No better time for MS Dhoni to enjoy as a player !

        Be it any sport, there is no better sight or sense of excitement for the veterans of sport than seeing a young player taking the center stage and proving everyone that he belong at this level. This is why I believe there is no better time for MS Dhoni to relax and enjoy his game and take pleasure from the young players who he is going to lead in this Zimbabwe tour. 

        There are a few interesting prospects in this squad. Yuzvendra Chahal is one among them. Being from Haryana, he has always been in the shadow of Amit Mishra. IPL has brought him to lime light. In the last couple of seasons despite of being from a batting powerhouse like RCB and playing in a batting paradise like Bengaluru he has done exceptionally well and it is high time he gets his chance, especially in the limited overs side. Spin being his armor, it will be interesting to see how MS uses him. 

      Barinder Sran was an unknown entity when he got his call up for the national squad. It's hard to judge any player from one series. But looking at him in the IPL, his attitude is something that has impressed. He is always ON in the field, trying to contribute with his fielding efforts which is always going to be an added value for the captain. Hope he gets his chance, becomes smarter with the ball  and doesn't fade away with time. 

       Lokesh Rahul and Karun Nair have been incredible for their state team over the past three years. Lokesh especially has started his test career and done reasonably well in List A games and IPL as well. Obviously he has to improve alot as far as his keeping is concerned. Being with a keeper like Dhoni, he can definitely learn and improve himself. Karun has become a vital middle order batsman in IPL. It's time for them to live the moment and grab the opportunity with both hands.

        Manish Pandey is coming back to the Indian team after the match winning century in Sydney. The finisher in MS Dhoni is definitely not the same with his age. I believe Manish can be groomed into a good finisher who bats at No. 5. But only time will tell us provided how the captain uses him and whether he gets a long tenure at the same slot.

           There is one thing I wish, which is very less likely to happen. I wish Dhoni gives up his gloves and let either Lokesh or Kedar to keep wickets so that they can learn and get groomed in his presence, as there is no replacement for MS at the moment and they can get better only by doing it. 

   With the kind of players in the team, I believe this is the time for Dhoni to not to worry too much about the results and let the younger generation take center stage and enjoy the show. It is time for him to express himself as a batsman and a captain and groom the players for the future which I believe he will, before calling it a day.   

A Battle of Champions who have embraced themselves with the attitude that defines them !

              Here we are on the eve of the grand finale of IPL-9 looking at two similar individuals who have taken the center stage. Virat Kohli and David Warner. Two individuals who are said to be being fearless and arrogant at times, swear out to the whole world , wear their heart on their sleeves but above all there is one thing that defines them; they both hate to lose.

              Virat Kohli has been a sensation in this season. People are losing adjectives to describe his performance. His consistency level and Bradmanic performance is becoming dangerously scary for other players to cope up with him. It's unbelievable that he has scored almost 1000 runs in 15 T20 innings.

               On the other side there is David Warner who too has lead from the front. He is the second leading run scorer of the tournament next to Kohli. Sun risers have been a bit over dependent on him in this season. It is only in the later part of the season where other players have taken the responsibility as well.

               Royal Challengers Bangalore started the season well, but lost the track in between with consecutive loses. At a moment their were almost out of the tournament and they had to win four out of four matches. These are the kind of situations on which Virat Kohli thrives on. They struggled to get the balance right without Starc. Watson is the player who brought the balance to the side with his canny bowling and meaty blows.

              Still their bowlers were struggling to bowl at the death . Then came in Chris Jordan who struggled in initial couple of matches after which he has been their key bowler at the death.  As expected RCB have thrived on their batting powerhouse only. Virat Kohli in almost every match and AB De villiers were scoring the bulk of runs with cameos from KL Rahul in some matches.  As they entered the later stages, Gayle coming to his own was a big plus for them. Getting inspired from their batsman, bowlers also started performing  well. Coming into the tournament they have gained great momentum which plays a key role in T20s. They had a close match with Gujarat where ABD held his nerve to take the team to the final.

           Sunrisers have thrived mostly on the brilliance of their bowlers like Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Mustafizur, Henriques and relied heavily on Warner in the batting. In the later part of the tournament Dhawan, Yuvraj performing well has helped them. After taking captaincy he has improved alot in the last two seasons. Even in the last season they lost the place in the last over brilliance from Virat Kohli.

