Of all the things wrong in the world today, you also have to deal with watching the indian team going through its worst patch ever. Not only is the team playing bad, the team composition is outrageous.
Though hailed as a game of "glorious uncertainties", an indian loss seems certain on the day of a game.
A population of 1 billion cant churn out 15 world class cricketers? That too in a nation that has been cricket crazy for several generations now! On paper, we have a team full of stars. Each man capable of winning a match on his own. Put them all together and they appear like (fat) blue bunnies.
I'm a great admirer of Rahul Dravid, he lives down the road from me and what he has achieved over the years is nothing short of remarkable. But when he says that india needs harder pitches, he also needs a kick up the back side.
Yes, India needs better pitches. What it needs more than that is for Mr. Dravid and company to play on them. When was the last time Dravid played for his state team? When was the last time anyone who became a hotshot in the indian team played for their state team? The problem is that cricketers assume that once they make it to the big league, they are too big for domestic cricket.
You have Irfan Pathan who has forgotten if he is a bowler or a batsman. His amnesia now has persisted for months. The brains trust thinks he could be fixed in the nets. Nets?
The nets are the cosiest places for cricketers. Why? Because you have the same bowlers bowling at you over and over again. There is no shame if you get out, and there is no pressure. Nobody knows if that cover drive you just creamed went between 2 fielders or into one's hands.
As poor as our domestic cricket scene is, no national cricketer deserves to be above it. I am sick of seeing and hearing about how 'rusty' the players are at the start of a season and throughout it. Do you see a rusty australian team? The trouble with cricket is that no matter how good you are, a 'break' from your speciality, even for a short period gets you out of the groove. I'm sure the substandard domestic cricket bowlers would be a rejuvenated lot if they were bowling to players from the national side...not to mention cock-a-hoop when they get them out.
With our pathetic bench strength, I cant imagine what kind of a team we would have in another 2-3 years when possibly the likes of Sachin, Rahul, Kumble, Laxman would be heading for retirement. If Raina, Jaffer et al. are our future, god save us.
Bringing back Saurav Ganguly and Laxman is probably the need of the hour. Gautam Gambhir is a much better standby opener than Wasim Jaffer. The only indian bowler who looks good for a scrap, Sreesanth has been carrying drinks. Pathan needs to go back to domestic cricket and re-educate himself, just the way Zaheer Khan did by playing county cricket. Kaif will not last another season if he plays this way, and he, along with Sehwag should be playing in the Ranji teams.
Not a single player in this side looks good for a fight. The legacy of the indian tiger seems to have disappeared with Saurav Ganguly's exit. India will never have a finer captain than him. Not because he was an outstanding batsman (prior to captaincy), nor was he the greatest mind on the field, but because he somehow turned a bunch of pussycats into tigers. To inspire your team members to perform extraordinary feats without actually leading from the front is pure genius.
Speaking of geniuses...I fail to understand why our current coach believes so much that playing kho-kho (ouch Yuvraj Singh), football, rugby & volleyball will turn the team into better cricketers. I haven't seen any other sports team play cricket.....perhaps I never will. "Dog and the bone" next?
Though hailed as a game of "glorious uncertainties", an indian loss seems certain on the day of a game.
A population of 1 billion cant churn out 15 world class cricketers? That too in a nation that has been cricket crazy for several generations now! On paper, we have a team full of stars. Each man capable of winning a match on his own. Put them all together and they appear like (fat) blue bunnies.
I'm a great admirer of Rahul Dravid, he lives down the road from me and what he has achieved over the years is nothing short of remarkable. But when he says that india needs harder pitches, he also needs a kick up the back side.
Yes, India needs better pitches. What it needs more than that is for Mr. Dravid and company to play on them. When was the last time Dravid played for his state team? When was the last time anyone who became a hotshot in the indian team played for their state team? The problem is that cricketers assume that once they make it to the big league, they are too big for domestic cricket.
You have Irfan Pathan who has forgotten if he is a bowler or a batsman. His amnesia now has persisted for months. The brains trust thinks he could be fixed in the nets. Nets?
The nets are the cosiest places for cricketers. Why? Because you have the same bowlers bowling at you over and over again. There is no shame if you get out, and there is no pressure. Nobody knows if that cover drive you just creamed went between 2 fielders or into one's hands.
As poor as our domestic cricket scene is, no national cricketer deserves to be above it. I am sick of seeing and hearing about how 'rusty' the players are at the start of a season and throughout it. Do you see a rusty australian team? The trouble with cricket is that no matter how good you are, a 'break' from your speciality, even for a short period gets you out of the groove. I'm sure the substandard domestic cricket bowlers would be a rejuvenated lot if they were bowling to players from the national side...not to mention cock-a-hoop when they get them out.
With our pathetic bench strength, I cant imagine what kind of a team we would have in another 2-3 years when possibly the likes of Sachin, Rahul, Kumble, Laxman would be heading for retirement. If Raina, Jaffer et al. are our future, god save us.
Bringing back Saurav Ganguly and Laxman is probably the need of the hour. Gautam Gambhir is a much better standby opener than Wasim Jaffer. The only indian bowler who looks good for a scrap, Sreesanth has been carrying drinks. Pathan needs to go back to domestic cricket and re-educate himself, just the way Zaheer Khan did by playing county cricket. Kaif will not last another season if he plays this way, and he, along with Sehwag should be playing in the Ranji teams.
Not a single player in this side looks good for a fight. The legacy of the indian tiger seems to have disappeared with Saurav Ganguly's exit. India will never have a finer captain than him. Not because he was an outstanding batsman (prior to captaincy), nor was he the greatest mind on the field, but because he somehow turned a bunch of pussycats into tigers. To inspire your team members to perform extraordinary feats without actually leading from the front is pure genius.
Speaking of geniuses...I fail to understand why our current coach believes so much that playing kho-kho (ouch Yuvraj Singh), football, rugby & volleyball will turn the team into better cricketers. I haven't seen any other sports team play cricket.....perhaps I never will. "Dog and the bone" next?
My World Cup 2007 team...with the West Indian pitches in mind...
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Virender Sehwag
- Rahul Dravid
- Saurav Ganguly
- V.V.S. Laxman
- Yuvraj Singh
- Mahendra Singh Dhoni
- Irfan Pathan
- Harbhajan Singh
- Zaheer Khan
- Munaf Patel
Reserves -
- Anil Kumble
- Sreesanth
- Gautam Gambhir
- Ramesh Powar
Notable emissions :
- Mohd Kaif - Will not regain form by the time of the world cup.
- Ajit Agarkar - Should have been dropped 2 world cups ago.
