Will Harbhajan's dream be relished?

Well it is or has always been an accepted theory that only batsmen make good captains while bowlers rarely get the chance to captain their side. This was the case some 7 years back when Sourav Ganguly was forced to opt out of the tournament against Pakistan and Rahul Dravid was made the captain of the then Indian side which saw wins in the first test followed by a defeat in the second. However, Ganguly returned back for the third test which saw India register another innings win against arch rivals-Pakistan. Then, there were two batsmen who captained the Indian side.

That tournament was famous for Virender Sehwag's (India's) maiden triple hundred when he smashed all the Pakistani bowlers-Saqlain especially all over the ground at Multan. That apart, coming to the point, news on the web is that the Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh is keen to captain the Indian side which is now on its all time high after their world cup win exactly two months back. But, his dream seems far from being relished when it has been only batsmen who are found to captain the side. However, the Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori becomes an exception. Or else, no other bowler seems to hold the tag.

The other side of the debate also has wicket keepers making good captains like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Similarly there were quite a few players like Andy Flower and Moin Khan who captained their side as well as kept wickets. But, the lone sufferers have been the bowlers and of course fielders. But, with known fielders hardly available and no other name but Jonty Rhodes making it to the list, fielders can be kept out of the list. Of course, even Jonty Rhodes didn't captain the South African side. Another bowler who made it to the elite list was Shaun Pollock.

Or else, the names which captained their sides were Shahid Afridi, Andrew Struass, Dhoni, Chris Gayle etc who were all batsmen or rather all-rounders, Dhoni being a wicketkeeping allrounder. But, despite being successful bowlers, players like Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Javgal Srinath etc never got a chance to captain their side. There have been successful bowlers like Wasim Akram, Daniel Vettori, Imran Khan, Kapil Dev etc who have been successful captains. And someone like Sachin Tendulkar is the worst captain India has ever seen no matter how gr8 a batsman he is. With the trends showing no signs of reversing, the question left unanswered is whether Harbhajan's dream ever be relished

Sri Lanka in 1999

Well that was the world cup where the defending champions Sri Lanka had evoked a lot of interest and expectations among the fans and among the board as well after they had not only won the championship in 1996 but also had done so without losing a single match en route to the final triumph. Sri Lanka was the second nation to do so after the mighty West Indies led by Clive Lloyd in the 1975 and 1979 editions. Sri Lanka was led by Arjuna Ranatunga who was the captain in 1996 world cup as well needless to be said.

In the 1999 world cup all that the Sri Lankans were able to extract from the more or less world cup winning squad was a win against Zimbabwe and Kenya, the least that any test playing nation can be expected to do. Worst come, in the match against Kenya at Southhampton, though Sri Lanka managed a win in that inconsequential match after losing to England, South Africa and England, the man of the match was awarded to Maurice Odumbe of Kenya for scoring 82 runs from 95 balls. In the game against Zimbabwe, Sri lanka lost 6 wickets en route to their successful chase of 198.

Luckily, the man of the match was awarded to a Sri Lankan batsman Marvan Atapattu for reasons not so important here. Going back, in the 1^st game the Sri Lankans faced against England, Sri Lankans were the favorites not only against England but also against any opposition but for RSA. Sri Lankans were bowled out for 204 and the English batsmen chased down the target in 46.5 overs losing just 2 wickets en route. In the next game against South Africa, though not rated as favorites, Sri Lanka would have had it share of betters after RSA was bowled out for 199 with Klusner remaining unbeaten on 52.

But, forget about winning, the Sri Lankans should have thanked their Gods for not having them all out for a score less than 100. A margin of 89 runs chasing 199 on board is just unforgivable. Then comes the game against India where once again, Sri Lanka were termed as favorites but once again thumbs down. Sri Lanka started off on a positive note after scalping the wickets of Sachin Tendulkar and Sadagoppan Ramesh not before handing themselves to the hands of Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly. The two contributed together 328 runs with extras apart. Sri Lankans slogan might have been "Welcome to My World"

Sri Lanka were left with no choice but to end up on a winning note in their inconsequential match against Kenya with a lot of compromise.

