after the usual reactions to india's usual defeat against australia in the first test at melbourne, it's time for the business of the unusual. naturally, the person we first contacted for a take on what exactly transpired after the dream of the first day had passed was rahul dravid who, quite understandably, was not in a particularly chatty mood. and so, we quite inexplicably, left it at that.
dazed and confused by our reluctance to push the envelope and push the gent in the eye of the storm for a juicy quota, we stumbled into the path of anil kumble who was just as stunned and confused by the reluctance of his batsmen to push the aussies.
by the time we were able to rouse ourselves and our dictaphone to get a juicy quota from the stunned indian captain, he had turned his back and was making his way to the practice wickets for what looked like a spot of batting. poor fellow, we thought, not only does he have to take most of the wickets, he now has to also make the runs for his team.
a few metres away from where stood anil kumble, we spotted a bright light. drawn to it like a persistent journalist is to a low-hanging quota, we made our way towards the mysterious glow, which turned out to be brett lee's million-watt smile. we stopped and looked at him hopefully. he seemed in an obliging mood. we walked up to him, optimistically.
running around the munificent trees that line the beautiful streets of melbourne avenue, he warbled a sequence of polite noises that showcased his bollywood overtures more than any worthwhile quota for your benefit.
knowing better than to offend the filmy star-in-the-making, we masked our acute disappointment at his efforts and journeyed back to the days when we used to masterfully lyp-sync repetitive ditties of deceptive simplicity for the benefit of our doting fans who worshipped us like the twinkle-toed star we used to be.
our conversation with our not-so-distant past was interrupted by a loud, loud snore. we turned to where the intrusive noise was coming from and espied the indian think tank fast asleep in a corner of the playing field. finally, it all made sense. not much more needed to be said. give or take the summary quota. and so, here it comes: "Happy New Year" to everyone from everyone.
we'll be back with a fresh set of quotas after the sydney test. until then, you might want to practice your batting skills. especially, against the moving ball. who knows, very soon, you could well be called upon to assist the beleaguered indian captain and asked to open the innings. god knows, yuvraj won't.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Hidden Gems - Rahul Dravid, opening batsman
let's go back to the time when everyone was questioning the need for rahul dravid in the odi side. initially reluctant to take on the dual role of a wicket-keeper batsman, rahul was made to understand that doing so was, perhaps, the only way he could hold his own in the team. with no way out, the additional challenge spurred him on to become a fitter, stronger, more accomplished and much better batsman.
we believe, oftentimes, the lack of options can be a great motivator to scale unthinkable heights.
depending on how you look at it, unfortunately or fortunately, rahul dravid is at a stage in his career where he is now, fairly or unfairly, in some danger of losing his place in the test side.
but why? you might, as a hard-boiled dravid supporter, be compelled to ask.
fact is, yuvraj is not good enough to be an opening batsman. if forced to open the batting to keep his place in the side, yuvraj will, quite swiftly, be sorted out by new ball bowlers around the world and might well end up in a hole similar to the one sehwag finds himself in today. do we want that? especially, when we know that we have in our midst a batsman with just the kind of game and temperament suited to opening the batting? certainly not. exactly!
there's no question that rahul dravid plays the moving ball better than yuvraj. that rahul dravid handles short-pitched deliveries better than yuvraj. and that a more positive rahul dravid will be a very hard man to dismiss with the new ball. (we've already seen proof of that by way of the number of balls it took theis very good australian attack to get past his stubborn defenses in the just concluded test match.)
that apart, rahul dravid is not the kind of batsman who can be called upon to annihilate the old ball the way laxman, sachin, sourav and yuvraj can, lower down the order. the same line-up that failed so spectacularly in melbourne must be given a chance to come good again. a batting order with rahul, jaffer, laxman, sachin, sourav, yuvraj and dhoni makes for a formidable combination of solid defense, silken skills and blistering attack. better than anything else india can offer with a different combination of players. the caveat: rahul must persuade rahul that this re-alignment is good for him and team india.
of course, for all this wishful thinking to fructify, we need to go back in time and do whatever it is that was done to give india the new, improved batsman that the unexploited keeper in rahul dravid helped create. when the only way forward is to take the plunge, a person with all the strokes needed to swim will not sink.
