When Ganguly and Dravid took guard

It was a rainy summer day when I was trying my level best to tune in to the correct short wave frequency for BBC Test Match Special, thanks to the unavailability of ESPN on the idiot box.

India was touring the Old Blighty in the summer of '96 and this was the mother of all test matches that I had ever seen till then. It was being played at the Mecca of cricket, the Lord's cricket ground.

A certain 23 year old Saurav Ganguly from Kolkata was playing a reassuringly good innings according to the TMS commentators and with each passing delivery my confidence in his abilities was getting stronger. India was 0-1 down going into this second test and was playing catch up to England's first innings score of 344. The overseas woes of Indian cricket were back to haunt it. But this young southpaw was playing like he belonged at the highest level.

In some time, at the fall of the fifth wicket with India still at 202, 142 in arrears, a certain Rahul Dravid joined Ganguly in the middle and started showing the world that India's future was in safe hands. This guy's style was moulded in solid defence and proper shot-making techniques. You, as a superstitious Indian cricket fan felt for the first time that you can relax, this guy won't get out any time soon.

Saurav had replaced Sanjay Manjrekar in the lineup and Rahul had come in place of his fellow Karnataka team mate Sunil Joshi which partly explains his batting position of number 7. Now, Manjrekar was a fine exponent of technique but he was on a comeback trail and was unable to find his mojo. For Saurav also it was a comeback to the squad as he had toured with the team to Australia in '91-92. There were many critics who had raised questions on his selection for the England tour in '96 . But what the critics forgot was that the Prince of Kolkata was a fairly good left-handed batsman as well who had done the hard yards of domestic cricket. Of course, this was his first test but for Saurav it was also about answering those critics. Rahul, on the other hand, had a quiet but assured path leading up to his first test. He had proven himself at the Ranji level and was knocking on the doors of the selectors for a considerable time now. He had to measure up to the expectations that people had from him.

Saurav ended up with a dream debut century at Lord's with a score of 131 which he followed up with another century at Trent Bridge. Rahul fell agonizingly short of a debut century with 95 to his credit. But what these guys announced to the world that day was something more significant. The emergence of two young debutants in the same series meant that India had serious talent which was waiting in the wings. That India's batting didn't just start and stop with Sachin. Of course, in times to come these guys went on to take Indian cricket to greater heights with their captaincy, skills and understanding of the game.

The way these two legends ended their careers signified their entire journeys as well. Saurav with that 2 year golden comeback trail where he always played on frontfoot. Rahul, the old warrior who still fought it out the way he knew best on India's two most humiliating tours of England and Australia in 2011-12.

Indian cricket would do well to look at young talents like Shreyas Iyer, Virat Singh, Sudip Chatterjee and a host of other players who have the ability to go on to become the Sauravs and Rahuls of the future.

Pride and honour reclaimed at SCG

History was against India. Present form was bearishly against India. Fate, pure and simple, was stacked
up against India. What happened on the 23rd of January, 2016 however set all doubts to rest about the
chasing capabilities of Team India. With India already 0-4 down in the five match ODI series, the Indian fans were not expecting their side to
chase down Australia’s 330/7 this Saturday. Just the previous game, their side had made a mockery of the chase after a solid start at Canberra, when they tumbled down to 330 chasing 348 after being 275/1 in 38 overs.

The fans definitely expected some fireworks from the Indian top order. The openers were up to the task.
They watched and gauged the track for four overs before exploding in the first powerplay. Shikhar Dhawan in particular displayed an amazing sense of self-belief. It was just a matter of finding form which he did and he hasn’t looked back after that hundred at Canberra.

India reached the hundred mark in the 16th over and more importantly, still had all ten wickets intact.
Shikhar was blazing away; Rohit Sharma was playing in the same sublime way he had played all winter.
And the chase started looking like a fairy tale from the halcyon days of Indian run chases. But with the
new rules that permit 5 outside the circle in the last 10 overs, they couldn’t have left it to the middle,
lower middle-order. Importantly though, they now had set a platform and 231 from 205 odd deliveries
seemed attainable.

