Rain, Rain go away !! New 'Pawarful' force

Cricket, as a game, has this strange habit of attracting rain even in deserts. Another Cyclone is threatening Madras and the 1^st test is likely to be a truncated affair, at best. Sri Lanka must be happy with that news since their so called practice match against the BP XI did not go well at all. They must be hoping that a draw at Madras will give some time for them to regroup. In the meanwhile, there are murmurs that negotiations have started with the new men at the BCCI throne to play Yuvraj as the 6^th batsman. My opinion – that will take some courage to make Dada cool his heels in the pavilion but not impossible, especially with the change of guard at BCCI.

Talking about the new ‘Pawarful’ hands at BCCI, a lot needs to be done. Although, I am not optimistic, let me draw a list for what it is worth. The first thing BCCI needs is a proper web site. Can you imagine that the barons of BCCI, who sign deals worth the sizes of GDP of a few African nations are not savvy (in a tech savvy land) to have a proper web site? Even Bangladesh cricket board has a site. The next priority is to clear the muddle over the telecasting rights (and not rush to the anti – Dalmia gang) and bring in some transparency. The most important priority will be improving the grounds, better facilities for fans and finally strengthen domestic cricket. Well!! The wish list can go on but let me reassess this after the honeymoon is over. In the meanwhile, let us hope for a result at Chepauk, where I hear the TEST is as much threatened by rain, as by a law suit against the local association in high court. Court wrangles are nothing new in Indian cricket but this is perhaps the 1st time I am seeing a match itself threatened.

Pawar in Power…Even Steven after Mumbai win

Well !! From the looks of it, Pawar seems to have won the BCCI top slot and all his nominees have occupied the other posts of treasurer, secretary and and joint secretary. Like anything else in India, there were reports of chaos, deafening noise, utter confusion and of course all the horse trading you can imagine that comes with the crores at stake here. I have not seen the official verdict of Krishnamurthy but the margin appears convincing even to allow for such last minute jokes like Pondicherry Cricket Association (ugh !! never heard that one before) going to Supreme court. I always used to wonder – here is a land where common citizens are waiting for decades at the piled up cases in all forms of judicial system. How are these guys able to get their stay or injunctions in hours from Supreme Court of all places.? Anyway, that is topic for another day.

What does the change of guard mean ? Honestly, not much in my opinion. The very structure of association and the voting pattern and the short life of the post will mean that you have to constantly please your backers and merit, like all walks of life in India has absolutely no meaning. So, the favors have to be reciprocated for sure – the only difference being, this time around it will go to the opposite camp. I guess, Shivlal will ask for Uppal stadium to be completed and Srinivasan will ask for more matches to Chennai and so on. (I will be happy if the favors are such constructive things) What the hell !! at the least, let us try a change of guard. It can’t get any worse than what it is.

Pawar whispered a word or so about the infrastructure of cricket after getting elected. Thank God for that. Has anyone seen the sorry state of affairs in the Indian stadiums. I pity the millions who come to watch the men in blue, especially in ODIs. There is absolutely no guarantee that you will get in, even if you bought a genuine ticket since fake ticket sales is always there. Once you get into the ground, you can’t move from your seat (that is if you manage to find one). I envy all those Australian and English spectators, who seem to be so leisurely and really enjoy a day out. In India, you can not move off your seat – not even for taking a leak (I was told about the deplorable state of some of the toilets in many a stadium) and this after coming to the ground at least 3 hours early and after walking a KM or so from bus stop or car park. Hmmm..I am pretty sure that none of this going to change. As long as the cash registers ring and the crazy fans do not demand their rights, no official is going to care. After all, they have their VIP booths and entrances.

Coming to Mumbai ODI, I felt that Jack Kallis did India a favor by staying till the end.!! He never pressed the pedal and SA supporters will tell you that Kallis had played like this – not for the 1^st time. I have been talking about Rahul’s tendency to get caught and bowled and when Botha dropped one, the match was virtually over. Dhoni’s short comings were thoroughly exposed. He not only missed a stumping but looked awful against the SA pace men (and that at Indian wickets ..hmmm). Nel beat him so many times in that 42^nd over, which ended as maiden. Poor Dinesh Kaarthik !! If they pick the test team now, I doubt very much whether Dhoni would have got selected. I hope that Attappattu had not watched that 42^nd over. If he does, he will immediately know how his bowlers errored by allowing Dhoni to plank his front foot and swing. Anyway, it is even steven at the end of the 4 ODIs and the real tragedy is that India could have won the series but for the back stabbing by the curator at the nation of Bengal (Imagine, New Zealanders preparing a turning wicket when India tours there because of a fight between Auckland and Wellington Cricket Associations !!..will it ever happen ?) and the other real tragedy is that the man of the series Yuvaraj Singh will not find a place in the Test XI at Chennai – again due to the nation of Bengal.

