Life Etc Etc

As an Indian cricket fan, I am happy that we were able to put behind the heartbreak of 2023 to achieve this world cup victory .  This post will however not be celebratory in nature, on the contrary it seeks to critically analyze some of the team management's decisions which could have cost us the big one once again. Rigidity with the team selection has been a recurring theme in many of the failed world cup campaigns of the recent past. I therefore have three questions about some of the decisions that went into the batting order and team selection.   Jasprit Bumrah in disbelief upon winning the World Cup 2024 <Courtesy: ICC > a) This tournament we persisted with the opening combination of Rohit and Virat (who was in woeful form until the final) despite having an attacking option in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal. Did the team management have a crystal ball to predict that Virat would finally come good in the final? Even though Virat eventually repaid the team managem...

It took me sometime to collect my thoughts after the utterly disappointing World Cup final on Sunday. I needed this break to objectively wrap my head around what might have happened and also listen to the analyses from various sources before writing this piece. Within the last week, I've seen  several experts  claim that a slow track was intentionally prepared to provide an outside advantage to India with that strategy ultimately backfiring on the hosts. I don't know how true these allegations are but more than the pitch I single out the team's performance as the primary reason we lost that day . Here are three things which our team could have done better.  1. Firstly, we did not read the pitch as well as the Australian team did . Rohit Sharma revealed that he would have batted first had he won the toss on a surface which played better in the second innings. Considering the fact that we played more international matches than any other team at the venue we should have had...

Before the first ball is bowled in the final tomorrow, I would like to have my final say on this World Cup. We've seen a tournament where the Indian Juggernaut has rolled along thumping teams across the Indian sub-continent. Come T20s or ODIs the core of this team has largely been the same since 2019. After some misguided attempts to bag a World T20, the team is finally flourishing in a format which suits its strengths. One thing which we could have done without, were the repeated tributes to Virat Kohli. Conversations on/off the field inevitably centered on him, fall of wicket montages unfailingly transmitted his reactions and the preview packages to all matches featuring India were replete with his references. Virat is a great player, no doubt, we just don't need to be reminded about it every other minute. Cricket World Cup 2023: Grandest prize of them all <Courtesy: Logowik >  Our opponents in the final, Australia started listlessly but found form at the right time. Th...

India have finally recorded a victory against New Zealand in a ICC Championship tournament but here are three frustrating things (ordered from the most frustrating to the least) which I observed in our victory: 1. Throwing away starts: Shubman Gill's unnecessary swipe at a wide delivery, Shreyas Iyer's mistimed pull and Suryakumar Yadav's frantic runout could have cost us this match if New Zealand had more runs on the board. Team management should urge players to put a higher price on their wickets. Just forsake the sizzle for the substance and don't throw away a solid platform at the cost of making a statement. 2. Bumrah's fielding: Bumrah's bowling is world class but his fielding left a lot to be desired today. The dropped catch of Daryl Mitchell  might have cost us at least 50 runs. That coupled with the fact that he was always one step slower on the field makes me wonder about his fitness and his presence of mind. The fielding coach needs to have a c...

As a sports fan, I have endured countless debacles over the last few decades. I still remember the Indian Cricket Team collapsing like a pack of cards in the 96' World Cup semi-final , can recall Dhanraj Pillay's tears when India lost a medal chance by a whisker in the 2000 Olympics, still dwell upon what would have happened if Saurav Ganguly elected to bat first instead of putting Australia in on a flat track in the 2003 Final and still find it hard to digest Andy Roddick's  ultra narrow loss to Roger Federer in the 2009 Wimbledon Final . Every hurt is different, some fade away with time and some live on, only to flare up every time a similar incident happens. A devasted Mithali Raj along with Harmanpreet Kaur  Today those hurts of the past flared up again when an inexperienced but talented Indian team lost to an English team resembling a well oiled machinery. This was not just any match it was the World Cup Final and it was a final we were winning. As someone...