A gift for South Africa

Well this has always been the case with test matches between India and South Africa be it in India or in South Africa. So far a neutral venue for such a series has not happened. Coming to the point, this time as well, like usual India have lost the first test against South Africa which is evident from the scorecard. This is the second time in the year that the two countries are facing each other for a full fledged series that involves test, one day and T20 games. Of course, who can forget the earlier encounter this year between the two countries?

One need not be reminded the way Hashim Amla from South Africa emerged the most economical player with the bat by remaining not out in all but one occasion and needless to be said specially was awarded the man of the series. And, coming to the big occasion, this was the series where Sachin Tendulkar scored his the first double century in the history of one day or limited overs cricket. Well, past is past and in the ongoing series in South Africa, India have started on a bad note by losing the 1^st test by an innings margin. But, is this the end of all?

Bad need not be bad always for, it is the bad first that turns into good later. For more details, you can approach the cathara beneath the maskara though this has got nothing to do with yesterday's match. For onlookers, team India fared very badly especially when the margin of defeat reads an innings and 25 runs. But, I wish you think once again! India are touring South Africa which is a totally different experience considering their recent tours against Australia and New Zealand which were played at home with limited success. India should have won all three tests against new Zealand.

With the venue being new to team India, initial hiccups can be given an excuse for, the world champions Australia couldn't draw even a single match during the recently concluded Border - Gavaskar trophy. In the first innings where India scored 136, more than the South African bowling line up, it was India's newness to the country and the pitch which was evident in the second innings when India fought until the end by amassing 459 runs despite ending on the losing side. Taking the 1^st innings into consideration, India should have failed even more miserably. But, there was Dhoni, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dravid in addition to Sachin Tendulkar who showed confidence.

India did lose the match but gained a lot in terms of experience and confidence.

How long will this continue?

Things were not as simple for Pakistan like it would have been trading on sasono site for, sport is not gambling. But, the Pakistani team has made their cricket look like a gamble since the days when all major cricketing nations started boycotting their tour to the trouble torn country. That apart, coming to yesterday's 4^th day of the test match between England and Pakistan, that was one last blow for Pakistan when they fell one run short in ending up their 2^nd innings score twice of what they could manage to do in their 1^st innings at London. No prizes for guessing.

On the 1^st day's play, it was as though that Pakistan would continue to rock the series the way they did in the 3^rd test which they eventually won. The 1st day's play saw England ending the truncated day with 39 runs for the loss of one wicket. This was not a problem with 9 more batsmen still to go at that time. But, it was later in the day that followed that misery stared for England. England lost 7 wickets for a score just above 100 on day 2 which spoke for itself. But, as the scorecard suggests, Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott settled things for England.

In addition to praising the duo who bought England back into the game, it would not be wrong to blame Pakistan for allowing a number 9 batsman to settle down and settle his team as well at the same time. One cannot expect someone like Mohammed Asif and Saeed Ajmal to do the same for Pakistan. If Broad scores more than twice the total put up by Pakistan team, the caliber of Pakistan should be under scrutiny. One can recall the way India got back into the game against Australia at the Eden Gardens Kolkata in 2001 after allowed to follow on by Steve Waugh in a situation similar to the one under consideration.

But then, it was Laxman and Dravid, two notable batsmen from the Indian side and not some Venkatesh Prasad or Debashish Mohanty. There has been a nightwatchman who has scored a double century when Jason Gillespie did it against Bangladesh. But, the team against Stuart Broad did the feat was a team that has had a world cup triumph against its name. No matter that even Australia's collapse for 88 recently would have made people think likewise. But, Pakistan has been doing it since past one year or so. England required just four bowlers to get all ten Pakistani wickets unlike 6 bowlers from Pakistani side.

There was some Umar Akmal who scored 79 runs at a strike rate of 116 as though it was a LOI game. With this sort of approach, the results can get only worse.

Was the resting of players justified?

I can still remember the way India lost the second one dayer to Bangladesh in 2005 when the then captain Rahul Dravid decided to rest most of the experienced players by underestimating the Bangladeshi players and paid the price for the same by losing the match by 11 runs. In fact that was India's first ever defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. And now once again, the Indian selectors did the same mistake by resting all the players who are experienced thinking that it can bring out the best out of the youngsters. As a result of this, once again India paid the price.