(Pictures Courtesy Mid day)

Touch of Green !!

The shameful behavior of the Eden crowd is well documented in all papers and the Chappell finger controversy, the immense expectations have all but swept the euphoria of a 6-1 score line against SL. The Sourav issue keeps coming back, like a bad penny and this is going to spill over in the test team and mark my words – it is going to cast a deep shadow. Rahul has to accommodate Dada and Dada will create factions with in rather than bat since he knows where his skills are. Chappell, although endowed with a sharp cricketing intellect can not control so many extraneous factors like the BCCI hangama and at best of times is not known to be a very sportive gentleman. His tough exterior and a no nonsense attitude will be tolerated as long as there are wins. The moment that dries up, there will be no shortage of sharpened swords ready to pounce on the kill.

Going back to Eden - The jeers, the parochialism and the emotional attitude of many (and I hope that it is a small but pretty significant portion of the crowd) left a lot to be desired and at times, the men in blue would have wondered whether they are playing in India or not. Where do we draw the line here ? Kolkatta protesting because of Sourav's exclusion, Bangalore because of Kumble, Hyderabad because of VVS, Madras because of Dinesh Kaarthik and so on..Is Bengal bigger than India ?? hmmm....I remember back during the test series against WI in 1975, Venkat the captain of the 2nd test was made to carry the towel in the 3rd and was not even in the 4th test at Madras. The odd Chepauk fan did hold the poster 'No Venkat No test' but the Patuadi led team did not feel that they are not playing in India. One cricketer at the end of 4th ODI remarked 'Thank God,,we will be back in India tomorrow'..that says it all.
It is also fairly evident that the Eden curator Mukherjee refused to comply with the team requests for shaving off the grass. In the end, the tinge of green did more psychological damage to the men in blue than holding any real terror of bounce but it has to be said that here is a ground where Kumble once took 6-12 and where SL spinners turned the ball a mile, once under lights but Mukherjee preferred a green top !! Isn’t amazing ? Now, you add the problems associated with deciding the match on the non cricketing basis like that of spin of coin, dew factor and also whether the association belongs to Dalmia or Powar camp. Luckily, the last match is at Mumbai and hopefully Sudhir Naik, the Wankhade curator will shave off all the green from the wicket. But, I am told that even at Wankhade, the pitch has turned to be too flat and not like the one where India beat Australia in a test match a few seasons ago.

Now, let me stretch this Powar, Dalmia camp theory of associations to the SL test venues. The 1^st test belongs to the Powar camp (with Sreenivasan supporting him for a long time) but the rains have killed the preparations of Partha and gang. The 2^nd test – well that is at Kanpur and I am told that Bajpayee of UP cricket association is a strong supporter of Dalmia. Well, the green park wicket – whatever you do – nothing much worse than what it is already can come out. But a real under prepared wicket will help Murali more than the Indian spinners since he will be able to pitch one outside the pitch and can get still get the batsman bowled (or rather chucked I should say !!)

Picture Courtesy : India Times

Yashpal, VVS and Kolkatta ODI

The news that has filtered out now from the selection committee meeting is that Yashpal Sharma had the audacity to suggest dropping VVS Laxman from the test team. Can you believe this ? Here is one of the most classiest test batsmen, India ever has produced, perhaps next only to Gundappa Vishwanath with an incredible test average of 44 and 140 to boot in the last 2 tests he has played. VVS is also one of the best players of spin and that is definitely going to come out handy when playing against Muralitharan’s doosras. How come Yashpal can think of this ? Yashpal, himself with a man of modest test record (but the rest of the committee is even worst) is perhaps swayed by regional thoughts (I won’t call them regional pressures – North zone associations are too fractured and divided to put in any real pressure on anyone !! Look at the chaos in Delhi – the capital Ranji team did not even get a ground to practice !!). It is now learnt that VVS would not have been selected , had it not been at the insistence of Dravid !!! Pranab Roy, seemed to have also joined Yashpal in this hatred campaign against VVS. This should be a typical you scratch my back and I will soap yours kind of motto. After all Yashpal (along with the other Sharma) helped in bringing in Sourav and hence Pranab decided to reciprocate Yashpal’s brainy move. What is Yashapl thinking ? Perhaps, he thought that he can get away with one since Hyderabadis hardly said a word when the 1^st ODI was played there, when VVS was not in the ODI team unlike the emotional Kolkatta, which was ready to boycott the whole match due to the Sourav issue. Yashpal then acts like politician swayed by emotional hang overs of millions rather than reason. A friend of mine commented on the whole selection nonsense “Nepotism, favoritism, sycophancy and incompetence take precedence over meritocracy in all walks of public life. Cricket only mirrors the larger picture”.