The time has come to induct another class of cricketers into the most meaningless hall of fame of them all. I was planning to postpone this induction to the new year but South Africa's epic blockathon  a few weeks ago triggered some painful memories. So without any further ado here are certain performances which will definitely up your BP levels and go down in the history of cricket as some of the most disgusting sporting fails . Kris Sricant : Before Sanath Jayasuriya and Virender Sehwag destroyed bowlers,  Kris Srikkanth  walloped them with the sort of a brutality that was never seen before. So complete was his mastery that even the most fearsome bowlers didn't escape the brunt of his bat. Who can forget the six he hooked of Andy Roberts  in the most important final of them all. But even greatness can wane with time, come 1992 the hero of 1983 was a pale shadow of himself. The confidence was absent, the technique was inconsistent and the reflexes were non-e...

Two teams punch their way into the Most Painful Performances in Cricket Hall of Fame  with their sheer misjudgment and lack of direction. Our dual inductees into the Hall of Fame share many similarities and their rivalry goes a long way back. These teams are guilty of burdening us (the fans) with two embarrassing sporting fails on the World Cup Stage. Without any further ado lets talk about the back story which intertwines these Hall of Fame inductions. The year was 1996, school was just about to finish when news arrived that Sri Lanka were 1/2 (read that as two wickets for one run) in the all important World Cup Semi-Final against India. That news was like nectar to my ears, I immediately rushed home, only to find that  Aravinda de Silva  had steadied the ship with a magical innings . Aravinda's fearless stroke play along with Roshan Mahanama's  resilience set India a testing but perfectly attainable target of 252 runs. Flashback India lost Sidhu's wicket quit...

Somewhere at the back of my mind I had to publish a follow-up to my previous commentary because in all these years of watching cricket there were lot more than just three performances which caused me pain. You might have already noticed that I am using the word ‘performances’ instead of ‘knocks’. This is because even though Cricket is a batsman’s game all the three departments of bowling, batting and fielding need to work in order to make a team go over the line. So here are a few embarrassing moments in the sport of cricket which have well and truly upped my pain levels. Shastri deadbats:   Ravi Shastri paved the way for many Indian triumphs over the course of his career but the 1992 world cup (which was also his last) came at a time when he was at the nadir of his powers. Shastri started off the world cup with a sluggish 57 (112) against England which India went on to lose by nine runs .   Shastri decelerated further in the next match against Australia where he blocked...

Its been just a shade over twenty four hours since the World T20 final and the story on everyone's lips continues to be how Yuvraj's knock of 11 from 21 balls deprived India of a second world championship in the shortest format. I watched the Indian innings in its entirety and I must confess that even though  Yuvraj's knock was agonizing, what was even more painful to watch was the disappointment on the faces of the spectators (who had travelled far and wide to support the Indian team) and the disbelief on the faces of the players (in the Indian Team dugout) regarding what was transpiring on the field. Yuvraj Singh unable to middle the ball Yuvraj Singh Strike Rate 2014 T20 World Cup <Courtesy:  Chandi Sports > Now make no mistake I have tremendous respect for Yuvraj's determination and have been an ardent admirer of his talents right from his fiery debut in Nairobi. His unbelievable six-hitting in Durban was magical and his champion like perf...

Words don’t do justice to pure ecstasy but if they do its only fair that I recap India’s victory exactly a month into their reign as world cup champions.  For the first time in two decades (since the 1992 edition ) we had a competition so open that it almost required a magician with a crystal ball to predict the winner right until the final moments of the final. At the end, the prayers of a billion people were answered, India were once again champions of the cricket world after 28 long years. While India winning the tournament justified their "favourite" billing it wasn’t an easy road at all for the home team. So how did each of the 14 teams competing in the world cup fare? Let’s find out: 1.       Kenya:   Kenya looked the weakest and most underprepared of all the sides in the tournament. Their bowling lacked teeth their batting was equally inept. It was painful to watch one of the most promising associate nations of the past slip to such depths. ...