India not only lost their final match against Sri Lanka but also lost two matches rather unexpectedly to Zimbabwe, the team against which a victory was assumed before hand by the Indians and failed to make it to the finals of the tri nation tournament. Until now, team India was ill fated when they used to enter the finals of a multi nation tournament and lose there. But now, they have failed to get past the league stage itself. All thanks to the selectors who not only gave the youngsters a chance but also gave Zimbabwe a chance to enter the finals of the tri nation tournament which it rarely deserves.

Despite not deserving to be there, Zimbabwe was seen in the super sixes of two world cups in 1999 and 2003. Anyways, with that being secondary, the matter of the hour is that the BCCI did nothing good by resting the seniors starting from Sachin Tendulkar to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team should have seen atleast a few of the experienced lads making it to the squad like yuvraj Singh, who would be making it to the playing XI after a long time snce he has battled injuries off late. So would have been the case with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for whom this could have been a refresher series after their absence recently.

Following the series under discussion, there is a mega event scheduled with India taking on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia cup which happens once in every two years since it was decided in 2008. With the BCCI resting the experienced players, there is every possibility that the Asia cup may turn a nightmare for both the players as well as the BCCI in case India lose to either if the strong teams or not to be surprised, even Bangladesh. Added to this would be the T20 world cup ghost that would continue to haunt the Indian team wherever they go until they find a breakthrough.

How long will we see them play?

Well it was a boon in the form of IPL which saw players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly play in the T20 format of the game since the BCCI closed all the gates for these three prior to the inaugural T20 world cup in 2007. And, with India winning the same without the services of these gentlemen, the BCCI became even more firm with its decision which towards the end also extended their omission from T20 to ODIs. On the other hand, the IPL also provided the fans with a chance to watch players like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne play despite retiring from international cricket.

And in addition, there were players like Shaun Marsh, David Warner, David Hussey to name a few whose hard hitting capabilities were hardly known to the cricketing world and it was possible only because of the IPL. However, with time the players are also found aging themselves which would surely put a break from featuring in the T20s and obviously the IPL as well. The list includes a lot like Anil Kumble, Shane Warne, Sanath Jayasuriya etc to name a few. If a player can play the comparitively longer versions of the game until he closes in on late 30s, he should be able to play T20 matches atleast until 45.

If this has to be true, one should be able to see all retirees from international cricket play in the IPL and should be picked up by the franchisees in the upcoming auction next year when the contract for the three editions of the IPL would have expired. Sacin Tendulkar - who is now just above 36 if picked would be playing until the age of 40, which is now being done by Sanath Jayasuriya and Shane Warne. Both Jayasuriya and Warne are now aged 40 and Jayasuriya has lost his place in the playing XI though not being justified. And on the other hand, Shane Warne is found playing for the lone reason that he is the captain.

Warne would be 43 and Jayasuriya 45 if picked. And there is no problems with Gilchrist, Sachin and Hayden who would be aged 39 respectively and will play until 43 which is still less than 45 and should have enough fuel in them to take their team forward. Anil Kumble is now 39 and if picked will be there until he reaches 43. Likewise, Glenn McGrath has not featured in the 15 member squad of the Delhi Daredevils and Chaminda Vass has been made to follow Sanath Jayasuriya despite at one stage of the tournament found wearing the purple cap.

At the end of the day, the million dollar question is irrespective of whether they have the potential in them to make it big or not, will the team owners go for these old warhorses? And in addition, though their body supporting them, will these players' mind support them which has seen them doing the same since more than a decade? Well, there is money involved and so nothing can be said in particular.

Is Smith confident about his decisions?

As expected at the end of the second day's play between India and South Africa, South Africa did pile up a mammoth total of 556 for the loss of 6 wickets before declaring the innings. However, a close look at the game's play suggests that the South African captain might have erred in declaring the innings with still 4 wickets in hand. If the scorecard of the South African 1^st innings is given a close look at, it is well evident that the pitch might be a pure batting paradise. For, the South Africans lost just 4 wickets on day 2 of the test match.

If not for the opening pair of Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince, none of the South African batsmen had any sorts of problems with the Indian bowlers. As a matter of fact, South Africans have been comparatively bad players of spin compared to the teams from the sub continent. And the scorecard suggests us that the bowler who maintained the worst economy in the first innings happened to be India's leading and most experienced spinner Harbhajan Singh who ended with an economy rate of 3.60. Moreover, Harbhajan had just 1 maiden which was the lowest among the lot with just one over maiden.

