As soon as the Perth test was over in little over seven sessions, there was a huge outcry about getting rid of the seniors. Really?? My only question is, which of the seniors was really in the side, not based on performance? I mean Rahul was Man-of-the-series for India in their last overseas tour. That tour was Sachin’s only failure in last 5 years. On either side of the forgetful England tour VVS Had magnificent home-n-away series against West Indies. I saw the Brabados test myself, and in both the innings the only two batsmen who were capable and brave to face the chin music on that bouncy track were the two old masters of the lineup. So really, if we want to drop them, who do we replace them with Raina or Yuvraj? Let’s first secure a replacement for Dada, who left the scene three years ago and then talk about these seniors.

Test cricket is all about team work and both in England and here down under, India failed to click as a unit. When bowling worked, the batsmen were let down and on those rare occasions when batsmen chipped in, the bowlers couldn’t cash-in. There were some tactical failures too, like letting England off the hook in the second test from 8/125, or letting Aussies reach 333 from 6/214 in first. Both these events could have been series defining. Remember in both these games, when it was India’s turn to drive the advantage home, they went from 4/267 to 288 all out and 2/214 to 282 all out. Wrapping up the tale quickly and applying themselves while batting in the first innings could have made a huge difference to the outcome of both series. Sometimes, one bad session can ruin the whole series.

The batting woes for India start at the top. It’s been 29 innings since the openers put up a century stand. No wonder team has scored 400 only once in those 29 innings. In 2003-04 tour down under Chopra-Sehwag put up two Century stands and two 50+ in four tests and India scored 400 three times on that tour. Gambhir’s pokes n dabs might work on sub continental wickets where the ball dies before reaching the slips, but there is no respite for him in elsewhere as he doesn’t offer a straight bat, a cardinal sin if you are an opener. Sehwag appears to have been figured out by opponents as in the past 12 months he failed repeatedly in South Africa, England, and Australia. His best option would be to bat in the middle order.

The three seniors have been the pillar strength of the batting line-up for over twelve years.  As Dhoni said, you have to phase them out carefully. I would recommend playing 2 out of 3 in the next few series in 2012. It’s really tough to make a call. Sachin looks good in form, just had one bad outing in Perth and got a dubious one second time. Wall has some cracks, but that defense is still way better than Rainas, Gambhirs, and Yuvrajs out there. VVS has looked weaker amongst the three but could bounce back. But one of them has to sit out, may be alternately, to make way for Rohit. Virat has shown promise, technique, guts, determination, and most important a straight bat at Perth. He should be given a few more chances. Rahane should be given his due chance after Gambhir has proven that he’s no-good.

I don’t see much of a problem with the bowling unit. Yadav can be epensive, but I would trade that any-day for his raw pace. Zaheer is aging so Ishant should get ready to take over and for that he needs to be consistent. Third seamer could be Varun or Praveen but no more of Vinay Kumar, or Abhimany Mithun, or S. Aravind. The ODIs might tell us if Irfan is ready for a comeback. Also India should never go in a test with four quicks, thus Ashwin or Ojha must be played. I guess Bhajji would find it tough to comeback.

Every captain is only as good as his team. Mahi looked brilliant when India was clicking as a unit in WC 2011 and looks pedestrian after seven straight overseas test losses. I would still trust him with the reigns of Test leadership for the simple reason of no-one being ready to take over and we surely don’t want to go backwards. We should promptly change the vice-captain and look for someone who might have future in test cricket.

All is not lost as yet. A win at Adelaide would not just save a whit-wash but bring back the much needed momentum before we head back to the triangular series. The few positives I see from the gloomy losses are: Sachin is still ready to play positive cricket, Kohli is willing to fight it out, Dhoni shoulders the blame with his batting woes, and bowlers has overall bowled well, expect Sydney. Now only if Viru-n-Wall get in their grove India might pull off one upset at Adelaide as I sure don’t wish to see another white-wash.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

It was not an entire batting failure from the visitors like, we have seen in some of the recent away series openers. They actually were in the driver’s seat by the end of day two, so I wouldn’t necessarily buy into any theory that hints at any intimidation from the hosts attack. As I said earlier, it was the lack of application from some of them, noticeably from the Captain Dhoni, Opener Gambhir, Senior Batsman Laxman, and relatively fresh Kohli. Dhoni has been battling the form issue in away games for quite some time and if the natural hitting is going to get him out of the rut, so be it. I actually wouldn’t even mind him batting at #5 for an innings just to get that achieved as he would be batting freely. With Laxman it could be slowing of reflexes or temporary lack of form, but going by how he played at Brabados, just a few months ago, I believe he has a few good innings left in him.

This leaves us Gambhir and Kohli. Both have been shining stars in ODIs and handled pressure well with tremendous temperament. In tests, Kohli is yet to make a mark in his short 7-test career, while Gambhir has been marvelous at sub-continent conditions, but has just one innings of significance (New Zealand 2009) outside of subcontinent in 10 tests. Gambhir’s issue is more technical. He’s never been technically correct batsman for a test opener, not a purist and also doesn’t bear the hand-eye coordination of his partner Viru. Even though his flawed technique still works on relatively slower sub continental wickets with not so much bounce, it does get exposed to a certain extent on bouncy and fast tracks in South-Africa, Australia, and Swinging conditions in England. Kohli’s issue is similar as he is circumspect to short deliveries. Both have shown temperaments in ODIs to fight out the situations and hang-in there, however, in tests the bowlers keep coming back at you and especially bowl a nagging length to test your patience.

One possible solution for team India could be Rahane at #2, as he is more purist and technically sound opener and Rohit at #6 as he is more compact and currently in tremendous form thus high on confidence. However, knowing captain Mahi, he wouldn’t give up on Kohli Just as yet and Gambhir’s crucial knocks in several Tests and ODIs would weigh in to keep him in. So I wouldn’t be surprised if Rohit has to wait beyond SCG for his test debut. Dhoni also, needs to re-asses some of his strategies as the leader, especially on how to go for a kill in a test once you have opponents by the throat.

The bowling department has delivered overall, however, there is always room for improvement. Ishant can use a bit more accuracy and loads of more luck. Yadav should bowl more like what he did in the second innings and not get carried away with short stuff like in the first. ZAK needs to ramp up a bit more speed or prolong his spells, should be able to bowl more spells if he’s going to cut down on pace. Ashwin should keep things a bit more tighter, since he’s not going to get more turn on the wickets that have grass on it.

SCG has usually been a better ground for the visitors, especially Sachin and VVS, however we can’t just rely on the two. Even if these two score like always, we need other five to contribute significantly. The first innings would be crucial and the more advantage you can drive home in the first essay the better chances you have of winning the game.  Of course the eyes will be on that unconquered-n-much-awaited landmark, and hopefully Sachin gets it on the ground where he has three un-dismissed tons and an average of 221 in four tests. The hosts would be keen on extending the lead to 2-0. It will be an exciting battle to watch, let’s see which team comes out with more drive to win.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Phase 1 – Build-up: There is no fun losing a game by starting it in a bad manner and continue to do worse and eventually lose it, and then you become predictable. Some teams sincerely believe in doing the unthinkable, like snatching the defeat from the jaws of victory. To achieve this feat, first you need to build up, just like you would for success. Key to successful build up is in the first two days of the test you restrict the opponent to a sizable score (example 333) and then start off with a statement and end the second day with advantage wresting with you (example 3/214). There you go, now you not only have the attention of your fans, but the opponents, and their fans as well.

