Will Rohit be a Ponting, Martyn or Bell?

Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn and Rohit Sharma have one thing in common. At the beginning of their Test careers all three were made to shunt between No. 5 and No. 6. While Ponting and Rohit made it count in their first two innings – Rohit smashed two hundreds and Ponting scored two fifties – Martyn failed to impress. Matters got worse for Martyn. From being in and out of the star-studded Aussie team, Martyn lost his place in 1994 and earned it back after a gap six years in 2000. In the meantime, Ponting, a floater at 5, 6 and even 7 at times, had hit the triple-figure mark on seven occasions. Martyn staged a comeback replacing Ponting in the lower middle-order as the latter turned ‘The Punter’ at No. 3! The rest is history. The Australia’s tour of India in 2004 was probably ‘The series’ in Martyn’s career. He denied India in the searing heat at Chennai and destroyed the hosts at Nagpur to pave way for a historic series win for the visitors. Though watching from outside one always felt Martyn’s place was under the scanner after one failure, he had the team’s backing and was there and there about every time the men in green needed the most. With 14 matches under his belt, Rohit finds himself in the same space as Martyn was during his fledgling phase. Like Ponting, Rohit began with a bang. Then he wilted under pressure in alien conditions in the middle-order just as Martyn, who made a name for himself at No.5 and then at 4 later on, did. But Rohit’s wings weren’t taken off early in the piece. Kohli & Co. decided to back the 28-year-old right-handed batsman and elevated him to No.3. Though he scored a fifty in Australia, he failed miserably in the first Test in Lanka. However, the Indian team management still persisted with Rohit but pushed him down the order. And he obliged with two fifties -- one each in the second and third Test respectively . As Kohli mentioned, Rohit can definitely be that aggressor and has the qualities of a Ponting-like cricketer in the making at No. 3. On the other hand, he has the ability to mould himself to be an accumulator, grind and guide the tail under trying circumstances like a Martyn. His 79 and 50 in the first innings of the second Test and second innings of the third Test respectively showcased streaks of the sound temperament possessed by Rohit in between his flashy approach. And he certainly has the skipper and the team management rallying behind him. Whether Rohit will be a Ponting-like aggressor at No. 3 or a dependable Martyn in the middle-order, only time has the answer.

Or will Rohit end up being an Ian Bell – who has tasted success and failure from opening to No. 7 in his 115-match Test career averaging 43 - figuring out a new position match after match just because he is too good to miss the team sheet without a specific role?

                                                                                                                                BAGGS BLABBERS

Nov. 12, 2001: Gabba to Leeds - Fleming to Baz

Having played two Tests with their trademark brand of cricket, New Zealand, by now, have warmed themselves up for the upcoming ODI series against England. While Brendon McCullum deserves appreciation for taking red ball cricket to a new level with his team’s aggressive approach with both bat and ball, one could argue that the Kiwis’ go for the broke approach at Leeds was the only option they were left with in order to square the series with dark clouds hanging above.

Since the dawn of the Michael Slater era, who threw his bat with little fear of losing his wicket, and the resurgence of a bullying Matthew Hayden accompanied by a flamboyant Ricky Ponting, it was the Australians who were known for taking a Test match forward irrespective of the situation. They dared to lose and eventually ended up winning most times.

The manner in which Baz & Co. reinvigorated themselves and came hard at England after their defeat at Lord’s in the first Test would tempt one to say that this Black Caps unit looks like on par with the good old Aussie teams under Mark Taylor, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting.

Wait a minute. Has McCullum done something new and out of the box that his predecessors failed to do? That is pushing for a result all the time, even from hopeless situations.

History says not. Let’s go back to November 12, 2001. It was the ‘Gabba’. Stephen Fleming and his men were up against the mighty Aussies on their own backyard for a three-Test series. Brisbane happened to be the first. Australia had piled on 486 spanning two days. And wet weather got the better of the third and fourth day’s play.

The climax of the movie was heading towards a dull draw. Unless the director of the play happened to be Fleming!

How many captains of the Steve Waugh generation would dare to come out of their comfort zone and declare at the stroke of avoiding a follow on against Australia? And in numbers Australia were 199 runs ahead on the final day with just over two sessions to play. NZ declared at 287/8.

Out came the Aussies; smash 84 runs in 14 overs in their second innings and set the visitors a target of 284 in close to 60 odd overs. The Aussies, as mentioned earlier, were ready to lose. Kiwis threatened and came as close as 274 when day five had to be ended.

What seemed a dull draw turned out to be a thrilling draw only because of two men – Fleming and Waugh, who again dared to lose!

