What will we remember of this IPL? In a few days, as other cricket matches and Bollywood events take over the spotlight, it is likely that our memories of the IPL will be confined to two or three images. (Different ones for all of us, of course, though I daresay Shane Warne will be the first person to come to mind when we think of this IPL.) So, before my old age kicks in and I forget things, here's my list of highlights and lowlights from this tournament. As plenty of such lists abound on cricket sites and sports pages these days, I've picked some memories from off the field as well.
More Columns: An IPL XI to outplay Mars Yes, the IPL really is about accountability The IPL reveals India's bench strength I followed the entire IPL on TV, and the biggest lowlight for me was the commentary. Most of the commentators present could easily start a PR firm now, so good were they at pleasing the sponsors. Every time someone hit a six, it was a DLF Maximum. Whenever anything dramatic happened on the field, it was a Citi Moment of Success. As my old friend Rahul Bhattacharya pointed out in the Guardian's sports blog: "A future where a batsman executes a Toyota Front-Foot Drive against an Intel Faster One may not be the stuff of satire." At times, the commentary seemed like a parody of itself. In an early episode of Extraaa Innings, L Sivaramakrishnan said of cricket: "It's a hard man's game - that's why it's a profession." The anchor nodded wisely. Ravi Shastri spouted cliches like he once hit sixes, with balls staying hit once they were hit, speeding to the boundary like a tracer bullet, though it didn't matter how the runs came as long as they came. At the prize-giving at the end, when the Chennai team was collecting its medals, Shastri uttered the immortal words: "Makhaya Ntini, who's added so much colour to this tournament..." How to make satire out of this? Rameez Raja took the cake, the souffle, the mousse and the gulab jamun. At one point during the final, while discussing why Albie Morkel was batting at No. 4 for Chennai, Rameez said: "I think it's because Smith is not playing, [and] they needed experience up the order." Graeme Smith, of course, plays for Rajasthan, so why his omission should cause Morkel to come up the order for Chennai remains a mystery. Later, after Yusuf Pathan mishit a shot, Rameez said: " That's a clean strike... Pathan obviously didn't middle it." It was surreal, like he was giving commentary for two parallel universes where different things were happening. The closing ceremony of the tournament made the commentators look classy, it was that bad. It was a mix of a cheap Bollywood variety show, a circus from hell and a school annual day. Did you see the girls at the end, twirling the flags without any synchronization, no doubt humiliated to be there? Did you see the dances at the start, ostensibly supposed to represent different regions of the country but featuring dancers wearing bizarre costumes that only Film City can call tradition? Worst of all, did you see Lalit Modi's speech, in which he thanked his staff, his family and his dog for their support, as if he was winning an Oscar or a Padma Shree? All of it made the cricket look fantastic in comparison. For those of us who followed the tournament on television, the commercials were, unfortunately, also a part of the IPL, and thus deserve mention in this list. I loved the Vodafone Chhota Credit commercial, where a young girl runs out of ink during an exam and a boy behind her gives her a chhota credit of ink, but there were plenty of WTF commercials as well. I didn't understand the Coca Cola 'Jashn Mana Le' commercial where a bunch of boys open a bottle of Coke, act demented for 15 seconds, then shut up and sit down guiltily before the girls in the room also flip open their Cokes and act demented. What's the big deal about drinking Coke? Were they implying that it was a guilty pleasure? And then there was a commercial for Getz Prime featuring two models with a faux-Italian accent, which presented the car's beige interiors as a USP. And that Bharat Nirman ad for the NREGA that featured a Rahul Dravid lookalike as a manual labourer getting make-work employment from the government. Such irony. And now to the cricket itself. While Brendon McCullum began the tournament with a magical century, the innings I'll remember most was Sourav Ganguly's 86 not out against the Mohali team. As wickets fell around him, Ganguly paced the innings superbly, and the standout moment, for me, came at a time when he was at the non-striker's end. There were seven balls to go, 15 to win. Ishant Sharma was on strike. They could obviously not afford to waste a ball. Sharma tapped the ball into an empty space and set off for a run. Ganguly sent him back, rejecting the run and backing himself to start the next over with a boundary. That self-belief was vindicated. The next over read: 6, 2, 6, 1. Kolkata had made 57 runs from the last four overs, against the quality attack of Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, VRV Singh and Piyush Chawla. Ganguly had 45 of them. It was the stuff of nostalgia, happening in the here and now. The soft-in-the-head moment of the tournament came when Kumar Sangakkara walked in the semi-final. I know he's getting plaudits for his selfless act of sportsmanship, but if I were his team owner, I would kick his ass with my high-heeled pumps. Bowlers, wicketkeepers and fielders frequently appeal even when they know the batsman is not out. Why, then, should batsmen walk when they are out? Sangakkara began to walk off when even the wicketkeeper, Parthiv Patel, wasn't appealing, and Patel looked positively surprised to see Sangakkara leave. Unless Sangakkara had the loosies