Phase 2 – Let it Slip: This is where you start the “beginning of the end”. After you ensured that the three of the hard-working horses of your unit got you so far ahead in the race and they might have just starting to think that they have laid a solid foundation, you rock the building hard until it collapses. This doesn’t necessarily take opposition’s will power, your injudicious shot selection is enough to make a journey from 3/214 to 10/282. Well, apart of weird shot selection, you also need to throw “the caution” out of the window and its cousin “the patience” needs to be abandoned. Now you have successfully managed to turn around the game’s controls and hand them over to the other side.

Phase 3 – Stay focused: Even if some members of your team revolt and try to gain the control back by shattering the opponents to 4/27, you need to stay focused on the ultimate goal. This is where the leader has to step in, he needs to sense that control is coming back, so start spreading the field, let the batsman breath, ease the pressure, and wallah… suddenly you have them at 4/140. Before you seem to look like utter stupid, make some significant adjustments quickly (because you are capable) and bring them down to 9/197, again creating that false belief.

Phase 4 – Hara-Kiri: Now the game is at a crucial junction and you let the final cat out of bag, let the opponent’s last pair score more than your 4 top order batsman would score, and combined in each of the innings. Staying focused has ensured that you chase 292 and not fewer than 200, so what if that same opposition has been bowled out under a 100 thrice in last 18 months. When you walk out to bat one last time, even though you may control your own destiny, make it look like the pitch and opposition is conspiring against you. In this task, if one of your own seems to batting brilliantly and appears to be in total control, you then do everything to disturb his rhythm: lose wickets every few overs, deprive him of strike, eventually frustrate him to produce one bad drive, just to ensure that the goals is achieved.

Justifications: Experts might point out flaws by saying you had them at 6/214 or 4/27 how did you let them score that many? the prompt reply should be: hey they were 2/159 and 4/140 look we didn’t let them score many more. Some might say 3/214 to 10/282 was rank bad collapse, just say 282 in itself was good score on this “difficult pitch” and blame this on the lost toss and that you had to bat last!!!

Conclusion: Follow this manual to perfection and you will maintain your perfect record of starting poorly in an away series.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Typical to the Aussie style, there was a lot of pre-series talk by some of the current and more of the yesteryears Australia players. Everyone from Steve Waugh, Mark Taylor, Shane Watson, to the famous Chappell brothers had a thing or two to say about team India. I am glad that the Indians answered it all on the field with the ball and the bat. Well, Ian Chappell was at least right on his one judgment that Viru and ZAK would be the key as they both performed, one on each of the first two days. Where Chappell went wrong was he said that those were the only two threats to the Aussies and the “older middle order” will find it hard to adjust to the bounce of the wickets and pace of the likes of Pattisson. That is why, for every Indian it was a pleasing sight to see their deity clearing Pattission’s short delivery over the slip cordon for maximum. Also, if this is the way Greg Chappell’s demystification of Tendulkar is going to unfold then I am with Sourav’s assessment of Greg and would dearly want him to continue as team Australia’s consultant for the entire tour.

Some may argue that it is still early days to talk about team India’s domination, but I was already seeing signs of it in Michael Clarke’s leadership today. Use of Hussey and Warner ahead of Clarke himself, too much defensive field to your only specialist spin bowler when you go in with four bowlers, and the worst was, only one slip to a fast bowler, on the second afternoon, at MCG. The only thing remaining was Clarke to wave a white handkerchief.  On the other hand the intent from Viru and Sachin was extremely positive as they had a rock solid wall at the other end.

The goal for team India is quite clear: bat the most part of, if not the entire day three and get as close to 500 as possible. Either Rahul or VVS  will have to get a big hundred and since the former has done most of the hard work he would love to end the year with a sixth ton to his name and go on. Contributions from Kohli, MSD, and Ashwin would also be critical. The more Ishant can hang on tomorrow morning; more frustrating that would be for the hosts and would build a useful platform for VVS to follow. The pitch should start assisting turn from day four and R. Ashwin would be in the thick of action.

If I was Michael Clarke, I would put some more fielders close to the bat, ask my bowlers to bowl more fuller lengths, and not listen to much that the “team consultant” might have to say. The only way for the hosts to get back into this game is to get the wall, VVS and captain MSD out before India reach 275, which is a monumental task for an attack that has looked out of sorts. The too much media hype and pre-series talk might have been a ploy to put the visitors under pressure; however, judging by the first two days at the MCG it appears like the plan has back-fired. Pattisson, Siddle & Co seems to be under too much pressure to deliver.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

It was indeed a brave decision from Clarke to chose to bat a on a green-top under cloudy conditions, especially when the visitors bowling line-up consisted of two bowlers who can swing the ball both ways and one who can hit the deck hard and can swing a bit too. Warner had a breezy start and made a statement with a nice pull shot for six off Yadav but that same shot brought his downfall, when Yadav surprised him a with a short one just after a rain-interruption.  Yadav was hitting the right areas, sometimes a bit short, which cost him runs, but he got some to left considerably from the same length and had Ponting in all sorts of trouble before claiming this prize wicket.

Ponting’s unsuccessful run without a ton continued as he, yet again, got off to a decent start but then got out. Even though he scored a half century, he never looked convincing. He was made to jump around awkwardly at least three times (twice by Yadav and once by his nemesis Ishant). One of the Yadav delivery got to his helmet when he least expected it but Punter showed quite a good presence of mind to kick it away from the stumps. ZAK looked like he wanted to ease into the test match and was concentrating more on getting the line-n-length right at the expense of some pace, however the old ZAK was back soon after tea and if India can have this ZAK for the entire tour, Aussies better watch out!!!

Ishant bowled well with-in himself and did two thing right: concentrated on the off stump line and never got into no-ball trouble. His figures were impressive 20-6-40-0 and I am sure he would have loved to have a few in the wicket column, however, Yadav was reaping benefits of Ishant’s tidy line, so overall it all worked in India’s favor Ever since India beat South Africa in the first test of the overseas tour in 2006, after 5 years, this was the “best first day” India has had in an away series. In-fact at 6/214, India threatened to bowl the hosts out before close and it was the gutsy stand between Siddle and Haddin that got the hosts back again in the reckoning.

If India can manage to keep the hosts under 325 and if Viru can start off in a fashion he began on this same ground about eight years back, then the visitors can really think of taking the game away. Day two would be Mission-Critical for team India. Visitors have dominated for the majority of the day one but tomorrow’s play would define team India’s journey in the tour. A victory with sheer dominance in the first test would not only make a statement but also can be a significant morale booster for the visitors and dent the hosts confidence further as they are already into this series after not having won either of the last two home series. If that victory also encompasses the landmark ton-of-tons, then it will be a true crowning glory. The only certainty right now is that we are guaranteed an action packed day 2 at the MCG!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Let’s just flashback to the Ashes 2006-07, the famous white-wash of England, that ended with Australia drubbing them 5-0. Middle order batsman Damien Martyn, veteran of 67 tests with a respectable average of 47 and 13 centuries to his name, was finding the going a bit tough, but hey, just 5 test innings prior , he had scored a match winning ton against South Africa in Johannesberg. Even after taking a 2-0 lead in the Ashes, the team management (includes the captain Ponting) dropped the batsman to make way for “younger” Andrew Symonds. Martyn saw the writing on the wall and retired, Young Symonds lasted all of 2 seasons!!!