Fleming and McCullum - with attributes of The Moon and The Sun, respectively - have always led their team with the ‘same’ approach.

From an Indian fan’s point of view, maybe had one among the two led India against West Indies at the Caribbean in 2011 then India could probably have won the series 2-0 instead of 1-0. The probability of a McCullum-type of skipper going after a target of 180 was higher than MSD, who opted for a 1-0 series win.

Maybe a McCullum-type leader would have preferred to go down losing 0-2 than 0-1 had he and his men faced a target of 435 in the last two and a half sessions of the last Test match. But MSD & his boys opted to go down 0-1 against New Zealand last year. 

Shiv – The odd man ‘out’

To start with, Shiv always happened to be the odd man out. In a team dominated by brawn and brash, Shiv was all about brain and finesse. In a team characterised with cranky hair cuts, Shiv came across as a cricketer with the Mr. Perfect look.  While most of his compatriots were as tall as an Oak tree, Shiv was diminutive measuring 1.73m. While his teammates had a fantasy for fancy goggles, Shiv preferred a ‘cheek’y anti-glare strips under his eyes.

The biggest difference between Shiv and the rest was obviously his unique stance.

And he batted, batted and batted….

Probably Chanderpaul took a cue out of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words when it comes to batting in the middle: ‘Men may come and men may go, But I go on forever’.. And he batted batted and batted……

Ask the English bowlers of the last decade. By now they know the width, weight and edge of Shiv’s blade much better than the man himself. Thank god, English were the lawmakers of the game. For they had predicted a phenomenon termed ‘Shiv’ and ruled out the possibility of the last man playing alone!

But the Aussies are aware of the Chanderpaul who can score hurricane hundreds. And the Indians know, get Chanderpaul and you are half way through the Windies.

Like Sachin-Dravid for India, it was always Lara-Chanderpaul for West Indies. Lara inflicted severe pain on the opposition but a dodgy Chanderpaul made the bowlers beg for instant death rather than slow poison.  

While most batsmen talk about taking it over by over, it was always hours or days with Chanderpaul. The very sight of him marking his guard with bails would send shivers through the spine of every fan of the opposition team.  Maybe the English crowd knows it better.

The striking aspect of his career was he was the only one in the Windies scoring runs consistently ever since Lara’s exit. Shiv wasn’t just making the opposition fall on their knees with his gritty batting. He was a ruthless finisher in ODIs. Still Chaminda Vaas would recollect his low full toss sailing over Mahela Jayawardene’s head over deep mid-wicket for a last ball six. And on numerous occasions he had seen his team home with the lower middle-order for company.

For a man who had began his career with the likes of Carl Hooper, Brian Lara, Jimmy Adams, Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, Chanderpaul’s ability to adapt to every format he had played and cater to the needs of the team successfully despite the team’s failure makes him a cricketer apart.

Like it has been with Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and a lot of legends of the game, age has caught up with Shiv and it is telling on his batting form. The southpaw who remained largely unbeaten and unconquered seems to be finally dismissed.

The cricketing world, it seems, will never witness the smiling Guyanese running in from fine leg to leap tall for a high five with a West Indian bowler again. 

May 10: Ask CSK’s ‘50’ Dwayne Smith – Chennai, the most knowledgeable crowd, loyalties of CSK, and can read even MSD’s mind!

                 

Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals at Chepauk. This man was wearing yellow at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium and was facing the ‘Blues’. The major difference was he wasn’t one among the masses in the yellow flannels at the Chepauk, he happened to be the ‘50’ of team CSK - Dwayne Smith.

Staying true to his form with the willow, Smith failed to post a big for the 10^th time this season. He managed to score six.

Out came the beefy West Indian to support his bowlers on the field, who were determined to defend a modest 158.

On three occasions, the ‘Doctor’ tested the patience of not just captain cool MSD but the Chennai fans as well with his bizarre fielding. However, he did justice to his talent on a couple of instances at critical junctures. Here are a few moments which proved, yet again, Chennai crowd read the game better and react according to their team’s needs!

1. MSD to Dwayne: ‘This is ground not a bed’ Smith flew across to stop a ball but only managed to stop the pace of it. After falling flat on the ground, the West Indian least bothered to get up and go after the ball. The Watson-Steven Smith duo stole one more run only to elicit a Dhoni-wave of the hand. He told (in action): Get up and chase! – Smith looked bemused.

Crowd:  A roar from the men in yellow outside the boundary the moment they saw Dhoni lose his cool. (As Smith ran back to the boundary): They egged their player on.

