You Will Be Missed, Sachin.

Post November 18th, there will be never be the anticipation to see the straight drive that wooed millions. There will never be the masterful upper cut from that massively heavy bat. There won't be TV sets switching off after a top order batsman's dismissal. Yes indeed, cricket will never be the same again. With the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, a whole era (spanning 24 years) will remain a memory. For many of us, most certainly me, passing of this era has been delayed by almost two years. But, a good time this is too. Indian cricket must move on. World of cricket must move on. Tendulkar must move on.

Tendulkar has been, is and will be one of the greatest players to have played cricket. What he has given the game and it's lovers is nothing short of lifetime of happiness, joy and entertainment. The love he has got from the legion of fans in India and abroad throughout his career starting off as a 16 year old, is incomparable. Never again will there be a cricketer who will dominate the imagination of so many millions of fans. He has been the source of India's hopes and aspirations for well over two decades. Up till very recently, he was the most marketable cricketer in the world and the most celebrated sportsman in India. His records, will remain a testament to his longevity, sheer passion for the game and the undying hunger for runs.

To me he will always be the player I have woken up at 5 am to watch him play in Australia and slept at devilish hours to watch him bat in the West Indies. Can't count the number of days I've opted out of school, college, office only to stay at home watch him bat. Countless unproductive days when I have glued on to Cricinfo & Twitter to follow and tweet his batting while at work. As a 7 year old I remember him scoring a half century and picking up Sohail's wicket and ensuring a big Indian victory against Pakistan in the 1992 World Cup. Remember seeing him field in the test match versus England at Madras in 1993. He had scored 163 the previous day. Remember being thrilled for his after he scored his first ODI century against Australia in the Singer World Series at Colombo in 1994. Vividly remember feeling cheated after his dismissal versus Australia in the 1996 World Cup. He was playing brilliantly at 90. He was stumped by Healy off a cleverly bowled wide by Mark Waugh. Was devastated by a similar dismissal against Sri Lanka in the infamous semi final at Calcutta. As a 12 year old, I remember buying a bat with MRF sticker on it and hoping Tendulkar inspired by batting. It never happened, I was always lousy as a batsman. My most memorable Tendulkar moment has got to be being at the stadium and watching him getting his 35th test hundred, going past Sunil Gavaskar. He had been in a lean patch for a year and number 34 to number 35 took almost 365 days.

Coming back to his retirement, I wish BCCI and he chose South Africa to be the venue for his last match. Imagine Tendulkar battling it out with Steyn, best contemporary bowler and scoring 50 odd. Wouldn't that have been more satisfying than this customized opportunity to play it at his home ground? What Tendulkar has epitomized in his 24 year career is fight to the end. Playing for a team that were a bunch of no-gooders, he stood out each time and performed like he belonged here. Nothing came easy for him. He inspired the likes of Jadeja, Dravid, Ganguly, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni and more recently Kohli, Dhawan & Rohit. For me, a fitting farewell for Tendulkar would have been a final test at Durban or Cape Town playing Steyn, Morkel & Philander. While, that's now just a dream, I'd have hoped for some class and subtlety in the celebrations. BCCI, as they are known for have been milking the cash cow that is Sachin Tendulkar to no end in this two test affair against the almost invisible West Indies. (no offence meant to them) Radio stations blaring Sachin Fever every 15 seconds, brands he endorses going OTT with contests, every minister running ahead of the other to gain mileage out of him, almost all senior cricketers; Indian and foreign singing ballads in his praise. I'd have hoped someone left some space for the slightly less important match being played and the fact that it is a big deal for Sachin Tendulkar. It won't be easy for him to leave the game he loves. It will be highly emotional for him too. He would like to go out scoring a possibly a hundred or at least a half century and leave on a high. He has had a tough two years running in test cricket. He'd want to correct that in his last outing.

With the match now having started, lets hope he gives himself and his fans another five days world of happiness. There will never be another Sachin Tendulkar. His legacy will live on. We will be proud to tell our future generations that we watched him play.

India vs Australia Test Series: A Preview

This has to be one of the most under hyped India - Australia series in two decades. India's poor showing versus England in the test series and the whitewash last time they played Australia might be a reason to it. Australia are without Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey and their batting doesn't instill the confidence it did 18 months back. Both India and Australia are teams in transition and there is no denying that.