we believe, oftentimes, the lack of options can be a great motivator to scale unthinkable heights.
depending on how you look at it, unfortunately or fortunately, rahul dravid is at a stage in his career where he is now, fairly or unfairly, in some danger of losing his place in the test side.
but why? you might, as a hard-boiled dravid supporter, be compelled to ask.
fact is, yuvraj is not good enough to be an opening batsman. if forced to open the batting to keep his place in the side, yuvraj will, quite swiftly, be sorted out by new ball bowlers around the world and might well end up in a hole similar to the one sehwag finds himself in today. do we want that? especially, when we know that we have in our midst a batsman with just the kind of game and temperament suited to opening the batting? certainly not. exactly!
there's no question that rahul dravid plays the moving ball better than yuvraj. that rahul dravid handles short-pitched deliveries better than yuvraj. and that a more positive rahul dravid will be a very hard man to dismiss with the new ball. (we've already seen proof of that by way of the number of balls it took theis very good australian attack to get past his stubborn defenses in the just concluded test match.)
that apart, rahul dravid is not the kind of batsman who can be called upon to annihilate the old ball the way laxman, sachin, sourav and yuvraj can, lower down the order. the same line-up that failed so spectacularly in melbourne must be given a chance to come good again. a batting order with rahul, jaffer, laxman, sachin, sourav, yuvraj and dhoni makes for a formidable combination of solid defense, silken skills and blistering attack. better than anything else india can offer with a different combination of players. the caveat: rahul must persuade rahul that this re-alignment is good for him and team india.
of course, for all this wishful thinking to fructify, we need to go back in time and do whatever it is that was done to give india the new, improved batsman that the unexploited keeper in rahul dravid helped create. when the only way forward is to take the plunge, a person with all the strokes needed to swim will not sink.
Friday, December 28, 2007
India thrash India
dravid is thinking, "why should someone like me who has played the game at the highest level for over a decade be made to open the batting to accommodate a young turk who hasn't done enough to prove himself in test cricket?"
yuvraj is thinking, "how on earth am i going to prove myself as a test cricketer if i'm not given a fair chance to play enough of it, and why is my place in the side being questioned after i have made 169 in my last knock?"
dravid is thinking, "first, they got rid of greg chappell. now, they're trying to pack me off. this team didn't support me when i was captain. and forcing me to open the batting is the selection committee's way of spelling finis to my career as a batsman. come what may, i'm going to make sure i prove them all wrong."
yuvraj is thinking, "it's bad enough that we're playing the best team in the world in their own backyard. worse, people in my own team won't let me have the peace of mind required to do a good job. damn these old fogeys. why can't they just retire and let us young guns take over."
kumble is thinking, "if i support dravid's reluctance to open the batting, they'll say i'm pandering to the whims and fancies of an old friend and someone from my state. considering that i've been given the captaincy after so long, the one thing i must not blot my copybook with is to be seen as partial leader. even if it means being unfair to dravid."
sehwag is thinking, "why did they bring me to australia?"
munaf patel is thinking, "i hope they don't call me to australia. i certainly can't see myself going head-to-head with the likes of the fearsome hayden."
the bowlers are thinking, "why do they pay these batsmen so much more than us. every time we go abroad, they fail to give us the totals we need to bowl the opposition out twice. and yet, we, more often than not, do a better job than them. frankly, we're sick and tired of being treated as second-class citizens."
the australians are thinking, "do we really need to beat these guys? they seem pretty messed up in their heads to beat themselves."
and we're thinking how did a test match that started so well for the indians end up in a most demoralizing loss? (as an after-thought, we're also thinking we shouldn't really be surprised with the way things turned out.)
people who don't want to open the batting will never be able to excel at it; it's a hard enough task to master without having to also answer to the questions posed by the demons in one's own mind. india did not lose this match because they didn't possess the requisite skills to put it across australia. they lost the match because their batsmen weren't properly focused on the job.
cricket, in recent times, may well have evolved into a game dominated by the willow-wielders. but there are still a few things that make life as a bowler fairly encouraging. for instance, a bowler doesn't have to pay as dearly as a batsman for a momentary lapse in concentration. he can simply put it out of his mind and come back with a better delivery. and another one. and another one.
not something a batsmen has the benefit of.