             Even today they will be heavily relying on Warner and Bhuvi in their respective departments. But who knows, they do have big match players like Yuvi and Shikhar who may just show up and take the game from the opposition.

           Both Virat and Warner who have been known for their banter and arrogance on the field in the past. But they have shown that if you could control the character that defines you, the same will take you to great heights. They didn't have to lose or change their attitude. They just had to control it and it has done wonders to them. These two players will be the key for their team's success today; Warner more for SRH than Virat for RCB.

            IPL has never been so much competitive and interesting. We are going to have a new champion this time. RCB has edge with home advantage and the momentum they are in. But cricket is such a crazy game that anything can happen. SRH just have to show up and play out of their skins to cross line. For me it's a battle between two individual champions who have mastered their attitude to their advantage. Irrespective of who's gonna win, it is going to be real fun for the fans who embrace the joy the game gives.  

Virat Kohli - The Virus Indian cricket is blessed with !

    After that carnage at Bengaluru there'll be a lot of posts coming about Virat and AB De villiers. This one is not about them, but it is definitely about one among them. The man is Virat Kohli.

    Having following him from his debut, he has always been a player who keeps improving. He was an Orthodox player, didn't have any outrageous skills to smash the ball everywhere, doesn't slog, never even had a pull shot when he made debut.

    But what he had was outrageous hunger for victory, eagerness to improve and an unbelievable work ethic. The way improve his skills in every match he plays is unbelievable. The rate at which he does that is dangerously scary for the other players who could never keep up with him.
 
   To start of, he was a predominantly leg side player who had a cover drive. Rahul Dravid said once that when he first met Virat at RCB he couldn't take on the short ball. After six months, in a camp he saw Virat playing it with ease. That is the thing about him. He keeps improving as a player every single day.

    Back in 2011, he had a torrid IPL season. He said that he was looking at the mirror and telling himself that if he is gonna remain the same he is not going to sustain at this level. That is when he took his fitness seriously and after that the stats are there to see.
 
      After that unforgettable summer in England, when everybody was resting he went to his idol for improving his game. After that he entirely changed his game. His stance became a bit wider. His drives became punches. It changed so much that his flicks which used to go through square and fine leg were going in front of square now. It did him a lot of good that he score a bulk of runs.

     He has scored so much of runs, but I rarely see him slogging. There was always a method in his shots. I used to say my brother that Rohit can hit big sixes because he can slog through the line. But with Virat even a knee high full toss will be dealt with a cricketing shot. In all those sixes he has hit, there'll be an essence of cricketing method. But well, who am I to say that. He changed that too. In  the match yesterday probably for the first time I saw him clear his front leg and thump Pravin Tambe over long on for six.

     Me and my brother used to discuss about the bottom hand of MSD. The way he used to send a wide yorker over long off in those prime days. This man Virat has quite a bottom hand too. The way he plays the spinners, especially the way he swipes it through mid wicket is amazing. There was one shot against Faulkner in the world T20. He dances down the track tapped the ball of chest height over long off for six. It was like a table tennis tap of the bottom hand. I keep playing that video again and again and just wonder how did he do that !!...

     In the IND vs PAK  match in the T20 world cup, the first shot by Virat was a square drive of the back foot. That moment I was like "Jeez!!! This man is amazing. I have never seen him play this shot in all those years. How does he keep on improving every single game and increasing his range of shots!". It is not possible unless he have an extremely good work ethic and hunger for victory.

     After the loss against Mumbai, he says that he loves the situation where they have to win three out of three. I am not saying he will do it. But his attitude towards the challenges is too good. That is one thing I admire about him. That is the quality he wants to plant in his team.
 
     He has become a virus today. We can clearly see his influence in players like KL Rahul. Provided that India is going to play a lot of test matches in the coming season, if his attitude spreads through the team then that will definitely take this team to greater victories. If this man infects the team with his attitude and work ethic it will definitely do a greater good for Indian cricket.

Sachinnnn Sachinnn !.. Sachinnnn Sachinnnn !.. Sachinnnn Sachinnnn !..

