Long Stop
Does Dravid have one final innings left in him?
Seldom can a fourth innings have been so important - for country and individual - as the one that is about to unfold before us
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
One of the saddest sights in sport is the ageing, once-great player struggling to come to terms with his game in full public glare. Struggling architects who have run out of ideas can repeat themselves or rely on their juniors, struggling politicians can hire a PR agency and bluff their way back into power. But struggling sportsmen have no such cushion: when the goals dry up or the runs stop coming there is no place to hide. The past is no guide to the future. The present is all. Sport is cruel.
And right now Rahul Dravid, one of the few players of his generation both loved and respected, finds himself facing the question that two of his contemporaries, Sourav Ganguly and Anil Kumble, thought had only one answer. Ganguly gave himself a tension-free Australia series by announcing at the start of it that it would be his last. Kumble’s end was hastened by injury.
Full postLet's give this clash what it deserves
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
Cricket often stands for something beyond itself. It has been the symbol of an empire and the symbol of the colonies striking back. Cricket matches are seldom bereft of symbolic content; the baggage of history ensures that. No India-Pakistan series, for example, can ever be about the cricket alone. The game takes the shape of the vessel it is poured into - the vessel made from the prevailing political and social thinking of the period. Today in India it stands for anti-terrorism. It is a heavy responsibility.
Few matches in recent years have had as much symbolic power as the one set to commence in Chennai. It will be seen, at the very least, as a match between England’s bulldog spirit and India’s resilience. Cliché, yes, but clichés become clichés because they happen to be true. And before we are through, other symbols are bound to be imposed on the game. Sport is convenient that way.
Full postIndia have a responsibility to tour Pakistan
If India understand the frustration of being an outcast and the joy that comes with acceptance, then they have a responsibility to tour Pakistan next month
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
Will the return of the England team herald normalcy or endorse it? Or is that question no longer relevant, for terrorists, like Macbeth, have murdered sleep and normalcy forever? Will normalcy follow cricket or should cricket follow normalcy?
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England have another 5000 or so kilometres to travel before they land in Chennai and hopefully someone will get close enough to the team to recognise the players and confirm that they have indeed arrived. Security is bound to be a bigger bugbear than the traditional Indian welcome which comprises confusion and noise in equal measure, but the players are not likely to complain.
The Indian captain, we must remember, has an entourage of 22 policemen protecting him and an escort car every time he drives out of his home - so we can understand the scale of these things. According to newspaper reports, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is unhappy with this meagre protection, and expressed his unhappiness by ditching his security and riding to the airport on his own. Kevin Pietersen is unlikely to do likewise.
The reactions to England’s return have ranged from the cynical to the upbeat. On the sceptical side of the ledger are such reasons as money, bargaining chips at the IPL, ensuring that the Champions League is not affected, while on the positive side are support for a country which has suffered, a way to tell the terrorists off and belief that whatever happens, the show must go on.
Full postWe ought not to forget
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
Either England return to India to play two Test matches and show the terrorists that sport is eternal and sportsmen, nay, a country cannot be bullied into submission or they stay back in England because the situation is fluid, safety is paramount and motivation is low. For most, it is a black-and-white situation. Ranged against human emotions and the futility of sport in times of danger are the symbolism of regained strength and the power of sport in times of danger.
What happened in 1984 when Mrs Gandhi was assassinated or in 2005 after the London bombings (both times a cricket tour went ahead) is irrelevant because in neither case was a specific group of people targeted. Any reassurance from security agencies can only sound hollow after what they failed to do to prevent the Mumbai attacks in the first place.
Full postEnter killer instinct, exit quotas
The killer instinct and the quota instinct - the lack of one and the existence of the other - have been analysed threadbare
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
It is possible that we are witnessing the erasure of some of the cliches associated with Indian cricket. The lack of a killer instinct - for so long a catch-all phrase used as excuse for defeats - is not heard any more. Both the Test series against Australia and the one-day series against England have shown that whatever instincts the Indian team might lack, killer instinct isn’t one of them.
But there is a wider, happier trend emerging. For years, what many considered a bane of Indian cricket was the “quota” system. Five selectors, one from each geographical region, each with his own compulsions, each with limited knowledge of players in the other zones, picked teams that paid a tribute to the quota system. Many players from weaker zones were accommodated in the national side merely to keep that section of the country happy. Often a better player from another zone was overlooked because there were already too many players from his zone in the team.
