mere funde

American History X remains one of my all time favorites. And there is a line in the movie which I really love.

Derek says it’s always good to end a paper with a quote. He says someone else has already said it best. So if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong.

Dileep is one of the best sports writer of our times (and you guys might want to look up Aakash Chopra as well), and he has followed this rather good piece of advice to the hilt in this tribute to Murali.

Neville Cardus once said of Learie Constantine: “When Constantine plays the whole man plays, not just the professional cricketer part of him. There is nothing in the world for him when he bats, save a ball to be hit — and a boundary to be hit over. When he bowls, the world is three wickets, there to be sent spinning gloriously. Cricket, indeed, is Constantine’s element; to say that he plays cricket, or takes part in it, is to say that a fish goes swimming. Constantine is cricket, West Indian cricket…”

For nearly two decades, Murali was Sri Lanka’s Constantine, the prime factor in his nation wresting respect from a grudging world. There are a few more one-day scalps to claim and Twenty20 batsmen to embarrass. But for now he can put his feet up and contemplate a job that no one could have done better. Top of the world on the field, and a different class off it. Truly one of a kind.

Go read this piece on Murali. And to Murali: You Sir, will be missed!

Had it been printed in TOI, I would not have bothered to respond. However, when a respected publication like The Wisden Almanack says something as outrageous, I think it warrants a few words. And no, it is not about selecting four Englishmen in the top five cricketers of the last year. The piece I am talking about, appears as “If the ICC move to India, we might as well say ta, ta” in the current edition under “Notes by the Editor“. Some lines and my response below.

“Were the ICC to be based in New Delhi or Mumbai, the power-base of their next president Sharad Pawar, the staff would become predominantly Indian as the main current administrators would find it too difficult to relocate their families there, and the organisation would cease to reflect the attitudes and values of all its members.”

Where would you, Mr. Berry, have it relocate to? One would think it has to be one of the Test playing nations, given the lack on interest in cricket in the neutral venues like Dubai. If so, would not a city in the sub-continent, with four of nine test playing nations, be more representative of the members? And I would stick my neck out and say that Delhi or Mumbai would a top choice in the region. Also, with a large number of expat population, I see no reason why administrators would find it difficult to relocate here vis-a-vis London or Sydney or Johannesburg.

“It is not a business, or an industry like steel, to be taken over.”

In case you have missed the memo Sir, the game is a business, and the clout of India is proof enough. Unless Mr. Berry wants to stick his neck in the sand and pretend that we are still in the 50s, he should know that the game needs money to be run efficiently and ensure the further development of the sport.

All said and done, I believe the piece was out of place. While I agree that India wields more than necessary influence on the ICC, one has to be cognizant of the fact that India is where cricket gets most of its audience from. So get over your fears and accept reality.

And for God’s sake, please let Tata and Corus be in peace. It’s not like we have made you slaves.

Sachin gets the double!

No one else has deserved any record any more!

There has been a lot of nonsense written about why India does not deserve to be the best test team in the ICC Rankings. Example here. There have been a lot of rebuttals as well. Example here. This post is yet another rebuttal of the same.

Let’s look at batting for a while. In the past three years, starting 01 Jan 2007, five of the top ten run scorers in the Test format, excluding runs scored against Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and WI, have been from India. SL, SA, Australia, England, and WI have one each in the top 10. Not too bad I would say. Even the great Ricky Ponting is on the 15th step, which really makes you wonder why no one calls him over the hill anymore, but I digress. A team that has the best batsmen of the last three years must have something in it.

Now for the bowling. The list is much more evenly distributed this this. Three of the top ten bowlers, with same filters as above, are from India, with SA claiming another three, Australia two, and England and SL one each. Though bowling still remains a concern for the Indians, it is no better for the other teams. SA is arguably the strongest in this department, but then with Steyn injured and Ntini fading quickly, they might not enjoy the same status for long.

The thing to note is that this data is for a three year period, and not for a one off year. So its not really a flash in the pan, but rather some sustained good performances by the Indian team. During this period, India has played an almost equal number of tests home (15) and away (14), so there is no real home advantage for the team.

I know that statistics don’t really tell everything, but they do tell you a few things, and what it does tell here is that India really has been a world’s best team for the past couple of years, even though SA are right on their tails.

All data from Cricinfo’s Statsguru. Batting and Bowling.

Failed promises – that is what the youngsters in the Indian team are. Not one young player, since Dhoni and Gambhir debuted in 2004, has kept the promise shown in the initial few matches.

Ishant has been but a pale shade of the bowler who bowled that amazing over to Ponting during that awesome Oz trip. Sreesanth was moved more by movies and glam than cricket. About the batsmen, the lesser said the better. The Jadejas, Sharmas, Pathans, and Utthappas have just shown a lot of promise and then quietly faded away after an initial hoopla has subsided.