if a batsman takes his eye off the ball for one second, it can mean curtains for him. and we saw it happening time and again to the indians in this test match - batsmen spending time in the middle, getting their eye in, playing well and then throwing it all away with a poor stroke brought about by a wandering mind.
of course the australians batted bowled and fielded much, much better than the indians. which is one of reasons they won the match by such a massive margin. but there's a bigger reason the aussies managed to do what they did to india: india.
on day one - perhaps the only day of the test match that the indians were totally committed to the task on hand - the aussies were packed off for their lowest first innings total in not-so-recent times. the indians need to go back and think about what they thought right on the first day. and, come sydney, they must make sure they aren't wasting their time thinking about all the things that got in their way on day 2 of the match.
it is our considered view that the indians were, first, beaten by the indians. and only then did they lose to australia. sounds familiar, doesn't it?
yuvraj is thinking, "how on earth am i going to prove myself as a test cricketer if i'm not given a fair chance to play enough of it, and why is my place in the side being questioned after i have made 169 in my last knock?"
dravid is thinking, "first, they got rid of greg chappell. now, they're trying to pack me off. this team didn't support me when i was captain. and forcing me to open the batting is the selection committee's way of spelling finis to my career as a batsman. come what may, i'm going to make sure i prove them all wrong."
yuvraj is thinking, "it's bad enough that we're playing the best team in the world in their own backyard. worse, people in my own team won't let me have the peace of mind required to do a good job. damn these old fogeys. why can't they just retire and let us young guns take over."
kumble is thinking, "if i support dravid's reluctance to open the batting, they'll say i'm pandering to the whims and fancies of an old friend and someone from my state. considering that i've been given the captaincy after so long, the one thing i must not blot my copybook with is to be seen as partial leader. even if it means being unfair to dravid."
sehwag is thinking, "why did they bring me to australia?"
munaf patel is thinking, "i hope they don't call me to australia. i certainly can't see myself going head-to-head with the likes of the fearsome hayden."
the bowlers are thinking, "why do they pay these batsmen so much more than us. every time we go abroad, they fail to give us the totals we need to bowl the opposition out twice. and yet, we, more often than not, do a better job than them. frankly, we're sick and tired of being treated as second-class citizens."
the australians are thinking, "do we really need to beat these guys? they seem pretty messed up in their heads to beat themselves."
and we're thinking how did a test match that started so well for the indians end up in a most demoralizing loss? (as an after-thought, we're also thinking we shouldn't really be surprised with the way things turned out.)
people who don't want to open the batting will never be able to excel at it; it's a hard enough task to master without having to also answer to the questions posed by the demons in one's own mind. india did not lose this match because they didn't possess the requisite skills to put it across australia. they lost the match because their batsmen weren't properly focused on the job.
cricket, in recent times, may well have evolved into a game dominated by the willow-wielders. but there are still a few things that make life as a bowler fairly encouraging. for instance, a bowler doesn't have to pay as dearly as a batsman for a momentary lapse in concentration. he can simply put it out of his mind and come back with a better delivery. and another one. and another one.
not something a batsmen has the benefit of.
if a batsman takes his eye off the ball for one second, it can mean curtains for him. and we saw it happening time and again to the indians in this test match - batsmen spending time in the middle, getting their eye in, playing well and then throwing it all away with a poor stroke brought about by a wandering mind.
of course the australians batted bowled and fielded much, much better than the indians. which is one of reasons they won the match by such a massive margin. but there's a bigger reason the aussies managed to do what they did to india: india.
on day one - perhaps the only day of the test match that the indians were totally committed to the task on hand - the aussies were packed off for their lowest first innings total in not-so-recent times. the indians need to go back and think about what they thought right on the first day. and, come sydney, they must make sure they aren't wasting their time thinking about all the things that got in their way on day 2 of the match.
it is our considered view that the indians were, first, beaten by the indians. and only then did they lose to australia. sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Will the Indians do a Sangakkara?
last month, sri lanka were set a massive 507 to win the second test match of their tour of australia. one man nearly took them there. after the abject surrender of his batsmen in the first innings, the indian captain will be more than happy if someone stood up and did a kumara sangakkara for him. and then some.