2. Dwayne to MSD: ‘I’m back skipper’: Roughly two overs later, the ball trickled past the 30-yard mark. The batsmen were pushing for a second run. The Barbados dasher sprinted in like a panther, picked up the ball in one hand and hurled in a flat throw to the skipper and came up with a tooth paste ad like smile.

MSD: Both hands up and the gloves kissed each other.

Crowd: So did the entire CSK fanatics! And Smith was back on track.

3. Back to square one: MSD to Smith: ‘Enough of this’. Fielding on the sweeper boundary, a lazy-looking Smith let one through his hands for four when the match was in the balance and CSK had just witnessed the Bravo dance after dismissing Watson. MSD: Tighten it up guys.

Crowd: (As Smith walked back to the fence flooded with yellows): No booing, no jeering… It wasn’t the time to boo and dump their star. They were rather worried of Smith getting back his mojo soon. They realised the tense situation and it was their star player!

   

4. Repeat point 3: - Only change on the other side of the ground – deep mid wicket!

5. Dwayne to MSD: ‘This Dwayne too can catch skipper, but can’t dance’: It was the 18^th over. Bravo to Samson. Three balls before, Bravo had spilled a sitter, for  his standards, of a caught and bowled chance. Two balls later, he was smashed over mid-wicket for six. Bravo ran in. Samson mistimed over the covers.

 Crowd: Roar as the ball was hit! (Running for the ball was the villain Dwayne Smith). Silence. Smith gobbled it with aplomb

Dhoni and the entire Stadium erupted in joy. The Royals’ challenge came to an end. Smith had the last laugh. As he walked back to the fence, he was the darling of the masses!                  


                                                                                                        S. Bagawati Prasad
                                                                                                         Baggs blabbers. 

For an Indian cricket fan: Is it about NZ winning or the Aussies losing?

#Bleedblue is now #BleedBlack! How much has that got to do with Brendon McCullum’s enticing letter to Indian fans? When was the last time one heard a Pakistani skipper, leave alone a fan from the rival nation, rooting for India in a semifinal of a World Cup? India out. Australia vs New Zealand at the MCG.

So, come the final: Enemy’s enemy is your friend. Isn’t it? #GoKiwis, #BleedBlack, #Bazbash, What not?

Why the Aussies – among a common cricketing fan in India (which yours truly assumes to be and it has been the case going by social media posts) – don’t deserve to win the final for the fifth time? One can be sure an opinion poll in India to predict the winner would end up with NZ being the favourites. But the recorded statement would have been: ‘Aussies shouldn’t, let New Zealand win, Oz should lose, Why not NZ please?’

Envy the Aussies? Fifth title. No! Then what? Let someone rule the cricketing arena. If it ain’t going to be India, then it should definitely not be Australia.

Is the ‘annoying’ (if you aren't an Australian cricket team fan) Aussie-aggro on and off the field got anything to do it? Is it the war of words, the ‘hoooo…hooooo’ sound from behind the stumps at the fall of a wicket from a great wicket-keeper, kicking the ball after pulling off a stunning catch, bowlers throwing the ball at a batsman to disrupt his rhythm, a win at any cost approach, rattling the umpires, even a night-watchman scoring a double hundred, never say die attitude?

What does the mind of an Indian cricket aficionado recollect at the very word Australia, atleast in the last decade or so? Don’t worry. This ain’t going to be match report or the summary of the moments of some of the ‘Final Frontiers’

The key words are enough to depict the story: McGrath, Sachin, Nairobi, 2001, Kolkata, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, 2003 WC final, Sachin, pull, McGrath, 2004 loss at home, 2007, Bucknor, Sachin, Symonds, Bhajji, Sydney, Pup, Ponting, Dada, The Wall, Kumble, Pup three wickets, Perth, M.S.D, 2008 CB series, 2011 WC, QF, Ahmedabad, victory, 2012 whitewash, Kohli, bigchases, 2014, Tests, Kohli, Johnson, 2015 WC, Again LOSSSSSS!

Phew! Isn’t the blood boiling hot underneath for a patriotic Indian? The visuals of most of the key words are quite disheartening.

The ‘win at any cost approach’ of the Aussies, which many perceive here to be an act of violating the rules of the gentleman’s game, could probably be one of the biggest reasons why only a few support the men in yellow. 'Playing hard' in Aussie terms is termed differently here. 

Maybe, if India follow their style of play, there could be more trophies to show for the future generation!

—S. Bagawati Prasad

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The Ra-Ra’s (Raina & Rahane) never arrived at the SCG!

