The yorker from heaven...

The Lord of the Rings tour - End review

First off, I am mightily impressed with the Kiwis. A good talented batting line up that will only get better with more exposure and their penchant for punching above their weight will see the Kiwis do much better in the near and long terms than what their current ranking suggests.

The big problem is the bowling. Kyle Mills has a confidence issue, Chris Martin is not getting younger, the Blogger is sharp but not penetrative, Southee could be gold in a couple of seasons. Franklin is a wasted spot in the Kiwi line up as his bowling does not have bite and his batting does not have teeth.

Ideally, I would slot someone like Ian Butler ( who was mightily impressive in the T20's) or Jeeten Patel as the extra bowler with Jesse Ryder as the 4th seamer.

Guptill looked good when he attacked the ball, was not quite there with the defense, Macintosh disappointed, Flynn was gutsy without being effective, Ryder is class, Taylor is class, McCullum needs to put a higher price on his wicket. Harry Potter was good and should ideally be at 7, Southee did hit a 77 in his first test innings and could be the #8 with the Blogger, Martin and Butler/Patel making up the tail.

Cricket wise, this tour was far less stressful ( both in terms of reading about the game and watching it) than when India locks horns with the team across the Tasman. And it made for enjoyable viewing.

Would greentops have changed that? I doubt it. India had Balaji and Kulkarni in the squad and whenever the wicket had a little something for the bowlers, the trio of Zaheer, Ishant and Munaf exploited it more than the Kiwi bowlers ( Ryder excepting) did. Also the gulf in class between the two batting sides was yawning. Sure the Kiwis have the potential to get there, but at this moment, the difference is much too much.

The cricket was good, the bonhomie between the teams even better. India won the Test and ODI series, the Kiwis won the T20. Or, in the world of Andy Moles, India edged the series 4-3.

Which is not too shabby for a team ranked 7th in the world.

PS:- Where is Michael Papps?

"Our catching was good"

69.6 Harbhajan Singh to Franklin, no run, dropped by Gambhir flighted on the middle and leg, Franklin gets forward to defend, it bobs away off the bat and pad and Gambhir dives from short leg ,gets his right palm under the ball but couldn't hold on. The bowler and the close-in fielders jump in the air in anticipation before sighing in disappointment

78.6 Tendulkar to McCullum, no run, dropped by Munaf Patel at mid-off. It was the dipping full toss, McCullum is beaten by the dip as he pushes forward to drive.Munaf is slightly late in reacting but rushes forward and lunges out but can only get his fingertips to it,

90.3 Tendulkar to O'Brien, 2 runs, dropped by Ishant at square leg. It was the dipping full toss, swept straight to Ishant, at backward square leg, who makes a right royal mess of it. What a clanger!

And this is only on the last day of the final Test.

Take any of those catches ( the Ishant one especially), and the Indians would have been singing in the rain. Instead, Dhoni will now have to front up and defend why he declared so late and why he did not give his team the opportunity to press on for a win.

For mine, I find no fault in the declaration.Because not only were the Kiwi bowlers leg weary, the fielders too would have felt the effects of being in the field for the better part of 7 days. And like it has been said, a 600 plus score changes the mind set completely with regards to approaching the game( and constructing the innings).

The problem for me is the catching. Close in, out field, the works. And the thing is, for the longest time that I can remember, India may not have been spectacular on the field, but was a very safe catching side. But the standards are slipping.

If India had held on to its catches, this game would have been over much sooner. With the result in India's favor.

That it is not has very little to do with the declaration. And everything to do with butter fingers.

Why wasnt it a dead ball?

48.3	Vettori to Dravid, OUT, What a smart work by McCullum! what a fine anticipation. Dravid shaped to paddle sweep and McCullum moved quickly as soon as he sensed what Dravid was trying to do. Dravid paddled the ball but to his horror, there was McCullum with the interception! A fine innings is curtailed by the alert keeper.
	R Dravid c McCullum b Vettori 60 (187m 145b 10x4 0x6) SR: 41.37

Law 41 (The fielder)

7. Movement by fielders
Any significant movement by any fielder after the ball comes into play and before the ball reaches the striker is unfair. In the event of such unfair movement, either umpire shall call and signal Dead ball.

8. Definition of significant movement
(a) For close fielders anything other than minor adjustments to stance or position in relation to the striker is significant.

Here's Tony.

Test 3 Day 1 - India nose ahead

India 375/9 in 90 overs.