Come 2010-11 Ashes, an inform opener Simon Katich, who had been consistently scoring for the team in 2010 calendar year when most of the other team batsmen were a no-show (barring Watson & Hussey), scores a 50 at Brisbane, follows it with a 43 at Adelaide and gets injured and misses the rest of tour. At the end of the tour, he found himself dropped as the administrators thought of not having more than two batsmen over the age of 35. The only problem was that of the two they retained, one (Ricky Ponting) had scored a total of 113 runs in that same whole tour and had not scored a hundred for almost a year.

Now Cricket Australia is gearing up for their next biggest home series after the Ashes. The scars of 3-1 defeat in the ashes are still fresh and the crowd and supporters would like to see their home team beat the highly competitive, World #2 ranked India outfit. Ricky Ponting is still pretty much in the team and that is really questionable. For a captain who couldn’t afford to keep “solid” middle-order batsman, just after 5 mediocre innings, even when team had a cushion of 2-0 lead, well “performance” was the straight answer. Well then how can that same captain, now a player, stake his claim in the side after the following numbers over last 2 years: 16 Tests, Average of 27.48, & 0 centuries. Not even a single match wining fifty of the seven he scored in 30 innings.

Is it the lack of bench strength? Not really, Hughes is being made a sacrifice lamb, for the reason that Watto needs to return to his spot? Why is Watto batting at top-order? Wouldn’t he be more effective at the middle order and that way bowl more overs, possibly, and can be a true all-rounder? If Hughes is not the ideal partner to Waner then Sean Marsh might be, don’t discard these guys after one bad series. #3 to #6 can be Khwaja-Clarke-Hussey-Watto.  Ian Chappell called ‘omission of Pujara to make way for Laxman coming back from injury lay-off’ as a “backward move”, then Mr. Chappell, carrying a guy in your team for 2 years with no significant returns, as a player or a leader, is that a forward move?

Ricky didn’t announce himself on the cricketing stage, right at the arrival. It took him a couple of years before he could make his first hundred, so the young boys like Marsh, Hughes, & Warner deserve little more than just one or two chances here and there.Cricket Australia needs to stick to their own “high standards” that they measured players like M. Waugh, S. Katich, & D. Martyn by and give R. Ponting a sort of ultimatum that Boxing day test would a make or break for his career. If you can’t do that, then you really had no rights dropping a solid batsman like Martyn in the middle of the Ashes and leaving aside a much deserving Katich just because he turned 35. Come on, look at your opponents, they have 3 best batsmen all above 35, don’t they?

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

As the game evolved over the next two decades and became more and more batsmen friendly, the sight of 300 totals become very familiar and even chasing a 350 plus was not always out of reach, even the team with a “choker’s tag” chased a mammoth 435 successfully. However, in spite of all these advantages to the batsmen, nobody ever thought a sole batsman would ever reach or cross 200 by himself in a 50 over game. To everyone’s surprise, not one but two Indian heroes have done that in last 21 months. Of course “the God” was the first man on the planet to reach the coveted landmark of 200 in March 2010 and then a cricketer who considered “the God” as his role model then eclipsed it with a blizzard of an innings at Indore on December 8, 2011.

The Current India West Indies ODI series appeared to have all very close games, nail biters of sorts, India scraping through in the first one and the visitors in the third, while the hosts held their nerves after some early loss of wickets in a big chase in the second. Over all, the visitors always thought they were pretty much in with a chance in almost all the three games till the very end. There were two reasons for that, India is resting some key stars like Sachin, Dhoni, Zaheer, and Yuvraj while the other reason is that the volcano named Viru was still dormant. Well, at Indore it suddenly erupted and the lava was definitely too hot for the visitors!!!

Viru may not have the best of the foot works but his hand-eye coordination is just unmatched.  You have the best chance to get him out until he reaches 15-20, after that it’s only Sehwag who can get Viru out, mostly out of boredom of having played all the shots and done toying around with the bowling. So the ODI double hundred for Sehwag was always on cards, the real question was would he be able to resist the temptations to last long enough for the mathematical possibilities to make it to a 200? At Indore he showed that rare patience. Watch his innings, his first hundred included 5 sixes and then only one six in the next hundred runs, a slightly careful approach, not necessarily to reach any landmark but merely to maximize his presence out there.

Sehwag has this uncanny ability to answer his critics in an unusual fashion and always lets his bat do the talking. His last 50+ score came almost 9 months ago (the same day that “the God” scored his last international hundred), and the skeptics had already started questioning his form or lack their off. Well, as an Indian Cricket fan I am just elated that Viru will be boarding that flight to Australia. Three senior stars in prime form along with Viru in such a murderous mood is just what the doctor ordered for a tour down under. His last two visits to that nation have produced a breathtaking 195 at the MCG and a scintillating 150 on the last day at Adelaide. I am certain that there is another Viru special in store for us this summer down under.

Just like his technique defies the orthodox logic of text-book foot work and compensates all that with hand-eye coordination and that mighty bottom hand, his lack of scoring in a few innings is usually followed by a blast of this magnitude that just blows everyone away, and blows the opponents out of the competition.  You can never ever write him off as you never know how and when he would bounce back. He may not be extremely consistent like SRT, may not even be dependable like Dravid, or a crisis man like VVS, but Sehwag has an X-factor that is unmatched by any batsman in the world. That is exactly why on his day he can score 219 of just 140 odd deliveries or almost 300 in a single day of a test match!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Okay, let’s look at it analytically by extending the SHT here.  Let’s take you all back to just the beginning of this year when India toured South-Africa. In the first and in the third test same Indian Batsman (we don’t want to name him to avoid any finger pointing) scored hundreds in each of the test and India didn’t win any of it (apparently some people made a big deal about some 50^th test century or something), while in the second test VVS Laxman (aka real match winner) scored 96 and India won the test. So if 100s can’t even win a game for your side then what’s the point, why are they given such a huge importance? Now, please don’t ask us why we selected this tour as opposed to the more recent tour of India’s to England where 3 such 100s from one man couldn’t save his team from going down 0-4. Don’t you already know that we are “selective” when it comes to stats and numbers?

Yes, we know that some of you, with a pure aim of confusing us with fuzzy math, might come after us with statistics like Colombo 1993, WC 1996, Chennai 1998, Desert Storm 1998, Headingly 2002, WC 2003, Chennai 2008 and numerous others where hundreds can singlehandedly win matches. But don’t you worry, we have gathered facts too, Chennai 1999, Hyderabad 2009 (aka Chennai reloaded), and WC 2011 are instances where we can prove our point that 100s are worthless and don’t win you anything (again, why are you questioning our choice of facts, don’t you know our fondness for selectivity, and no, we have no agenda against any one player).

We firmly believe that 100 is just a personal landmark that some cricketers cherish more than the others. I mean look at another of our favorite match winner Viru; he doesn’t care much for it. He get’s stump out for 99 while going for a big heave.  And while we are talking about Viru, remember it was his score of 83 that received Man of the match in spite of another centurion in the fourth innings of a test match where India chased 387. Just talking about Indian Batsmen, look at VVS Laxman, he doesn’t even have 20 centuries in tests but he’s the true match winner, remember Mohali 2010? Now, please, don’t try to undermine his monumental efforts by mentioning things like #10 and #11 batted with him for certain time and didn’t get out like Chennai 1999 or Hyderabad 2009.

