I am writing this post on a day when Saurav Ganguly completed a wonderful knock in his farewell Test. Ever since he announced his retirement a fortnight ago, cricket writers and many others have been making a beeline on what he has achieved in his 12 years of international cricket. Let me also join the Bongwagon!
How would I want to remember Dada? It is not the shirt waving incident at Lords. I think he deserves credit for more substantial contributions he made to Indian cricket.
He went to Australia in 1991-92 and went straight into wilderness after the tour. He resurfaced in 1996 as a 23-year-old with a super century at Lords and followed it up with another one in the next one at Trent Bridge. Very few players would have survived a debacle like the one he experienced in 1991-92. That he came back in 1996 and hit a century on debut showed his self-belief.
The Port of Spain test in 2002 was in my view a watershed in Indian cricket. For the first time, a fast bowling trio, Srinath, Nehra, and Zaheer bowled India to a win over West Indies. Huge credit must be due to Saurav because he believed that we could win overseas only if we had three (not two) quick bowlers. With this formula in place and into action, we began to win overseas Test matches pretty regularly. Case in point would be our victories at Port of Spain and Headingly in 2002, Adelaide, Multan, and Rawalpindi in 2004, Johannesburg in 2006, Trent Bridge in 2007, and Perth in 2008.
Few months later, India was playing a Test match at Headingly. Saurav was aware of the halo surrounding the ground - England's own ground where their record was awesome and visitors often struggled to come to terms with the swing and seam conditions that were on offer on this ground. Dravid and Bangar had provided a platform for the Tendulkars and Gangulys to take over. On the second evening, Ganguly was in his eighties and in fading light, the wily English captain, Nasser Hussein took the new ball anticipating that the Indian batsman would appeal for bad light and his new ball bowlers would be fresh the next morning. Instead, Ganguly and Tendulkar went berserk and added some 60-odd runs in no time. I cannot think of any Indian batsman who would have risked a century, particularly at Headingly. The next morning the declaration happened and two days later, India won by an innings.
In the off-season of 2003-04, he made a quiet trip to Australia and spent few days with the Australian legend, Greg Chappell. He was tired of the constant criticism of his inability to play quick bowling and that he wanted to correct this 'feeling.' India was to tour Down Under and this was an ideal opportunity to silence those doubters. The Brisbane Test happened, and Saurav in true dramatic fashion scored a magnificent 144. What a knock!
For the first time, there was a captain who believed in Team India. This could be because he came from a weak zone. I am not insinuating but people in stronger zones have a larger pool of players to look at and therefore develop a myopic vision!
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The empty cupboard
Over the last few days, I read articles by two outstanding cricket writers in the land, Mukul Kesavan and Sambit Bal. Though each one had an interesting take on what will happen after the Fab Four's exit, they concurred that the road ahead is tricky, if not painful for the Test team.
My memories go back to the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1989, when a young boy, barely 16, was selected to tour with the Indian team on the back of record-making feats in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. I remember following the boy's debut on radio. Nineteen years on, the boy has now become a legend and is on the verge of retirement.
Another vivid memory is that of Lord's 1996, when two 23-year-olds launched their international careers in such a stupendous fashion that their feats on that Lord's day is talked as benchmarks for Test debutants. I remember looking at Saurav Ganguly and Rahul and telling myself that these guys look international class - no nervousness, no tension, just pure solidity. Both had come through the ranks, albeit differently. Saurav had gone to Australia as a 19-year-old and left out in the wilderness after just a solitary one-dayer. To come back home and score tons of runs in the domestic cricket and then make a transition into the internal scene is a rare Indian feat. Rahul, on the other hand, had done well at all levels and the Test cap was just another 'hat.' It was only logical that he did well at the internation level.
When India was touring Australia in 1999-2000, VVS Laxman was recalled to the side after a string of tall scores in the domestic season. I remember the first tour match at Gabba when he hit a wonderful hundred. A month later, the cricketing world was talking about his marvellous hundred at the SCG.
That brings to the point, everyone is talking about! Who will replace them? Are they worthy replacements? Let's examine the pretenders!
Rohit Sharma - Everybody talks about his talent. He scores those good-looking thirties in the shorter format. I have yet to hear about a big knock in the longer version. He needs a good season with some big scores if he can be a serious contender.
Yuvraj Singh - Everybody talks about his obvious talent, but look at what he achieved in Australia. I think the selectors are not done with him - they still want to try him out in the longer version. Obviously, the five wise men hope and pray that he occupies one slot.