But Australia, even in transition have a confident captain in Micheal Clarke in ominous batting form. A firing opening combination, stable middle order, in form all rounders in Henriques & Maxwell and a strong pace bowling unit. India on the other hand have their struggles beginning right at the top. With Gambhir being dropped and Dhawan, Vijay being included Sehwag will have a new partner to start the innings with. Pujara was in bright form against England and will be expected to hold fort against Australia at no 3. Tendulkar, fresh from a hundred against a strong attack in the Irani Cup will look to pile on runs against the Australians and shut his critics. This series will also indicate how long Tendulkar prolongs his test career. Success in this series could mean Tendulkar could play till India's tour of South Africa to guide a younger side in tough conditions against a tough opposition. But failure here could result in retirement. Kohli will be India's no 5 and will have the task of playing with the lower order. Much expected of him is yet to bear fruit. Dhoni, has been facing enormous criticism for his test batting and captaincy. Outcome of this series will decide if Dhoni will continue to captain the test side or selectors will look for the next captain. Indian bowling without Zaheer Khan and Umesh Yadav looks bare. Ashwin & Ojha's inability to spin a web around the English batsmen proved they can be dealt with rather easily and aren't penetrative enough even in favourable conditions. Ishant will lead the pace attack and Bhuvneshwar Kumar is expected to debut after impressive ODI performances.

In my opinion India will do well going in with five batsmen, three spinners and two pacers. India's best chance to challenge Australia will be by attacking them with spin. India's line up for the first test in my humble opinion should be: Sehwag, Dhawan, Pujara, Tendulkar, Kohli, Dhoni, Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar, Harbhajan, Ishant, Ojha.

Australia will depend on Warner and Cowan to give them explosive yet steady starts. Hughes will be the more preferred option for no.3 over Khawaja. Hughes' effectiveness against Indian spinners is to be gauged. Clarke & Watson hold the key for Australia in spinning Indian pitches. Matthew Wade, selected over Brad Haddin will have the task of playing with the tail if need be. Henriques, picked over Maxwell for the first test, will take over the all rounder spot vacated by Watson, now playing purely as batsman. Glenn Maxwell will be crucial as the second spinner and a valuable batsman when selected.

Australia will surely have an edge over India with a very strong bowling attack. Siddle, Pattinson & Starc will have taken notes from how Anderson bowled to the Indian batsmen. Indian batsmen won't have good memories of this pace trio who had them hop, jump, duck, fend & edge in faster, bouncier conditions. According to me Starc is the bowler India needs to be most careful of. He is capable of skidding, curving away from and bringing it back to the right hander which is Sehwag, Tendulkar & Kohli's undoing. Pattinson will come at the Indian will all he's got. Good pace, lovely rhythm and good lengths. Siddle is expected to spearhead this attack and is the only bowler who has played in India conditions before. Bowling in Indian conditions will be Lyon's biggest test in his career up till now. If he can emulate some success that Swann & Panesar had against Indian batsmen few months back, Australia will be well served. His experience of these conditions will help. Mitchell Johnson & Ashton Agar will await their chances in the upcoming tests.

Dhoni & Clarke are both in different stages of their captaincy. Dhoni will set out to prove series loss to England at home was an aberration and the Indian team in transition is still good enough to inflict a series defeat against Australia. He also has a point to prove that he is good enough a batsman and wicket keeper to hold his place in the side even if he wasn't the captain. Clarke on the other hand has had a challenging summer at home against South Africa & Sri Lanka and would be looking to win overseas. South Africa inflicted a rare defeat at home on Australia while they easily thrashed Sri Lanka 3-0. Clarke, in contrast with Dhoni has been in phenomenal personal form with the bat. He will be looking to add to his runs tally from 2012.

My call for the series would be a 1-1 draw as neither team seems to have the firepower to outdo the other. India has too feeble a bowling line up to defeat Australia. And Australia, post Hussey & Ponting's retirement will struggle to hand India a series defeat at home. Drawn series would be a success for India while Australia will look to force a win considering how India played against England.