I have only watched the highlight videos of Kolkatta ODI but going by media reports, it seems to be abject surrender without a fight. I wrote in the blog that I am not convinced by Sachin’s form and he getting out to a tame defensive mistake to a pretty straight ball from Pollack said it all. I was also not too convinced about sending Pathan to open. Dhoni had a rare failure and failed to hit a boundary even. Rahul's form is worrying but even more his tendency to get bowled or caught and bowled of the leading edge is looking omnious. The bowling had totally lost the plot against Smith and the score was not even defended. If India would have taken 4 or 5 wickets and still lost the match after making a fight of it, then I would have said that there is a fighting chance to level the series. Now, I feel that unless the Wankhade wicket totally favors India, this will end at 3-1.

So, life can turn quickly here. Cricket is a great leveller and can bring folks back on to earth pretty quickly especially with a match every 3 days. But, Rahul has to blame himself. First of all not enough home work was done – there was no need tor a greenish pitch at Edens but even then, this is not Perth to get to 75/5. Shaun Poolack at best is a line and length bowler these days and allowing him to bowl 4 maidens and 3 wickets was just not the thing to do. India certainly did a tactical blunder by not preparing a square turner. I have said this a million times – play to your strength – Spin. If you want to prepare for matches abroad, play your domestic cricket with fast wickets and not internationals.

Sourav and company must be delighted on the happenings in the last 24 hours. A big 100 in Ranji with 5 wickets to boot , a tame defeat at his backyard and a series defeat down the barrel. Things could not turned to be better from his point. He infact must be thanking the Gods since since own selection against SA would have only added to the problems. I am almost certain that he would have not helped at all, in these top order collapses.

The pressure is back at GC and RD and a SA win of the ODI series and a Murali mesmerizing spell at Chepauk can really put things on the backfoot for the duo !!

Drama in Selection meeting !!

It is reliably learnt that Kiran More, VB Chandrashekar plus Rahul and Chappell duo opposed the inclusion of Sourav in the test team, during the selection committee meeting. Out of the 5 with voting rights, Pranab Roy (facing strong flak from Kolkattans and Bengali press with even his house targeted), Gopal Sharma (a light weight, with negligible cricketing record at International level) and Yashpal Sharma (typical fence sitter) decided that they will cast their dice with Sourav and hence More and VB had to taste defeat. Why did the above 3 did this even though they know pretty well that it is not good for Indian team's morale. Well !! they played it safe is my guess. With board elections round the corner, no one is sure whether the sun will rise in EAST or WEST - whether it will be Kolkatta or Mumbai calling the shots. So, they simply played it safe is my guess.

I am surprised that More not only lost the plot here with Dada selection but lost it in rest of the selection too. Zaheer Khan, the man who dismissed Dada twice for a duck recently (in Indian patta wickets, that is some achievement) finds himself in the cold and may have to be content playing matches in odd places like Ananthapur and Tirunelveli. How did More was not able to get in Zaheer and how Gopal Sharma of all people, able to get in RP Singh ‘in’? VB had little chance of getting in KKD Karthik against the belligerent Dhoni but I am not sure whether he even tried. KKD had hardly done anything wrong but if you sift through the scorecards, he was the only failure during Zim with the bat. KKD should have seen this coming especially after that 140+ knock of Dhoni against Pak a few months back. He should have knocked off atleast couple of 50s but with the way Dhoni murdered SL attack, it became almost impossible to exclude him.

I hate discussing the team selection in these narrow regional lines but it is impossible not to discuss it because that is the way these things are done in India and we need to get the inside track into how the system works.