with two days to bat on a fourth innings wicket that isn't doing much and against an attack without the services of a world-class spinner, a target of 499 is gettable. that's assuming the indian batsmen - dravid and yuvraj, in particular - can exorcise the demons from their mind and put their heads down to the task on hand; ball by ball. session by session. day by day.
given that kumara sangakkara almost got the lankans to 500 with little by way of support from the other frontline batsmen, ponting can't have a very high opinion of these indian batsmen. and why should he? so far, they haven't given him any reason to. despite a pitch that's more south asian than australian in temperament, the indians capitulated for a paltry 196 in the first innings. despite an inspirational performance from their captain, which helped dismiss the australians for their lowest first innings total in over a year, the indian batsmen were unable to take a leaf out his book and rise to the occasion. despite, for once, winning the first day of a test match abroad, the indians meekly surrendered the initiative. no wonder ponting declared the innings as early as he did.
left with eight difficult overs to negotiate before the close of play, the indian openers - especially rahul dravid - did so with greater assurance than anything seen from them in the first innings. if they can continue in a similar vein and get through the first hour tomorrow, ponting might well be faced with a tricky situation on the fifth day.
in dravid, laxman and sachin, the indians have three men who are quite capable of emulating sangakkara's hobart heroics. better still, the three of them won't need to do quite as much for their team to snatch an incredible victory. they'll just have to make sure they all come to the party. especially dravid.
with two days to bat on a fourth innings wicket that isn't doing much and against an attack without the services of a world-class spinner, a target of 499 is gettable. that's assuming the indian batsmen - dravid and yuvraj, in particular - can exorcise the demons from their mind and put their heads down to the task on hand; ball by ball. session by session. day by day.
given that kumara sangakkara almost got the lankans to 500 with little by way of support from the other frontline batsmen, ponting can't have a very high opinion of these indian batsmen. and why should he? so far, they haven't given him any reason to. despite a pitch that's more south asian than australian in temperament, the indians capitulated for a paltry 196 in the first innings. despite an inspirational performance from their captain, which helped dismiss the australians for their lowest first innings total in over a year, the indian batsmen were unable to take a leaf out his book and rise to the occasion. despite, for once, winning the first day of a test match abroad, the indians meekly surrendered the initiative. no wonder ponting declared the innings as early as he did.
left with eight difficult overs to negotiate before the close of play, the indian openers - especially rahul dravid - did so with greater assurance than anything seen from them in the first innings. if they can continue in a similar vein and get through the first hour tomorrow, ponting might well be faced with a tricky situation on the fifth day.
in dravid, laxman and sachin, the indians have three men who are quite capable of emulating sangakkara's hobart heroics. better still, the three of them won't need to do quite as much for their team to snatch an incredible victory. they'll just have to make sure they all come to the party. especially dravid.
Yawn!
sorry, but is it too early to switch off and wait for the australian juggernaut to walk all over another bunch of losers? let's consider what the indians can do from here on to avert the ominous gaze of defeat staring them in the face.
for one, they've got to get that gary kirsten sidekick - the upton guy - or someone else to come over and have a chat with dravid. obviously, whatever it is that kumble told him before he came out to - let's say it once again - reluctantly open the innings didn't work. disturbingly for the indians, if his own state-mate and skipper is unable to get dravid out of the mighty depression he seems to have gone under with, he must be, how should we say this, jettisoned. the indians can ill-afford the negativity of their batting lynch pin to influence the rest of the side. even more so, against a relentlessly aggressive and clinically merciless team like australia.
when the team's most technically correct batsman plays a no-brainer of an innings at the very top of the order and meekly hands back a very hard-won initiative to the australians, it's time for a searching examination. when he does it for the second time in a little over 3 months - remember that 12 of a million odd balls he scrounged for against england at the oval - it's time to get his head sorted out.
tragically for the indians today, the man in the eye of the storm and the cause of the strife over dravid's place in the batting (and pecking) order looked to be almost as weighed down by the proceedings as the 'pasha of pressure', dravid, himself. not that yuvraj can be blamed for it. all this talk centered around who will open the batting and who is willing to do more for the team and who does and does not deserve a place in the side can't have done the protagonists in this on-going saga any good.