A part time off spinner in Sehwag can come out with an equal number of overs maiden, that Harbhajan could do out of his 46 overs. And, who all batted from the South African team, if not for Prince and Smith, every other batsmen came out with good success barring Duminy. However, prior to the series, India were expected to atleast draw the series with the Proteas, in case they needed to stay at the top of the test ratings, which suggests that the pressure is on India though being the hosts. If the South African first innings is considered, they need not worry about losing, for worst come the match might end in a draw. But, is that the spirit of the way a game is supposed to be played?

In one way, Smith's decision to declare the innings can be given a nod for, the Indian team is too short of batsmen if not for the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni. Despite the presence of these four, and their capability to score runs, they can hardly be considered to put up a decent partnership that is quintessential in test cricket. India have lost batsmen in Laxman and Dravid, who can stay at the crease for long time that can exhaust the opposition bowlers. Added to that, South Africa have a match winning bowler combination in Dale Steyn, Morkel and Harris along with the experience of Kallis. So, Smith's decision is now in a toss whose result is expected tomorrow.

VVS Laxman speaks!!!

It is good to see that these days some lesser known names like VVS Laxman have started speaking. Until now, hardly one would have seen Laxman coming in front of the television sets and throwing out his opinion. neither has there been any ad that is being promoted by Laxman in his decade long international career, that consisted mostly of test cricket, with a little bit of one day and no T20. even Anil Kumble was hardly seen making it to ads if not for one or two. But, that is a different issue altogether. But, Laxman's appearance would have made a lot eye brows to raise including mine.

It was only after his comment upon India not having enough bench strength when it came to spinners. Someone like Sachin, Dravid, Ganguly of the decade old times and that followed by Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Dhoni and Sehwag have been found frequently throwing up their expressions regarding whatever major development happens in Indian cricket. Anyway, coming to the statement given by Laxman that India lacks bench strength when it comes to spinners, isn't Laxman an off-spinner by profession? Why didn't he take to spin bowling, be it part time no matter, like Sehwag & Yuvraj have done? This is what happens when someone who takes to something which he has never done until now.

And, if Laxman's take is given a consideration, India do have some upcoming spinners in Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ohja who have been decent of not extraordinary with the ball. Of course, one cannot expect someone like Anil Kumble to hit the playing XI in the near future. Moreover, Harbhajan Singh has almost 8 years to go on from now onwards, taking into account his age which is 29 at present. Ooops! I forgot to mention the name of Amit Mishra. So, the tally of spinners now stands at 5. And no team on earth has so far played more than 3 spinners maximum.

And a close look at the Indian batting bench strength right now would be just cool. Excluding the top 3 viz Laxman, Sachin & Dravid, the next row consists of Sehwag alone and Dhoni only to a little extent, for a wicketkeeper is quintessential for a team and Dhoni is a better man than Dinesh Karthik when it comes to both keeping wickets and batting. Yuvraj Singh is yet to make a place for himself in test cricket. Of course, there is Gautam Gambhir who is able to promise some good knocks with the bat, which takes the tally of batsmen to just 2 if the batting bench strength is considered.

And when it comes to the fast bowlers' on the cards, except Zaheer Khan, no one else has been able to make a mark. Not even Ishanth Sharma in the recent past. Ishanth's last splendid performance was in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 where he was awarded the man of the series. R P Singh and Sreesanth hardly make it to the playing XI , with Sreesanth battling injuries more than 90% of the time. And Praveen Kumar is more of a slow bowler than to consider him even in the list of a medium pace bowler. Usually, batsmen speak for batsmen and bowlers for bowlers. But, the reason behind Laxman speaking for spin bowlers, when his area i.e batting is also facing a shortage more than the spin department can be best known to Laxman.

A life-time ban would have been ideal for Afridi

One has to indeed appreciate the guts of the Pakistani so-called all rounder Shahid Afridi for first changing the conditions of the ball without the consent of the on field umpires and then that too in front of the whole crowd, some in front of the television sets and others in the stadium. I wonder as to how come someone can do the same and expect to get away as though he was nothing but innocent? Or, was the deed what Afridi did was a mistake like it was the case with Dravid way back in the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2003-04 in the Adelaide test?