It now appears that even politicians have joined the hype-n-hoopla about this meaningless gimmick of 100X100, with Mr. Vilasrao (MCA) announcing a felicitation with 100 gold coins. Imagine how many poor and hungry children can be fed with that amount of money in third world, underdeveloped, African nations. We have been hearing about this 100^th ton for almost 9 months now.  We sincerely believe that a team in WC2011 even conspired to make that happen (wait, and we will get you proofs). Then later, in England, the so called “milestone” was almost reached, only to the disappointment of the certain fans of the game (not sure if we can call them fans or are they just crazy fanatics?), it was left unconquered.  Now the Mumbai stadium is the latest victim of the gimmick and as a result the ticket prices have gone through the roof. How does a common mumbaikar, traveling through the local trains, afford to go to the game now?

We collectively need to ignore such “personal milestones”. Yes, some of you (fuzzy math lovers) might argue “but 74 of such 99 occasion ended up ensuring that our team didn’t lose”, so be it. That doesn’t warranty holding the entire cricketing fraternity like a hostage for 9 months. Let’s instead pay attention to the likes of Aswhin, Yadav, and Aaron who hold the future of our National Team.  Cricket is not about one player, it is a team-game (most of the times except Chennai 1999 and Hyderabad 2009). So stop celebrating individual glory and instead start thinking about how team India can regain the #1 test ranking.

-True Cricket admirers

The web-site gave us a strange reply: “these are the true numbers, simple facts” and that he’s the leading scorer while chasing in tests for team India. Our jaws dropped!!! Could our clear perception ever be incorrect? Could our view ever be opposed by something called “truth”? and that is exactly when the lightning struck our brains…..the web-site was not aware of the “Modern-day Cricket Rule” hence they had made such an error.

Well let’s first educate you on “Modern-day Cricket Rule” – It is applicable while chasing a target in a cricket game and states: that if a dashing opener smashes 30% of the target in quick-fire time then the batting team is declared winner, simply on the basis that the fielding captain just gives up by then. Of course this rule has a disclaimer: when the opener’s initials are SRT then teams has to revert back to the old rule of overhauling the entire target. Confused? We will give you examples of each case…..

Chennai 2008, English Captain set a 387 Target to India and India’s gung-ho opener sliced 30% of it in no time on day 4 itself, the English captain was so demoralized that his team wasn’t even willing to take field on day 5 as they had resigned from any thoughts of fight in the game. They were persuaded by the administrators to come out and bowl so that team India batters can get some batting practice before an important New Zealand tour. It was in that “practice of sorts” someone scored an unbeaten hundred which was of least importance, the squash buckling opener got the deserved Man-of-the-match award.

Now regarding the disclaimer: Look at any of the 4 games India played in WC 2011 (v Eng, v SAF, QF or SF) The opener SRT may have given a fantastic start but was not there in the 50^th over, so we think he was to blame for the first two instances where India didn’t win and in the next two the guy who scored that last boundary and the lad who scored 38 not out gave much more important contributions. The other greatest example of the disclaimer is WC 03 Game between Ind-Pak where we think chasing 274 in 50 overs against a three pronged pace-battery was easier compared scoring those last 97 in 22 overs against the tired bowlers, thus even then we had claimed the two un-beaten Indian batsman as the real heroes of the victory as they were the “match-winners”.

Does the rule sound a bit odd and appears to be manipulated so that we can selectively call someone match-winner or not a match-winner? Well, aren’t all the rules either meant to break or provide partial advantage? Getting back to the Delhi test, the web-site wasn’t aware that per the “Modern-day Cricket Rule” WI team had walked off the field at 95/2 (our sources have confirmed this) as the opener had again shaved off 30% runs only in 19 overs. Only after the persuasion from captain MSD they returned back so remaining India batters can get some practice, especially after a rough English tour. Thus it’s a no-brainer that above score (76) should never be counted as “match-winning effort”

Since we generally don’t like to deal with numbers, we have outsourced the task of researching if “76” some kind of “personal landmark” and will get back to you once we have confirmed reports.  There were other reports of match winner getting out for just 22, man-of-the-WC 2011 scoring only 18, and an Australian match-winner dismissed for 8, on this same day. We are investigating those, and haven’t ruled out “fixing” as one of the reasons, especially when that 76 keeps staring at us.

Lastly about the name of our theory SHT: Sachin Hater’s Theory; please don’t judge the book by its cover. We admire all cricketers equally and never let factors like personal agenda, jealousy, true numbers and facts, come in our way of expressing our clear perceptions. Our aim is to simply keep the religion out of the game as certain section of fans are calling certain players their deities. We sometimes selectively use the politics of “fixing”, but you have to understand that it is done with pure intention of keeping religion out of this sport. Please stay tuned and we will keep you posted on interesting facts like centuries are highly over-rated in this game and how a century of centuries is hype at its best.

-True Cricket admirers

Pataudi played 46 Tests over a 14 years span and was arguably India’s greatest captain. He was given the leadership in his fourth Test, when he was 21, in Barbados in 1962, because the regular captain Nari Contractor was in hospital after getting hit on the head by Charlie Griffith. Pataudi scored 2793 runs at an average of 35 and made six centuries, the biggest of which was an unbeaten 203 against England in Delhi in 1964. However, many rate his 75, scored on one leg with one eye, against Australia in Melbourne in 1967-68 as his finest. Pataudi was the youngest Test captain, a record that stood until 2004. He led India in 40 Tests and had a successful career. He also captained Sussex and Oxford University.

India won nine Tests under Pataudi and it was during his tenure that the team began to believe it could succeed. He advocated the multi-spinner strategy because he believed India needed to play to their strengths and used it to achieve their first overseas Test win, in Dunedin in 1968. India went on to record their first away series victory, beating New Zealand 3-1. Pataudi was the Wisden Cricketer of the Year that year. Pataudi broke the norms; he stood up to the selectors and demanded talented players from all over the country to be drafted in to the team rather than zonal selections. Small-town players like Chandu Borde got opportunities and excelled under his stewardship.

Pataudi’s nick-name Tiger came from his lightening speed while fielding in the point-cover region. He gave a new face to Indian cricket and emphasized on the role of quality fielding. As a leader, he was always attacking, aggressive, and never defensive at any stage. He always focused on trying to win the match and would go all out to win. In an age where in a draw was considered as good as a win, Tiger Pataudi encouraged his players to go flat out for victory. His batting was in the same mold as his leadership, as an aggressive batsman he excelled in crisis situations, and showed the nation how to combat adversity.

Tiger knew what the true strength of his unit was and he backed them to the hilt. He led Indian cricket out of its morass of defeatism and instilled in his fellow cricketers a belief that winning was possible. The famous fourth innings chase against Australia in Mumbai (his first win as a leader) was an example, where India was 6-122 and still chased 256 successfully with 2 wickets in hand, that too despite losing the captain at 224 (8^th wicket). Chandu Borde reflected his captain’s belief out in the field as he stroked a crucial innings of 30* to see India home.