One last word for Duncan Fletcher for whom this might be the last chance to lead India to a win and salvage some pride after an extremely disappointing two years at the top job.

India's African Safari

Till not so long ago India, not-so-proudly held the tag of "poor tourists". And in that period, till 2007, amongst other countries, India toured South Africa four times and played 12 test matches; won 1, lost 6 and drew 5. A record that doesn't really befit a team which sits atop the Test rankings.

South African pitches offers Indian batsmen what they arent too comfortable with; the twin troubles of Pace & Bounce. Indian batsmen have traditionally suffered at the hands of South African bowlers in these pitches assisting pace and bounce. Even the mighty Sachin Tendulkar has looked a mere mortal in South African conditions. With three centuries in 12 test matches, South African bowlers have offered him the least to get away with in their backyard. Even Dravid, Laxman & Sehwag havent struck gold against the Proteas. But things might be slightly different this time around. India have a settled opening combination in Gambhir & Sehwag for the first time in all their tours to SA. A middle order which has three legends. A wicket keeper batsman & captain who can more than just bat. Two promising youngsters, Raina & Pujara, battling for the sixth batsman spot. Its Steyn, Morne Morkel & the less known Lonwabo Tsotsobe they'd need to negotiate. Paul Harris, the Protean spinning option shouldnt pose much of a threat to the Indian batting line up.

Indian bowlers though have been slightly more successful than their bat wielding team mates. Prasad & Srinath were a deadly combo during the 1996-97 tour. Sreesanth was lethal & Zaheer supported him well in the 2006-07 tour. But what these bowlers lacked was support from rest of the bowlers and batsmen. The pressure exerted by Prasad & Srinath was usually undone by the third seamer who let the Proteas counter attack and take runs before the pair came back to hunt. India this time has Zaheer in prime form, Ishant and Sreesanth finding rhythm and Harbhajan not in the wiliest of phases. But Sreesanth is a mercurial bowlers and can find rhythm in one good spell and once he does he can be dangerous. Zaheer will bank getting his bunny Graeme Smith cheaply consistently. Trouble is when they run into the Protean middle order, next only to Indian middle order if not equal. AB de Villiers, Kallis & Amla are all in sublime form and are determined to go into the World Cup with victory against India.

This series will be watched by all cricket enthusiasts for its between the two most successful teams in recent times. With the one sidedness of The Ashes, the significance of India versus South Africa has increased multi folds in the context of the game. India has no reason to not feel confident about their chances. They have achieved success in the bounciest wicket in the world at WACA, Perth against Australia in 2008. To do well and achieve success here will be the best preparation India could ask for before the World Cup and a perfect adieu to Tendulkar, Laxman & Dravid who have traveled thrice to South Africa without achieving a series win and quite certainly are playing their last series in South Africa.

Author of this post also writes on http://www.isport.in/

VVS – Most beautiful cliché in Cricket

Every test match India plays, fans expect Sehwag to entertain, Tendulkar to score a hundred, Dravid to provide solidity at the top. What about the other crucial pillar of the Indian team? VVS Laxman. Lately he is expected to do all of the above three; entertain, provide solidity and score a hundred. He is the most ‘taken-for-granted-man’ in Indian cricket.

Post the epic 281 against his favourite bunnies Australia in 2000-01, he has very much become the crisis man for India. The team burrows itself into a hole and Laxman with his master painter like strokes and a saint like composure brings India to safety. Remarkable about this man is the effortless calm he brings to the crease and the fans at critical times. In Dravid’s case, its easily evident he is trying to concentrate hard and battle the demon which doesn’t put us at ease. With Tendulkar, expectations of the zillion hearts are enough to put pressure on him and on us who are watching. Laxman doesn’t look vulnerable in such situations. His confidence is sure to spur on his partner. As wristy as Azharuddin, Laxman's repertoire has a few shots that has opponents, spectators and commentators alike mesmerised. His absolute dream of an on drive, the flick to mid wicket from outside off stump; visuals of these are equal to big successes in life.

