More of the same

So, let us understand this -

India, Australia, England and South Africa have launched an International Twenty 20 league that will feature the top two Twenty20 teams from the above mentioned countries.

The BCCI has launched the India Premier League which will be franchise based.

The tournament wll be played in October of 2008.

Which is all fine and dandy, except for a couple of things

1. Here is India's International schedule till December 2008

India - forthcoming Test and one-day series

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Year	Month/s	Teams/Tournament	Tests	ODIs
2006/07	Jan	HOME v West Indies	-	4
2006/07	Feb	HOME v Sri Lanka	-	4
2006/07	Mar-Apr	AWAY: World Cup (Aus, Eng, Ind, Sth Africa, New Z'lnd, Pak, Sri Lanka, W Indies, Zim, B'desh, Kenya, Ireland, Bermuda, Canada, Scotland, Netherlands) in West Indies
2007	May	AWAY v Bangladesh	*tbc	*tbc
2007	Jun	AWAY: Afro Asia Cup (B'desh. Ind, Sth Africa, Pak, Sri Lanka, Zim, Kenya) in
2007	Jun-Sep	AWAY v England	3	7
2007	Aug	AWAY v Scotland	-	1
2007/08	Sep	AWAY: Twenty20 Championship (Aus, Eng, Ind, Sth Africa, New Z'lnd, Pak, Sri Lanka, W Indies, Zim, B'desh) in South Africa
2007/08	Nov-Dec	HOME v Australia	-	*tbc
2007/08	Dec-Jan	AWAY v Pakistan	*tbc	*tbc
2007/08	Dec-Feb	AWAY v Australia	*tbc	*tbc
2007/08	Jan-Feb	AWAY: ODI series (Aus, Ind, Sri Lanka) in Australia
2007/08	Feb-Mar	AWAY: ODI series (B'desh, Ind, Sth Africa) in Bangladesh
2007/08	Mar	AWAY v Bangladesh	*tbc	*tbc
2007/08	Mar	HOME v South Africa	*tbc	*tbc
2008	Apr	AWAY v South Africa	*tbc	*tbc
2008	Apr	AWAY: Asia Cup (B'desh. Ind, Pak, Sri Lanka) in Pakistan
2008	May	AWAY v Zimbabwe	*tbc	*tbc
2008	Jun	AWAY: Afro Asia Cup (B'desh. Ind, Sth Africa, Pak, Sri Lanka, Zim, Kenya) in Malaysia
2008	Jul-Aug	AWAY v Sri Lanka	*tbc	*tbc
2008/09	Sep-Oct	AWAY: ICC Champions Trophy (Aus, Eng, Ind, Sth Africa, New Z'lnd, Pak, Sri Lanka, W Indies, Zim, B'desh) in Pakistan
2008/09	Nov-Dec	HOME v England	*tbc	*tbc
2008/09	Dec	AWAY v Pakistan	*tbc	*tbc
2008/09	Jan	AWAY v South Africa	*tbc	*tbc
2008/09	Apr	AWAY v New Zealand	*tbc	*tbc

The BCCI expects to get six franchises in place and playing against each other, all the while when the main draws for any BCCI mandated game, the Tendulkars and the Dhonis and the Dravids, will be away on national duty.

2. Assuming, by some divine intervention, that these players are available for the duration of the domestic competition and then the International Twenty20, has anyone bothered to factor in their workload?

Is there a limit to the BCCI's (cricketborad@gmail.com) greed and lack of planning?
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The Cricket Board today decided to continue with the existing system of contract for the players till the Gradation Committee gives a final shape to a new proposal.

....
According to the existing contract, players in the A grade get an annual retainership of Rs 50 lakhs, while the amount is Rs 35 lakh and Rs 20 lakhs for Grade B and C, respectively.

erm... remember this

10. Working Committee approved the Performance-based Payment to the players and decided to do away with the present gradation for Retainership. Apart from the payment, the following points would form a part of the contract.

· A player will endorse not more than 3 sponsors / products

· No Sponsor can contract more than 2 players.

· The players will not be allowed to do any sponsor-related events 15 days before the tour and also during the tour.

· Before every tour, all the contracted players have to undergo a fitness test and only those who fulfill the benchmarks will be considered for selection.

· No player shall have exclusive contracts with electronic or print media. Only the captain can write a column or talk to the media but not exclusively.