"Sachinnnn  Sachinnnn” “Sachinnnn  Sachinnnn” “Sachinnnn  Sachinnnn” !!! This is the most iterated rhyme of a 90s Indian kid which includes myself. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

   For a kid born in early 90s like me, cricket was nothing but SACHIN TENDULKAR. We grew up along with Sachin's career, watching him becoming the best in the business, becoming the GOD of the game we loved. We watched cricket just to watch him bat. Every time he went out to bat, we wanted him to score a century and win it all by himself for the country. That mattered to us the most, than anything else. He made our childhood to be precise.

But as I grew up, I started understanding the game more. I understood Sachin more. But one thing never changed. Sachin’s batting gave us joy. Throughout those 24 years, in all those 664 international appearances he made, we wanted him to bat for as long as possible.

When we look back at Sachin’s journey, there are a lot of untold stories. What everyone knows is that Sachin was a childhood prodigy who took the world by storm and scripted an unimaginable story in the history of the game. But what most people didn’t know is that Sachin was the most blessed child of his generation. Like Rahul Dravid mentioned recently in the MAK Pataudi lecture, Sachin got the best support system possible, for a kid who possessed unimaginable talent and immense hard work.

Sachin was so blessed to get a brother like Ajit, a mentor like Ramakant Acherekar. It’s so interesting that the career of Sachin coincides with the most important phase of Indian economy. In 1991 Sachin had just started to take the centre stage of the sport. It was in the same year Economic liberalisation was brought into act by then Indian Government. Sponsors flew in towards the wonder kid of the second most populated country. Cable TVs, Colour televisions entered the lives of the middle-class people. Sachin was now visually available at almost every single home in India.

Every single house/family owned him, as if he was their own. To be honest, that’s a curse as much as it’s a blessing. 1997-2003 was the span in which Sachin was at his peak. It’s amazing that he was in form for almost six long years. He was the nightmare for every single opposition. Most teams believed that if they got Sachin, they’ve won the match. Irony is that, almost every Indian thought so. Most of them switched off the TV as soon as Sachin got out.

Luckily my home wasn’t in that list. The love for the game I had is in my gene. At least I believe so. The interest towards cricket at home goes long back into the days of radio commentary, when there were no televisions in the native village were my Dad grew up. It was he, who made me realise that cricket is not just about Sachin. It’s a team game. And more importantly, anything is possible in cricket.

It’s not that people at home didn’t like Sachin. We adored him as much as anybody else in the country. But they just know that the game is bigger than any individual. This is something that even Sachin has said himself.

On field Sachin as an individual, was a Genius. He worked hard as much as a person could at his game. Technique wise he‘s a freak. Every time he went out to bat, he wanted to dominate the bowler, whoever he may be. His hunger and appetite for runs is unimaginable.

The way he handled himself on the field made everyone love him. There were a billion people who wanted to make his dream of winning a world cup come true. When he finally lifted it after 22 long years, most people cried in joy for him winning the world cup than the country winning it.  

Once he retired, the book of Sachin got released. The title of the book “Playing it my way” suited him the most. True, Sachin played the game in his own way, which was unimaginable for anybody else. That is the reason why the whole world is in awe of him even now. But in the book, more than joy which he gave on the field, a fine line of rage was clearly visible at many places. I would have preferred the dressing room things remain within, than exposing it to the world. I wouldn’t complain though, as he was honest.

Even now whilst writing this, two years after his retirement there is only one thing I remember when I think about him. Thinking about Sachin’s batting gives me only Happiness. I am always grateful to him for making my childhood with awesome memories. Don’t think me as if I didn’t love him as much as the country did. I am one of those billion fans who cried on 16-Nov-2013. Believe me, I did. Happy birthday Sachin !

The story will not be the same without a genuine story teller !...

            People play sport for different reasons. Some play it for their physical fitness, some as hobby and some for the joy it gives. But none will take it as a profession if there are no spectators. The sponsors come in and players get paid only because of the spectators. People may disagree that they play for pride. Yes, players indeed should take pride in representing their country. But none will do it for free. And I don't ask them to do as well. What I am trying to say is that sport will not flourish as a profession if there are no spectators.