the way things look, what the indians need is to consider opening the batting in the second innings with yuvraj and jaffer. if that doesn't work for yuvraj, they must seriously contemplate roping in sehwag for the second test. which still leaves the question of what to do with, probably, the best batsman in the side who can be happily included only if their best young batsman is not. things are not looking good for india. not just in this test, but also for the rest of series. let's hope, against hope, for the sake of a much-needed contest that rahul dravid finds his mojo in the second innings and re-invents himself as an opening batsman. (right.)
evidently, we're back to doing what every team confronting the aussies is forced to: hope and pray for the best. (and, that the australians will be well off their best.) quite clearly, the expections of a ripper-of-a-series were wildly optimistic. sadly for the indians, one bad day for the australians does not an indian summer make.
for one, they've got to get that gary kirsten sidekick - the upton guy - or someone else to come over and have a chat with dravid. obviously, whatever it is that kumble told him before he came out to - let's say it once again - reluctantly open the innings didn't work. disturbingly for the indians, if his own state-mate and skipper is unable to get dravid out of the mighty depression he seems to have gone under with, he must be, how should we say this, jettisoned. the indians can ill-afford the negativity of their batting lynch pin to influence the rest of the side. even more so, against a relentlessly aggressive and clinically merciless team like australia.
when the team's most technically correct batsman plays a no-brainer of an innings at the very top of the order and meekly hands back a very hard-won initiative to the australians, it's time for a searching examination. when he does it for the second time in a little over 3 months - remember that 12 of a million odd balls he scrounged for against england at the oval - it's time to get his head sorted out.
tragically for the indians today, the man in the eye of the storm and the cause of the strife over dravid's place in the batting (and pecking) order looked to be almost as weighed down by the proceedings as the 'pasha of pressure', dravid, himself. not that yuvraj can be blamed for it. all this talk centered around who will open the batting and who is willing to do more for the team and who does and does not deserve a place in the side can't have done the protagonists in this on-going saga any good.
the way things look, what the indians need is to consider opening the batting in the second innings with yuvraj and jaffer. if that doesn't work for yuvraj, they must seriously contemplate roping in sehwag for the second test. which still leaves the question of what to do with, probably, the best batsman in the side who can be happily included only if their best young batsman is not. things are not looking good for india. not just in this test, but also for the rest of series. let's hope, against hope, for the sake of a much-needed contest that rahul dravid finds his mojo in the second innings and re-invents himself as an opening batsman. (right.)
evidently, we're back to doing what every team confronting the aussies is forced to: hope and pray for the best. (and, that the australians will be well off their best.) quite clearly, the expections of a ripper-of-a-series were wildly optimistic. sadly for the indians, one bad day for the australians does not an indian summer make.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Kumble rocks Australia
in this world full of cricket headlines monotonously lauding yet another dominant australian performance against yet another hapless comer, it's refreshing to come across the few that go the way of the googly.
look hard enough through the sports pages of any self-respecting paper and you're likely to find, at the most, one or two standout performances per month against the baggy greens. a fortnight ago, it was sangakkara's twin strike in a foregone conclusion. a week later, the kiwis had nothing to show other than their red faces; and not all on account of john bracewell. today, it was kumble's turn to remind the ponting's team that there remain a few pockets in world cricket that are still intensely resistant to the steamrolling ways of the aussie juggernaut.
all put together that's 3 good performances in one month of cricket against the best cricket team in the world; out of which two - by the brilliant sangakkara - were in lost causes. it remains to be seen whether kumble's team can take inspiration from their captain's early heroics and give the aussies a run for their far-from-hard-earned money in this test. (we know, we know...it's a state of affairs that's disheartening, to say the least, for fans of competitive cricket.)
it's a measure of the towering dominance exercised by ponting and his machines that a score of 330-odd for 9 is celebrated as a minor victory for the team that has managed to achieve the seemingly herculean task of snapping up more than a handful of australian wickets in a full day's play. (note: this is the first time in over a year that adam gilchrist has been called upon to bat on the first day of a test match.) india, today, played their best test cricket in recent times and still didn't do enough to put themselves in a dominant position to dictate the course of this match.