· The players shall take prior approval of the Board before signing any endorsement contract and will submit a copy of the agreement to the Board. All the players shall submit a copy of the existing contracts with sponsors to the Board.

· All the players will have to play a stipulated number of domestic matches when not playing for India.

· In the event of injury to the player, the Board will compensate him the match fees that he would have earned for a maximum period of six months.
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Sponsorship of Mumbai teams renewed with National Engg. Coordination Committee for further two years 2007-08 and 2008-09, office bearers to discuss and finalise the terms.

National Egg Coordination Committee guys.. Atleast know who your sponsors are!

Just a thought...

India A (from): Mohammad Kaif (capt), Aakash Chopra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manoj Tiwary, S Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Parthiv Patel (wk), Ishant Sharma, Yo Mahesh, Pankaj Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Arjun Yadav, Ashraf Makda, Amit Mishra.

India (from): Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Joginder Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, RP Singh, Sreesanth.

India (players from the Natwest series not currently playing) : Rahul Dravid,Saurav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan,Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Sachin Tendulkar.

India U-19 Team : Tanmay Srivastava (capt), Ravi Jadeja, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Saurabh Tiwari, Shreevats Goswami, Pradeep Sangwan, Harshad Khadiwale, Abhinav Mukund, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Iqbal Abdullah, GVS Prasad, Shrikant Munde, Amanpreet Singh, KP Appanna

Of the players listed above, onlyAbu Nechim Ahmed has moved on to the ICL. This gives the BCCI a roster of 49 players who have played cricket with International teams. If we are to include the Mumbai squad who played in the Muhammad Nissar Trophy and the KSCA squad that participated in the Top End series and those cricketers who are currently injured, the BCCI has about 80-90 players with some international exposure in the current season.

Enough to form 5-6 franchise teams to play each other in a latter day version of the Duleep Trophy.

We flippin' murdered them

5 debutants and the label of a "second string" team did not deter Mumbai from putting on a sterling performance ( including a follow on) against Karachi Urban in the Mohammad Nissar Trophy.
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And is Abhishek Nayar ready to make the move up to the national team? Kid has shown guts and gumption in adverse situations, is a left hand bat and a steady right hand medium pacer. The home ODI series is a good time to blood him, unless the selectors, in their infinite wisdom, deem that he needs another season in domestic cricket before he can be considered India material.

Seventh ODI - India versus England, Lords

England outplay India to take the series 4-3 India 187/10 England 188/3

The final game of a long drawn ODI series went the way of the first game. England did not put a foot wrong in comprehensively beating India.

From the outset, there was very little India did right or were allowed to. England had a plan and they executed it to perfection.

Collingwood ( Mr Fat Arse to the rest of us) impressed with his captaincy. England's fielding was excellent, their bowling tight and their batting solid.

Kudos England, a well won series.

And now, gains and losses for the two teams. Firstly England.

England have plenty to cheer about.

In the course of this series, they have unearthed some real talent in Broad and Wright. Bopara and Shah have done enough to show that they will be in England's plans for the future.

Collingwood was a revelation. His captaincy was exceptional. Pieterson was Pieterson. Mascarenhas showed why Warne rates him so highly.

And Ian Bell! Left out by Warwickshire ODI side early on in the Indian summer, Bell has played exceptional cricket. A classical batsman, his shotmaking and shot selection have been excellent. As has been his fielding.

Winning the series will give England the self belief that they can compete and they can compete and win. And they have the nucleus of the side to do so.And that augurs well for the future.

On the flip side, playing Flintoff in the final ODI was daft.

Panesar was ordinary. For someone in whom there is some much invested in, his flat darts were a huge let down.

For India, plenty of gains and a little introspection.

Post the World Cup, there was mass hysteria with everyone blaming everyone for the early exit. And no one thought better to sit back and analyze the root causes for India's failure to compete.

This loss to England has come at just about the right time. It gives pause to the hype about Indian being world beaters and gives India reason to introspect. Introspect about what our approach to the game should be and how best to structure a squad to meet that approach.

India's approach to the modern ODI has been patchy. And it reflected in their game and game plans. Our batting was in spurts, our bowling was scratchy and the less said about our fielding the better.