Another man to miss out is Balaji and strangely he is not there in the TN team too for the 1^st Ranji game. With VB being so subdued and Balaji having limited opportunities to show his talent, the writing was on the wall.

Now, let us examine how the quota system played out in the BP XI selection. Venu became the captain and VB picked Sriram (how many more chances he will get?), it was disappointing to see that none of the young guns were to be tried in batting department. More went out of the way to include Munaf Patel, only to be rebuffed by the local association, which made him play the Ranji game. It is another matter that he cranked a 78 with 4 6s and became a top scorer !! Hope he tests Dada and keeps him shape for the Madras test !!!

Finally the million $ question, with Dada in the 14, will he be in the 11 ? Yes. It is very unlikely that having come this far, the selectors will allow Dada to be sitting in pavilion. So, he will play for sure. Question is – can he dominate Murali and Vaas ? Over the years, I have watched Dada clean out only left arm spinners but typically suspect against good off spin. My guess is that Sri Lanka will come back with vengeance and Murali is quoted to have said that he is now – not to be bothered with the typical 10 over spell of ODI and can bowl (chuck??) all he wants. He will be handful to handle at Madras for sure. The Indian top order – better watch out !!

Sourav in Test Team as ALL- ROUNDER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well !! Well !! Kiran More has opened a new chapter and I am sure that his post selection meeting comments that he did pick Sourav in the test team as all-rounder, is going to be the center of a bunch of cricketing jokes. Who is he trying to fool ? More will look pathetic, if he cares to examine Sourav the bowler. He has taken all of 25 wickets in 84 test matches and guess what – when has he taken his last test wicket ? you have to go back to 2001. Welcome Sourav.. the born again all-rounder. Sourav’s 5 wicket haul today in the Ranji game vs Maharashtra not withstanding, no one in their sensible mind is expecting he to become an all rounder. What a joke ?
More gave the reason that since they had infinite wisdom to pick Sourav as all rounder, they have decided to exclude Zaheer Khan. !!! Amazing, this can only happen in Indian cricket. Poor Zaheer. I think More's quota in the team got exhausted when he decided to cast the dice with Agarkar. I am not sure whether this will play dividends. It is one thing to bowl a restrictive new ball spell and a reverse swinging couple of end overs in ODI but another thing to bowl in tests. IMHO - I would have gone with Zaheer atleast in place of RP Singh.

What does this mean ?

An uneasy dressing room. With Dada around, he brings his share of wounds and politics and he is no gamer. So, he will try to blame everyone else for his failures. Watch for more ink from the press and more reels from the cameras on how he behaves. He also has this art of running out his partners – especially when his own place is threatened. VVS, you better watch out. VVS might get run out before he even opens his account. This will also mean Kaif and Yuvi will cool their heals in the pavilion. Does Chappell have the courage to do what he told Sourav before the 1st Zim test. That is Kaif and Yuvaraj are in better form than him. I doubt it. News papers were sensing this compromise move days before. The news was clearly leaked to the press (especially the acrimonious ones from Kolkatta) that Sourav will not be there in the ODI team but he will be brought in for tests !! so much so for the long duration of the selection meeting !! I am sure that the 5 wise men were looking for the bowling statistics of Sourav and it took them so long since nothing has happened since 2001 in them. hmmm..Watch for more ink from the press and more reels from the cameras on how he behaves.

SG and his Interviews

It is one thing to know that you do not know but another thing to keep claiming that not only you know but others do not know. Sourav has mastered this Joseph Goebbels like philosophy. Keep telling a lie and someone will believe it !!

Let us see some of his recent trysts with the media. This one from Indian Express

http://cricket.expressindia.com/fulleistory.php?content_id=58695&headline=Give~me~a~place~in~Team~India:~Ganguly

The Bengal player also said he did not think he suffered from a prolonged bad patch.

"I scored 80 against Pakistan and also missed a hundred against England. It was just that I could not convert the scores into big hundreds. Last year I was the second highest run getter for the country behind Rahul Dravid. The difference (between our aggregates) was a mere 15-20 runs. It is just a question of not converting the scores into big hundreds," he added.

Sourav has mastered this art of selective quotes from areas of statistics that seem to benefit him and packages it with the right amount of wrong information thinking that the general public, fed up with the over dose of cricket will somehow not check it back. He tried this technique with Chappell too during his spat and failed but with Indian public known for their amnesia is cannon fodder for Sourav and that is what he is exactly hoping for.