Every classic has its share of ebbs and tides. With 197 runs still required off 178 deliveries, both Virat and Shikhar were back in the pavilion. What happened next was historical;
magnificent batting and a calculated chase meant that India reached the summit of successful ODI run
chases against Australia down under. They overhauled the WI’s record of 284 set way back in 1997.
Of course, achieving the feat was a whole lot tougher and was executed to perfection by the Indian
batsmen.

Manish Pandey, the proven performer in the domestic circuits joined hands
with the more experienced pro Rohit and stitched out a terrific 97 run partnership off some 80 odd
deliveries. Rohit Sharma was sublime as usual and was driving and glancing his way to a well deserved
century when ill fate struck and he was given out leg before on 99. Cricket is a cruel game sometimes.
Rohit made 2 centuries in the first two ODI games but ended up on the losing side on both occasions.
Today when he got out, it must have been tragic for him because it looked like the best day that his team
was having. No amount of praise can do justice to Rohit’s extraordinary talent. Two double hundreds in
ODIs are testimony to his calibre. He is surely in here as our best batsman for the 2019 WC.

At the other end Manish Pandey was timing the ball beautifully across all parts of the ground and
quickly reached his second fifty in one day internationals. The inexperience of the Australian bowling attack meant there were more scoring opportunities on offer. With the exception of Hastings who took 3/61 in his 10 overs, all the other bowlers came in for a stick at some point or the other.

Pandey was playing effortlessly and wasn’t overawed by the occasion. When India is desperately trying to find a strong lower middle order batsman cum finisher, he can eye that target and consolidate.

With Rohit gone for 99 and the score reading 231/3 in 34.5 overs, the skipper MSD joined Pandey in the
middle. There is so much of discussion around Dhoni and his tenure as skipper, that the ground almost starts humming when he walks out to bat. Truth be told, he has been an exceptional player and captain for India for the past 10 years. But his form is against him since the last few months and any outing for him becomes a period of armchair analysis for the public; opinions flying by faster than the flying disc in the backyard.

MSD took his own good time again and was handed out a life by Lyon at deep mid-wicket. It eventually proved to be the turning point of the game. Pandey, at the other end kept the singles coming.

The Australians were able to mount some pressure on the batsmen. India needed 35 runs in the
last 3 overs. Finally, Dhoni the master chaser unfurled his intent and walloped a ball right back from
Mitchell Marsh for a four in the long off region. Along with Manish Pandey, the skipper collected 13 runs
from Marsh’s over. Faulkner did a little better in the 49th over when he gave away 10. The inexperience
of captain Steven Smith was apparent when he handed the ball for the last over to the rookie Mitchell
Marsh. He had already been expensive and although he scored a hundred on the day, probably a spinner should have bowled the last over.

With 12 required off the last over, it was tough to call. Then came the trademark Dhoni six off the first
ball of the over. It had an effect of normalizing the blood pressure levels of an entire nation. Okay, now
6 off 5. Dhoni went for it again and was caught in the deep this time having the good sense to crossover
Manish Pandey for him to take strike off the next ball. Pandey first executed a sublime boundary to
complete his first ever hundred off 80 deliveries. He struck the remaining runs and India emerged
victorious by six wickets.

Earlier in the day, David Warner scored his first ODI hundred against India. He provided a strong base for
the Australian batting even as wickets kept falling from the other end. Mitchell Marsh made a century too and along with Mathew Wade, who made a quickfire 36, set India a target of 331.

The Indian bowling was impressive and apart from Umesh Yadav and Rishi Dhawan, everybody
contributed in some measure. Particularly impressive was the rookie seamer Jasprit Bumrah, who
with his wide off the crease action and neat lengths prized out the wickets of Steven Smith and James
Faulkner. He was economical too as he gave away only 40 runs for his two wickets in the allotted 10
overs.