Seniors versus juniors is the wrong debate in Indian cricket - playing a team who are all below the age of 25 does not guarantee a good fielding side. 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers against 6 batsmen and 5 bowlers is also a futile debate - the non utilization of resources ( both by individuals and by the captain) on the field and in the dressing room is where the problem lies. If Yuvraj Singh cannot be counted on bowling 5 overs every game and if Ajit Agarkar cannot be counted to chip in 20 runs every time he goes out to bat, we have a problem that is more deep rooted.

What has gone right for India is the timing of the loss.

India plays the Twenty 20 World Cup which gives us the opportunity to start putting together a One Day philosophy. There are no expectations from us at the World Cup, we are playing some of the players who may become integral to India's ODI balance in the years to come and it will also give us an idea of performance under pressure.

Following the loss is the 12 ODI set at home against good opposition which then gives India the opportunity to consolidate and quantify this philosophy and the personnel that fit into this philosophy. Which is huge !

As regards personnel, the spin twins have been awesome all through this ODI series. Piyush Chawla has come a long long way from his debut at Mohali in 2005 while Powar has given Harbhajan notice on what works and what doesn't in the shorter version of the game.

Yuvraj, Uthappa, Gambhir and Dhoni played well in patches, Karthik was a disappointment and India has yet to figure out what they want from their number 3 batter and bowler.

Zaheer was excellent ( though overbowled), RP Singh is a good prospect, Munaf and Agarkar have done enough to book their tickets out of the ODI side.

Sachin rolled back the years, Ganguly did his bit with the bat and ball and Rahul Dravid played with gay abandon. And did he lead the side well!

I have been critical of Rahul Dravid because of his tendency to play the game by the numbers, something that works well in the longer format of the game but puts you behind the 8 ball in the shorter version.

But barring that brain fade with Yuvraj bowling the 50th over at the Oval, I was pretty impressed with how he handled the team. He will never be a genius leader, but he did better than expected ( think about the South African debacle and his captaincy there).

The team showed guts ( Old Trafford, Headingley and the Oval) and heart. Which are good foundations to build the team on.

Second String II

Mumbai 325/3 (90.0 ov) Stumps Day 1

SahilKukreja 110
Ajinkya Rahane 143

If this is the best the first string Karachi Urban team could do, Mumbai would have been better served sending their U-15 Second XIs..

Second string indeed!

What must Tendulkar do?

5 times this summer, Sachin Tendulkar's innings have been hacked off by poor umpiring.

Goulded and Darred are terms in the lexicon analogous to Bucknored.

And if India loses this game, the carpers will be out in full force, moaning on the "lack" of contribution from Sachin's bat in crunch games.

What must Tendulkar do?

Interesting

With an eye on the Australia Tour later this year, I found these two scorecards ( 1 & 2) particularly interesting.

Given that the Australia bowling attack will comprise primarily from Brett Lee, Shaun Tait, Stuart Clark, Mitchell Johnson, Shane Watson, Stuart McGill and Ben Hilfenhaus, it is interesting to see how the next generation of Australian spinners are shaping up.

Cullen Bailey, Dan Cullen and Cameron White have had an indifferent start. It will be interesting to see how they shape up from here on in, especially during the 2 "Tests".
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Interesting also is the fact that the Irani Trophy has been pushed back by 5 days, ostensibly because "The postponement by a few days was necessary as the South Africa A series ends only at the end of September," Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer, told PTI.

And so, what about this -

1st ODI: India v Australia at Bangalore - Sep 29, 2007
Match scheduled to begin at 14:30 local time (09:00 GMT)

2nd ODI: India v Australia at Kochi - Oct 2, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

3rd ODI: India v Australia at Hyderabad (Decc) - Oct 5, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

4th ODI: India v Australia at Chandigarh - Oct 8, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

5th ODI: India v Australia at Vadodara - Oct 11, 2007 (09:00 local, 03:30 GMT)

Or is there a message here about the Indian team composition for the ODI series?

The Day After..

Plenty happening in the world of cricket and cricket administration the day after the stunning match between India and England -

BCCI Appeals Against Court Stay For Dalmiya

BCCI faces monopoly investigation

Dungarpur denies misappropriating clubs funds

Asif injured in dressing room spat

I haven't thought of retirement - Tendulkar

I still respect the Board: Kapil

Now Wadekar gets ICL call

Truth has prevailed: Imtiaz

Contracts to prevent cricketer crossover to ICL

From left field, this article by Mike Selvey - A modest proposal: Flintoff should quit Tests for one-dayers

and finally, this gem.