I have never actually seen you bat, Tiger, however heard and read a lot about you. Tiger, I thank you for bringing in the self-belief in the Indian unit. That confidence within our team has made it possible for me to witness two WC triumphs so far and hope to see many more. Your leadership and overall cricketing qualities are inspiring for any youngster to idealize. I pay heartfelt tribute to you, Tiger.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Dravid was never a flamboyant stroke maker taylor-made for ODIs, he was more of a grafter, but what he possessed was an immaculate technique aided with rock solid defense. After his test debut, he enjoyed success in ODIs, including that mesmerizing innings against the South Africans in the finals at Durban where even Allan Donald felt humiliated as Rahul hit him out of the park. But the chief National Selector: Kishen Rungta dubbed him as “not suitable for ODIs” and shunned him away. However, the fighter went back to the drawing board made adjustments and returned as the highest scorer for India in the 1999 WC and was involved with two back to back WC record partnerships. Mr. Rungta had to eat his own words when this non-suitable ODI player went on to play 344 matches and score 10,889 runs.

Rahul has been a true team man for India in ODIs as he batted anywhere from No. 1 to No. 7 in the order, keeping his personal preferences aside. From 2002-2004 he donned twin jobs of keeping wickets and batting at No. 5 so that his skipper can adopt a seven-batsmen theory. He was extremely instrumental, along with Sachin, in India’s eight successive wins in 2003 WC. Part of the reason for him to accept this twin-task, was that selectors were gunning for him in 2001-02, just because of one bad series.  The selectors were never fair to him in ODIs. In England (2007), as a captain, he played a breathtaking knock of 92* in 63 balls, in Sehwag speed, followed it with a 56 at Birmingham, and 10 ODIs later the National Selectors dropped him for good. The reason for his sacking was one bad ODI tour against World’s No#1 team – Australia.

Apparently, every Tom-Dick-n-Harry in ODIs was given an extended life, even after repeated failures, including a Mohd. Kaif and a Dinesh Mongia, but this selfless man was always kept on a tight leash. In 2009 the selectors panicked, when they saw the shortcomings of “young guns” against short pitched stuff and recalled the veteran, only to do an injustice to him by dropping him after a few games, where he opened the innings with Sachin, with a century stand in a triangular final that India won in Sri-Lanka and top scored (76) in an unsuccessful chase against Pakistan (Champions Trophy 2009). When the selectors suffered from yet another panic attack in the current tour of England, where players were falling off due to injuries like the leaves in the fall season, he decided enough is enough and pulled one on the selectors by announcing his retirement post ODI tour in England.

Today, on September 16, 2011, he walked at Cardiff, for one last time in his blues, and was magnificent as always. He had no fears what so ever, but elegance, class, and the flawless technique was still evident. Watching him bat today made me wonder as to why he’s signing off? It was a pleasure to the eyes of the viewers as they saw the actual passing of baton of sorts, right on the field, when jersey #19 and jersey #18 were involved in a 170 run stand. Kohli, a player deserving to replace Rahul, in the ODIs, with his sound technique and temperament, scored a ton in the presence of the veteran himself. Rahul can surely be assured that with the likes of Rahane, Kohli, and Raina, India’s ODI line-up looks rock-solid and would be hoping that either Rahane or Kohli would work hard enough to be ready to take his spot in tests when that time comes down the road.

Rahul, you have served the nation for over 15 years and answered ever call of duty. Like a true selfless devotee, you have batted at any position, kept wickets, led the side, and done all that was asked of you. You have been a true inspiration to many youngsters, as even in this era of T20 and fatafat cricket we see a Pujara and a Rahane, who give preference to robust technique. Yes Viru provides the much needed action, The God gives you overall assurance, VVS provides classy wrist-work, and in the midst of all this, the only one who makes you feel safe and tough is Mr. Dependable. Rahul, you have been the back-bone of Indian cricket and I give you a standing ovation as you walk-off on a high!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Player fitness was the first glaring aspect that was exposed during the Pataudi trophy. You can’t have a test-match side with a bowler short for the most part, for not one but two games, without fitness issues. Zaheer, Gambhir, & Sehwag should never have been part of this squad as they were never fit. Also, the definition of “being fit” needs to be revisited by BCCI it’s not merely to be able to walk out to the park, but being able to bowl with same intensity on day 4 post tea session as on day 1 in the morning, and being able to bat to your true potential, and most importantly give more than 100% while fielding.

Even though media and ex-players concentrated more the player fitness issue, in my honest opinion, the real culprit was the team selection policy. Somehow I kept getting a feeling that MSD never got the side he wanted. Apart from allowing unfit players to go on, the Kris-Srikkanth led panel made several other blunders. They preferred an untested Mukund as an opener than someone like Karthik or Jaffer, who have delivered in these difficult conditions. Opening is a building block of test batting and India had to use Rahul Dravid in 7 out of 8 innings to do that (I counted 3rd test also as he walked out on ball #2 in both innings), thus upsetting the rest of the order. Harbhajan should have been given a break after a not so impressive test performance since almost 2 years. And when he eventually did break down, his replacement was not an off spinner.

Likes of Kohli and Raina were exposed in WI and South Africa, and Yuvraj has been given enough opportunities in the past, so this would have been ideal platform to groom the likes of Badri, Tiwary, Rahane, and Rohit (since Pujara is injured) along with the three legends. But the selectors continued to use ODI heroes expecting them to click in tests. The selection of RP was the most bemusing of all. Has RP done any better than Irfan Pathan in recent IPL or Ranji games? Irfan always gives you the “all rounder” option. Many questioned the decision of playing RP ahead of Munaf in the final test, I think MSD just wanted to make a statement to the selectors: “Look what you have given to me”. In the aftermath, I expected the selectors to reflect on what they have done and start on a correction path, but instead they chose a 5-day specialist Ajinkya Rahane to play ODIs.

I don’t buy a single bit into expert’s view about aging players, especially since the top two scorers of the series were both 38 year old Wall and God. Yes, VVS had a bad series, but just 2 months ago I saw him at his wristy best on bouncy Caribbean tracks. The key for future would be to use Rahane, Puajra, and Rohit Sharma along with the settled top 5. Rahane can bat the top or #3. Pujara can bat from #3 onwards and Rohit is an ideal #6. Kohli can be given more chances. Thus over the time (2-3 years) we will build a strong bench of 4 batsmen who can take over from these seniors. Rohit is back at his best as he was in 2007-08 season. This will be the right time for him.

Looking at the larger picture, all these missing pieces can be put back into the puzzle only if BCCI sets their priorities straight. If they continue their path towards being the richest board, then team India will be a 50-over king and 5-day jack. But if they want to be the best cricket team across all formats (they can still manage to be the richest board), then they will have to get horses for courses. Play Rahane, Pujara, Mishra, Ojha, Sreesanth only in tests and Raina, Yuvraj, Munaf, Ashwin only for ODIs. Work on Irfan Pathan and bring him back. He’s the missing link, especially in tests. Losing the top spot is not the end of the world, however, regaining it back, quickly, would be more satisfying than acquiring it the first time.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Mahi took over during the home series against Australia in the winter of 2008 and since then his team has dominated every home series, has managed to draw level from behind in series like Sri-Lanka (2010/Away), South Africa (2009-10/Home, 2010-11/Away), and beaten the minnows like Bangladesh and West-Indies in away tours, pretty much the stuff that would be expected from a #1 team. With 2011 WC triumph, things started to look even more promising in all formats of the game, until his boys in blue landed in the home of cricket – the Lord’s. So what has suddenly transpired to take a downward swindle?