His partnership with Gautam Gambhir in 2009 against NZ in Hamilton to save India the test match was phenomenal. Both men stood their ground and refused to budge from the crease till the opposition gave up. Laxman has now made it a habit to play the kind of knock oppositions hate; stick around with the tail and give the total a huge boost. His 4th innings century against Sri Lanka at Galle in the third test to lead India to a series leveling win was a classic example of a mature, responsible innings. His innings of 76 against Australia at Mohali battling through back spasms acquired while fielding was a special innings. The way he influenced Ishant Sharma in the epic chase against Australia was incredible and more recently his fabulous stand with Harbhajan where the latter went on to score his first Test ton and Laxman score a masterful 93.

"Back to the wall" innings was what these innings were once called, but lately they are just known as "Laxman'esque' innings", a huge honour to the man whose initials VVS are often dubbed as being an abbreviation for Very Very Special. He deserve every bit of those praises he has been showered on over the years. He, along with Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly & Sehwag have has given India, its best years in Test cricket.

Inflicting the Brownwash!

Sachin Tendulkar’s roar and exult on scoring the winning runs in the second test might have surprised a few, but not me. The 37 year old little big man has seen and been through almost everything in Cricket. But something he might have only dreamt of was pulled off by India in the two test series against the Australians.

India inflicted a "Brownwash" on the Australians! And Sachin Tendulkar was living a dream!

1991-92

Almost twenty years back, on the eve of the Benson & Hedges Cricket World Cup of 1992 held in Australia & New Zealand, India toured down under for a five match test series. India went there with a team which looked a great mix of youth and experience lead by an inspirational Azharuddin who was in his 2nd season as the captain. India lost the series 4-0 and drew a game at Sydney, thanks to Shastri’s double hundred and a fine 148 by Tendulkar who was only 2 years old in international cricket. Seniors in the team; Kapil, Vengsarkar, Srikkanth came a cropper. India succumbed to the pace and accuracy of McDermott, Mike Whitney, Bruce Reid & Merv Hughes. The Sydney draw saved India of a highly possible “whitewash”.

1999-00

Similarly, in the Australian summer of 1999, India toured down under with Tendulkar as their captain. They then depended on a flat track bully Devang Gandhi and a stiff Sadagopan Ramesh to give the starts against a rampaging Aussie pace attack of McGrath, Gillespie, Brett Lee and Warne to lend spin support. Indians, not even in one game posted a 400+ score. Batsmen with the exception of Tendulkar looked awry. Even Dravid and Ganguly looked uncomfortable and failed to make an impact. The test series was lost 3-0, whitewashed by the Aussies. That hurt!

Circa 2010

Ricky Ponting came to India looking to conquer his final frontier; to win a test in the land he could never win in as a captain even with the best team at his command in 2004. He lost 0-2 in a four match series in 2007. This time he came with a team that didn’t look even a shadow of what his previous two teams in 2004 and 2007 were. Ten absolutely fantastic days of Cricket later, India achieved what we last did to a top test playing nation in 1993 to England; we “brownwashed” Australia. The hurt we bore in 1991-92 and 1999-00 was cooled by some finery by Indians throughout the series. Neither team could claim ownership or dominance of a day’s play in either test match except for the last days of both matches which India galloped away with. Thats how closely contested the series was. An area where India convincingly outdid Australia was their resilience to fight it out in testing times; something Indian teams in the past were guilty of lacking. Marcus North’s career saving ton, Mitchell Johnson’s five wicket haul, Watson’s century, Ponting’s three half centuries; all were performances that required an “X Factor” effort to yield results. Zaheer’s eight wicket haul in the first test, Laxman’s splendid match winning 73*, captain Dhoni’s move to send a debutant at no 3 to save the experienced for later and the debutant; Pujara scoring an impressive 72 on the last day of the second test can all be counted as “X Factor” efforts; where the player put his hands up and played a crucial innings or bowl a match altering spell. Sachin Tendulkar though deservedly won the Man of the Series; the team did not entirely rest on him for a win. The youngsters made their place in the team count.

For Australia, their Vice Captain Micheal Clarke looked in woeful form. In Bollinger’s absence, bowling looked weak. Hauritz looked unpenetrative. Australia probably long lost their test dominance, but falling to the depths of being brownwashed would bring up serious concerns in their camp for England looks in fine rhythm to retain the urn when they travel down under this winter. And for India, though the win can be rejoiced over a long time, well begun is only half done. To keep the no 1 test team tag they will have to tame the Kiwis at home and the Proteas in their own backyard.

