In the Spirit of Cricket

‘Yeah mate, that looks four I tell ya; let’s get off and grab our cup of tea!’

It did not for once ring a ‘Bell’ to Mr Ian that you cannot take anything for granted until a delivery is legally dead in cricket. After having played close to 200 international games (and may be 500 including first class), you call it a ‘novice’ mistake; excellent!

There is little doubt that he was out, technically, but Ian Bell couldn’t believe that he was out in actuality. He did start off with the fourth run when he looked and jogged towards the non-strikers end, and then assumed its four or felt ‘lets go take tea anyways’, just continued to walk off.

Face it, what he did was nothing short of foolishness, half the English commentators and former players believed that he was out and that’s how it should stay. After all, you cannot have room for foolishness in professional sport. And if it was allowed, then players like Sourav Ganguly, who rarely dragged is bat into the crease while running, should have been allowed to make a lot more runs in his career.

India on the other hand has been victim of such foolishness and unsporting behaviour for a better part of their cricketing career. Not wasting time on a very elaborate list, the most recent one was Laxman’s dismissal when get got stumped off Chanderpaul in the Test series against the West Indies. A quick flashback – Laxman played and missed and was well within the crease but very unknowingly had his backfoot in the air for a fraction – and viola – he was gone and it stayed that way!

No spirit of cricket came in there or the many instances when batsmen collided with bowlers, didn’t make it to the crease and got run out. There have been exceptions when Hansie Cronje of South Africa reversed his decision, but there may have been some other reasons behind it.

It was very surprising that Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower actually requested Dhoni for a reconsideration. What Dhoni and India did was sporting and simply best to avoid further controversies. Peer pressure or gut feel, we wouldn’t know.

Wonder what the outcome would be if the same incident happened but instead of Bell, it was Tendulkar or Dravid who were on the receiving end – would Strauss be that generous? Or what would the reaction be, if the same Bell incident happened but the venue was in India – would Dhoni have still reversed his decision?

That’s why for me, it is just inconsistent and situational. The only undoubted spirit in cricket that always exists is the alcohol in the English stands!

Another Brick from The Wall

Rahul Dravid recently notched up his 33rd and 1st hundred at Lord’s. However, once again like on most other occasions, it was overshadowed by the fact that Tendulkar was lining up for his hundredth 100 and also because in the end he was the lone solder (with Laxman and Raina in the end) fighting in the eventual Indian defeat.

A brilliant 95 had gone unheard and unseen in Ganguly's gorgeous 120, both of whom debuted in the same game at Lord's.

An outstanding '99 World Cup went in vain and forgotten post India's exit (effectively from Zimbabwe's hands).

His supreme ODI knocks that came in that World Cup also took a backseat because Tendulkar and Ganguly too scored in those respective matches.

The unforgettable stand between Laxman and him will always highlight Laxman's brilliant 280.

His extra effort for the team by playing a keeper (with a batting average of ~44.25 in 70+ matches is probably the best for an Indian keeper after MSD) even in the '03 World Cup to allow India another batsmen/bowler, was sadly overshadowed by he not being good enough for the format (even though he was brisk during this phase and not bad overall either).

His brilliance in both innings at Adelaide were marred by the fact that we couldn't win the series when we had a good chance.

While he was still good with the bat, he was dropped post the 2007 World Cup, despite playing a super innings in a game where almost everyone else failed.

The first (and still probably the only) batsmen to have scored a 100 against all test teams, Rahul ‘The Wall Dravid’ has stood tall and conquered them all. 

Rahul Dravid stands at being the worlds second highest run getter and the worlds highest run getting in the fourth innings.

While most other big-named batsmen have opted and put their foot down on where they would be batting (and not changing their batting position for the team’s sake), the conventionally one-down Rahul Dravid has done it all – opening, middle order and lower middle order depending on the situation and preference and form of other players. 

The list can go on!

Yet today, with all those marathon innings and desperate saves, he doesn’t find a mention in anyone’s list of a Test Dream Team 11. While stats are a great way to say how an individual has done, they are never able to speak how much an individual has helped his team and other individuals. Yes, Dravid has been guilty of some ‘boring’ batting where he scored a 30 of 100 balls and worse, got out thereafter. However, what’s probably missed are the times that ‘boring’ batting, which may have started at 10/1, have been solid defence shielding the batting to come.

Very quietly, Rahul Dravid has simply gone about doing his job for the past 15 years; away from all controversies but also away from most of the limelight!

And that's the sad part – which is probably why he is not adored as much as he should!

Thank you for the magic, Warnie! (concluding part)

In continuation to the first part of the series, which can be viewed here, this is the concluding part.