Jasprit Bumrah and Manish Pandey, by performing the way they did upheld the respect and pedigree
of the Indian domestic circuit and IPL. These two have performed well there to reach the international stage in
the way they have. Manish Pandey of course was the member of the 2008 Under-19 Cricket World Cup winning
team as well. The cricket following public would want these two youngsters to go ahead and make a
bigger name for themselves. They would also want the experienced players to be given more chances
for the balance to be there. Crisis managers like the skipper MSD are always considered a healthy option
for a team to have.

Manish Pandey was declared the man of the match for his 81-ball 104 and his contribution in the run
chase. Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Man of the series for his magnificent batting in the entire series.

Australia won the VB Series 4-1.

Brief Scores:
India 331/4 (Manish 104*, Rohit 99, Shikhar 78, Dhoni 34, Hastings 3/61) beat Australia 330/7 (Warner 122, Mitchell Marsh 102*, Bumrah 2/40) by six wickets.

The Cricketing Philosophy

Cricket can be a harsh sport for the players. The common perception of the game disallows any such notions. It is generally believed that sports like football and the other field games are rougher sports. However, the reality is a bit different. Cricket integrally demands a great amount of character from the individuals. In fact it is the only sport in the world that is governed by a spirit of the game along with the encoded laws. The spirit of the game as developed through the ages and especially formulated by Colin Cowdrey and Ted Dexter in the late 1990s is enshrined in the laws of cricket as : "Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that it should be played not only within its Laws but also within the Spirit of the Game. Any action which is seen to abuse this Spirit causes injury to the game itself.The major responsbility for ensuring the spirit of fair play rests with the captains".

It is normally held that the spirit of the game is playing in accordance with the rules of the game and more importantly in the correct manner as is perceived right traditionally. The onus of ensuring its presence rests, as stated in the laws, on the captains, but practically on the players - each and every one of them. The connotations of the word spirit indicate the non-material aspects of life. At the individual level, it connotes the permanent feature of one's self that separates one from the physical existence. At a larger level, spirit denotes the mood or attitudes prevailing in particular areas at particular times. I am a firm believer in searching for the complete truth that is formed of facts, knowledge, history, experience and foresight. It is a tough ask of an onlooker or a theorist of the game, leave alone the players. Thus spirit of the game ensures drawn out inner struggles for a thoughtful player and more so for a captain. There can be countless dilemmas in a game of cricket. I think the following are important questions on any given day in a game of cricket:

a) Should a captain opt for a draw, which means no result, when the odds are against him or should he force a win?

b) Should a batsman aim to improvise and develop new shots or stick to the traditional routine of shots?

c) Should a bowler bowl bouncers at the tailenders?

d) Should a fielder be a passive receiver of the ball or be an active follower of the ball even if it means intrusion into other fielders' fielding areas?

e) Should a wicketkeeper be allowed to hold the final word on making a bowling change and field placements, given his vantage position?

The above are just a few of the valid questions which a player of cricket faces every match day. They are important questions because all of them involve thought out and sometimes quick decision-making. In other sports too questions arise of some or the other sort. But because of the sheer amount of self-involvement of the individual in the team sport of cricket and the amount of time for which the sport is played, the number of such questions increase by a large volume. The spirit of cricket has to be upheld at all costs.

Right Gentlemen?

The strength of cricket-its inspirational soul

12-10-08

The Bangalore test between India and Australia has taken an interesting path. The moment Sourav Ganguly got out after doing his job of saving the follow on, things took an unexpected turn. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan assumed their roles as batsmen in the time of crisis quite seriously. In fact both of them made well-measured fifties. I was listening to Sunil Gavaskar on the telly. He was saying that now these very tail-enders in the Indian batting line-up should realize their original roles, that of bowlers.

Players do have a knack of performing better in their original roles if they have performed well in roles in which they are not expected to. Just remember your backyard if you are an Australian and your gully or colony playground if you are an Indian. If you are a bowler you would recall how those 4 fours in an over that you smashed playing at number 9 for your side gave you the confidence to rip apart the opposition when they came to bat. Confidence is what is derived out of satisfactory performances; you derive that when you perform well in roles in which you are not expected to create wonders.

The cricket in itself was engaging and produced all the intricacies and moments associated with an India-Australia cricket match.