clarke can surely use these conditions where ball is not rising above his chest-height.

I think Aussie experience in IPL will come very handy and if they play to their full potential I do see them in semifinals.

My Aussie Playing 11:

1) Shane Watson,

2) Brad Haddin (wk),

3) Ricky Ponting (capt),

4) Michael Clarke,

5) Michael Hussey

6) Steven Smith

7) Mitchell Johnson,

8) Nathan Hauritz,

9) Brett Lee

10) Doug Bollinger

11) David Hussey

My 15

Its been long time since we have played two spinners. In this world cup, I think we need to think abt such ploy. Ojha is a wonderful spinner, I strongly feel that he shud be in the playing eleven with Bhajji. But looking at current team playing in SA, opportunity to Ojha looks very difficult and we might opt for three pacers in the playing eleven and that would be Munaf for sure, just due to his strength in keeping it simple and not trying too much.

So the 5 Bowlers who would figure in this list are

1)       Zaheer

2)       Praveen Kumar

3)       Bhajji

4)       Munaf

5)       Ojha

Openers;

6)       Tendulkar

7)       Sehwag

Followed By

8)       Gambhir

Looking at the current form though I don’t like but Kohli would easily make into the team at Position 4

9)       Kohli

Position 7 should be Dhoni.

10)   Dhoni

So it leaves us with two of the most important positions of the line up which are gonna be the deciding factors. Position 5 and 6; My first choice would be Yuvi and Raina (again I don’t like this guy but cant help it).

11)   Raina

12)   Yuvi

And these are the two position for which there are another two contenders; Yusuf and Rohit; I think here we need to go for a better bowler which tilts the selection in favor of Yusuf in place of Yuvi but just a presence of Yuvi can keep opposition on their toes even if he is not in the form.

Comparing Raina and Rohit will not result in anything. Both of them are decent players on Indian pitches with more or less similar batting/bowling and fielding capabilities. I guess whosoever plays the initial rounds will remain in the team as a lucky mascot as Dinesh Mongia played in 2003

13)   Rohit

14)   Yusuf

And that leaves us with the last 15^th player who could make it to team and it’s a tough call between extra batsman or extra bowler. Extra batsman under consideration could be Vijay whereas extra bowler under consideration could be Nehra. I think Nehra would make a cut here based on a sheer data that he is the only one who has consistently played ODIs in last 2 years with decent bowling performance.

15)   Nehra

And That’s my 15 for the cup