He is talking about a difference of 15-20 runs with Rahul. Let us examine some numbers here..in ODIs for comparable period he talked about 2004-5 season

Sourav…the difference is not 15-20 runs. But nearly 500 !! runs.. Similarly I can dig it in tests..it will be even worst.

Recently, Sourav was quoted “ I have taken 15-16 wickets in the recent Duleep matches “. Again, selective manipulation – he has taken exactly 9 wickets and that too most of them tail enders. Suddenly, he has a clamor to become the all rounder. All these years, when he was the captain. he bowled his medium pace when it suited him most. When the chips were really down. he was hardly to be seen anywhere near the bowling crease.

Sourav simply refuses to wake up to reality and all these quoting is not going to impress the real, knowledgeable guy. Kapil Dev said it right that Sourav should not beg for his place by quoting this and that. Instead, he should come back like Mohinder. Dada, on the other hand is trying to win public support by quoting stats. Which for the most part are erroneous. We all know how he made that 100 against Zim last time, how he scurried here and there for a quarter of run and how he was involved in that ran out of VVS. Wake up to reality. I have nothing against Sourav..Let him come back on merit and prove that he can do it. Let him not play the mind games in between on the gullible poor fans of him.
Lincoln's old quote comes to mind "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time."

D & L method - Fundas for 3rd ODI @ Madras

With Clouds all around Madras and rain round the corner, Rahul needs to brush up his D& L method fundas. Not that, Madras is a place, where once it starts raining, it does stop. You do not see the typical English stop-start rain here. Either it is steaming hot for 11 months or it pours for a month. But all the same, with more rain forecast for South TN, one might get a small spell of drizzle that might take an hour or two from the game. But, I am afraid that once it starts, the outfield at MAC, Chepauk can not take it anymore since it has been pouring there all month. At one point, the outfield had the same look as nearby Koovam. The general word around Bells road and Pycrofts road, 'tickets are available in black and that too at discounts'. The local Chennaivasis know their weather. MAC is getting a ODI after a long time and it is sad that rain is going to be a major dampener here.

Going back to Bangalore ODI : It is easy to say that I predicted most of the happenings, the chief among them being the SA weakness of playing spin. Having said that, you do not have to be a Nostradamus to predict that. It was quite obvious from the word go but everyone including the curator, who promised a 300 wicket was taken aback. But, more than the pitch, I will blame SA. Aswell Prince did not have a clue and the tall duo Kemp & Pollack defended for too long. They could have easily got 240 in this pitch, which by the way would have stretched India but they would have still won. A couple of other points :

• I have been shouting like a parrot about the run outs. Here too, a couple happened and in a more tighter chase, that would have spelt doom. Pathan’s calling and his response to his partner’s calls will create havoc against top fielding sides. If at all there is one area, he has to improve, it certainly is the ability to judge the singles; otherwise, he will become like an Inzamam in the making, even with his speedier legs. He is just a mess when a real good fielder is able to get it back. Coming at No.3, this can make or break an inning easily..
• I am neither convinced by Sachin’s form nor by Viru’s 77 n.o. Most of his runs came against innocuous SA spin duo and Pollack did not bowl to him.
• The first 3 SA wickets were gifted to deliveries that were not wicket taking International class ones but at any given game, a couple like this is always going to be there.
• Why is no one talking about the comical glares and laughs of Nel ?. It looks so out of place. What is Jeff Crowe doing? He promptly fined Bhajji at Hyd but how about the unsporting behavior or lack of that from Nel. Everytime, he is hit - his look says - as though ' who are you to hit me'. Gambhir and Pathan did the right thing by answering back with the bat and mouth. Well !! I hope that Sachin wakes up from his slumber and cleans him for something like 5 4s in an over. That should shut that giggle forever and he dare not repeat his antics with seniors like Sachin.
  

I guess, the Madras pitch should be similar to that of Bangalore. With so much rain, there should have been hardly any chance for Parthasarthy and gang to prepare a fully rolled, hard wicket. I just hope that the rains stay away.