It was Melbourne. Imran Tahir was running amuck after sending back Virat Kohli. Arrived a calm Ajinkya Rahane with India at 136/2 in 27.1 overs. 18. 4 overs later, one of the greatest pacers of the modern era – Dale Steyn – was tonked right over his head at the MCG. Though Steyn got the Mumbaikar the very next ball, Rahane - without breaking a sweat - had nailed the Proteas with a 60-ball 79 making them fetch leather round the dial. One assumed a ‘silent assasin’ was born.

Move to Auckland. Arguably the toughest challenge the Indian team had faced from an opposition in the league stage in the Cup. Zimbabwe had taken apart the Indian bowlers on a relatively smaller ground and then reduced the then reigning champions to 71/3, defending 288. The ever-jubilant Suresh Raina walked into bat knowing there was only his skipper left in the tank. And soon captain cool arrived with scoreboard reading 92/4. A couple of hours later, Raina thanked the Zimbabwean attack and Hamilton Masakadza for letting him smash his maiden World Cup ton and India won 6-0! The middle-order seemed to be in form with the knockouts set to be played.

Come Sydney. Yes. Enough said about Steve Smith’s greatness and his romance with Indian bowlers. Then there wasn’t any flying kiss from Virat Kohli this time around. But it was time for the ‘silent assassin’ and Raina to step up.

But it wasn’t the ‘choking’ Proteas or the Zimbabweans who were running in to bowl. It was Starc, Hazlewood and Johnson.

At 91/3 with 32 overs more to go, MSD sent his trusted lieutenant to face the music instead of taking up the responsibility as he did in the 2011 WC final. Which, in hindsight, one could term it a disastrous move knowing Starc and Clarke would rub their palms in eagerness at the sight of Raina.

Just a couple of months ago, Raina’s red-ball conundrum was exposed by Starc in the same venue in the fourth Test, which India survived narrowly. He got a pair. And what’s more, it was Starc whose fiery in swinger trapped the southpaw for a blob.

As expected, Starc went under the skin of Raina by throwing one at the batsman and even appealed for obstructing the field.

The moment a hot under the collar Raina struck one over the top off Faulkner, one knew something was about to explode. Edged and taken! Someone was saying.

Maybe, maybe…MSD’ strategy failed. The probability of Raina scoring 160 runs in 15 overs was higher than him batting 30 odd overs against Australia.

What can a WC match can do? Ensure Klusener ran Donald out, leak 15 runs in the first over of a big final, minnows beating champions, Duminy collided with Behardien – It can choke even the best!

 Rahane – who had played several match-winning knocks under pressure in Tests - seemed not the one to wilt under pressure, as he arrived. But he, uncharacteristically, felt the heat under his helmet in the big match.

The number ‘4’ in the wickets column ensured Rahane let Maxwell get away without applying counter pressure. One felt Rahane was batting with a stump in hand! Not one struck the middle of the bat and the dab strokes weren’t helping his confidence either. The drives weren’t finding the gaps.

The diminutive batsman, who was pulling and hooking fiercely in the Test series and even against South Africa, was hurried by the barrage of bouncers hurled by Johnson and Starc.

Smith, Haddin and Maxwell would be wondering whether they had missed a lot of snicks before finally referring one to see the back of Rahane!

The Ra-Ra’s (Raina and Rahane) never arrived at the big stage. However, there is no shame in losing to a champion side like Australia. Even the most experienced and greats have choked in World Cups. This inexperienced (in WC's) but talented batting unit needed such a failure to achieve success in the future.

                                                                                               —S. Bagawati Prasad

Blunderful/Wonderful semifinal? - Eight and half hours of blunders!

It was the match of the ‘chokers’. Fortune favours the brave, theoretically atleast that’s how it is put across. After watching the Tuesday’s semifinal, yours truly took the knife out for a post-mortem as to which among the two teams were brave enough for the fortune to swing their way and what differently did New Zealand do for the lady luck to be smiling on their side at the end of it all. One thing: The blunders from both the teams made the match one of the wonders of the ongoing WC.

Let’s rewind to 6:00am (IST) on 24/32015 and the sequence of errors from both teams that marked the match.

Ø  ABD wins the toss and decides to bat first. So there was no pressure of chasing, which had earned the Proteas ‘Chokers’ tag.

Ø  Boult has been the bowler of the series so far. 2^nd over of the day, got the edge of an out of form Quinton de Kock. And put down by Ronchi!  Oh!! Lady luck with South Africa finally. #Gogreen should be the norm.

Ø  Soon, Amla skies one over the top off Southee and falls narrowly short of a diving Boult at fine leg. That’s it, for sure ABD has fortune by his side.

Ø  By 7:15am, SA two down! Kiwis in red-hot form with four slips and gully! Baz on the charge with his black caps. The mind thinks 151 and Australia. Is that on the cards?