           Cricket comes under this as well. We watch the game for the joy it gives us. The joy can be increased or decreased by the story teller, i.e. commentators.They narrate the untold stories of the game to a common fan. They even help a lot of people improve their language and communication skills unknowingly. I honestly believe that the very little amount of English I know, is learnt purely by listening to commentators like Mark Nicholas, Alan Wilkins, Michael Slater, Mike Atherton, Harsha Bhogle and a few others. Being an Indian, Harsha Bhogle has been an inspiration to me. His perspective towards the game has always amazed me.

           If we look at the past twenty five years, there isn't a better commentator from India. A lot of cricketing legends has taken commentating as their second profession. But only a very few are genuinely good at commentating, like they were at playing. It is always great to hear from the legends and knowing their point of view about the game. But, to be a professional commentator certain skills are required and I believe only a few have it. Rahul Dravid could have become a commentator as good as Harsha. But there are bigger things he is capable of doing. And very rightly, he went to do that.
       
           Now that Harsha Bhogle's term as commentator in IPL has been terminated without any notice, I would like to look at the possible reasons for it. Either it might have been the argument with organizer in Nagpur or the comment on the pitches during India -South Africa test series or that tweet and explanation regarding Ind-Ban match. Or all these might just have piled up. If there is a genuine reason, then that could have been explained.

            Either he was so wrong that it wasn't explainable or it may be the fact that he was so good at telling the actual story which couldn't be bared. But I just hope like he himself has said, it's not because of the comments from the players. Because I believe he isn't one of those commentators who praises like god on a good day and ditches like the reverse of it on a bad one. Being a professional commentator he has always stuck to the story and told it as it is. He do praise on a good day but mentioning the past as well. Which means he clearly knows that one good or one bad day is not going to define a player. And there isn't a better commentator who criticizes in a gentler manner. In other words a very professional manner. And being professional is the only thing that he has always loved to be referred with.
           
          But this is not just about him. When these petty politics happen to affect the sport it is definitely not good. More than on field which everyone knows, when it is affecting the small off field external things like these, it will not have a good impact on the spectators. It is really heart warming to see the spectators speak up in favor of a commentator in common, irrespective of the their favorite player/team.

     
         It is for those spectators these tournaments are being held. Without spectators the game isn't going to flourish. I just hope the  cricketing board thinks about it and I believe it is only for the IPL and not for the internationals. Like Harsha famously quoted regarding Sachin's name not in the Lord's Honours board, it's the loss for the tournament and the spectators for they cannot hear from a genuinely good story teller. And hopefully it doesn't last long.

It all comes down to this!

       It all comes down to this at the Eden Gardens. One is a team which looks as if they own the format and the other one is a team which has completely transformed their perspective towards the format.

    As far as T20 is concerned, WI have always looked like a champion side. When all their stars come to their own aiming for a single trophy, they'll be nearly unstoppable.

   They have stuck to their game plan. Their dot ball percent is too high. But so is their boundary percent. That's the reason why they struggled on a slow turning track against Afghanistan. But with the inclusion of Simmons and the innings he played against India they should be able to play much better than the other night. He is one of those who can rotate the strike really well.

   Though they have won four games so far, West indies are yet to set a target for the opposition in the tournament. They have chased in all five matches. We will have to wait and watch whether they can ignore the big occasion and chase again.

   England on the other hand has played some really good cricket. They are bowling well. Their batsmen are attacking from the word go. They are playing similar to the way they played in 2010. Root is doing the job that Pietersen did in 2010. With a lot of match winners like butler, stokes in the side, they should be backing themselves to cross the line for the second time.
  Recently I read Michael Atherton saying that England has benefited alot because of it's association with BCCI in this tournament as for as pitches and travel schedules are concerned. But I don't buy that thought too much because, unlike England, Australia who is one among the BIG THREE have played on tough conditions.

    The reason for England's redemption in shorter format is their world cup exit last year and their decision to persist with Morgan. That exit made them rethink their approach and the pitches used for the format. I have always wondered since 2012 why Alex hales then no. 1 T20 batsman was not picked for the ODIs. The series after the world cup against NZ saw some flat pitches and really high scoring games. Ever since England have played similar kind of cricket. They have got the perfect team balance.

 England also have rided so far on chasing. That is why I believe there's a lot riding on the way the pitch is gonna behave. If the ball turns square like it did in IND - PAK game, it's going to be a difficult game to predict. That's when the toss matters alot. But if it is similar to those these two teams have played so far, both the teams would prefer chasing because the PAR SCORE is becoming difficult to predict these days.
   Purely for their attitude and the joy they bring on, heart goes with the Windies. But somewhere deep inside I feel that England have a better chance for a second time glory. We just have to wait and watch.