Suresh Raina - Same as Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwari - He showed his inadequacy against genuine pace at the Gabba. He needs to work at his game and score runs in buckets in domestic cricket. Not surprising, that he is off the radar!
Mohd Kaif - I don't know why his name keeps cropping up like his peer Yuvraj, even though he is a very limited player. Like Yuvraj, the wise men hope that he occupies another slot.
S Badrinath - He has the runs in the domestic scene, but fails in crunch matches. Case in point was the recent Irani Cup. It was a God-sent opurtunity to come good. He failed in both the innings. He should consider himself lucky to be part of the Test squad.
The list ends! None of the above are good enough! That's a worry! The cupboard is barren! The bench strength is not as good as our administrators would like us to believe! If the above replacements were good enough, they would have had performances to force their way into the side. That they are unable to do so reveals their obvious class and that's a shame!
My memories go back to the Indian tour of Pakistan in 1989, when a young boy, barely 16, was selected to tour with the Indian team on the back of record-making feats in the Irani Cup, Duleep Trophy, and Ranji Trophy. I remember following the boy's debut on radio. Nineteen years on, the boy has now become a legend and is on the verge of retirement.
Another vivid memory is that of Lord's 1996, when two 23-year-olds launched their international careers in such a stupendous fashion that their feats on that Lord's day is talked as benchmarks for Test debutants. I remember looking at Saurav Ganguly and Rahul and telling myself that these guys look international class - no nervousness, no tension, just pure solidity. Both had come through the ranks, albeit differently. Saurav had gone to Australia as a 19-year-old and left out in the wilderness after just a solitary one-dayer. To come back home and score tons of runs in the domestic cricket and then make a transition into the internal scene is a rare Indian feat. Rahul, on the other hand, had done well at all levels and the Test cap was just another 'hat.' It was only logical that he did well at the internation level.
When India was touring Australia in 1999-2000, VVS Laxman was recalled to the side after a string of tall scores in the domestic season. I remember the first tour match at Gabba when he hit a wonderful hundred. A month later, the cricketing world was talking about his marvellous hundred at the SCG.
That brings to the point, everyone is talking about! Who will replace them? Are they worthy replacements? Let's examine the pretenders!
Rohit Sharma - Everybody talks about his talent. He scores those good-looking thirties in the shorter format. I have yet to hear about a big knock in the longer version. He needs a good season with some big scores if he can be a serious contender.
Yuvraj Singh - Everybody talks about his obvious talent, but look at what he achieved in Australia. I think the selectors are not done with him - they still want to try him out in the longer version. Obviously, the five wise men hope and pray that he occupies one slot.
Suresh Raina - Same as Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwari - He showed his inadequacy against genuine pace at the Gabba. He needs to work at his game and score runs in buckets in domestic cricket. Not surprising, that he is off the radar!
Mohd Kaif - I don't know why his name keeps cropping up like his peer Yuvraj, even though he is a very limited player. Like Yuvraj, the wise men hope that he occupies another slot.
S Badrinath - He has the runs in the domestic scene, but fails in crunch matches. Case in point was the recent Irani Cup. It was a God-sent opurtunity to come good. He failed in both the innings. He should consider himself lucky to be part of the Test squad.
The list ends! None of the above are good enough! That's a worry! The cupboard is barren! The bench strength is not as good as our administrators would like us to believe! If the above replacements were good enough, they would have had performances to force their way into the side. That they are unable to do so reveals their obvious class and that's a shame!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Big Loss
Recently I bought few DVDs for my brother who is based in UK. One of them was the irreplaceable Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi. I came home and was watching some worthless junkies slugging it out in a house, each trying to out-manoeuvre the other. Worse, I switched to a news channel where I saw a news item where some participants were indulging in fist cuffs.
Somebody told me, this is reality television! I asked someone, is this some WWF? I found out that the participants were part of a Ticket to Bollywood show! Wow, what a come down! No wonder, TV is an idiot box - for idiots, or idiots, and by idiots!
I have a problem with reality television, not just one, but many!
That most of these shows have out-of-work performers who want to revive their flagging careers. Look at Bog Boss2 - a discredited son of a late politician, a discredited moll, an item girl, a politician who wants to revive his career, and few motley models made the starting line-up. And what they do in the house - scheme, scheme, and scheme! Come on, give me a break!
That there is a myth that floats around that these shows unearth new talent. Rubbish, the two real singing talents that have come up in the last decade have been Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. But they won during the golden days of Saregamapa, which was then hosted by Sonu Nigam and the participants were judged by the likes of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Now you have Himesh Reshamiya, whose knowledge about music is as much as Charles Darwin's knowledge about evolution! But still people watch!