Of course his own form seems to be a cause of worry, I mean his last substantial knock came about 7 tests ago, when he joined the God in what looked like an impossible task to save the test in South Africa after a first innings deficit of almost 500. But then as he said (in the post match interview at Trent bridge): it’s just matter of spending 20 minutes out there. And mind you, he’s not all talk, remember the WC 2011 finals? Right now the only thing going for him is that the veteran trio looks as good as ever and Ishant-Praveen are at their best efforts.

Dravid has found his mojo back and perfectly silenced all his detractors. He looks good enough to play at least a couple of more years. God’s second innings at Trent bridge proved that Lord’s was just a result of 103 degree viral fever. VVS looked slightly uncomfortable at #3 against the swinging ball, however, with Viru returning, he can resume back to his favorite #5 spot. The only missing thing is all three to click together and perhaps, Birmingham is the right occasion for that. Ishant-Praveen have bowled tirelessly and effectively and just missing support at the other end. Sreesanth showed glimpse of during the first morning at Trent Bridge, however, a fully fit Zaheer would be an added bonus.

So from Dhoni’s vantage point it doesn’t look like a completely lost cause, but then why do we see the margins of losses as huge as 198 and 300+? I believe mainly because, India has looked like a bunch of talented “individuals” while their counterparts, though a bit less talented, have appeared to be a “cohesive unit”.  There is no doubt in my mind that team India would bounce back, now whether they can level the series from here or just salvage a solitary consolation win, would depend on the character they show from here on. People may have been looking forward to Viru’s first outing, couple of days back, against Northampton, however, I wasn’t. Usually the real destructor in him would show on the morning of the test match.

Dhoni would first want to get 11 fully fit players for the third test, which must include 4 bowlers that can last all 5 days. Right now, I can only think of Ishant-Praveen-Sreesanth-Mishra to fill in those slots. Zaheer has only bowled 3 overs in the practice game, so my hopes are not too high on him. The first 5 bating slots pick themselves (Mukund has to make way for Sehwag) and Raina picks himself at #6 on the count of being one of the best slip fielders, his gutso innings a Lord’s, and the fact that he can roll his arms over. If Zak is not fully fit, I don’t see India fielding an all-seam attack.

So, what can Mahi do to change his side’s fortune? Here would be my wish list for him:

1)      Win the toss and Bat first.

2)      Hope and pray that real Viru shows up on Day 1.

3)      At least two of the famous trio, go for big score.

4)      Then Dhoni can play risk-free and get himself back in form.

5)      Ishant & Praveen continue to be as good as they have been, and Mishra delivers.

I know, many of you may not agree, however, I would like Mahi to try and come in at #5 and keep VVS and Raina for #6 & #7. I firmly believe that when Dhoni knows that there is a reliable man still to come, he bats freely, and that usually results into wonders (again, remember WC 11 Finals?). No matter what, I am confident that this astute leader and his Boys in blue will not let go the #1 that easily. In my honest opinion, Dhoni must be feeling like a cornered tiger, and somehow I have a feeling that the English team would be his prey on August 10, so Poms….get ready the battle is on!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

There has been a similar story in Indian cricket team. A batsman, more popularly known as “the wall”, has been consistently answering the nation’s call for duty, but unfortunately has always remained under the huge shadow cast by the God of the game himself. And, in 2001 at the Eden Gardens, just when it looked like he make a mark on his own against the mighty Aussies with a marathon 180, he saw his partner make a Very Very Spectacular 281!!! Even in the recently concluded WI tour, people praised the Ishant effort with the ball and Laxman’s twin 80s at Barbados, however, it was Rahul’s worksman like ton at Jamaica, that led India to 1-0 in the series. It was no different at Lord’s on Day 3 of the 2000^th test.

The man started his career at this same venue about 15 years ago, batted at #7 (can you believe that even Ajay Jadeja batted before him), managed to score 133 runs with the tail, however was unlucky to miss a ton by mere 5 runs. He went on to score over 12000 runs and 32 tons, but that one at the Mecca of the game kept eluding him. He batted 4 more times at this ground and best he could score was 63. Today, at the age of 38, what we witnessed was a determination that was even stronger than the lad who debuted at 23. Just like always, his hard-work paid him the rich dividends and he reached the landmark, got his name on the honors board at Lord’s when he remained unbeaten at 103 as India’s innings concluded. No other Indian batsman could even manage a half century, not even the God.

During his outstanding efforts today he surpassed Ricky Ponting and became the second most prolific runs scorer in the history of the game. The only one ahead of him is “the God” by about 2300 runs. The real question that I wish to ask today is “Do we really treat Rahul as the World’s #2?” I think the real answer lies in the fact that most of us still deny the fact that God is the #1 and best of them all, they would find some way or the other to come up with convenient examples of claiming how Lara or Ponting are better. Take a hard look everyone, Ponting is not even the 2^nd one and if Kallis scores 7 more runs Lara would at #5. Test cricket is all about scoring runs, over and over, for years together. Lara and Ponting have definitely played some mesmerizing knocks but so has VVS Laxman.  It’s about time we give Rahul the respect he deserves.

Ponting can’t be the best in the world just because one of the Chappell brothers says so, numbers don’t back it up. Lara was the best about 6 years ago, but frankly, the God has outlasted him, perhaps that’s why they call him the God. Similarly Rahul has knocked Ponting down, also the numbers clearly show that India is ranked #1 while Australia at #5, no wonder world’s top 2 batsmen are from India. Rahul’s contribution to team India’s success over the entire 15 year span has been simply invaluable. Sachin has always been performing like God, but look at team India’s performances in the early 90’s and compare those with ones since the late 90s and you will see the impact of the “Dravid factor”. Numbers always tell you the truth, just like Rahul always gets you the runs!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

MS Dhoni took up various challenges up his sleeve and tackled them head on. His maiden test ton at Faisalabad also came in at dire straits when team was still 108 runs adrift to avoid follow-on and with entire top order back in the hut. He went on to show an uncharacteristic restraint in his attacking ability in an effort to save the test for team India at Lord’s in the summer of 2007. Dhoni’s super effort and a bit of help from rain-gods were instrumental in India w inning that series. At the conclusion of that summer, again when team India was looking for a able leader, after Dravid gave up the job, they couldn’t look beyond Mahi. In the team full of talented starts like Yuvarj and Sehwag, it seemed a bit odd choice then, but in his first stint as a skipper he announced his Midas touch by bringing home the inaugural T20 World Championship in South Africa.

Detractors were quick to owe his initial success as skipper to stroke of luck but Mahi produced yet another master stroke, this time leading his side to a Victory in the ODI format, that too against the World’s #1 team in their own back yard. India had beaten Australia for the first time in 23 years since their last Championship down under in 1985. Dhoni was deservedly appointed the leader for all formats of the game by the end of 2008 and he instantly delivered by beating the #1 team 2-0 in tests and within a year led team India to ICC #1 ranking for test cricket

There were still many who believed that he was “just at the right place at the right time” or “pure lucky” as a captain and most of his success should be actually credited to his team-mates and he plays a little role in it. That all changed on April 2, 2011 at Wankhede Stadium Mumbai, when Team India lifted the ICC World Cup trophy and the man of the finals was none other than captain Mahi with an unbeaten 79 ball 91. The winning shot was a towering six over long on hit by the man himself, stamping his authority over the success of the team and the nation. As always, Mahi had risen to the challenge even that day.