First, the numbers - 363 overs on the trot. 5 days on the field. 185 runs in the last session. Numbers 7 thru 11 added 171 runs.

At 204/6, 300 looked like a competitive total.India finished with 375. And New Zealand have to come out and bowl again tomorrow.

And the best part - all day, even when the ball was 75 overs old, there was swing available for the bowlers.

New Zealand were good in parts. The blogger was very good, the blond new boy was pretty ordinary. And Harry Potter, sans beard et al, was hammered.

End of the day, New Zealand will be feeling the heat. This is a game they have to win, they had the ascendancy through the second session, India was under the cosh, and the Kiwis let the advantage slip.

Now, they have to plan to bat once, bat long, and score enough to pressure the Indian batsmen in their second innings. On a wicket that still has a lot to offer the bowlers. And one that will probably get quicker over the next couple of days before settling down.

The dilemma the Kiwis face is this - they have to bat once. They have to bat big. And they have to bat quickly enough in order to give their bowlers enough time to bowl India out. But they cant bat too quickly because their bowlers will not get an adequate rest ( given that they have been bowling for 363 overs now).

Ideally, the Kiwis will look to give themselves between 120 and 150 overs to get India out. Which leaves them between 210 and 240 overs to set up the chase. Assuming they score at 3 rpo, they end up between 630 and 720. And assuming that India finish their innings at 375, that gives them a lead of between 255 and 345. Ideally they will have to aim for the latter because that shuts the game up. And they will also have to give themselves a little more time in the Indian second innings because I think the wicket will ease out considerably by then. Which translates to a 150 over cushion.

Given this, sustaining that run rate over an extended period of time is dicey.

And so, my take is that having been frustrated by the Indian tail, the Kiwis will try to emulate Sehwag and the Indian tail and in the process, implode.

The follow on total stands at 174 now. If Munaf and Ishant manage to swing their bats and keep the Kiwis on the field for just that bit longer, that number will swell. Which translates to more pressure on the Kiwi batsmen.

And they said Test Cricket was boring :) !

Home advantage..

or incompetent umpiring?

17.1	Louw to Hopes, (no ball) 1 run, caught by Gibbs at midwicket, that was a no-ball though as it was a high full toss outside off
17.1	Louw to Haddin, 1 run, length ball is driven down to long-on by Haddin
17.2	Louw to Hopes, 2 runs, another high full toss, but not high enough to be deemed a no-ball, Hopes gets on his knee and swats it to midwicket, Albie has to dive to cut that one off
17.3	Louw to Hopes, 2 runs, another high full toss, this was pretty close to a no-ball, a heave toward midwicket is mistimes, the edge swirls to safety, falling right in middle of three converging fielders

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44.2	Patel to Mills, (no ball) 1 run, caught off a no ball, waist high full toss on middle, tries to pull it away over deep square, doesn't connect it well enough, goes really high and Yusuf takes a simple catch in the deep. However, the umpires have a consultation and call it a no-ball for height, fair decision
44.2	Patel to Southee, 1 run, in the blockhole on the off stump, dug out wide of the bowler towards long-off
44.3	Patel to Mills, (no ball) 1 run, caught off a no ball again, another one, a beamer, and he's taken off, the attack, caught by Dhoni off an attempted pull but he's bowled two waist high no balls in one over, his painful spell has come to an end

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PS:- Here is the video of the Loew over ( 8:55 onwards) 17.1 ( the no ball) and 17.3 ( the uncalled no ball) are back to back.

The real issues

Not the batting or the bowling. In the aftermath of Napier, these are the two facets of Indian cricket that will be under scrutiny but the real problem India have is fielding. Close in fielding.

India's slip cordon for the longest time has been Dravid at first, VVS at second, some one ( Sehwag mostly but that varies) at third. Kumble was the designated gully.

With Sachin moving into the first slip, the slip cordon reads - Sachin at first, VVS at second, Rahul at third, Sehwag in the gully.

And that is a real point of concern.

Because India does not have its next generation of slippers and close in catchers ready. We have, at various times, seen Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthick,Yuvraj Singh, Md. Kaif ( amongst others) man the slip cordon. Without much luck. Or results.

India now has a bowling attack that is capable of creating more chances than seen previously. But those chances have to be taken for India to be in the game and to win it. And right now, the prospects look bleak after the next year or so.

We also don't have a regular forward short leg and silly point.