the depressing fact of the matter is, anything above 350 is going to be a tough ask for a batting line-up that - despite its bounty of experience and past achievements - is vulnerable against quality fast bowling. kumble, with his cerebral performance today, has shown what is required to keep the series alive. the bowlers have paved the road ahead and all that's left for them to do is finish the job, minus their customary struggles to polish off the tail. after that, it's up to the indian batsmen to put a mountain of runs on the board that kumble and the other bowlers will need to take that unthinkable 1-0 lead in a test series against australia. (hey, there's no harm in dreaming, is there?)
but before that, the indians will have to find the answer to the one question that has been hounding them for over 20 years, and which will decide whether their team will go the distance in this match. the question: who will open the batting? will it be dravid? yuvraj? laxman? sachin? sourav? or, maybe, it'll all come down to kumble. jokes apart, it'll take many more than a 5-wicket haul by the skipper to shake these aussies off their perch.
look hard enough through the sports pages of any self-respecting paper and you're likely to find, at the most, one or two standout performances per month against the baggy greens. a fortnight ago, it was sangakkara's twin strike in a foregone conclusion. a week later, the kiwis had nothing to show other than their red faces; and not all on account of john bracewell. today, it was kumble's turn to remind the ponting's team that there remain a few pockets in world cricket that are still intensely resistant to the steamrolling ways of the aussie juggernaut.
all put together that's 3 good performances in one month of cricket against the best cricket team in the world; out of which two - by the brilliant sangakkara - were in lost causes. it remains to be seen whether kumble's team can take inspiration from their captain's early heroics and give the aussies a run for their far-from-hard-earned money in this test. (we know, we know...it's a state of affairs that's disheartening, to say the least, for fans of competitive cricket.)
it's a measure of the towering dominance exercised by ponting and his machines that a score of 330-odd for 9 is celebrated as a minor victory for the team that has managed to achieve the seemingly herculean task of snapping up more than a handful of australian wickets in a full day's play. (note: this is the first time in over a year that adam gilchrist has been called upon to bat on the first day of a test match.) india, today, played their best test cricket in recent times and still didn't do enough to put themselves in a dominant position to dictate the course of this match.
the depressing fact of the matter is, anything above 350 is going to be a tough ask for a batting line-up that - despite its bounty of experience and past achievements - is vulnerable against quality fast bowling. kumble, with his cerebral performance today, has shown what is required to keep the series alive. the bowlers have paved the road ahead and all that's left for them to do is finish the job, minus their customary struggles to polish off the tail. after that, it's up to the indian batsmen to put a mountain of runs on the board that kumble and the other bowlers will need to take that unthinkable 1-0 lead in a test series against australia. (hey, there's no harm in dreaming, is there?)
but before that, the indians will have to find the answer to the one question that has been hounding them for over 20 years, and which will decide whether their team will go the distance in this match. the question: who will open the batting? will it be dravid? yuvraj? laxman? sachin? sourav? or, maybe, it'll all come down to kumble. jokes apart, it'll take many more than a 5-wicket haul by the skipper to shake these aussies off their perch.
Hidden gems - Mhd. 'the Pocket Rocket' Ashraful
in a cricket calendar choc-a-bloc with matches from around the world being beamed down to every cricket channel - sometimes, even non-cricket channels like sab tv, which is where we caught ourselves breathlessly taking in the magic of ashraful today - it's virtually impossible to watch everything that's worthwhile. and that's why you need people endowed with special skills that enable them to know exactly when something out of the ordinary is taking place and catch it. people like, who else, but yours truly. today was one such day.
fresh-eyed and hungry we awoke ourselves from a fitful slumber readier than an eager beaver to accompany india doing battle in the boxing day test against australia. but when ponting won the toss and elected to bat, our face fell. (or should that be our 'faces' fell? oh well, never mind.) and then, the first session began to pan out in a manner depressingly familiar to every seamer recently tested against the aussies. in next to no time the openers, hayden and jacques, had raced off to a solid start and things were looking far from good for india. in other words, business as usual for yet another pretender looking to challenge the hegemony of the mighty aussies.
luckily for people like us evolved enough not to pander to our partisan sides, we had no qualms turning our attention away from the unfolding carnage at the mcg and to the dazzling fireworks' display at eden park, auckland from the captain of the bangladeshi green hornets, mhd. 'the pocket rocket' ashraful.