and an embarrassing outflow was inevitable, he had no business letting his team down by usurping the umpire's role. The buffoon of the tournament, with due apologies to Harbhajan Singh, was Vijay Mallya. He paid big money for a team he later said he didn't believe in, and spoke out publicly against his captain and his players halfway through the tournament. Rahul Dravid behaved with dignity and batted beautifully, even as his team stumbled its way through the tournament, as happens in sport. Contrast Mallya's The pitch of the tournament was the Wankhede Stadium pitch for the first semi-final. Its bounce was true and the ball came on to the bat beautifully, aiding quality strokeplay; its pace and bounce offered much reward to the fast bowlers who bowled well; and the ball spun a long way on it, not just for Shane Warne but for Amit Mishra. The match wasn't a contest because one side played so very well, but the pitch was ideal. There were some players who I wish I'd seen more of. S Badrinath and Manoj Tiwari are both Test prospects I've been following keenly, but they didn't get enough batting opportunities. Badrinath played some good cameos, and looks a classy player with a cool head. Tiwari also looks the role but didn't get enough chances to play the part. I hope they keep pumping up the runs in domestic cricket. I was also surprised that Ramesh Powar got only five games (and one innings) for Kings XI Punjab and I wish I'd seen more of Pradeep Sangwan, our most promising under-19 bowler. The underperformers of the tournament, for me, were Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and, even though he left after the first few matches, Ricky Ponting. The overperformers were most of the local players in the Rajasthan side, who were inspired by Shane Warne to play out of their skins. They were the only team to remember in this tournament, the only team that deserved to win, because they were more than the sum of their parts, lifted up by that intangible something that makes for greatness. I wonder if we'll see more of it next year. |
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The best and worst of the IPL
Lankan, English cricketers risk missing IPL 2009
The next edition of the Indian Premier League might lose some of its sheen with a number of Sri Lankan players, along with a few English IPL probables, skipping the event for international commitments.
The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced the dates of a home series against Sri Lanka and the two-Test series, starting on May 7, coincides with the IPL, which is scheduled between April 10 and May 29 next year. Sri Lanka is scheduled to kick off its England tour with a practice game against Leicestershire on April 21. Among the Sri Lankans, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Chaminda Vaas, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis and Sanath Jayasuriya have three-year contracts with different IPL teams. English cricketers like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff are also reportedly on the IPL radar and in such case it would be a dilemma for the Englishmen as well. "It's very likely there will be some England players in the IPL next season," Ian Smith, legal director of the Professional Cricketers' Association, was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Telegraph'. "We've got a lot of offers," he added. |
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Triple threat for India's batsmen
I
Pakistan's inability to cash in on home advantage - India and Sri Lanka have always won the Asia Cup when hosting it - gives the tournament's two most successful teams a chance to add to their tally. India and Sri Lanka have played against each other in five Asia Cup finals - India prevailed on three consecutive occasions, but Sri Lanka have beaten them twice since, including the final of the previous edition in 2004.
Despite losing to India in the Super Four stage, Sri Lanka perhaps hold the edge, having not lost in six previous finals in all competitions between the two teams. The last five were in Colombo: Sri Lanka won three, with the ICC Champions Trophy final and its replay being washed out.
Sri Lanka have batted first in all their matches so far in the tournament, and the previous five decisive finals between the two sides have been won by the team winning the toss and batting first. India's last win in a final against Sri Lanka came in 1998.
Sri Lanka, though, will be wary of an Indian batting line-up that has chased down stiff targets in the tournament, including 309 in the Super Four encounter between the two sides. However, they had rested Chaminda Vaas - and, significantly, Ajantha Mendis, whom the Indians have never played.
Among India's current line-up, only Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh have played more than two finals against Sri Lanka. Neither has done anything spectacular: Sehwag has a best of 48 in five innings, while Yuvraj's four have fetched 59 runs. On the other hand, Sanath Jayasuriya will be one batsman India will want to dismiss early: in 11 finals against India, he has scored 567 runs at 51.54, which pushes up to 86.60 in Sri Lanka's wins.
Both teams will be expecting their top three batsmen to fire. The upper half has dominated the scoring in the tournament. Suresh Raina and Kumar Sangakkara have got over 300 runs, while the opening pairs for both sides have made an impact.
Vaas didn't play the earlier game against India, and he has tormented them the most when it comes to finals. He has 16 wickets from nine games at 15.06 apiece. Both Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan have also managed to strangle the scoring in previous finals against India.