And the worst aspect of all this is that we have not even begun grooming specialists for these spots.

The other glaring problem is throwing arms. We don't seem to have any. Munaf has a good arm, but he is a poor fielder. Sachin is the only other player with a good arm.Beyond that, there is no one. In either the current team or on the bench or in domestic cricket.

Post the Lord of the Rings tours, beginning with the IPL, it is imperative that India start identifying and grooming its next generation of slippers and close in catchers. And outfielders.We have the luxury and the latitude in terms of time to identify and finalize on the next batch of players who will take over from Dravid, Sachin and VVS not only their batting spots but their fielding spots as well. It is time we used the time wisely.

Test 2 - Final thoughts

As expected, a draw.

Contrary to Andy Moles' spin on the proceedings, the fact remains that New Zealand spent 180 overs on the field for 4 wickets at the cost of 476 runs. Or, if one wants to be really cruel, 273.5 overs for 14 wickets at the cost 781 runs. No victory that, even of you are into fuzzy math ("Cricket is a momentum game," Andy Moles, their coach, said. "It was a good win last night. Of course the Indians will say that they won the series. That's fine. Our answer is there have been six games of cricket, they have won three, and we have won three. So we are level going into the [Test] series.)

3 days of rest and then the Third Test begins. And while both sides have issues with their bowling compositions, New Zealand face the added quandary of the type of wicket to be rolled out at Wellington in a must win game. Roll out a green top and lose the toss and there go the Kiwi chances of leveling the series. Roll out another Napier and lose the toss and the bowlers will be more than happy to murder Harry Potter.

Paul Lewis thinks that the flat tracks on offer are because of BCCI's clout. I believe the flat tracks on offer are because all Boards concerned and the TV networks involved want the Tests to be stretched into the final session of the final day - this way revenues can be maximized ( through gate reciepts and ad spots). I also believe that flat tracks are New Zealand's best chance of containing India. Vide Napier!

The Kiwi commentators try. They really do.But being obnoxious does not come naturally to them. Irritating at times, for sure, but the general sense I get from hearing messieurs Doull, Richardson, Crowe,McMillan and co is more along the lines of a bunch of guys trying to big up the underdog rather than a bunch of one eyed xenophobes or patronizing boors.

Jesse Ryder. You pick the bar, I pick the tab. Anytime.

So, whats the rule ICC?

When India was touring Australia, in one of the tests, Dhoni stood leg side to Kumble ( or was it Harbhajan, I forget who).

And the umpires warned him from standing leg side to the spinner ie - he had to stand in line of the stumps or off side. And I recall Ian Healy making a big fuss about it in the commentary box.

Imagine my surprise then, during the 76th over of India's innings when, Vettori, bowling over the wicket , had Brendon McCullum standing well outside the leg stump.

Perusing through the laws ( specifically Law 40),

3. Position of wicket-keeper
The wicket-keeper shall remain wholly behind the wicket at the striker's end from the moment the ball comes into play until
(a) a ball delivered by the bowler
either (i) touches the bat or person of the striker
or (ii) passes the wicket at the striker's end

or (b) the striker attempts a run.

In the event of the wicket-keeper contravening this Law, the umpire at the striker's end shall call and signal No ball as soon as possible after the delivery of the ball.

Every single ball of the Daniel Vettori over was, by law, a no ball.. None of which were called.

And then they turn around and say that we have a chip on our shoulder!

Test 2 Day 1 India v New Zealand - Ryder and Taylor set up the Kiwis

351/4 at the end of the days play. Ryder unbeaten on 136, Taylor 151.

While India's catching standards slipped, Taylor and Ryder put on a very good partnership, first counter attacking and then grinding the Indian bowling. Both had slices of luck and both capitalized on it.

India did well to pull back the game in the last session, after being all over the shop floor in the first two. But there is still plenty of work to be done.

Honors with the Kiwis at the end of Day 1, although the ease of scoring makes a result a distant second to the draw.

Stop whining

No really, the Sky commentary team needs to zip it..

50 minutes to go ( including the extra half an hour), 12 overs to bowl, spinners at both ends. And yet the continued whinge.

There is only so much of the whining of the over rate that one can tolerate before it gets boring. And cumbersome.

And now, the other bug bear - fielding.. Yawn!
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90 overs done and dusted. With 2 minutes to spare, no less. Have the discussion on fines and on field penalties and Indian lethargy and everything else in between now, you Nazis!