Today morning, when I turned on the live telecast of the 2000^th test at Lord’s, I saw yet another facet of this fighter’s attitude.  The very first frame I saw on the TV bamboozled me as I saw Rahul keeping behind the stumps, momentarily making me think that it might be a rain interruption and they could be telecasting one of the old games. Soon I came to terms with the reality that Dravid was indeed keeping in this historic test and none other than Captain Dhoni was delivering medium pace from the other end, in an attempt to provide some rest to the two seam bowlers in the absence of injured ZAK. He almost rose to that challenge as well and very nearly grabbed his first test scalp (Kevin Pietersen), a decision that was reversed by the DRS. Simply put Mahendra Singh Dhoni is truly a Jack of all trades and definitely master of almost all of them..

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Captain Dhoni is enjoying an unbeaten success as a leader of the test team as he’s yet to lose a series as skipper. However, the last series in the Caribbeans was the first one where his team won the opening test match on an away tour. The last time team India managed such a feat was indeed in England in 1986 when Kapil’s Boy’s turned out victorious 2-0 including their only registered win at Lord’s so far. Lord’s has not been an happy hunting ground for Team India with ten losses in fourteen attempts, however, Mahi is very well known to thwart all the predictions and history aside and set his own path as a leader. He has the most experienced middle order under his belt with 99 test tons amongst the three of them. His ace bowlers Zaheer Kahn and Ishant are back in full swing and will be aided by man with a vicious swing control – Praveen Kumar.

England is also riding high on the recent test success during ashes and the Sri-Lanka Series having won four of their eight tests and lost only one. Anderson-Broad-Tremlett make a formidable pace attack and then there is impactful Swann. Their batting has never looked more dangerous, with Cook and Trott getting runs in heaps and Pietersen, Bell, and Morgan in form to aid their skipper Strauss. All in all this makes up for an exciting contest, first up in a much anticipated series of the recent times. Contrary to the popular expectations, it will in-fact be the ability of English batting line-up to play the pace of Ishant, swing of Parveen, and reverse of ZAK that would decide the ultimate outcome of the game.

Many pundits have their own predictions about the game. Many, obviously favoring the home side, based on the past record of the visiting team. However, with MSD, I wouldn’t delve too much in to the past, as he is capable of setting the record straight anytime. Both teams, even though playing down the possibility of Tendulkar reaching the milestone, very well understand that the master can achieve it any day. Of course, Mr. Ian Chappell, in a bid to steal the thunder away from Sachin went on to say that “India would badly miss Sehwag”, conveniently forgetting that in the last three series, India has managed to whoop the Aussies, draw level with South Africa, and beat West-Indies, with only two fifties in ten innings from the dashing opener. I still continue to wonder where Mr. Chappell senior and his pen ship had disappeared when his younger brother was instrumental in keeping Sehwag out of India’s test squad. Bottom-line: India no longer is dependent on any one player as evident from the recent tour to West-Indies.

ICC, in the anticipation of 2000th test, conducted a web-survey to form a World dream XI, which is deservedly drawing criticism from all corners. I mean how can you miss names like Sir Gary Sobers, Dennis Lillie, and not including even one of the four dreaded West-Indian bowlers: Garner, Roberts, Holding, Marshall. It is very well understood that the team can only fit XI men; however, you can’t pick Wasim Akram before Imran Khan or Kapil Dev before Sir Gary Sobers. Similarly, the two captains would have task cut out to pick their best XI for tomorrow. England picks ten automatically and the only final choice is between Broad and Brenson. For Dhoni, Praveen has done much more in the three tests in the Carribeans to desrve a place ahead of Munaf. Mukund does make the cut as a specialist opener, however, out-of-the box thinking could make someone a make shift opener, till Viru arrives, and thus giving both Raina and Yuvi a go in the middle. The big question is who would do that job of a make shift opener? The only two players in the current squad who have played in that spot are Dravid & VVS and I don’t see either of them leaving their usual spots in the middle order.

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

I can draw a similar parallelism between the above scenario and Indian cricket. If you go back to pre-Independence era, when Cricket first began in India as an active sport, It was born in Mumbai and played mainly by a small community called Parsis. In fact, some even claim that Parsis invented the game that was adapted by the Brits later. The Hindus and Muslims were to join the Parsis later as the Hindustan nation got engaged in a quadrangular communal tournament on a yearly basis with brits in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The influx of the cricketers was mainly from Mumbai, predominantly because the infrastructure was there and the game was either not known as much, not fancied much, in the villages and remote interiors of the country. Thus even after the independent India entered cricket you saw 60-70% of the team comprising of Mumbaikars, that is when BCCI deployed a selection panel that would comprise of selected distinguished cricketers  from different parts of India, so that the whole nation gets fairly represented and not just one region.

Now about 40-50 years later we have a captain that hails from an almost unknown state of Jharkahnd, a vice captain from Najafgarh, World Cup’s Player of the tournament hails from Chandigarh, and the bowling captain from Shrirampur. Even players like Suresh Raina from Gaziabad are now permanent fixtures in the squad. Thus one can confidently say that the objective that BCCI set about 40 years ago is now accomplished. Which begs me to ask a serious question: ” Do we still need a selection committee comprising on 5 individuals representing 5 zones?” My personal view is, no we don’t, what we need is 5 distinguished cricketers  who would helps us pick the best 15-16 men squads to help us stay at #1.

Just take a look at recent squad selected for England tour.  13 of the 17 men in the squad announced pick themselves automatically. Yuvraj’s pick could be debated as he has not been able to cement his place for 10 years after giving numerous chances and has not been able to negotiate even mediocre spin of Brad Hogg. However an argument can be made that the World Cup player of the tournament deserves one last chance. Now we come to the other three Mukund, Sreesanth, and Saha. I don’t have any problems with these 3 players, but my problem is the selectors have chosen them over some other promising players.

I was in Barbados and saw Mukund play fast bowling, he has a flawed technique and can’t keep his head steady while playing his shot, but somehow he is preferred over Vijay who scored runs and a ton against Australia? If the reason is “Vijay’s recent slump in form” then why Mukund and why not Ajinkya Rahane, who has better technique and has scored more runs than Mukund in any given domestic season? I think the answer is Mukunf is from South Zone and Poor Rahane from West.  West already has Zaheer, Sachin and Munaf in the team, so Rahane loses out. Now other most atrocious one is Parthiv being replaced by Saha. They selected Parthiv for WI tests, didn’t get a single game yet and they dropped him, why? Wait, I know why, Ojha, the only representation from the East has to make way for a seamer, so another East pawn has to be in, so enters Saha. How unfair to poor Parthiv. Last one is Sreesanth, even after the disastrous World Cup, he manages to stay in the squad while Irfan Pathan, after a good IPL season can’t get in. Vinay Kumar (from South) can be selected based IPL credentials but Irfan can’t, I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that the chairman of selectors is from South Zone.

The zonal politics is keeping promising kids like Manish Pandey, Ajinkya Rahane out while Irfan Pathan and Rohit Sharma have not been given their due chance in test squad of late. In the last 9 years, Mumbai has won the Ranji Trophy 5 times and only players to represent Team India in Test cricket since 2002 are Sachin, Zaheer, and Munaf. I am not saying this because I am a Mumbaikar, but because I am cricket lover and want the best team to represent my country. If you look at Australia 9 of their test players are from NSW or Queensland, the teams that have won 6 of the last 9 domestic championships. I am merely asking for performance based selection, that’s all!!!

