Skip to main content

A new dawn?

So finally some real cricket has picked up again after the 50 day bore that was IPL 2011 (Pak vs. WI in their current states is not real cricket ;-)). And what a beginning! If India needed any further confirmation that this upcoming tour of Eng is going to be one of their toughest (even tougher than SA last year) in a while, Cardiff provided that. Granted this Sri Lankan team is not one of the toughest going around but to blow them away in less than half the length of an ODI innings without their premier strike bowler is testament to how strong this English team has become. And the key difference between SA and Eng is Graeme Swann, who at the moment is clearly the best spinner in the world by a mile. India have been served their warning and will hopefully take the WI tour seriously enough to toughen themselves up for the English summer.

The WI tour itself should be exciting, primarily because it will give a glimpse of the future of Indian cricket particularly in the limited overs formats. Six of the most experienced members of the XI who led the charge on April 2 are not going to be around and only Dhoni and Zaheer will be back for the Test leg of the tour. Its going to be fascinating to see how Raina and Kohli cope with being the batting seniors and whether Harbhajan can truly become an attack leader. Without Sehwag, Gambhir, and Tendulkar its going to be a Test for the batsmen even against the WI and I'm really keen to see if a) the all TN opening pair can bloom, and b) if Dhoni is courageous enough to play five bowlers. All in all, should be an exciting few months on this front!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Et tu?

As a single sport website, I think Cricinfo has brought about a revolution and the fact that they were bought by ESPN is testament to how highly valued they've become. Their editing and approach to articles/opinion has been refreshing to say the least and even though they seem to have had a lot of editorial staff movement they've usually maintained very high standards. Off late though, both in their headline styles as well as in actual content, there seems to be an occasional slippage of standards and an inching towards the modern media sensationalism which is a bit of a pity. This piece  by Siddharth Monga is a classic example. Granted that the last two press conferences by Dhoni and Sehwag  indicated clearly that the captain and his deputy did not agree on this aspect of selection but "discord", "dissent", "public sniping" feels rather presumptuous and heavy handed. Yes, it is a team sport but there is no reason why everyone on the team needs ...
1 comment
Read more

Quick singles: Why the double standards?

I'm no fan of David Warner's but for once, I'm firmly and squarely on his side . Sportspersons are probably treated the most unfairly by public opinion (and often the media) whenever they are involved in pay disputes. "Oh, look these millionaires are complaining about not getting paid enough" seems to be the gist of the general reactions. I find this attitude inexplicable at best and grossly hypocritical if I'm feeling less charitable. Like the rest of us, all athletes have the right to fight for what they think they should be paid. That is the fundamental part. In addition (and unlike many of the rest of us), most sportspersons operate in the knowledge that they only have a short period available as a performer, and therefore only a short period to maximise earnings. Most people that I know would behave exactly the same as Warner and his colleagues are doing. So why all the hue and cry?
Post a Comment
Read more

A kick up the backside

Its very interesting (and revealing) that so many Indian cricketers pull up their socks and become better players once they've been dropped from the side and left out in the cold for a while. The trend is even more prevalent currently when the selectors have a larger pool of good players to choose from. Dravid (from the one-day team), Kumble, Ganguly, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Harbhajan, the list goes on. In fact, the only people I can think of who haven't been dropped at any point in recent years are Tendulkar (in any form of the game), and Dravid (from the Test team). This article in the TOI attributes their post-drop performance improvements (at least in Yuvraj's case and a few more as well) to anger. I'm not too sure I agree. I think its more a generic Indian mentality of taking things easy and getting soft and comfortable too easily. Its a national trait and one that needs great guarding against. I've discovered the hard way how getting physically unfit or slack...
Post a Comment
Read more