100 Things that will happen Thanks to 100th 100 !

Finally 'THAT' thing is out of our system. 'THAT' was eating into us like a worm, like a Cancer and like a pain in the arse. That thing every second Indian was bothered by and which in turn used to bother every first Indian.

It was so bad, even our Finance Minister dished out a dead duck for a budget. It was in fact so bad, even Anna Hazare forgot to fast. It was so miserably bad that Kapil Sibal had become redundant and people had forgotten Digvijay Singh.

People hardly realized India lost 8 successive overseas tests by margins that got larger and larger. The whole team was busy thinking "Have I made it Large Enough ?". They couldn't even beat a quarter strength West Indies convincingly and mostly scraped through a home test series.

The retirement of Rahul Dravid was brushed off with, "Well of course, he was there too. Fine, let's say bye to him". During his press conference, more people were interested to know Rahul's opinion on when 'THAT' would happen ?"

We haven't measured if he lost 50 kilos, but the team certainly lost at least 25 runs thanks to the crawl. And 'THAT' celestial event has finally happened and it has not sunk in yet. But it did sink the team against Bangladesh and in turn out of the Asia Cup Final.

Virat Kohli can go on playing blinders to give India a chance to qualify for the Finals. But for most of us, only ONE thing mattered. It was 'THAT' milestone. India return home empty-handed with the aluminum spoon [Sri Lanka took the wooden spoon]. But what the heck ? We have the record, right ?

No Asia Cup, So what ? We have a Milestone !

But on the positive side; finally, well and truly the damned 100th 100 is done and over with. One man's milestone had become a millstone around the neck for 'Ten' more people inside the team and a billion outside. Here is a list of 100 things that are bound to happen now and we can say, "Thank You Sachin !"

1] Team India can play 'Normal' Cricket now and not be bothered by when 'THAT' would happen.

2] Suresh Raina will finally raise above the short ball and manage to keep it down..

3] Sachinists will finally realize there are 11 members in a Cricket team [hopefully].

4] Virat Kohli will carry the burden of the No. 3 and not only the 'Finger No. 3'

5] Some day in near future, when Sachin Tendulkar scores a 100, Team India will actually win a match.

6] Irfan Pathan will bowl 6 good balls in an over.

7] Virendar Sehwag will finally be dropped for non-performance and 'not merely be rested'.

8] Gautam Gambhir will begin to run sensibly; between the wickets I mean.

9] Dhoni will finally win a toss when it matters or even when it doesn't.

10] Team India will manage to draw an overseas test.

Since we all are already exhausted by a 100th 100, I don't want the readers [howsoever small the number might be] to suffer another torture. So here I 'retire', hoping to be at least 10 kilos lesser after this ordeal !

Congratulations Bangladesh for making the Finals of Asia Cup by beating 2 stronger teams convincingly. You deserve to be in the Final because you don't have anyone even closer to 10 centuries, leave alone 100. Good for you !

And Thank You Sachin !





SPun Doctor

Divided Colors of Blue !

Though the camaraderie on display on camera between Dhoni and Sehwag looked good; every Indian Cricket supporter knows, the split is out there gaping in open. And it isn't 'Bleeding Blue' any more. The team has hemorrhaged to near death. How could a Team that scaled the pinnacle of World Cup in April 2011 be so pathetically down in the dumps in February 2012 ?

Divided We Stand !

The Viru - Mahi war was always on. If not for Anil Kumble's insistence during the tour down under in 2007, Sehwag the Superstar would have been history. Dhoni would not have touched him with a barge pole if not for the match saving century at Adelaide 4 years ago.

Dhoni has shown clear preference to anyone other than Sehwag in the ODI scheme of things and he can't be faulted for that. Viru's records in ODI Cricket are just a little better than mediocre. During 2007 - 08, Sehwag was also a member of a team that was up and coming. In 2012, he is 'The Sehwag' who is back to playing the ball rather than the bowlers.

Is this divide in the team a new phenomenon triggered by a successive defeats ? Will it be fine once the team gets back to winning ways ? Far from it, the split was always there right from 2010 March and perhaps even before.