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Message was very clear this morning for the Indian batsmen, it was to go for quick runs, even Laxman seems to be trying to take a few risks to reach his century in a jiffy. Again, as in the first innings, he was the top scorer and unfortunately missed his ton by a whisker this time too. Sitting in the 3W stands we could see messages go out to the batsman, even when they didn’t call for water, and then came the declaration, perhaps a bit earlier than most in the stadium expected, including DJG Sammy. The WI supporters in the crowd took it as an opportunity for their team to bounce back in the series as they had full faith in their middle order batsmen and the game was on.

The game kept going back-n-forth with India striking few early wickets and then Bravo and Chandarpaul digging in for a big partnership. I have to say that Ian Gould got one of the worst decisions of the century when he gave Shiv LBW and that got the crowd gunning for Mr. Gould’s head. Just when Baugh replied with a nice counter-attack and the game seemed to be poised at an interesting juncture with WI needing 100 in 19 overs while India needing 5 wickets, first the rain-gods played spoil sport with 10-min drizzle and later the entire officiating staff just killed what could have been an exciting test finishes of recent times. MS Dhoni stuck his neck out with a very sporty declaration (I mean come on he could have gone for safety first, batted 10 more overs and killed the rest of the day into a dull-draw) in the morning, only for all the true test cricket audience to see the officials making a mockery of it in the end.

There were mixed feelings in the crowd. Some die-hard India fans who are residents of the island claimed that this is the usual WICB delay tactics to save their team from defeat, some even went back to 1971 series, where after twin tons from Sunny, how the ground staff had used similar tactics when the home team was 8-down. The Home team supporters still believed that Baugh could have pulled it off and at least saved the test with an outside chance of going all the way to win with Ravi’s support. The match would always be remembered for “what-ifs”, however, in my opinion, the way I saw the ground staff and the two refs come-back so quickly after that 10-min drizzle and get the game started in 30 min, I wondered they could have done it in similar manners on Days 2 and 3 to give us at least 20-30 more overs and there could have been a result.

I’ll remember this test experience in many ways. The trip was memorable for I got a chance to meet with players, get their autographs and snaps. The test-match itself was rejuvenating cricket experience. The crowd was true cricket loving, enjoying their alcohol but never ever mis-behaved. The people on the island were always courteous and willing to help all the time. My two pals and hotel-mates: Sandeep and Abhay were a great company to be with, both on and off the field. Abhay knew the island in-n-out as this was not his first trip and was truly our guide. We are all people with family, work, and jobs thus can’t follow the team like Barmy Army, however, if we get the opportunity to watch test cricket again, we definitely grab it with both hands. Thank you team India, thank you Cricket!!!

Click Here for some action captured on Day 5

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

There was a lot more attendance today than the past 3 days. Perhaps after the first session of play the sky opened up and there were no further signs of rain, so that must have given assurance to the crowd. Tomorrow, on the final day, the entrance is free, so we expect a lot more to show up as it is a Saturday as well. Weather may have spoiled a little over a day of this test, but it is still pretty much alive and kicking and is only up to team India to force a result. However, looking at third test being played on a totally unknown wicket, I wouldn’t be surprised if Mahi decides to absolutely make sure that WI can’t make it 1-1 here at Kensington, and that might make it a draw.

Crowd thoroughly enjoyed the day though. The action was riveting as run making was still tough and the new boys, who are not so blessed with technique as their veteran counterparts, were being tested with “Chin Music” from Edwards-Rampaul pair. Mukund took one on his helmet one he reacted awkwardly to a short one that came at his face and Kohli was troubled by Edwards with a barrage of short stuff while he was still on pair. They both gutted it out though and hung in. Mukund scored a gutsy 48 and Kohli hit his way out of danger with a pull shot for six against Edwards and stayed put with Laxman at stumps. They both showed tremendous courage, but still look suspect on technique and that is why I quest Mr. Srikkanth’s inclusion of these two ahead of Ajinkya Rahane (Mumbai Opener with First class avg of 68 as opposed to 57 of Mukund) and Rohit Sharma whose technique can’t be questioned.

DJG Sammy has looked an unimaginative captain who sometimes is too defensive. I understand that he needed to get through his overs and thus deployed Bishoo from one end. However, when Kohli was trouble by Edwards, he never brought Rampaul back for even couple of overs at the other end. At certain points when Dravid-Laxman dropped anchors he seemed to have resigned from the game and waiting on India to declare. Even towards the end where he had 9 overs to take a new ball anytime, and he never did. It hurts to see Kemar Roach warming benches when a test is played on a lively pitch like this. WI dropped their Vice-Captain to make room for Samuels who came good with the bat, perhaps Sammy could have made way for Roach and they could have asked someone else to lead for one test.

A lot would be said if Dhoni declares with a safety first approach in his mind, but frankly he doesn’t care. I personally would like to see him declare with WI to get around 280 in 80 overs, which would mean bat for 45 minutes and score 40 quick runs and declare. Would he do that? We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.

Click Here for some action captured on Day 4

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav

Expecting an early start, we reached the ground only to see heavy showers coming down. The way it was pouring down at that time, looked all gloom for the day, however, the storm lasted for only 15 minutes and the ground staff miraculously got the ground ready in 45 minutes. I had completely lost my voice, thanks to all the cheering I did for Team India on day 2, but even with a squeaky and almost non-existent voice, I managed to support my mates in their chants of “let’s go PK”. My dedicated attempt was quickly acknowledged by M. Vijay at third man as he turned around and even pulled his glares down just a bit to check who exactly this “crazy dude” was.

As the game went on, amidst all the rain breaks, India continued to tighten its grip over the test. At this same time I was making my moves, through the connections I had made over last two days of presence at the stadium, to get Team India autographs. Finally, my hand crafted autograph book (where I have arranged pictures of the entire 15-member squad) made it to the team India dressing room and came back all SIGNED!!! I am a proud possessor of the autographs from Mahi, VVS, Wall, Kohli, Raina, Bhajji and others. The day seemed to get better and better for Team India and for myself as later on the reporters from national news paper “Nation News” interviewed me on my experience about the game so far and my visit to the Island, it would be published tomorrow. They had spotted me in my #10 Mumbai Indians jersey.

During the game, I also met a very young kid (10-11 yrs old), who’s a die-hard WI fan. He was willing to bet against almost all of the Indian supporters after Chandarpaul was out that WI could score 300 and when we politely reminded to him that the scoreboard reads 6/145, he simply said: “Cricket is a funny game”. We later learnt from him that Schools have a break here in Barbados from Mid-June to End-August and he would be here for the game all five days. Even though he was a die-hard WI supporter he was hanging around with us Indian fans all day long, a real cool kid.

Bad light stopped play when game was just beginning to get even more exciting and we headed back to our hotels and as we entered the lobby we had the pleasure of meeting Pranav Roy – the host of the World News of this Week show (it used to air on Door-Darshan in early 90s on Fridays 9:30 PM). Apparently even he’s in town to watch the Cricket test match. Our dinner excursion for tonight turned out even more exciting as I shook hands with none other than VVS and also Virat Kohli. They both obliged with a quick snap. It’s getting close to call it a night now as we need to get ready for tomorrow and hope for an exciting day of test cricket, hopefully it would be a dry day.

Click Here for some action captured on Day 3

-Nikhil Sharad Jadhav