Indian Pace Attack: Is the best yet to come?

The West Indian pace quartet of the 70s & 80s, Walsh-Ambrose in the 90s; Thomson-Lillee & McGrath, Lee & Gillespie for Australia; Allan Donald-Shaun Pollock for South Africa; Wasim-Waqar and later Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan have all been potent new ball handlers & partnerships oppositions have feared and been wary of and have been hugely instrumental in their team’s successes during their careers. India’s fiercest new ball combo, even though they lacked express pace has been of Kapil Dev & Prabhakar who operated together in the late eighties and early nineties. Kapil’s retirement put extra pressure on a young Javagal Srinath; arguably India’s finest produce in the fast bowling department. He was quick, could swing both ways and be intimidating too. Prabhakar’s form dipped and wasn’t anymore the effective bowler who was once Miandad’s nemeses; now concentrated on his new role as an opening batsman. A lanky Venkatesh Prasad shouldered responsibility and Srinath-Prasad combo operated for India from 1996-2000. They will never be counted amongst the best ever; but were hard working and effective for India. Indian cricket, since the retirement of these two have suffered to find one fast bowling combination which would last for more than a year. Zaheer has spearheaded the attack since Srinath’s retirement but with minimal & inconsistent support from the other end.

Ajit Agarkar, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Tinu Yohannan, VRV Singh, L Balaji and many more to add in the ODI format. India, like any other country has produced a battery of pacers but none who seems adept enough to carry forward a big responsibility. Every bowler India tried in this meanwhile has shown initial zest & promise but mysteriously fizzles out.

Irfan Pathan’s yorker to send back Gilchrist in his debut series is still unforgotten and so is his first over hat-trick against Pakistan at Karachi. Irfan started with a bang and was already touted to be the next big thing on the cricketing horizon and he slowly faded out and now doesn’t ever cross the 130 kmph mark let alone finding his in-swinging yorkers. A shoulder injury and subsequent loss of form and confidence could be blamed for his fall.

Munaf Patel even before his domestic debut was touted to be India’s fastest ever. Following his international debut and few successes, he has looked a pale shadow of himself. Fitness issues too have marred his career.

RP Singh began with a bang and promised a great lot following his Man of the Match performance in his debut test against Pakistan but slipped back and now struggles to find rhythm.

Sreesanth remains his mercurial self. Will bowl exceptionally well on his day and concede runs in torrents wicket less on a day that’s not his. More concentration on the game than his antics on field could help him develop further.

And Ishant Sharma, a gawky teen who troubled Ricky Ponting on his home turf and found reputation to be India’s quickest and most exciting bowler in a long time has totally lost confidence and has burrowed into a shell he and his coaches have no clue how to get him out of.

The only able partner Zaheer found has been in Nehra. Nehra, when fit and selected has been an asset to the team in all forms of the game. But fitness has been his undoing since the beginning of his career. We haven’t seen someone like a Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Tait, Mohammed Aamer, Lasith Malinga or Dale Steyn. Our bowlers have never been express fast, but they also have lacked wicket taking capabilities. The mysterious shell that Indian pacers take shelter in once established has to be unearthed and found a solution to. It has become a perennial problem for Indian pacers that existed even two decades back in the 80s when exciting fast bowlers like Chetan Sharma, Vivek Razdan, Atul Wassan, Salil Ankola, Subroto Banerjee followed by the likes of Dodda Ganesh, Paras Mhambrey, Abey Kuruvilla, Debashis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh & David Johnson amongst others in the 90s decade showed promise to only fade away soon without trace.

Pakistan, Australia & South Africa on the other hand have been very successful in finding able replacements for their yesteryears’ stars. That’s what makes them strong teams to play against in seaming, bouncy conditions. Indian batsmen are found wanting while countering bounce & swing and they don’t consistently possess a bowling attack that could trouble an opposition on such tracks either. Each team at least has one bowler who can clock up to 85 mph consistently. And India’s search for one such prodigious talent hasn’t borne fruit yet.