Let us go back to the Bangladesh series in March 2010 when Sehwag called Bangladesh an ordinary test team before the series. Sehwag captained India in the absence of Dhoni in the first test at Chittagong and played Amit Mishra ahead of Pragyan Ojha. Mishra went on to claim 7 wickets in the match and also scored a 50 as night watchman in Indian second innings.

This performance should have ensured a place for Mishra in the second test. It wasn't as if Pragyan Ojha was a Zaheer Khan or a Harbhajan Singh to walk into the team. But alas, Dhoni preferred to play Ojha instead. From that day, the Dhoni - Sehwag cold war has been on; like it or not.

India's subsequent performances through most of 2010 to the 2011 World Cup campaign were driven by an aim of winning the world cup. Sehwag had come across as someone not interested in Captaincy when he relinquished the Delhi Ranji Team and the Delhi Daredevils Captaincy in favor of Gambhir. Who refueled his Captaincy ambitions is unknown. But after the World Cup, he has time and again shown more than eagerness to lead India.

Dhoni hasn't covered himself in glory too. Right from dropping a Mishra to time and again undermining both the Pathans, he has played his role in demolishing the team spirit. His ad campaign mocking Harbhajan Singh was definitely the beginning of the end of Men in Blue as a team. Team India until then was all about United Colors of Blue in spite of minor skirmishes involving Sreesanth and Bhajji and such trivialities.

The fissure that erupted with this has left Bhajji out of favor, Viru out of flavor, Dhoni the martyr and Sachin Tendulkar eternally short of 100 ! That Tendulkar who was proud to be part of a team that carried him on shoulders on 2 April 2011 must be asking himself, "Mai Kaun hoon Mai Kahaan hoon !"

So who are the culprits ? 

Answer: All parties involved. 

The CB series was going fairly fine till Dhoni's bizarre tactics while chasing lead to enormous heart burns in the dressing room. Gambhir is right in his view but wrong in expressing it openly. Declaring Dhoni the Man of the Match in the tied game was like adding insult to injury. He ran out Gambhir, then Pathan and then ended up squaring a match India should have won comfortably. Did the adjudicators give him the MOM just to create further dissension in the team ? We will never know.

India didn't just lose 2 points with that tie. The damage was much more than that. It would have been India 4 vs 0 for Sri Lanka. Instead, it was 2-2 and that means 0-0. So how many points did India lose ?  The answer is 4 and that is why India are out of the tournament today ! Sri Lanka derived enormous mileage from that tie and India lost the initial advantage. They haven't won anything since then and are unlikely to win anything again.

Sehwag's refusal to learn or perhaps deliberate callousness is glaring. Gambhir went way beyond his jurisdiction when he unleashed his injudicious diction in a press meet. Tendulkar could have played peace-maker but he seems to be preoccupied with the 100. 

The youngsters had their opportunities to stake stronger claim. But Raina and Rohit have time and again thrown away starts with stupid batting. Bowlers have often been all over the park and 2 of the highest scores in the series were scored against India, naturally.

Overall, the Men in Blue are going through blues and have been beaten black and blue on this tour down under. They deserve this hammering and all the criticism. If the divide is not attended and the BCCI and Selectors decide on this continued Ostrich like approach, it will be doomsday soon.

So what is the solution ? Let Sehwag, Dhoni, Sachin, Gambhir and everyone know 'Nobody is indispensable, NOBODY'. Send a completely new junior team to the Asia Cup. If full strength team with all seniors can lose like this, the Team India fans can derive some solace if the juniors lose too. They have nothing to lose. And who knows ? We might again see a new dawn like the 2007 T-20 World Cup win. 

Even if that doesn't happen, we would still be better off teaching our next generation that even Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni were not spared ! Until and unless the feuding Stalwarts sort out the problems between them, keep them out. We have over half a year before we play another test.

Unless the runs flow, no Superstar can forever be so !

SPun Doctor Also blogs @ http://diehardcricketfans.org/category/contributed/govind-raj-shenoy/

Random musings after two Murdered Tests !

After two immensely forgettable Tests with New Zealand, what have we got to remember, learn and carry home ? 

