Off Stump

At the start of this year's tournament I wrote about how I was expecting lots of surprises and the teams and players haven't let me down at all. Right from the qualifying stage to just before the final three matches, nearly every day of the competition has thrown up a googly or two. ++++++++++++ The biggest surprise for me has been that three of my semi-finalist predictions have come out right! The fact that the one I got wrong has turned out to be the Indian team makes it all the more pleasing. I'm not hoping for a South Africa vs West Indies final any more but if I had to put money on two teams it would be those. As a fan, I'd like to see India defeating the West Indies in the final. Either way, it should a fascinating end to the tournament. ++++++++++++ If somebody had said to me at the start of the tournament that three of the four highest wicket-takers in the group stage of the main tournament would be leg-spinners, I would have happily certified ...

In its short history of seven years (and four editions), the World T20 has thrown up many surprises. Four different winners (each of them unfancied at the start of the tournament), with even England winning silverware. Australia have made just one final and have yet to win (but then it took them till the fifth edition to win the Champions Trophy too). Possibly the most surprising fact about the World T20 is that we're into the fifth edition but India are yet to host one. Given that their victory in the inaugural tournament led to the IPL and the face of the modern game changing, I would have expected a 1987 like scenario with the BCCI doing its utmost to host the championships but that has not been the case. Maybe the IPL brand needs protection in their opinion? The latest version in Bangladesh will throw up plenty more to add to the list of the surprises I'm sure. Its been a pleasant change already to have a proper qualifying tournament between the lower ranked teams  as opp...

An edited version of this piece has been published here on ESPNcricinfo. Cricket is almost unique amongst team sports where the focus is as much on the individual as on the team. Whether its the inordinate focus on stats and records or the fact that the game is ultimately an individual contest between a bowler and a batsman, cricket's very different from football, hockey, rugby and most other team games in that respect. And that almost automatically means that all fans of the sport have their favourite players that they look forward to watching and following more than some others. These affinities are formed for reasons that are mostly hard to explain, especially when it comes to players who are new and just making their way in the game. And its greatly rewarding as a follower of the game when these newbies start to convert their promise into performance. I'm no different from most fans in this respect and the 2013/14 season (so far) has been brilliant as three young batsmen...

Disclaimer: I'm an unabashed fan of Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a player and captain (see here ,  here and here ) and believe he's still the best choice as leader for the Indian team everywhere. New Zealand's astonishing turnaround in the Wellington Test match has (not unsurprisingly) led to a renewed call from Sidharth Monga on ESPNcricinfo for a change in the leadership of the Indian team, ie Dhoni's removal as Test skipper. While I have to admit that Monga has been consistent in his views on this for sometime now and the fact that Dhoni's defensive attitude is what costs India opportunities, it would be better if he strove a little harder to present facts fully and not selectively. I don't usually see the point in picking apart opinion pieces but given his latest tirade had so many factual holes and selective interpretations, I feel compelled to do so. " India will have gone 14 Tests and three years without an overseas Test win. Only Zimbabwe have...

Much is being made of the fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni now has the highest number of overseas losses amongst Indian captains after Auckland. If Christian Ryan's fantasy came true and the fans had their way, he would have been sacked long ago and one of Kohli/Rohit/Pujara made skipper and that alone would have turned India's fortunes. At the risk of coming across as a Dhoni apologist, that's just pure balderdash in my opinion. First the stats. Dhoni's away win loss ratio is still a good deal better than many captains of the past and of those above him, Wadekar and Kapil Dev's two wins each came in the same year (1971 and 1986 respectively) and they lost the captaincy soon after as losses started to mount. Six of Ganguly's wins came against Bangladesh and Zimbabwe (vs just one for Dhoni) leaving Dravid as the only captain who's undisputedly done better. India (and Dhoni) have taken a severe beating since 2011 and among international captains (with 8 o...

Modern day corporations are increasingly realising the benefits of having more diversity in their organisational make-up and empowering individuals to be more flexible and focus on what they do best. Those in charge of managing cricket teams though appear to have a diametrically opposite viewpoint. The Pietersen saga is just the most recent example of this high-handed, headmasterly behaviour from team management and boards. Enough has been written about it (with George Dobell's views the closest to my own) so I won't dwell on the reasons why I think its not the right decision for Engish cricket. The larger (and more worrying) point in my view is that this adds to the list of incidents in recent times of teams pushing for a much more conformist and less individual attitude. Press conferences were one of the first (and arguably minor/harmless) things to be infected and nowadays all you hear is "hitting the right areas", "putting together partnerships", ...

The only breed more inconsistent than the Indian seamers are the Indian fans. If you went by the headlines, fan comments in social media, and interactions with followers of the Indian cricket team, India constantly bounce back and forth between being the best team in the world and worse than Bangladesh/Zimbabwe. There is no middle ground. Reactions over the last three years would bear testament to this: April 2011: India win the World Cup after a good tour of South Africa. All hail the best team in the world. January 2012: Successive 0-4 batterings against England and Australia. India are the pits and Dhoni and all the senior players should be sacked (Dravid and Laxman retire) June 2013: India win the Champions Trophy after wiping out Australia 4-0. Best team in the world again. February 2014: Away losses mount again after defeats to South Africa and New Zealand. Back to being the pits (sack Dhoni etc) Passion is a great quality but when not tempered with patience (as is...

Now that Mahendra Singh Dhoni has essentially announced his decision to stay on as skipper of the side till at least the 2015 World Cup, every ODI series India plays hereon is a stage for defining the plans and alternatives for that tournament. And none of them will be more critical than the current series against New Zealand given its the closest the team will get to play in conditions resembling that in the actual World Cup. A lot gets written about India's poor record in Test cricket away from home even though its improved hugely since the turn of the millennium. Their one-day record away from home is not outstanding either with a win-loss ratio well below 1 (though only Australia and South Africa are better). What is more concerning is the fact that Australia and New Zealand are two of the three worst venues for the team thereby making the title defence even more challenging. Their recent record and especially the win in the Champions Trophy certainly gives cause for hope ...

Given his personality (or the supposed lack thereof), it feels slightly odd to imagine Kallis donning a cape and costume but amongst modern day cricketers (ie post 1990) he came closest to being superhuman in terms of his overall achievements in Test cricket alone. Tendulkar and Ponting have more runs (and the former more hundreds), Dravid has as many runs and a few more catches, Ponting and Waugh have more Test match wins, but the fact that Kallis scored as many runs as he did (at an average over 55), took nearly 300 wickets and picked up 200 catches puts him above them all as an all-round cricketer. Add to that over 11000 runs and 270 wickets in ODI cricket, and a pretty successful IPL career (including a pivotal role in one title win) and the superman image starts to build up quickly. My memories of the man however are nowhere close to that image. The first two things that came to mind when Kallis announced his retirement were - 1) All of the cricketers on my favourite XI(I) are ...

I can't recall a time ever when I've been this excited about a series which I was certain would end in an Indian defeat. India have won just two of the 15 matches they've played on South African soil and there's no reason to believe that they will add to that meagre tally this time. If an inexperienced batting line-up (the likely top 6 have a combined experience of 59 matches) made things difficult, a thrashing in the ODI series followed by a washed out practice game almost seals the series before it begins. That's where India's best chance might lie though. No one expects them to do well including the opposition and that can sometimes be a tricky mindset for host nations. Smith and his men are experienced enough to pull up their socks if things slip (like they did in the UAE recently) but to a degree they will be going in assuming an easy win and if India's batting can withstand some of the pressure they might at least go into day five. For once though i...