That these shows are democratic in nature! That's the problem! You have participants pleading in their native language for votes. Sometime back, Shweta Kawatra and Manav Gohil bought SIM cards to send responses. You have the actors in that show getting in to a brawl to prove their strength! And you know what democracy throws up - ineptitude! Meritocracy and democracy cannot function in India - at least they have not done so!
That the I&B ministry must act as the Big Brother, and come up with some regulations on what the channels must show. Maybe, everybody will fret and fume at the Big Brother's long hands. But the TV channels only promise self-regulation, and do little!
That it's been a while that I have seen quality sitcoms on television. I remember the days of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, Tamas, and even Discovery of India! I was told that there was a committee at the Mandi House which approved these serials. Maybe bureaucratic in nature, at least the viewers watched some class. Even in the nineties, Neena Gupta and Ravi Rai made some nice shows, like Saans and Sailaab. And these were on primetime!
That I read a piece, where Pritish Nandy wrote about how clever cinema produces clever audiences. He is dead right!
Somebody told me, this is reality television! I asked someone, is this some WWF? I found out that the participants were part of a Ticket to Bollywood show! Wow, what a come down! No wonder, TV is an idiot box - for idiots, or idiots, and by idiots!
I have a problem with reality television, not just one, but many!
That most of these shows have out-of-work performers who want to revive their flagging careers. Look at Bog Boss2 - a discredited son of a late politician, a discredited moll, an item girl, a politician who wants to revive his career, and few motley models made the starting line-up. And what they do in the house - scheme, scheme, and scheme! Come on, give me a break!
That there is a myth that floats around that these shows unearth new talent. Rubbish, the two real singing talents that have come up in the last decade have been Sunidhi Chauhan and Shreya Ghoshal. But they won during the golden days of Saregamapa, which was then hosted by Sonu Nigam and the participants were judged by the likes of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. Now you have Himesh Reshamiya, whose knowledge about music is as much as Charles Darwin's knowledge about evolution! But still people watch!
That these shows are democratic in nature! That's the problem! You have participants pleading in their native language for votes. Sometime back, Shweta Kawatra and Manav Gohil bought SIM cards to send responses. You have the actors in that show getting in to a brawl to prove their strength! And you know what democracy throws up - ineptitude! Meritocracy and democracy cannot function in India - at least they have not done so!
That the I&B ministry must act as the Big Brother, and come up with some regulations on what the channels must show. Maybe, everybody will fret and fume at the Big Brother's long hands. But the TV channels only promise self-regulation, and do little!
That it's been a while that I have seen quality sitcoms on television. I remember the days of Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi, Nukkad, Tamas, and even Discovery of India! I was told that there was a committee at the Mandi House which approved these serials. Maybe bureaucratic in nature, at least the viewers watched some class. Even in the nineties, Neena Gupta and Ravi Rai made some nice shows, like Saans and Sailaab. And these were on primetime!
That I read a piece, where Pritish Nandy wrote about how clever cinema produces clever audiences. He is dead right!
The Cook
I watched Bawarchi last night. I have watched it many a times in the past. I watched with amazement how Kaka Rajesh Khanna put up a flawless performance. For the uninitiated, it is a tale of a middle-class joint family, ridden with conflicts and daily struggles, and how a cook played by Khanna brings back the joy into the household. Khanna with his effervescence brings back the old-forgotten family values into the house. It is great stuff to watch Khanna as he resolves each conflict in the household. The line,"Apna kaam toh sabhi kar lete hain, par doosre ke kaam kane se jo anand milta hai, woh toh kuch aur hi hai," remains the signature piece of the movie. Khanna with his ta-ta-daan style is the show stealer!
Kaka was and will always be Indian cinema's only phenomenon. Superstars may come and go. But what Kaka achieved during his glory days during the years 1969-73 will be unparalleled. Today's generation would have seen some potrayals of the once-superstar! Because what you get to see is a sorry sight of a former superstar trying to resort to his gimmicks, not appealing to the newer audience. And that's the problem, and that is the enigma called Rajesh Khanna. That's another post!
Kaka was and will always be Indian cinema's only phenomenon. Superstars may come and go. But what Kaka achieved during his glory days during the years 1969-73 will be unparalleled. Today's generation would have seen some potrayals of the once-superstar! Because what you get to see is a sorry sight of a former superstar trying to resort to his gimmicks, not appealing to the newer audience. And that's the problem, and that is the enigma called Rajesh Khanna. That's another post!
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