if you yearn to see the kind of strokes that only the great arvinda d'silva in his heyday could play with unrivaled panache and some regularity, all you need to do is tune in to the pyrotechnics of ashraful. yes, we know. high praise, indeed, for someone so young and so raw. and that's why, that said, here comes the downer. ashraful is certainly no arvinda d'silva. and bangladesh not a patch on sri lanka. but, they're both getting there. or, at least, have shown that they have what it takes to swim with the sharks. for now though, neither of them has demonstrated the ability to go the distance.
what we're seeing of bangladesh in recent times is similar to what we used to see from the players of the island formerly known as serendib when they were the minnows of international cricket. time and again, the lankans of the 70s and 80s fed the world with many little morsels of delicious brilliance that rarely, if ever, added up to a balanced, fully-satisfying meal. instead what we got were many sporadic performances of ephemeral brilliance that flattered to deceive. it took the emerald islanders close to 25 years to perform as equals.
fortunately, and on the basis of some stunning bangladeshi performances in 2007, we're quite certain that it won't take the 'green hornets' that long. in fact, much less.
we think it will take around 10 years for bangladesh to graduate into the big league and become one of the top 5 teams in world cricket. but for them to come close to achieving that, they'll need kids like ashraful, tamim iqbal, aftab and mashrafe to go on and play the nurturing role that the likes of arjuna ranatunga, arvinda d'silva, jayasuria and vaas did for sri lanka in the 90s.
cameos studded with deft placements, cheeky singles, outrageous paddles and pulls, sparkling cuts and which add up to little more than 70-run blitzes of the kind we saw ashraful rattle the black caps with today will not do the trick. all they'll do is leave us hankering for more. much, much more. and their fans hoping that a time will come when the sting of the green hornets will leave their victims with more than just a mild allergy.
fresh-eyed and hungry we awoke ourselves from a fitful slumber readier than an eager beaver to accompany india doing battle in the boxing day test against australia. but when ponting won the toss and elected to bat, our face fell. (or should that be our 'faces' fell? oh well, never mind.) and then, the first session began to pan out in a manner depressingly familiar to every seamer recently tested against the aussies. in next to no time the openers, hayden and jacques, had raced off to a solid start and things were looking far from good for india. in other words, business as usual for yet another pretender looking to challenge the hegemony of the mighty aussies.
luckily for people like us evolved enough not to pander to our partisan sides, we had no qualms turning our attention away from the unfolding carnage at the mcg and to the dazzling fireworks' display at eden park, auckland from the captain of the bangladeshi green hornets, mhd. 'the pocket rocket' ashraful.
if you yearn to see the kind of strokes that only the great arvinda d'silva in his heyday could play with unrivaled panache and some regularity, all you need to do is tune in to the pyrotechnics of ashraful. yes, we know. high praise, indeed, for someone so young and so raw. and that's why, that said, here comes the downer. ashraful is certainly no arvinda d'silva. and bangladesh not a patch on sri lanka. but, they're both getting there. or, at least, have shown that they have what it takes to swim with the sharks. for now though, neither of them has demonstrated the ability to go the distance.
what we're seeing of bangladesh in recent times is similar to what we used to see from the players of the island formerly known as serendib when they were the minnows of international cricket. time and again, the lankans of the 70s and 80s fed the world with many little morsels of delicious brilliance that rarely, if ever, added up to a balanced, fully-satisfying meal. instead what we got were many sporadic performances of ephemeral brilliance that flattered to deceive. it took the emerald islanders close to 25 years to perform as equals.
fortunately, and on the basis of some stunning bangladeshi performances in 2007, we're quite certain that it won't take the 'green hornets' that long. in fact, much less.
we think it will take around 10 years for bangladesh to graduate into the big league and become one of the top 5 teams in world cricket. but for them to come close to achieving that, they'll need kids like ashraful, tamim iqbal, aftab and mashrafe to go on and play the nurturing role that the likes of arjuna ranatunga, arvinda d'silva, jayasuria and vaas did for sri lanka in the 90s.
cameos studded with deft placements, cheeky singles, outrageous paddles and pulls, sparkling cuts and which add up to little more than 70-run blitzes of the kind we saw ashraful rattle the black caps with today will not do the trick. all they'll do is leave us hankering for more. much, much more. and their fans hoping that a time will come when the sting of the green hornets will leave their victims with more than just a mild allergy.
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