Sixth ODI - India versus England, The Brit Oval

India win by two wickets and a ball to spare - England 316/6 India 317/8

Following the loss at Old Trafford, in course of a conversation with Sfx, I opined that it will be a huge test of character for India to bounce back after that loss.

The loss was huge as it set India back a long way in the 7 match series. It was also heartbreaking given that India had given it all and had still ended on the losing side. The manner of the loss was demoralizing in that India could not finish the game from being in a position where they could not lose.

In terms of holes, I had serious doubts if India could climb out of this one.

Then Headingley happened. Content in the knowledge that the series would be lost there, I was off, gallivanting around around the country.

I heard of the Headingley result first. Then I read about the game. Finally, I saw it. But that did nothing to convince me that India had turned a corner.

Until today, that is.

Set a humongous 317 to get by England, India kept its wickets and its nerve to take the series to the decider at Lords. And some effort it was too.

Barring a couple of overs when Gambhir could not get the ball of the square and Tendulkar was cramping up and later when Dhoni was all edges and no middle, India kept the momentum going.

India began the match well, faltered in the middle but did enough to ensure that the result went their way.

Questions though, remain. Of the middle and late over bowling, of the fielding and the captaincy. Yuvraj, Sachin, Yuvraj for the 48th, 49th and 50th overs ? This, when Ramesh Powar was yet to bowl his quota of overs. As was Agarkar. Where was the logic in that?

India showed character, the downside to which is that it took a rocket up their backside in the form of a prospective series defeat by England before they have started to show the kind of cricket they are capable of.

And are Ian Gould, Nigel Llong and Peter Hartley the best that the ECB can conjure for an International ODI series? Gould's decisions or lack of cost India Old Trafford. Peter Hartley's charity allowed Owais Shah to get to his maiden hundred. And Hartley nearly fluffed again when he nearly did not call for the third umpire in the Paul Collingwood run out incident.

Gripping series this may be, but shouldn't that be because of the contest between bat and ball?

And what about Paul Collingwood? I would love to see what the Match Referee has to say about his open show of dissent following his run out.

James Anderson got away with a shoulder barge at Headingley, maybe Mr Fat Arse will too.Which will be a travesty.

Second String?

Yesterday, Mr Gul Hameed Bhatti had this to say about the Mumbai team visiting Pakistan for the Nissar trophy -

Mumbai sending second-string side for Nissar Trophy

Today, CricInfo faithfully reproduces the article as its own

Mumbai send second-string team for Nissar Trophy

Fourth ODI - India versus England, Old Trafford

England's B's sting India and how! - India 212 England 213/7.

Phenomenal effort by Bopara and Broad to see England through after they were tottering at 114/7 at one stage. Great composure, great match sense, a wonderfully paced innings by the B's reminiscent of India's performance at Lords in 2002.

Which stands in stark contrast to India's efforts.

India needs to urgently address our approach to the shorter version of the game.

We lose wickets and decide to down the shutters. We don't lose wickets and choose defense to be the best form of attack.

A half decent partnership comes about and our body language goes to the dogs. We knock a few wickets quickly and think the job is done.

We choose 7 bats because we don't trust 6 to do the job.

We choose 5 bowlers because we believe 4 cannot deliver.

We exude great energy and confidence at the start of the game but are flat by the time the 50th over rolls by.

Individuals lose focus of the match situation, the team loses sight of the ebbs and flows of the game.

Bottomline - We are not hungry enough.

And now, all of that has been brought front and center by two kids who did everything right under tremendous pressure.

Kudos Bopara and Broad - you wanted it more and you deserve it.

PS:-

Here is the silver lining though - we lose at Headingley and suddenly the pressure is off - both to win the series and to play known quantities.

Which means that we should expect Rohit Sharma and Robin Uthappa get atleast 2 ODIs to display their wares.

A question of balance

Ajit Agarkar has played 188 ODIs for India. Here is a guy who was a batting regular for Sharadashram before switching to become a full time bowler. He has a 100 at Lords. And yet, he cannot be trusted enough to become a full time batsman for India.