Points to Ponder - ahead of B'lore ODI

Bangalore ODI – Factors to ponder for Indian think tank

Having done the tactical hara-kiri of not preparing dust bowls or atleast spinning tracks, India are left with few options but if I was in RD’s shoes, these are the factors to ponder :

• If India bat first, the crucial number 3 spot should now go to Pathan. It is inevitable that one of Shewag or Sachin will fall early since SA new ball attack is no pushover and neither of them are looking great to give a great start. There is absolutely no point in sending Kaif and in my opinion no point playing him too. India needs a 300+ total and he is not the man for it.
• Make full use of Yuvarj against SA. This will mean that he has to bat at 4. He is the best player (after RD) against real pace and his usual tormentors of spinners are not there. He can score briskly and champion the entire innings without a letup.
  
• If India bowl first, they need to watch 3 important things – a)get Kemp out early (he can be destructive..a 250 score at the end of 46 can become 310 at the end of 50 and AA’s dollies have to picked up from MG Road nearby). b) Irfan has to watch his bowling. He is giving too many runs in the opening overs and of course bucketful later. c) The largesse of the extras should be dispensed with.
• The middle overs will take care of themselves with Bhajji and Karthik bowling. This is perhaps the last chance for Karthik to come good since a failure here will mean that he won’t play at Chennai and for all practical purposes..that should be that. Very rarely, there are come back chances in Indian cricket. (Dada knows this too well and hence he is making the right kind of noises these days. The Mohinder like record come back days are long gone. Check out the long list of crickets who have played a handful of ODIs and tests and have gone into oblivion). In tests, Kumble will be back and the understudy extra spot in 14 will go to either Mishra or Chawla and not Karthik.
• India should not drop its head, if things do not go as per plan. They need a plan B and even a plan C.
  

My prediction - a hard fought Indian win since more things are at stake for India rather than SA.

The next 2 ODIs is going to decide the fate of Indian cricket for the next decade. RD and GC better watch out !!

SG and ZK

Well !! In the Duleep finals, Zaheer Khan(ZK), another one of the outcasts in the new Chappell Attitude correction era, took out Sourav (SG) twice for duck(s). I hope that ZK did not do an elaborate war dance or something similar. SG is known to have long memories and Murali Karthik's rough treatment over the years was entirely attributed to the celebration he did when he dismissed Dada in a domestic match years before.

For all you know SG may never gain the top job again and perhaps a war dance can even draw a clap or two from the right powers now since he is doing it against SG. hmm. Indian cricket and its politics, even God can not understand it !!

With the kind of money (just like that SK Nair announces 50 lakhs award !!) floating around, big things are at stake each time anything significant happens in BCCI politics. And talking of BCCI, another round of hectic politicking has just began ahead of the forthcoming elections that may very well turn the power center from the Marwaris of Kolkatta to the Marthwadas of Mumbai. !! Whatever happens, there is going to be lot of coverage and ink from the press on elections this year. By all accounts, this election process looks lot more tougher and complicated than the ones that are being staged at Bihar.

Amidst all the glory

Well ! A 6-1 thrashing of SL looked good. At the risk of being a cry baby and not savoring the final score line, let me reiterate a few weak links in India's arsenal.

1. The 2nd spinner spot is up for grab. Karthik seems to be in a strange bind. What was he doing, bowling that last over at Baroda? In a tight match, the 11 runs he gave could have proved crucial. The slog is going to be there but why no ball and wide? The penultimate ball was a shame. Viru bowled the 49th over in one of these ODIs (I forget but the 4th I think) and just gave 3.
2. Kaif continues to play with 50% strike rate and he dropping that skier did not look good.
3. I will go the extent of saying - play Gambhir instead of Kaif against SA, We need all help from every position player. Kaif has had a good last 10 matches before this domestic season but if you carefully look through it all, he has not really dominated in any of them. No outstanding knock like a cracker of an inning. We have Dravid to anchor the inning and there is no need for another anchor , however senior he is .
4. Viru seems to have specialized in a band of scores from 19-49. He can neither get more nor less. A trigger goes off in his head as soon as he reaches these figures and he gets out to a new act of indiscretion. His failures are glossed over because India is winning but otherwise, he would have lost his place. Viru backs himself to knock 4s and 6s at will, independent of game situation. This by itself is not a bad trait but there has to be a line drawn. Did the Aussies not read the riot act to even Hayden?
   
5. Indian running between the wickets, although much better than the SG ability of converting a 3 to a single, is still not up to Aus standards. They have to rotate strike and not depend so much on boundary balls. Such gifts are not going to come from the 4 strong pace quarter of SA.
6. The old malady of 30 extras was back in the 7th ODI. The moment there is some life in the wicket, Indian bowlers beat each other in the art of spraying. All those leg side wides were unwanted and other than testing Dhoni, did little else. The discipline of few extras in the 6th ODI was soon forgotten, when they saw the tennins ball like bounce at Baroda.
   

