Triseries 2nd ODI 2012 - India Scrap and Win

At last Ashwin Bowled well! That is what is expected of him. It was nice to see him befuddling the Sri Lankan batsmen who are quite adept at playing spin. He needs to keep his game at this level and perform well and it would feel nice if he troubles Aussie batsmen in coming matches. His bowling in this match along with the partnership with Jadeja while batting took India home.

MSD? Flopped in tests, which was expected. He is struggling to find his groove in ODIs. ODI and T20 are his pet games. That is what he loves. That is where he performs and feels he belongs. Test cricket is alien to him. Hope he does well because India needs him in shorter versions of the game.

Virat Kohli is getting stronger and stronger. He has become a vital cog in Indian batting wheel. The trust and support shown by the team management in him after he failed in the first two test matches worked wonders to his confidence and the results are there to see.

Rohit Sharma failed again. Just a show of support would do wonders to the confidence of  any batsmen. Just like Virat, Rohit too needs to be supported and given more chances. He has already proved he belongs to this level. He should come good sooner or later.

There is lot of call to include Irfan Pathan in the team. If one reads the comments at cricinfo and listens to those over hyped Indian commentators, the support for Irfan becomes obvious. Irfan has played International cricket and faded away and is now trying to find his feet back. He can wait. Let others who are on the International stage for the first time find their feet. Let them get enough chances. If they falter Irfan can always cash in. There was call to drop Vinay Kumar and include Irfan. Now that Vinay is doing well, these supporters want Jadeja dropped for Irfan!

Gone are the days when we support the Indian team and every player who wears the team jersey. Now the fanatical support has gone to such levels that people wish for the failure of a particular player so that it paves the way for the inclusion their favourite player. Indian commentators with the exception of Harsha Bhogle too have the same cheap mindset. How disgusting.

Triseries 1st ODI 2012 - India Lose Again!

Rain came. Dhoni's tactics and plans went awry. Ashwin and Jadeja bowled awfully. Australia posted a healthy score. Our batsmen came a cropper again. India lost.

Heartening factor of the match was Vinay Kumar. He bowled beautifully. He was lucky to get away with some bad deliveries as well. But overall it was the reward for his hard work, consistency and desire to do well. He has had a bad debut in Test Cricket, but every bowler was thrashed in that match. To bounce back from such a thrashing and perform well in 2 T20 matches and this one day match is a tribute to Vinay's work ethic and ability to bowl within his limitations. Hope he does well.

Ashwin is 25 years old, but even 38 year old players run and field better than him. On any given day he is a liability on field. Only way to cover up this liability is to bowl well. And he continues to disappoint. Just looks confused at what length and speed to bowl at. He better pull up his socks.

Our batsmen need to fire. Youngsters may take 2-3 matches to get into groove. Let us see how they perform after the initial stages of this tri-series.

Off to Perth now.

Should Rahul Dravid Retire?

No doubt Rahul Dravid has had an awful series down under. But so did each of our batsmen. Then why am I asking about only him?

It is simple. He is a man of commitment, integrity and truthfulness. He always goes by the truth, lives by it and plays his cricket by it. He was struggling for a period of about 2 and half years starting from mid 2008 to 2010. In between he did have a good series here and there. But by and large it was not the Dravid we knew. But he worked at whatever flaws that crept into his batting and resurrected himself in stunning fashion during 2011.

He was our go to man in West Indies and England during 2011. My guess is Rahul Dravid would have stopped playing couple of years back had he succeeded in Australia when India visited there in 2008. By his standards he had a very average series back then.

The burning desire to do well in Australia and to win in Australia was the key factor for him to keep playing. But unfortunately both did not happen this time as well.

Nothing wrong in the way he is playing except for the fact that he is now struggling to play a dead defensive shot without leaving a big gap between bat and pad.

He can still play and score plenty of runs. But what for? What is there to achieve? He has achieved so much and I say he has achieved everything except what he could not in Australia. That will remain unachievable for ever now.

He is the only man to have scored hundreds in all test playing nations. Has about 35 test centuries. Over 11000 runs. Stands second in all time run scorers (This feat is in danger as Punter is only 99 runs behind). Respect of cricket players from all over the world, who admire him more than any contemporary Indian cricketer for his professionalism and that truthfulness he carries with himself all the time. He is considered as one of the finest gentlemen to have played cricket. ICC considers him to be a great ambassador of the game and regularly asks him for views and suggestions on their new initiatives.

Which other cricketer has achieved so much? The individual and team success in Australia remained elusive. But that has to. God will not give everything. If that happens then that is not life.

HE HAS ACHIEVED EVERYTHING. And that is why I say he should stop now. Subramaniam Badrinath has been waiting from last 4 years. Cheteshwara Pujara and Rohit Sharma are ready. No point keeping them waiting. Yes, if there is some thing to achieve then they can be kept waiting. But for Rahul Dravid, what is there to achieve? What he has to achieve is not possible anymore.

I think even if he had done well and the team had won in Australia, he would have still called it quits. He is the man who goes when he knows it is time. There is no better time than this i,e before India play their next test match in September this year.

Rajasthan win Ranji Trophy Again!

How did they do it? I firmly believed that their title triumph last year was a fluke and they are going to find it difficult this year in Elite league.