So far in the tournament, India have had brisk starts, consolidated and kept wickets in hand in the middle, and teed off at the end. Sri Lanka have scored at a healthy clip as well, but a loss of wickets in the final overs has prevented them from scoring briskly.
For Sri Lanka, their two veteran bowlers and Mendis have maintained an economy-rate of less than four: the average for the tournament has been 5.54. If they can do so on Sunday, India's free-scoring batsmen - at least so far in the tournament - will be forced to take a few risks. Mendis has managed to strike almost every three overs, and Murali once in four, and India could be under pressure in the middle overs of their innings.
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Dhoni: Just a lucky guy or the coolest captain?
Just a lucky guy or the coolest captain?
Is he one of those blessed ones who are born with a winning touch? Or is he just another lucky bloke for whom everything miraculously falls into place?
Ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni and he will, probably, just flash a smile in your direction. Deep in his heart, though, he knows how much work has gone into his nascent success and how many sacrifices he has already made.
The tag, however, surfaced last September, when the Twenty20 captaincy unexpectedly landed in his lap. But then, the rare honour had nothing to do with his luck; it had more to do with the selectors’ foresight and willingness to take a risk.
They were probably emboldened as the Indian team was not expected to do well in the World Cup in South Africa: it had no track record in the abridged format and virtually no Twenty20 specialists either. Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and Zaheer too pulled out as they didn’t see any hope for the team.
Dhoni saw all this as providence, as his chance to raise the flag for the lesser cousins of Indian cricket. He marshalled his resources ingeniously, kept everybody’s spirits high with his “we-don’t-give-a-damn-about-anything” attitude and carried his young gladiators forward.
He showed nerves of gold at critical times; he transformed potential into performance across the ranks; more amazingly, he chose not to turn to the tried and tested even when everything was at stake. It was captaincy at its raw best.
In the final, with Misbah-ul Haq just one step away from becoming our greatest villain yet again, he tossed the ball to Joginder Sharma.
Even the most reckless gambler, who normally doesn’t think twice before putting everything on line, would have balked at that stage.
He simply smiled and asked Joginder to go for it. As Misbah played another comical shot, the team converged into his arms from all corners. There were no ugly victorious gestures from Dhoni, no wild celebrations. Just pure grace.
A few months later, just after India unleashed a tsunami in Australia during the Test series, Dhoni was left holding the washed out pieces. Worse, he chose to look beyond the “seniors”, who had been the cornerstone of the team’s amazing performance till then, for the One-dayers.
Australia were already on song and it seemed like Dhoni’s comeuppance had come. He had already struggled for runs and his chosen ones were not delivering either. But almost incredibly, the Indian team found its feet and voice again and actually won the title in a canter. It was India’s first victory in a Tri-series Down Under.
Dhoni had to step into the captain’s shoes again when Anil Kumble pulled out of the third Test in Ahmedabad.
With South Africa in a rampaging mood, and without Sachin Tendulkar, nobody gave him a chance.
But as soon as the match commenced, it became apparent that the designer track that they had been waiting for was hidden here.
South Africa managed to get off to a good start but India are past masters on such pitches. They simply bamboozled them and won inside three days. Dhoni even joined a very exclusive band of captains who had won a Test on debut.
As the caravan moves into the IPL mould, Dhoni faces his toughest challenge. As captain of Chennai, he will have to take on Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid, Sehwag and Yuvraj (apart from Warne). He has grown up idolizing almost all of them; can he outwit and outplay them now?
Dhoni, the new Midas of Indian cricket
Call it a co-incidence or sheer luck, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has always been at the right place on the right time.
His inimitable coiffure became a cynosure of world leaders. Every inch of his tresses made front page news. He stood by his selected few and brought world to his feet. He gave the small town cricketers a chance to move forward.
He led with the ebullience of King Leonidas of Sparta. Call him the man in love with mean machines. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is by all means the new cricketing blockbuster.
Everyone knows where cricket in India was headed after the Men in Blue stumbled upon the Caribbean hurdle. Indian cricket had hit its lowest point. The coach refused to prolong his stint.
Rahul Dravid tendered his resignation on personal grounds. Tendulkar was offered the captaincy, but he rejected it. No one was ready to take on the gauntlet. The man of the moment or call it a guinea pig then was to be Dhoni, who by default got his hands on the hot seat as he was elevated to vice-captaincy just before the English and Irish tour.
Apparently, it was Sachin who recommended Dhoni’s name. But none other than Dhoni deserved this post for the way he has come up the ranks. His strong rooting to reality and a humble background pushed his case above the glamorous but out-of-form then Yuvraj Singh.
With no godfather, Dhoni’s throne is purely built on raw talent and his ability to treat the game like a game and not a religion. You can call this a stroke of luck that he got the job of a deputy skipper for ODI’s for the first time and was elevated to leader of the pack in no time at all.