India’s march to the top of the table in the Test rankings hasn’t been easy. Tougher than that is going to be how they plan to cement their place there. For that and also the fast approaching 2011 World Cup, India needs a fast bowling attack they can rely on to win matches. Apart from those already in line to support Zaheer; Jaidev Unadkat, Abhimanyu Mithun, Dhawal Kulkarni, Pradeep Sangwan, Umesh Yadav & Ashok Dinda are youngsters who’ve shown promise, talent and ability to carry forward the baton of fast bowling to the next level for Indian cricket.

The Wizard Retires & World Cup Semis

Muttiah Muralitharan decided to hang his boots after the first test against India at Galle. His wicket tally of 792 wickets is just 8 short of the unimaginable 800. His decision to only quit from Tests might be one consolation for Sri Lanka. One can safely assume that the World Cup 2011 in the subcontinent will be last the world will see of him in international cricket. In a career spanning 2 decades, the journey to say the least hasn’t been an easy going one for the Wizard. The offie had a tough tour down-under in 95-96 and called for throwing by the OZ umpires. He then won the WC in '96 and kept picking wickets in bulk till his tour down under in 98-99. He again was called for throwing when his captain courageous Arjuna Ranatunga stood for him against all odds and handled the situation admirably. Any weaker captain would have wilted under the pressure exerted, but Ranatunga threatened to "walk off" instead in order to stand for his player. There have been plenty of allegations against him starting from people like Bedi, Warne, Dean Jones, Holding and Martin Crowe amongst others. His natural deformity came to his rescue when tested by ICC. But it’s no mean achievement to snare 792 test wickets and 512 ODI wickets even for a man with an improper action.
Controversy or no, Murali will remain to be amongst the best spinners to have ever played the game. His natural deformity came to his rescue when tested by ICC. But it’s no mean achievement to snare 792 test wickets and 512 ODI wickets even for a man with an improper action. His form has been dipping and has been far from his prime in test cricket. Most unforgettable amongst his performances is his 16 for 220 against England at The Oval in 1998. He almost single handedly bowled Sri Lanka to victory. Alec Stewart’s run out denied Murali a perfect ten in that game. All said and done Murali will be missed thoroughly in international cricket. With Murali’s retirement the number of cricketers from the 90s decade are receding from international cricket and surely marks an end of an era. Murali’s tally of 792 wickets is almost as steep and unimaginable as Bradman’s average of 99.94 or Tendulkar’s tally of 93 international centuries.

Holland won 3-2 over Uruguay. Indeed, the Uruguayans clearly missed the strike force of Suarez, (who has been really maligned for his hand ball against Ghana. I think any other footballer would have done the same in that situation). Forlan waged a lone battle up-front. The former Man Utd striker continued his awesome form into the World Cup. He is a versatile and almost a veteran for Uruguay. He will come back, get the ball, pass it, take corners and free-kicks, distribute the ball and most importantly score goals. For all the hype behind people like Barry some other so-called "stars" from Europe, particularly England, Forlan has taught them a lesson as to how to play the game. Why did Manchester United let him go? Indeed, had Suarez been there, this would have been a much tougher game for the Dutch, who got a lucky break on the second goal. Not only was it a deflection, it was also a goal in which Van Persie was fortunate to have been judged off side. He clearly raised his foot, and was thus, "in play" when the ball crept into the Uruguayan goal.

It's like deja vu all over again: Spain 1 – Germany 0.
Paul the Octopus got it right once again, picking Spain and sending the German romantics crashing out of the World Cup…at least until Saturday, when they’ll play Uruguay in their second straight consolation game.

The first half of this game was arguably the best 45 minutes we’ve seen on the international level in the last four years. It was, to the casual observer, boring, tense, slow and rather unproductive. But in truth, it was a chess game being played by two grandmasters; an show of tactical nous and footballing intelligence. The breakthrough came when a flying Puyol broke through the barrier of bodies to crash a header past Manuel Neuer into the back of the net just past the hour mark. From there, the predictable happened: Germany pushed numbers, Spain held and countered on occasion. Ultimately it was Euro 2008 all over again with a 1-0 final score.