Full postHave a full game at any cost
The third one-dayer in Kanpur, played to a full house, left a bad taste in the mouth because neither the game nor the paying spectator was taken into consideration
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
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Then came the common-sense call - regularise or perish. Soon the ICC stepped in, and the rules were standardised. Now it didn’t matter if you were playing in England or Australia or India or Sri Lanka. The same rules applied. This was good for television, no one was confused (except those trying to figure out D/L, but that was seen early as an occupational hazard).
Then came the lights, and it was assumed the one-day game had overcome one of the natural handicaps of the game, its dependence on natural light. Test cricket would be played in varied conditions, the differences in the venues, clay content in the soil, latitude and so on being part of its charm; true champions triumphed whatever the conditions. The shorter game meanwhile moved towards greater homogeneity, and for a while there was some thought given to drop-in pitches which would take away yet another imponderable from the game.
It is natural to assume that it is the duty of those who rule the game a) to ensure that a full game is played as far as possible b) to give the paying public a full game c) to use whatever is available to ensure both of the above – eg: lights, retractable roof in case of rain.
Full postSwitch craft
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
India might have started well in the England series, but soon it will be time to set this aside, change hats as it were, and wear the Twenty20 garb. Whether switching the mindset is as easy as changing clothes is something we will have to wait and see. Some players will go from playing a one-day international to a Twenty20 tournament to Test cricket in about ten days.
Between the one-day series against England and before the Test series, some of the Indian players and most of the spectators will change channels - for on December 3, a few hours after the end of the seventh one-dayer, the Champions League is set to commence.
Full postCan Yuvraj cross over into Test cricket?
When you see Yuvraj bring his bat down in an arc, check himself and merely jab at the ball to send it sailing over long off, and that too against Andrew Flintoff, you may be forgiven for asking the obvious question: why is this man not a regular in
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
I think it was Steve Waugh who called Michael Bevan the ‘Bradman of one-day cricket’. It is both flattering and limiting, suggesting, as it does, that whatever his gifts - and these were considerable, giving him a career average of 53.58 from 232 matches in the shorter game - there would always be an asterisk against Bevan’s name. And the footnote would read: “A great finisher of the one-day game (unbeaten 67 times), he failed to impress in his 18 Tests; he couldn’t manage a single century.”
There is a similar asterisk beginning to take shape over the name of Yuvraj Singh, but he is young enough to erase the mark before it is fully formed. He turns 27 next month, and has played 23 Tests. Yet it is his 218 one-day matches and 6000-plus runs that define him now. Can he throw a bridge across the two cultures?
Full postDravid's dilemma
The very qualities that make Dravid the great player he is - the intensity, the obsession with getting things right, the habit of introspection - take him down a slippery slope when things are not going well
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
I thought chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth dropped a hint when he said Rahul Dravid was “just one innings away from regaining his form.” Then he was quoted in another newspaper as saying, “I am sure Dravid will play some extraordinary innings against England.” If I were Dravid, I would sleep peacefully knowing I had the chairman’s backing.
But I am not Dravid, and I doubt if he has been sleeping peacefully of late. The very qualities that make Dravid the great player he is - the intensity, the obsession with getting things right, the habit of introspection - take him down a slippery slope when things are not going well. In my mind’s eye, I can see Dravid asking himself over and over if bowlers have managed to find a technical flaw in his game. Is his elbow high enough in defence? Are his feet moving correctly? Should he play at fewer deliveries, should he play at more?
Full postThe success of smooth transitions
Australia have not looked so rudderless for a long time
Suresh Menon
25-Feb-2013
Something that always warms the heart on a cricket field is the sight of a new generation taking over from the old with minimum fuss. India’s greatest blessing in the recent series was this - the captaincy takeover was smooth, the spinner to replace statistically the greatest Indian bowler got down to it straightaway, and some of the batsmen who will replace the stalwarts scored runs in style. Australia’s transition has not been half as smooth, and in that lay the difference between the two sides.
In Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Amit Mishra, both Anil Kumble the captain and Anil Kumble the bowler have worthy successors. M Vijay showed he is ready for a long stint either as opener or No. 3. Gautam Gambhir might have finished as Man of the Series had it not been for the rush of blood which led to his suspension from the final Test. Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan are well-entrenched - but in any case, there is a bunch comprising Munaf Patel, RP Singh and Sreesanth which is at the ready. Harbhajan Singh has rediscovered the knack of picking up wickets.
Ganguly is gone (and he left in style), but Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman have returned to form, leaving only Rahul Dravid to get back his magic touch. Indian cricket has not been in such good health for a long time.
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