Sachin's Masterclass and Dhoni's Masterstroke

Admittedly, I am a Sachin connoisseur. It was as if I had written the script in my last post and Sachin decided to read it and deliver a critic's dream performance. Pity the Academy awards were done and dusted last week else, I guess, Sachin's batting today would have been a contender. At the very least, it has been a slap in the face to all his eternal doubters. Enough said about him; my generation has grown up watching Sachin and if anything, I have always wanted him to be in a world cup winning squad. Then again, that's just me!!

A more pertinent accolade must go to the firebrand Dhoni. I was pretty disappointed he did not play a fully fit Piyush Chawla until the final. In fact, I had rued the fact in my last post. What I didn't expect was to see Dhoni field his trump card at the deep end! It was always a given that Chawla would be more than useful in Sydney and Adelaide if not at the other venues. However, if Chawla had been taken to the cleaners today, I am sure there would have been a fair amount of tabloid space dedicated to some Dhoni bashing. That would have been quite unfair. I guess Dhoni's line of thought would have been something like this - "I have got a bits and pieces bowler in Praveen Kumar and I have got two bowlers struggling for some form in Munaf and Sreesanth. Why don't I punt on my reserve leggie kid who had a good time on the most unhelpful pitches in Ireland and England?". The worst that could have happened was that Piyush Chawla might have gone for a few runs but then Munaf and Sreesanth couldn't have been backed for anything better. Therefore, I consider Dhoni's call to play Piyush as one backed by sound cricketing logic and hence a masterstroke.

Then again, there is that small matter of Dhoni's masterstroke paying off with Bhajji and Piyush suffocating the Aussies in the middle overs. Dhoni has a presence even in press conferences. He comes across as a captain who does not take the post match presentation as a formality. He treats it as just another chat and his words are pertinent and natural. His rider for caution and intensity for the remaining games was well received. Here is a leader of men whose words will not be lost on his charges. I hope he is able to back it up with results and in the very short term I hope he is able to finish his business down under at the Gabba!

Good Luck India, May the fours be with you ...... always !!

Dada & Dravid: Que Sera Sera

Let's all be honest, no serious cricket follower would expect Laxman to fit in the ODI format. Therefore, I would like to look at the decision by the Indian cricket selectors to drop Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid for the Commonwealth Bank series down under.

Consider Dravid: he was in the squad for a few matches in the Ind-Pak ODI series, yet he wasn't selected for a few games. Its obvious that he is no longer an automatic selection in the playing ODI Indian eleven. Therefore his axing should not come as a total surprise. A senior pro should not be in the national squad if he is not an automatic selection especially when he is a specialist (batsman or bowler). Dravid was a 2 dimensional cricketer in ODI's a few years ago. He was in top form and very handy with the gloves. Now, he is not able to sustain the intensity that his contemporaries like Ponting are quite comfortable with. This is a hard fact that every Dravid fan must accept. He was never an explosive ODI batsman but he did make up by building from slow starts. Now he has lost his zip on the field. He is still an automatic choice in the test team especially with his slip fielding. My guess is that he will be able to play at test intensity levels for 3 more years. Lets see how it goes.

Sourav Ganguly would have been a trickier decision for the selectors and by trickier, I do not mean 'for cricketing reasons alone'. He has always had passionate support from Bengal and whenever he is not selected, the river of passion overflows to inundate inappropriate areas! Personally, I had predicted that he would fail at Perth. Well, he did. Yet, I must admit, he is in good (not great) batting form therefore an automatic choice in the test team as a specialist.

In ODI's however, he is a liability on the field. Now, his die-hard fans would jump up and say that athleticism in fielding and especially Ganguly's lack of it are often over-exaggerated. This is absolute rubbish. Let me elaborate: an un-athletic presence on the field not only results in shoddy, unproductive dives but they bring down the entire team's intensity on the field. You get the typical cross-eyed glares from your team-mates and you end up putting extra pressure on yourself to perform in your area of expertise which is Ganguly's case is his batting. This is where we come to the crux of the matter. In Australia, Ganguly's part-time out swingers are not going to be of any use. Therefore, he has one and only one department to prove his worth: his batting. Given that he holds on to the opening spot for dear life, he is under extreme pressure to get the team off to a good start every time he steps out into the centre. Again, his poor athleticism means he never is a candidate for quick singles (Even Monty Panesar ran him out, remember!!). If you notice his recent dip in form in ODIs you will notice a pattern: He could never get off strike quickly enough and was always looking for the boundary. His partner Sachin on the other hand is still fit enough and athletic enough to play in ODI mode. Ganguly not only puts pressure on himself to score but affects his partner too. If Sachin gets out or is not playing, the standby opener Gautam Gambhir or the younger Robin Uthappa coming one-drop is either shut out from the strike or entrusted with the complete responsibility of blazing away.

Inevitably, Sachin's dismissal or unavailability has meant a poor batting display. Without Ganguly, the younger brigade along with Sehwag, Yuvraj and the rest will not be under so much pressure to keep finding the boundary. This is the nature of the new Indian team. We now have fitter and younger players who do look for singles to rotate strike in addition to being good boundary hitters. Simply put, the younger brigade has set a higher fitness and athletic standard and only those senior pros able to match up to it or at least not be over exposed by it can find a place in the playing eleven. Sachin passes these basic standards and in addition, is in good batting form.

Look, for players like SG, RD, VVS and SRT, form is something temporary. Batting form is so fuzzy a concept that if other things are going well, their batting will take care of itself; they are simply awesome batsmen, all of them. Therefore, it is the selectors' and captain's job to make sure they fit the bill in all other accessory requirements. If not, they must not be included as excess baggage within the squad. That will only create more problems in the dressing room. Right now, Sachin alone passes these addition requirements of ODI fitness and ODI athleticism therefore, he is rightfully still in the ODI squad and will be in the ODI playing eleven.

I do not think Sachin will last long in ODIs. His body simply does not allow him to play the long innings. That is one reason he gets out in the 90s so often nowadays or he usually gets cramps around the 90s. I do not think he will allow himself to be dropped by the selectors; I desperately hope he will retire from ODIs of his own accord within this year or the next.

If the younger brigade along with Sachin, Sehwag and the rest do well in Australia, all else will be forgotten. The selectors will be hailed as people building for the future; if India do not manage to make it to the finals, the knives will be sharpened again. All in all, I would like to see this move by the selectors to drop VVS, SG and RD as a positive, brave and hopeful move. In fact, I am so surprised the selectors were brave enough to drop SG that I am sure, they will recall him into the squad in a few days saying it was a communication error!!

However, I will be extremely unhappy if SG or VVS or RD complains of not being treated with respect in relation to this axing. I desperately hope the selectors or the administration had the courtesy to internally explain their decision to these senior pros. Knowing the BCCI, I know this is wishful thinking. I feel we have too many bloated egos within the BCCI that makes it impossible for senior players to leave the game ceremoniously. If the BCCI is trying to make sure Indian cricket catches up with Australian cricket, they must first ensure their own handling of the players matches up to the standards of the ACB.

Again, I know this is wishful thinking. The BCCI has too many non-cricketers to make sure they are never part of an outfit that has cricket's best interests at heart. Usually the BCCI has its annual turnover closest to its heart and a lot of skeletons locked up in undisclosed closets!!