Snubbed

snub (snb)

tr.v. snubbed, snub·bing, snubs

1. To ignore or behave coldly toward; slight.

2. To dismiss, turn down, or frustrate the expectations of.

3. Nautical

a. To check the movement of (a rope or cable running out) by turning it quickly about a post or cleat.

b. To secure (a vessel, for example) in this manner.

4. To stub out (a cigarette, for example).

n.

1. A deliberate slight or affront.

2. Nautical A sudden checking, as of a rope or cable running out.

adj.

Unusually short: a snub nose.

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[Middle English snubben, to rebuke; akin to Old Norse snubba.]

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snubber n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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snub

Verb

[snubbing, snubbed]

to insult (someone) deliberately

Noun

a deliberately insulting act or remark

Adjective

(of a nose) short and turned up [Old Norse snubba to scold]

Sky TV has snubbed the Board of Control for Cricket in India by retaining former international Craig McMillan in their commentary team for tomorrow's second test at McLean Park, Napier.

Now, as I understand it, there has not been any official ( or unofficial) request by the BCCI or Sony to stand Craig McMillan down.

The only view expressed in this specific matter is an open ended remark by Ravi Shastri ( the context to which is unknown). Yes, Niranjan Shah did express his opinion, but it was the standard by the rote statements the BCCI regularly doles out on all matters ICL.

Which then begs the question - who snubbed whom and when?

The million dollar questions

Will Craig McMillan be a part of the commentary team today?

And if he is, will India stage a walk out?

And where do we stand with regards to Sony's response to the Sky query?

The 160

Naresh asked me about it. I started to write about it. Then I read this piece by Richard Boock

OPINION Cricket has always been hard to define. One of the most difficult challenges in the world is the task of trying to explain the game to an American. I can write with some authority on this because I know at least two Americans and both start clutching their temples and writhing in agony whenever the subject is broached. It's as if they can't stand the sound of my own voice.

Truly, it's one of life's great mysteries. How does one explain cricket in 100 words or less; in a 10 second video clip or with the help of a still photograph? If the world was to be taken over by Americans or another alien species, how would we go about showing them the essence of the game? Robin Williams never understood it, after all. Reckoned it was like watching baseball on Valium. Groucho Marx once watched a match for two days before realising it had started.

A possible answer arrived at Hamilton on Friday, in the simple but near unworldly execution of the Sachin Tendulkar off-drive. Not once, mind you, but on several occasions. The push through the off side that took him from 96 to 99, and within a run of his 42nd test century, was enough to allow one to expire happy, satisfied that perfection had at last been witnessed. It was a piece of art on the move; a masterpiece of timing that summed the game up in a nanosecond.

It's hard to think of a more magnificent sight in cricket than the perfectly-executed, checked off-drive. As a shot it speaks of everything; defence, attack, the ability to process multiple factors in a flashpoint of time, technique, balance. It is a muscle-twitch of knowledge, a sub-conscious adjustment, and no-one in the world plays it better than Tendulkar. If we could just seal a video-clip of his best efforts in a time capsule, no one would ever have to explain why again.

Whatever your loyalties, there's a sense of privilege to be felt in watching the world's greatest living batsman playing so purposefully on his last visit to New Zealand. If there were any criticisms of Brian Lara (and there were a few, to be honest), one was that his commitment seemed to wane whenever the West Indies squared off against less fashionable teams. Tendulkar, on the other hand, allows his rivals no such relief.

Opposition bowlers might have been expecting some deterioration in his game as he moved towards his 36th birthday. But they will have already been disappointed. If anything, Tendulkar's more relaxed demeanour at the wicket, coupled with his vast wealth of experience, has only made him better. His tally of 42 test centuries and 43 one-day hundreds grows by the month. A century of centuries continues to beckon.

Consider this. He has scored three centuries in his most recent four tests, and since the start of the Australian series last October has averaged 64.72. Overall, he has struck 15 international hundreds since May 2007. Given he has previously collected 20 centuries in an 18-month period, the idea of him picking up another 15 before the end of the 2011 world cup seems far from fanciful. Mentally, he appears more composed and unhurried than ever.

Tendulkar might stand just 1.65m but he remains a giant of our time. Apart from his outrageous talent, two aspects of his career stand out beyond all others. One is his durability. When he made his test debut in 1989 at the age of 16, Cliff Richard was still belting out chart-toppers, the Berlin Wall had just been toppled, and George Bush senior had recently been inaugurated as president of the US. Included in the Pakistan side that Tendulkar faced on debut were Imran Khan and Javed Miandad.