3. Warne’s 96: Now you may think when did this happen? Yes, Warne’s highest score is the 99 against New Zealand (which they discovered later that he was actually out off a no-ball), so when did the 96 come by. In 2005, Warne took the Test Cricket arena with a storm where he recorded some unbelievable and enviable milestones. He had a fantastic Ashes series in England, which England won 2-1, where he took 40 wickets and scored 249 runs. Not to forget, it was in this very series that Warne become the first bowler ever to scalp 600 victims in test cricket. Cherry on the cake – he finished the year with 96 wickets in a calendar year, a world record!

2. Mike Gatting bowled Warne: Need I say more? Well, for the unfortunate few who haven’t seen it yet, this one’s easily found on youtube and is a must watch. What seemed to be drifting down leg, after having pitched outside leg-stump, pitched and turned to hit middle and off. And that was what begun the revival of classic leg-spin bowling. Take a bow! Also equally accomplishing are the ones that had Gooch (and at least a dozen others) bowled round their legs and Basit Ali (I think) bowled between his legs (very similar how Sachin had his best ball bowl Moin Khan – only being an off-break instead).

1. Captain Warne takes home the Cup: The Gatting dismissal would have taken the cake because that the ‘rise of the legend’. But along came another chapter that was almost not going to be written. Warne, with 708 wickets to his tally, retired at the SCG in 2006 after the 2006 Ashes victory. There was nothing left to be proved, nothing left to be accomplished and Warne was to live his life happily ever after. Along came 2008 and the much awaited Indian Premier League (IPL). Warne’s name was the first to pop out in the bids, and with no bids, Rajasthan Royals managed to get him at his base price. Now, what would a leggie retired two years ago, even though one of the best bowlers of all times, have in a run-fest T20 competition? Captaincy, Coaching and Mentoring – that’s what the Royals offered Warnie in a team that hardly had any stars to bank on for a winning a match, let alone go all the way. Experts tipped them to at best cause an upset or two. However, Warne led, inspired and transpired champions. His innovative ways his master experience proved that he was the best captain that Australia never had. Warne and his romantics (as Harsha Bhogle calls them) won a record 11 off 14 matches, with a 100% record at home, and went on to lift the maiden IPL trophy. It was like witnessing a saga – moments that I vividly remember, moments that further glorified Warne’s legacy!

I’m going to borrow a line – If they ever tell my story, let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Shane Warne, the greatest leg-spinner of all times!

Thank you Shane Warne – you will be missed!

Thank you for the magic, Warnie! (Part 1)

Shane Warne is a living legend. Legends do the impossible and write and rewrite chapters of history. Shane Warne has done all of that and much more.

Shane Warne made a forgettable debut against India, a match where Ravi Shastri and Sachin Tendulkar tore his bowling apart. Warne’s only success was the wicket of Shastri, not before Shastri had hit a double hundred and Warne, in the bargin, had gone for 150. Not many, probably not even Warne himself, would have thought after that game that he would go on to be one of the greatest spinners of all time and end up with over 700 test and nearly 300 ODI wickets. Fitting enough, he played his last professional cricket match in India for the Rajasthan Royals and against his greatest nemesis and good pal, Sachin Tendulkar.

Warne’s journey has been an epic one; a journey with all its high’s and its fair share of lows. I pick some of my favourite moments that today are part of history and have made Shane Warne what he is today.

5. Shane Warne hits the winning runs: Warne, a great bowler, was also an able batsmen but probably not someone who could win a game with the bat on his own merit. RR had a terrible start to their opening game in IPL with a loss against Delhi Daredevils but then won against KXIP. They were looking down the dumps against the Deccan Chargers, after the Chargers hit 220-odd. Some superb and inspired batting at the top of the order got the Royals close, but they still needed 17 of the last Symonds over with all accomplished batsmen back in the hut. The dying hope was Captain Shane; who nailed it in three strikes! RR won, Warne was an unlikely hero with the bat. Trivial it may sound but this was the start for the ‘Road to Victory.’

4. World Cup Glories: Warne’s most memorable ODI performance would surely go down to his World Cup performances for which he won the Man of the Match (MoM) awards. In the 1996 Semi-Finals, West Indies look set to complete the final few formalities before they meet the Lankans in the Finals. McGrath bought in a glimmer of hope and Warne took a leap to wreak the West Indies taking 4 for 30-odd; Richie Richardson was left stranded and Australian won by a whisker of 5 runs. Warne followed up the performance in the 1999 World Cup Finals against Pakistan, when he once again took 4 for 30-odd to setup an easy win for the Aussies. Clearly, Warne was a man for the big stage. When his team needed him the most, he invariably got the job done. Today, this seems so evident in cricket Australia after both Warne and McGrath have hanged their boots.

The concluding part...with my top pick...can be viewed here.