Indian Cricket is so very complex: Quite like Harbhajan Singh's Technique. You can never say Bhajji lacks technique. But neither can you you say he has it. Just like Team India. You can't say they are No. 1 Test Team. You can't say they aren't No. 1 either ! 

They always play on level ground: They play every opponent at their level; that is the opponent's level. Never expect Team India to crush weaklings. Never expect them to capitulate easily against the best. There will be a fight. Nothing less, nothing more. 

Why is the Indian middle order confused ? Answer is simple. First Jatman Viru Sehwag goes out and bashes everything in sight as if he were Dharmendra and the bowlers, the baddies. And then Rahul Dravid comes out with his brand of Gandhigiri and refuses to hit anything ! No wonder Dhoni, Raina and even Sachin look lost in the middle. 

The Great Indian Run Rate: India have over the past 3 years maintained a better run rate compared to all other teams in Tests. What is the secret ? This has been partly explained above. Sehwag wags to attain a strike rate of 100% or an average of 6 RPO. Dravid lags and attains a strike rate of 25% or about 1.5 RPO. The other confused lot fall in between at 42% or 2.5 RPO. Thus India manage to keep the total scoring rate above 3.3 RPO. 

The All Rounders problem solved: Bhajji is the answer to India's long standing prayers for a Batting All-rounder. Sending him to bat at No. 8 is a master-stroke. India's middle order actually starts here with very competent batsmen like Zaheer, Ojha and Sreesanth to follow. And just think of it, Ishant Sharma is not even playing. What an embarrassment of riches.

Suresh Raina finally has arrived as the Bowling All-rounder. So what if he has got more wickets than the runs he has scored of late ? Anyway we now have two genuine All-rounders !

Taking responsibility, Indian style: Whenever Team India are in trouble, someone or the other stands up to be counted. The 'Someone' is Laxman and the 'Other' is Harbhajan Singh ! 

This series is not about the 50th Century: Whom are they trying to fool ? Every member of the Team is so preoccupied with this number, they have actually forgotten there is a Test series going on. Anything else happening out there is an irritant. No wonder the Kiwis have taken flight after being grounded by Bangladesh !

Then some 'Random' acceptance Speeches... 

Bhajji: People threw brick-bats at me and I used the bricks to construct Milestones in Mohali and the bats to score two centuries ! 

Gambhir: I owe my performance in this test to Viru and Rahul. While Viru went on like Viru, nobody noticed me. Those who did notice, thought Rahul batted left handed at the other end. 

Dravid: I am relieved now because there is someone to take over my mantle now. I was totally confused while I watched Gambhir bat. I often felt I was out there in the middle and batting left handed. 

Sehwag: New Zealand is an ordinary team. It is just that some of us are wasting too many four balls. I have to make up for everyone including Sreesanth. I would prefer if Bhajji comes out to bat at No. 3 and Rahul comes out only if we have to face follow on. 

Raina: I play my natural game as Dhoni has asked me to. What if they keep three men on the boundary ? I can always come back and play the next innings or the next or the next... 

Laxman: I enjoy playing under pressure. I am forever indebted to my team-mates for providing me with ample opportunities to do so. It is such a pleasure, almost like sitting inside the pressure cooker used by my Mom to prepare idlees. What if you are steam cooked practically every test ? Idlees do taste Delicious ! 

Dhoni:  We have to accept we have not batted well and our bowlers have tried their level best to match the batsmen. Our fielding can be better and the wicket-keeping particularly needs some improvement. Overall though I am satisfied with our performance. You win some, you draw some and you can always drop some catches.

McCullum: Bhajji inspired me to go for the Double Ton. If he can score two hundreds in two innings, I can score two hundred in one innings. Impossible is nothing ! 

Vettori: We have come back strongly after the Bangladesh debacle. Aussies lost 2-0 in 2 Tests in India. So we are better than them now. I believe my new born baby deserves all the credit for this.

And last but not the Least !

Curator: I hoped I will be remembered as the man who prepared the pitch on which Sachin Tendulkar scored his 50th Hundred. Alas, Everyone else scored here except Sachin !





S-Pun Doctor