Yuvraj Singh has played 179 ODIs for India. He has 49 wickets with an economy rate of 4.99. And yet, he cannot be trusted to bowl 10 overs for India every game.

India plays 7 batsmen and that leaves their bowling line thin. They play 5 bowlers and are effectively playing one batsman short.

So my question is - are we better off playing specialist batsmen and bowlers or is India a better balanced team playing only bits and pieces cricketers?

Does playing 8 bits and pieces players, 2 specialist bowlers and a keeper give India better balance than playing 6 specialist batsmen and 5 specialist bowlers or 7 specialist batsmen and 4 specialist bowlers?

Please please please BCCI

let him continue writing even if he breaks into the India team.

No gag orders please!

On Fielding

(comments made by me on Prem Panicker's blog during the Third ODI versus England)

Let us take it as an article of faith that India’s ground fielding is going to remain solid and never move into the realms of the spectacular.

Forget the usual suspects like Ganguly and Munaf, people like Uthappa and Gambhir also cannot be expected to be anything more than solid.

And if that is the case, maybe we need to recalibrate our expectations on what this Indian team can and cannot do.

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And why blame these guys alone - ever watched kids play in the maidans?

Isn't that when there is purity as far as the game is concerned with the kids playing the game for the joy of playing - ever noticed how many kids sign up to field?

And ever noticed how the fielding slacks off significantly after the first couple of overs or if the opposing batsmen start a run barrage?

And if that is the case, how can one expect attitudes, hardened over the course of the better part of a young life, change dramatically on wearing the India colors- especially when the India colors were earned on the back of batting and bowling and not fielding performances ?

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The contrast with the Poms is sharp, especially in the ODI arena, but India’s ground fielding was never top drawer even during the WC 2003 campaign.

Now, as an aside, I was reading in the Times or the Telegraph that the lights in Bristol were not even club standard and that may have affected the Indians sighting the ball.

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The high point of India’s fielding was when we took the field with Kaif, Yuvi, Raina, Sehwag, SRT, Pathan andAgarkar - agile bodies ( the first three) and strong arms ( the latter 4). But even then, there were 3 fielders who had to be hidden in the field

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Take Manoj Tiwary for instance - kid threw himself after the ball and hurt himself during practice. And that dive has cost him an India cap for the near future. And then he had to endure BCCI shenanigans - over which doctor he could consult with and who would pick up the medical bills.

So not only was his income being impacted because of him not playing, he was in a position where he would have had to foot his own medical bills!

And with sports medicine not as evolved in India, the medical tab is significant.

And so the question becomes, why would anyone exert themselves on the field when 1) there is no guarantee of income during the rehabilitation phase and 2) there is no guarantee of re compensation for medical bills incurred.

Also, what coaching is given with regards to fielding and throwing techniques during the formative years of a cricketers life? Whatever sliding and diving that kids do today is because of what they watch on television, not because there is a program in place that teaches kids the right techniques in fielding.

Forget sliding and diving - what about fundamental throwing? Why is it that Rahul Dravid has to harp on about "weak" arms in the field?

The unfortunate thing is that if these trends continue, with the world leaving India by the wayside in Twenty 20 and ODI cricket, India's ODI cricket is likely to go the way of India's Hockey.

Maybe then the BCCI will wake up and smell the coffee.

Third ODI - India versus England, Edgbaston

Plenty to think about for India after a crushing loss. England 281/8 India 239 all out.

First, the toss. And the choice to bowl first with one batsman short.

Two, the bowling composition. If Munaf Patel bowls 5 overs to Yuvraj's 7, Piyush Chawla bowls only 9 of his 10 overs, Sachin Tendulkar does not turn his arm over, there is something wrong here.
Munaf Patel was expensive, the slower bowlers were doing a good job, so much so that the part time bowler was given an extended run. So what about the front line spinner and his non completion of overs? And what about the other part timer with his all sorts?

Three, the lack of cricketing nous. When Ramesh Powar spends an inordinate amount of time and balls when the need of the hour is to get Yuvraj on strike as much as possible, when Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh get into a tangle running between the wickets, when the Poms run two after hitting the ball straight to a fielder - there is someone fundamentally wrong with the Indian approach and mindset.

India will need to step up and step up quickly else this series will be over by the time we reach Headingley.

And as I type this, Mike Artherton takes special delight in rubbing it in during the course of his interview with Ian Bell.. Well!