Ø  When was the last time one saw Daniel Vettori bowl a wide four down the legs of a batsmen? For now, it was the semifinal of the 2015 WC. Off day for Vettori, who had been chasing leather in the previous over?

Ø  Roussow and Faf kept going and Williamson and Grant Elliott were introduced in the half-way mark stage. Pressure. Brendon McCullum for the first time had to think about reserving his strike bowlers for the ABD assault.

Ø  You think 400 on the cards! Suddenly the ‘two toes’ Guptill flies one and pulls off a stunner with two fingers at point. 237* and now a ripper. This is going to Guptill’s night. He is going to see the Kiwis through

Ø  ABD – first ball – Dear! Shuffles across and tries to dab one to fine leg. Ball catches the gloves and fortunately the ball goes over the stumps and on to the keeper. Skipper set for the charge and he does.

Ø  35^th over: Powerplay – A slap through the covers from ABD. The ball in the air. A flying Williamson puts it down off Anderson. ‘You dropped the cup mate’ moment . Expect ABD to score 150+ in the next 60 balls. And was batting like set for such an innings

Ø  RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! RAIN! – Nerves in the SA dressing room. Auckland weather rescues NZ, shortened game and SA never go hand in hand.

Ø  Play resumes: KILLER MILLER has surely nailed McCullum & Co. with his ‘in the arc out of the park and in the V out into the tree’  stuff.

10-minute break

Ø  ABD & Co.  have the luxury of knowing that if the Kiwis are to win, it would be a record chase and chasing 298 in 43 overs in a SF is no joke. But McCullum felt so it was actually a joke.

Ø  Baz blasts 59 off 26 balls six overs – 71 runs. And for sure the Proteas have choked much early than the expectations were.

Ø  Tahir bamboozles Guptill in the PP. Morkel gets rid of McCullum and Williamson. Panic sets in the Kiwi batting unit. This is South Africa’s moment.

Ø  But a ‘part-timer’ Duminy, who took a hat-trick in the QF against Lanka, ensures Ross Taylor finds his feet. Head down and Guptill is up and running with a six!

Ø  How could one get Guptill out? Run him out. And it did happen. Amla strikes on the field. Guptill is out. And Taylor joins Guptill in the dressing room later.

Ø  Anderson and Elliott. Stats say NZ have never lost when Anderson scores in excess of 30. He was on 33. And Proteas failed to capitalize on an opportunity to rewrite history. When ABD missed a chance and by now you can visualize the moment. Mr. ABD the bus has left.

Ø  Still the Kiwis GRANTed SA another chance. Maybe they pitied at SA. De Kock was in such a hurry to see the red light flash, he failed to collect the ball! – Grant Elliott survived. And South Africa were crest fallen!

Ø  The skier which Faf held on to off Anderson was nullified by this error. After 8 hours, there was no guessing who the winners would be and one couldn’t decide who were the fortuitous ones.

Ø  Even as Elliott’s slogged and balls started landing in between three converging SA fielders, Ronchi found the lone fielder at deep square-leg Rossouw, who took it as if his last breath depended on it

Ø  Sprawling dives, some necessary and some showed the nerves, from South African fielders ensured the equation came down to 14 off 7 balls.

Ø  Probably the choke moment of the day, Elliott took the aerial route and thank you South Africa. – Duminy and Behardien stared at each other. ‘You surely dropped the cup’

Ø  But still, still and still….Steyn bowled two crackers to give just two off two balls and NZ needed 10 off 4 balls.

Ø  History, stats, search….Steyn had defended a few in the last T20 WC against the same opposition. But this time he was suffering from cramps or a hamstring pull.

Ø  Boossss…Ahhhhss..from the crowd.

Ø  Vettori – who had struck a six to put NZ through against Bangladesh, whose leaping left hand saw the back of a dangerous Marlon Samuels in the QF – with his typical trigger movement and as the flashing blade made contact the ball the roof came down. FOUR! Six needed but 5 for NZ to seal final berth

Ø  1999 WC – No tie please. Scamper for a bye to the keeper. De kock twice missed to hit the stumps in the same over.  

Ø  2 balls 5 to win. Still no favourites. Tim Southee under the helmet. Cameraman was spot on to catch the tension in the Kiwi dug out.

Ø  Steyn to Elliott - BOOM! Six…Finally NZ won.

So – Who deserved to be in the final? Who was brave enough for the fortune to smile at them? Fortunately or unfortunately came up with no reason! Still, figuring it out. 

                                                                                            - S. BAGAWATI PRASAD