Dhoni admits promoting Raina was a mistake
Struggling to digest the fact that India finished second best despite dominating the tri-series, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni today admitted promoting Suresh Raina ahead of him in the all-important final was a mistake.
Chasing 316, India fumbled and faltered, losing wickets at regular intervals. Dhoni sent Raina (24) at number six and though the left-hander got the start, he could not carry on.
Finally when Dhoni came to bat, he was soon running out of partners and with the run rate skyrocketing, the India captain had no option but to take risks and he was the last man out as India fell 25-run shy of Pakistan’s total.
“In hindsight, promoting Raina was a mistake because I came late and was running out of partners,” Dhoni rued after the match.
“That decision was a mistake but it happens in cricket and you learn from mistakes,” he said.
According to Dhoni, a decent start and some lengthy partnership could have made the difference tonight.
“We did not start well and then did not have enough partnerships either. Losing too many wickets was the killer. We got runs at a decent rate but losing wickets at regular intervals cost us the game,” Dhoni rued
India v Sri Lanka, Asia Cup final, Karachi
Match facts
Sunday, July 6, 2008Start time 16.00 (local), 10.00 (GMT)
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Big Picture
After a frenetic 11-day period that saw 12 matches, Sri Lanka and India have survived the crammed schedule, the heat, and a few wobbles to make their way to yet another Asia Cup final. Historically, these two sides have been the strongest in the tournament, winning seven of the eight editions so far; Sunday's game will be their sixth meeting in Asia Cup finals.
The excellent batting pitches have been a constant throughout the tournament, and the teams to survive have utilised these conditions better than others - India and Sri Lanka have easily been the best batting teams of the competition. Both have settled line-ups, with most of their top order in superb form, which points towards another run-fest on Sunday.
With both teams in such exceptional batting touch, the difference in the final could be a bowling spell or some inspiration in the field. Nine matches have already been played on the same square at the National Stadium, suggesting that spinners might have something to look forward to. Sri Lanka have the clear advantage in that department, with Muttiah Muralitharan and the exciting Ajantha Mendis leading the way.
Sri Lanka also have the edge in the field. India's exceptional batting has masked their generally sloppy fielding throughout the tournament. Catches have been missed, the ground fielding has been erratic and, in a crunch game, these factors could well be critical.
Form guide
(Last five completed ODIs; most recent first)
India WLWWW
Sri Lanka LWWWW
Watch out for ...
Sanath Jayasuriya, who loves the big occasion, and he loves batting against India. If he survives the early overs, the Indian bowlers could be in for more tough times.
Gautam Gambhir. He has been consistency personified in ODIs this year, and his excellence against spin makes him a key batsman for India against an attack featuring Muralitharan and Mendis.
The battle of the openers: Gambhir and Sehwag have added 319 runs for the first wicket in four innings at an average partnership of 79.75 and a rate of 8.14 runs per over; Jayasuriya and Sangakkara have averaged 88.75 per partnership at seven runs per over. The new-ball bowlers from both teams clearly have their work cut out.
Murali v Yuvraj: Yuvraj has often struggled against slow bowlers at the start of his innings, and if he bats at No. 5, there's a good chance that he'll be confronted by Murali as soon as he comes in.
Team news
Sri Lanka had rested Chaminda Vaas and Ajantha Mendis for their last round-robin match, against India, but both are certain to return for the final. Two out of Kaushalya Weeraratne, Thilan Thusahara and Dilhara Fernando will sit out. None of them has had tournaments to remember so far, but Fernando's experience might help him retain his place.
Sri Lanka (probable) 1 Sanath Jayasuriya, 2 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 3 Mahela Jayawardene (capt), 4 Chamara Kapugedera, 5 Chamara Silva, 6 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 7 Chaminda Vaas, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Ajantha Mendis, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Dilhara Fernando.
India's batting has been spectacular throughout the tournament, but the bowling is a worry. The biggest concern has been Irfan Pathan, who, after missing the first three games due to a side strain, has leaked 148 runs in 20 overs for just a solitary wicket. His place could be taken by Yusuf Pathan. Pragyan Ojha will keep his place after two tidy performances, which means Piyush Chawla misses out.
India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 5 Yuvraj Singh, 6 Rohit Sharma, 7 Yusuf Pathan, 8 Praveen Kumar, 9 Pragyan Ojhan, 10 RP Singh, 11 Ishant Sharma.
Umpires Simon Taufel & Tony Hill. Third umpire Zameer Haider
Stats and trivia
Quotes
"Mendis is a big-game player and he has the ability to play well in big matches and we will be counting on him in the final." Mahela Jayawardene names his trump card for the final "Our openers have given us good starts and if they continue to do so it would keep pressure off the middle order and set the foundation." |
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