Not one player, other than Raina probably, has shown any sort of consistency. Yes they look good on the field on the occasional days that India fields well. Other than that you can’t depend on them for anything. And yes, we have given them enough chances. They just don’t have the balls to grab the opportunity and prove that they are good enough. Heck they even lack basic cricketing knowledge – Jadeja was a classic example today! What on earth was he running for?? As Jrod says,

Those were the ten dudes. A collection of shit hot batsmen who were made to look like dribbling fools compared to Sachin.

And I am just talking about the ODI team. I don’t even want to imagine what happens to the Test team when Sachin, Laxman, and Dravid retire, with Sehwag not too far behind.

By Debasish on Cricinfo:

Given the volume of cricket that BCCI imposes on the Indian cricketers, the cricketers have found a novel way to avoid over exertion. How ? By crashing out in the first rounds of every ICC tournament ( World Cup, 20-20 World Cup and now the Champions Trophy) and thereby gaining some “rest” for the ad endorsements.

Another one from Apoorv:

O Captain my Captain! our fearful trip is done, The rain saves us the shame of losing two on the run, The port is near, the bells I hear, the Oz horns are blaring, While follow eyes the steady keel, the media grim and daring.

From the world of cricket come the lines below. Talk about hitting below the belt!!

It was in Jamaica that Mike Gatting became the first batsman, as opposed to bowler, to be accused of ball-tampering after being struck in the face by Malcolm Marshall. When they finally retrieved the ball, which had richocheted so far it was located somewhere around the mid-off region, they found, or so legend has it, a piece of Gatting’s nose embedded in it.

Martin Johnson, Times Online

The new age cricketing wife or girlfriend tends to be a brassy sort of gal who can’t wait to tell the Allan Border Medal interviewer who designed her dress and her hanky – both of which happened to be the same size.

Robert Craddock, The Courier Mail

Some random notes from the extended weekend I am enjoying.

1. Andrew Symonds is an idiot. Why would you call another player a “lump of shit”? That too on air. That too when you take offense at someone calling you a monkey. And that comment about Hayden’s wife. Funny, but not done!!
2. Slumdog Millionaire is a good movie. But it does not deserve to be in the Top 250. And 10 Oscar nominations. Are you kidding me?? Frieda Pinto looks good
3. The Wrestler is another good movie. Bottom line – you need someone to talk to. The scene where he is getting a lap dance, but is clearly not interested in it, is very real.
4. The Big Lebowski is as random movie as any. For me, it is the one that comes closest to Cool Hand Luke. Must Watch.
5. Will also be watching Milk. 

So there. 3 movies down. A couple more to go. Now that time well spent.

This guy is awesome. Actually, he is beyond awesome. He is the only other cricketer of the current bunch, after the God of course, I would pay to watch play. He wields the willow like no one, and scores his at will.

He is one off the old block. Days when cricket was not entertainment (no T20 tamasha), even though his game is very entertaining. Days when people loathed getting their clothes dirty. Days when saving a single was not too essential. When people did not want to slide across the field.

Now don’t get me wrong – I am not against fit players, I am huge Jonty fan – but then, he did save more runs every innings than some middle order score. I have always believed that though fitness is essential, it should not be the focus. Boon proved it. Arvinda De Silva proved it. Ranatunga walked singles. Inzy bhai did not care about single. Actually he did not need to. Why run singles when you can easily score boundaries. Even though Sehwag ain’t built the same way, he plays in a similar fashion. He isn’t too enthued about running, or warm-ups, or too much of fitness nonsense. He sees the ball, he knows he needs to score, and does exactly that.

As for me, as long as he keeps playing like he did during his 195 at the MCG or the 83 at Chennai against the Poms, I don’t care. He is, without doubt, the most entertaining batsman in cricket today.

Inspired by this post.

Ron Reed and Vic Marks have done it. And so has Uncle JRod.

Here is mine.

1. Sehwag – The innings against South Africa and Poms at Chennai. Enough said.
2. Smith – Gambhir is unlucky to miss out, but Smith scored more runs, and at crucial times.
3. Pietersen – The guy can bat.
4. Tendulkar – I don’t want to explain this one.
5. Ab – Loads of runs, and with style.
6. Chanderpaul – I hate to do this. I mean I really hate his tape under his eyes, but he made runs, and buckets of it.
7. Dhoni – The best keeper batsman in Tests today.
8. Mendis – Amazing debut against the best players of spin in the game today.
9. Ishant Sharma – One of the three awesome pace bowlers. His spell to Ponting was one of the best spells of fast bowling in almost a decade. 
10. Dale Steyn – Look at the number of wickets.
11. Mitchell Johnson – Very impressive young bowler with a lot of heart and good cricketing sense.

Reserve bowler – Zaheer Khan – again amazing cricketing sense. Reserver batsman – Gautam Gambhir.

Any ideas??