He is the longest serving current player on the international circuit by a wide margin, and will soon stand alone as the most enduring, outside those whose careers were either interrupted by war or rejuvenated after a period of retirement. In other words he is a modern phenomenon; a player who has so fiercely guarded his love of the game from all distractions, that he still wants to play it for fun. It is a lesson many of his contemporaries could heed.

The other point has less to do with Tendulkar the batsman and more to do with Tendulkar the man, for you would have to go a long way to meet another sporting superstar with such natural grace and humility. That he has managed to remain largely unaffected in the face of extreme pressure; to live a semi-normal life even though he can't venture out publicly at home without being mobbed, hints pointedly at the steel of his character.

I remember being unfortunate enough to occupy a hotel room directly opposite Tendulkar's when New Zealand were playing at Ahmedabad in 2003. The knocking on his door from folk who had somehow discovered his room number and smuggled themselves past armed guards continued uninterrupted all day. People were knocking on his door at midnight, and again at 7am, but there was never any anger. He remains, quaintly so in these times, a gentleman; an ambassador without even trying.

Sports fans should consider seriously the chance of watching him bat for one last time on these shores. Don Bradman, no less, once said he saw his own likeness in some of Tendulkar's strokeplay. It was also The Don, at Trent Bridge in 1938, who stuck his head inside the dressing room as Stan McCabe was compiling one the all-time great double-centuries and said to his team-mates, "Come outside and take a look at this. You make never see the likes of it again."

It's hard not to feel similarly about Tendulkar.

Says it all!

Setting a precedent

Heaven forbid, but if we are faced with a mid term poll that coincides with the Commonwealth Games of 2010, what will the Government of India do?

If precedents are anything to go by, the Government will probably throw its hands up and state that it cannot provide adequate security to cover for both events.

So, where does that leave tax payer money spent on getting Delhi ready?

I firmly believe that the Government overestimated its position vis a vis the IPL. And not because the IPL is a "shrewd combination of sport and business" but because the IPL presented an opportunity to showcase the fact that India was capable of providing adequate security to all.

Dates could have been juggled, and they were. Venues could have been juggled, and they were too. And yet, the IPL is now going to be played outside the land.

What then, the prospects for the 2010 Commonwealth Games? Another terrorist attack anywhere in India or its neighbourhood and all of the tax payer money pumped into Delhi will come to nought.

And what about the elections themselves? Does the Government's inability to provide security for the IPL then translate into an incident free elections? No pre-poll and post-poll violence? No rigging? No booth capturing?

And what will be the Governments position if any of the above happen?

PS - This survey, if accurate, is illuminating.

PPS =

Exhibit A

The Nano has been launched

The bookings will commence on April 9 and will go on till April 25.

Just ahead of the Nano launch on Monday, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata told editors that the car, which would have the smallest footprint on the road, will be sold to the first 100,000 buyers at a price to be announced later.

The promise that has been made to sell the car at around Rs 1-lakh would be kept despite the fact that commodity prices had shot up, Tata said, adding that the fall in commodity prices now may provide some cushion.

The delivery of the first lot of Nano cars will begin in early-July, he said, adding that applications for booking of the car would be available in 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities across India.

Exhibit B

India will hold general elections to the 15th Lok Sabha in 5 phases on April 16, April 22, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13, 2009. The results of the election will be announced in single phase on May 16, 2009. ^[1]

Given the buzz, and the hype, and the interest, in the Nano, 30,000 locations in 1,000 cities represent both a logistical and security nightmare. And funnily enough, the booking overlap the first 3 phases of the general elections.

Whither security concerns then?

PPPS -

The termination of the Indian Premier League’s Sony contract has meant that Indian government may lose Rs 1,000 crore in tax through a scheme of complex tax structures using tax havens

Other modes of revenues include sponsorships, entertainment tax, stadium collections and on-ground advertisements. The government stands to lose nearly Rs 1,300 crore on account of service tax alone.

On advertising and other contracts deliverable abroad, transfer pricing and transactions at arms-length pricing basis will keep a significant chunk of revenues away from India. Thus, states are expected to lose out Rs 1,000 crore in tax.

PPPPS:-

Aussies want Davis Cup tie pulled out of India

Citing IPL’s flight, UK pulls shuttlers out of Indian Open