They did find it difficult for the first 5 matches in the league phase. Their performance was mediocre. Their points tally was 5 points after 5 matches with 2 matches to go.

Rajasthan were no where in the race for the qualification for the knock outs. Other teams were way ahead of them. Then something happened.

At this juncture with 2 matches left in the league phase RCA appointed former South African fast bowler Meyrick Pringle as the bowling coach. What magic he did only the almighty knows. Even Sumit Mathur, who is the workhorse type of bowler started getting 5 fors.

Pankaj Singh started getting more wickets. Even the newcomer Ritu Raj Singh playing in place of injured Deepak Chahar, bagged plentiful of wickets. They defeated Saurashtra in a tense final day's play and then steamrolled Orissa with a bonus point to finish with 16 points. Luck was with them as well as Uttar Pradesh who needed a win in their last match to qualify ahead of Rajasthan only managed a draw.

Then they got the better of Hyderabad and Haryana to reach the final. Their slow batting approach in the final was criticised and ridiculed. But who cares? They got over 600 runs and knocked over Tamilnadu for under 300 to be India's Champions again.

CONGRATULATIONS DESERT FOXES. You guys have done it again. Can not be happening again next year. Let some one else win. Hopefully Karnataka.....

Why I Like Vineet Saxena.....

He is not flamboyant. He is not flashy. He is not stylish. He is not well known. He is not a great player either. But still I like him. That is Vineet Saxena, opening batsman of Rajasthan.

Vineet has been opening for Rajasthan for a long time now. He managed to hold on to his place when a major shake up was done couple of years back wherein many senior players were asked to leave and many promising but non performing youngsters were dropped.

Vineet plays as if his life depends on each innings he plays. And that is partially true as well. I always admired him for the effort and commitment he showed over the years. But only when I read Akash Chopra's book did I come to know the real story.

Vineet is jobless. He has lost his job. Now his only job is 'Opening Batsman of Rajasthan'. This is a part time job starting in November and ending in January. This 3 months earning is his yearly income. And hence he has to play the way he is playing. Or else he will lose his part time job as well.

Couple of years back he lost his only daughter. He came directly to a Ranji trophy match after her funeral. Every innings he plays he plays as if he won't be playing again. And that has resulted in his team getting good starts most of the times.

A team needs players like him, who play as if their life depends on every knock they play. Rajasthan were asked to follow-on nearly 400 runs behind in their first Ranji Trophy match this season. Vineet scored a dogged 99 and helped his team to save the match and thereby earn 1 point. At the end of round robin 3 teams tied on 16 points and Rajasthan scraped through on better run rate. That one point proved crucial.

In last year's Ranji trophy where Rajasthan were victorious, Vineet's contribution was very very vital. His knock in the final was top class.

This year again he has proved his worth. Just now he has completed a grand undefeated 250 in the final of Ranji Trophy. Again a knock when it mattered. No flamboyancy. No big talk. Just doing the work and earning his daily bread.

How I wish someone like him plays for Karnataka. Instead we have Uthappas and Satishs and Gautams who flatter to deceive.

Hope some corporate organisation offers him a decent job after his exploits in the domestic circuit. And I hope again that if he gets a decent job, he will still continue to play as if his life depends on it. As I have seen and observed money can change a player's performance on the field and interest in the game.

Good luck Vineet. Do well.

Karnataka on the way out of 2011-12 Ranji Trophy?

Karnataka have this knack of getting out to a small total in the first innings of the knockout match. And invariably it ends up being the last match of the season for Karnataka.

Two years back in the memorable final match palyed at Mysuru Karnataka were shot out for 130 in the first innings. Last year in the semifinal they were again dismissed for a paltry 107 at Ahmedabad. Both the times Karnataka lost.

This year I had a hunch that their journey may end in the quarter finals irrespective of the opposition. There was a sense of silent joy in the Karnataka Cricket circle when the draws were announced. Karnataka were drawn to take on Haryana. Everybody started talking about semi finals as if Haryana were some small fry which can be brushed aside easily.

And it happened Again! Karnataka were allout for 151 in the first innings. There was no demon in the pitch. It was just consistent line and length bowling from Haryana fast bowler Harsha Patel. He took 8/40. Amazing!

Karnataka batsmen were guilty of throwing their wickets away in the last 2 league matches this year (against Punjab and UP) which resulted in them being dismissed for below par score in the first innings and conceding lead on both occasions. This trend continued in the quarter final also. When asked about this before the match captain Ganesh Satish responded 'we have talked about this'. Only talking won't help.

Moreover Karnataka camp was so confident that they made a statement that Manish Pandey who is recuperating from a hernia operation will be available for Semifinal! Guys, the quarter final has not yet started and these fellows were talking about semifinal. How about that? That is called OVERCONFIDENCE. And it as might well just cost Karnataka the match and the season.

There are no second chances in a knock out match. You lose a session, you end up losing the match. In response to Karnataka's 151, Haryana are 120 for no loss at the end of day one. Looks like end of the road for Karnataka. Haryana will slowly bat Karnataka out of the match. If Karnataka rally from this position that would be a miracle. But knowing and watching this particular team from last 3-4 seasons, I can say that it is highly unlikely. Coach Karthik Jeshwanth can start plans for next season.