On the other hand, Afridi's creative reason for the same must also be gioven a pat on the back. Shahid Afridi wants the whole world to believe that he was trying to smell the ball-I wonder as though it was a perfume and that only Afridi had discovered it! Oh! What a scientist we have lost due to cricket! But, how come teeth marks appear on the ball when someone tries to smell the same? Really confusing! How come anyone can deny a thing that he has done in front of the entire world? Finally, Afridi had no other choice and had to plead guilty and accept whatever came through.

When Afridi accepts his mistake, he justifies the same by saying that he was trying to help out his bowlers win the fifth one dayer at Perth. May be, had Afridi been in place of Mohammed Yousuf, the deed would have taken place 5 matches earlier or some 8 days prior to this. If the ball tempering episode an be recalled, India's disciplined batsmen Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid were fined 50% and 75% of their match fees during the pool match against Zimbabwe in the VB series 2004 and at Port Elizabeth respectively. One can also recall the famous Oval test where Inzamam's team never turned up to take to the field, which is still a mystery.

If the punishment that Shahid Afridi has been given is considered, the ICC is just giving someone a formal punishment. This is not some offence that has happened so far as given in the law books of cricket though the article 2.2.9 of the ICC code of conduct has been cited relating Afridi's offence. When banning players, the ICC gives options like one test or 5 ODIs. But, that should not be the case in T20 cricket whatsoever. Afridi denies what he had done in front of the entire world as mentioned above, which can never be tolerated. Something atleast like the one given to Warne in the 2003 WC (where Shane Warne was given a year ban) can be justified. A ban of one or two matches can affect a player in no way. A life time ban would be ideal.

Bangladesh comfortable against India

In the past one month or so, there have been three test series' namely the ones between South Africa & England, Australia & Pakistan and India & Bangladesh offlate. As expected, the winners were South Africa(morally), Australia and India respectively. Coincidentally, the three winners mentioned belong to the top three positions in ICC's test cricket ratings. However, the performance of the three winning teams do the opposite of what the ratings has to say. The top rated India have a last gasp victory against Bangladesh, the Proteas who are rated at the second position were better than India, first for coming close to winning matches on 2 occasions and winning the fourth test rather convincingly.

And Australia, who are placed at number 3 finished off their test series victory in style by (needless to be said) a 3-0 margin against Pakistan, with the second test victory being the highlight of them all. South Africa and Australia were hosting their opponents and India to be different was hosted by Bangladesh, which need not be highlighted specially. The 3^rd test between Australia & Pakistan and the 4^th test between South Africa & England ended in just 4 days while the one between India & Bangladesh went until the fifth and last day. All expectations turning upside down.

All would have kept their finger crossed regarding the series' between South Africa & England and Australia & Pakistan regarding the days the respective teams would emerge victorious. But, regarding India & Bangladesh, expectations regarding India drawing off a win well before 5^th day, which went on till the end of the 4^th day (which still was less than 5 days though). South Africa beat England by an innings and so would have Australia had Ponting imposed a follow-on. But, that was not-to-be regarding India. India should have beaten Bangladesh by an innings. Luckily, atleast India went on to win by 10- wickets.

India needed the efforts of the age old Sachin and Dravid to post a big total against a team which should have seen Dhoni resting the seniors and playing some younger talent. On the bowling part, a 10 year experienced Zaheer khan had to bail out India in the second innings, which should have been done by some Murali Vijay. Top scorer of the match turned out to be Bangladesh's Tamim Iqbal who scored 151 compared to Sachin's 143. Dhoni was forced to hand the ball to Sehwag & Yuvraj who were less an option in tests. One has to wonder as to what would have been the situation had India faced some stronger teams like Pakistan or England? And what if Dravid, Sachin & Zaheer not been in place?

One side of the coin also suggests that India might have taken the Bangladeshis lightly for which they had to compromise with a 10 wicket victory, which would have otherwise been an innings win. Also, Laxman and Sreesanth had to make a return trip sooner than their team mates that disturbed the combination. But, since the start of the tri series, one thing that is to be noticed is that Bangladesh have been comfortable facing India than any other team (Sri Lanka in this case).