Time to make the miracle happen

Cricket is such a crazy game that anything is possible and the shortest format of the game has always been full of surprises. This world cup was just an example to prove it.
     India who started as favourites, have scratched their way into the semis. New Zealand as a team have played the best cricket so far. West indies as expected made sure all their T20 stars are at their best. England being unpredictable as I said before the tournament have made their way into the semis in a much convincing fashion.
     In a high pressure tournament of this calibre, there were moments of joy, frustration, sorrow, panic. It was a great pleasure to watch Afghanistan play at this level and giving some tough time to the top teams. Bangladesh played some good cricket. But they just have to learn how to hold their nerves. With the crop of players they have, they will be a good team in the coming decade.
  
Pakistan and Sri lanka are yet to find their batting stars. They really need to look at the players whom they have to bank on and whom not to. South Africa have been a great team which always misses out on these kind of tournaments. Before the start of world cup, De Velliers was opening the batting and I thought that was a great move because if he stays for six overs, he is definitely going to take the game away from the opposition. Then I really couldn't understand what happened. It felt as if there wasn't a clarity about his role in the team. The small errors they made, cost them the tournament.



      Like I hoped for at the start, Kane Williamson has scripted the storyline perfectly until now. The way he has handled the conditions with the resources he have was admirable. It's not a team with superstars. But it looked as if there is clarity on the role assigned to each player and they were doing it to perfection. They are yet to have a high scoring game. Being an unknown entity, Mitch Santner has bowled really well on the spinning tracks which he is not much used to. He'll be the key against England at the Kotla. Hopefully Kane continues the script like he has so far.


England literally lost to Chris Gayle  in their first match. But the match against south africa must have lifted their morale. The starts they get and the way Root and butler are playing, it shouldn't surprise us that they are in the semifinal after that incredible chase against South Africa. They are playing the same brand of cricket like they did back in 2010. And Root is doing a KP of 2010 here. Though they managed to win, they struggled on a turning track against Afghanistan. They are again going to Delhi to face the kiwis who have won everything with their spinners so far. It's going to be a good battle to watch.



West indies started off on the back of a Gayle special against England. Sammy has made sure that all their individual stars have come to the party. Every team has their own way to go about the game. They play to their strengths. West indies strength have always been the fire power they have in their batting line up. They have played to their strengths do far. They rely on  those big Sixes and boundaries to score runs. If you look at the scorecard against England, Gayle scored 86 runs of 16 balls in boundaries and 14 singles with 18 dot balls. Similarly Samuels scored 32 in 8 balls and 5 singles and 13 dot balls. They tend to struggle when those boundaries doesn't come, like they did against Afghanistan.




India unlike west indies, have played on pitches that were tough to bat on. They was demolished against New Zealand by the spinners. The match against Bangladesh was a great team effort with the genius of MSD. It was the Kohli special against Pakistan and Australia. Indian bowlers have done really well. All five bowlers have stuck to their roles and are doing it to near perfection. It's just the batting which really didn't fire so far except for that one man, Virat Kohli. Every game he keeps improving and raising the bar for others. His work ethic is unbelievably good. But it's high time the openers and the finishers fired. Unless they do well, it is definitely going to be difficult to cross the line from here.


 The game plan of India is exactly opposite to that of the West Indies. They relish on getting those singles and twos and the odd boundary in every over. It has been the game of Virat and it has worked wonders for him and the team. Even in the match against Australia, it's the running between Dhoni and Kohli that put Aussies on the back foot. The key for India against Windies will be not to give easy boundaries and make them run for their runs. That's when they struggle. But for the same reason I believe, the pitch is going to play a huge role. It has been very flat so far. If it remains the same, I am afraid that the bowlers have to play out of their skins to restrict WI.




The tournament so far has been great fun. Of course there were heart breaks as it always tends to happen. It has given us a few moments to cherish. And now it's just the final showdown of the carnival between four different kind of teams. Like the pre tournament ad says, it's time to make the miracle happen. And it'll be interesting to see who's gonna make it happen.