6th ODI - Here and there points

• Shewag was looking ill at ease when the score raced to 44/0 with Sreesanth spraying it all over but the SL top order gifted away wickets. What was Sangakkara doing with that ugly pull?
• I will say a score of 197 reflects on how bad the shot selection of SL batsmen, rather than how well India bowled. RP Singh was steady at best and although he is a decent find, he is not looking like the next Pathan. Sreesanth will be loosing his place in the XI to Agarkar and that should be that for this man. He has been way too expensive and does not major movement but it is still early days.
• Dilshan was in cracking form and his strokes reminded me some of the WI bats at their prime. He just played a cocky, power packed inning and except for Bhajji, no one troubled him. Bhajji had him in knots for a couple of overs but even he was hit later. The 2 run outs really helped along with the poor shot selection.
• I am reassessing Shewag as captain. His approach was unorthodox and field placing was definitely not out of text book. He can definitely think out of the box. Not many would have fielded bravely in a Rajkot wicket, knowing the history here. His commands shouted from mid on in precise Hindi, egged on every one.
• Now, coming to the next ODI - Dravid has to come in and one of the bats have to sit out and I guess it will be Gambhir, even though he has not done anything wrong. Yuvarj, for the umpteenth time in his career escaped the guillotine, just when it mattered. His tormentor Murali did not play and he made use of the innocuous Chandana.

Happy to be wrong

I was happy to be wrong about the Rajkot ODI. Many of my worries did not materialize and India seems to have pulled off a disciplined bowling effort and more important, a fabulous fielding effort. Is it not the old saying in criket that you can not trust how you are going to bowl, predict how the batting will go but fielding - that should be one constant element with no surprises. Well, Indian fielding has been above par and the 2 run outs took the stuffing out of SL batting.
A couple soft spots - Kaif is back but he continues to play in his normal mode of 55 strike rate. Agreed, in this match he did not have done much with the low score to chase but he had a chance to knock of a decent 50 but he became too timid. Viru continues to struggle and I am sure that he is just plain lucky. If this would have been a close series, he would have lost his place by now - for all you know to Gambhir or even Sourav.
Now, let us turn to SA series. I feel that India should opt for spinning wickets and go ahead with the selection of Kumble.

Ahead of Rajkot ODI

After the 5th ODI, it became clear that anything less than 350 can be chased in India by teams with some decent batting depth. This is nothing new...Patta wickets are there from the day we started playing one day cricket. The reason I feel that the associations go for patta wickets is a tendency to play it safe; if a match is a high scoring match with 4s and 6s raining - no one will blame the pitch (it is another matter that the bowlers' careers will get finished and so are their confidence). I am yet to see a real bowling performance in 2nd inning of a ODI (unless when India bats 2nd and messes up in the usual fashion through some harakiris and run outs) in Indian pitches.

So, just one defeat in A'bad is turning the tables for India? I guess so - hard times are ahead. RD seems to be injured and Shewag is not sharpest pencil in the box. I just read that VRV singh, the tearaway Punjab lad is already declared unfit (can you believe that? who the hell is North zone selector?). That leaves a serviceable 12 for the match at Rajkot. When Dada hit that Duleep 100, Rajkot wicket was bouncy but in 15 days, they have dug it up and made it the old patta where the ball will not rise beyond the boot lace. You are better off with a broom rather than bat in these wickets !! I think GC has lost the plot with his penchant for too much experimentation. I won't be surprised if India gets thrashed soundly at Rajkot since Shewag looks not at all confident.

Looking ahead, against SA, India must go for square turners. SA has one exciting bat Kemp, who is raining 6s in every match. He is the next Zulu and India can not defend sub 300 totals without spinning tracks. I will go to the extent of calling Kumble back since Kartik seems to be timid and seems to have lost his confidence. His batting mess the other day at A'bad, when RD was nearing 100 reflected his poor state of mind. The alternative is try Chawla or Amitab Mishra against SA. The other factor to be borne in mind is that Pollack and Ntini are not exact pushovers (like Dilharo Fernando and Maharoof) and the rest of medium pacers like Nel, Langeveldt are pretty decent and not to forget Kallis will bowl too.