The Surfer

It's often said that attack is the best form of defence, an adage most often associated with football. Yet even with all the wizardry and lethal striking talent available, you still have to be reasonably competent in protecting your own goal. Just ask the Brazilians of 1982. That was a side overflowing with creative and attacking options: Zico, Socrates, Falcao, Eder. Yet for all their glorious, flowing football that lit up the World Cup finals in Spain, all it took was the goal-poacher supreme in the shape of Paolo Rossi to three times expose a suspect defence and leave Brazilian dreams in tatters while Italy were lifting the trophy two games later in Madrid.

Scheduled to begin at 3.30 pm (local time), in the southern town of Hambantota, rain caused a delay. By the time the ground was fit for play, it was still only about 5pm but, rather than a full match, the teams were told they were having a seven-over-a-side slog. This was not because of the threat of more rain or because it was now late at night. No, the teams were sent into this ridiculous spectacle because there was another game in Colombo scheduled to start at 7.30pm.

And after a brief philosophical pause, he adds looking around, “also secondary are the add-ons that come with success”. Despite the two cars parked outside, the television with the dimensions of a school blackboard and the well-equipped kitchen that’s big enough to house a family, there is a certain emptiness in the house that saddens him.

“My wife Reena could never enjoy this big airy kitchen. But the food she cooked in our crammed kitchen tasted far better. This back-foot and front-foot play and technique, anybody can teach a child but my son’s strength is the control he has over his mind. And that’s my wife’s contribution. I am a restless person, Cheteshwar’s temperament comes from his mother. My role is overrated,” he says.

To take case of Zaheer first, for all his exploits in Test cricket across continents, his limited-overs form has been a bit up and down for his captain’s comfort, especially so in T20s. In his 14 T20 international appearances, Zaheer has taken 14 wickets with an economy rate of almost eight runs an over. Eight of those wickets, came in 2009 when he was at the peak of his career across all formats. Ravaged by injuries and advancing years, much of Zaheer’s utility in the shortest version has been on the wane.

Like fast bowlers, it’s important for spinners too to operate as a pair. In that sense, we compliment each other very well. On wickets that suit him, Ashwin will be on the offensive, and on wickets that suit me I will be more aggressive. It’s all about understanding the methods and character of your partner. Yes, it does help me a lot that Ashwin is at the other end because we are of the same age, and have played a lot of cricket together

During the 1948 ''Invincibles'' tour, Don Bradman had a running battle with his star all-rounder, Keith Miller. Twice during the Test series, when Bradman threw Miller the ball to bowl, Miller threw it back, refusing. In the dressing room at Lord's, the bickering went on, and Jack Fingleton, covering the tour, was told that Bradman ''grumbled apropos of Miller not bowling''.

''I don't know what's up with you chaps,'' Bradman said. ''I'm 40 and I can do my full day's work in the field.'' To which Miller allegedly replied: ''So would I - if I had fibrositis during the war!''

Were England strong or simply petulant in dealing out such extreme punishment, perhaps also inflicting a wound upon themselves? Might not a heavy fine have been more fitting, thus not depriving the public of KP’s spectacular batting?

What does Geoff Boycott, himself not the most popular player in the England dressing-room, think about all this? “Don’t even think of saying that Botham and Boycott were talented, awkward buggers but helped win matches and that someone had to man-manage them. We never rubbished our captains to the opposition while playing with them,” he wrote this week. Dear old “Boycs” seems to have forgotten that he was once dropped for slow scoring and that Botham once deliberately ran him out in order to speed up a victory drive in a Test match in Christchurch. These big-time cricketers. What would you do with ‘em?

A tour that pits them against minor counties, perhaps, and culminates in a three-day first-class game at Lord’s against MCC, who first spotted Hassan and the allrounder Mohammad Nabi, giving Afghans a chance that never existed before.

"There are some, not everybody. I always listen to professional criticism whose purpose is correction. See, you have to be criticised if you don't do well but it needs to be constructive. But there are guys in Pakistan who are debating cricket who haven't ever gone to a shop to buy a bat or ball."

He insisted that I write this down. "It is an unfortunate scenario that such nonprofessional people have a platform where they can sit and say whatever they want about anyone without any accountability."

There is a real art to it, ensuring that the ball still rises up like a fast bouncer, but arrives 15mph slower. With his deceptive action and slippery speed, Lasith Malinga’s version is wickedly good. Stuart Broad is an excellent practitioner too. Since he charges into bowl with great enthusiasm and has a dramatic ‘gather’ at the crease, the batsman is readying himself for something rapid. But Broad can then cut his fingers across the line of delivery either way to reduce the speed. This might be especially effective on Colombo’s dry surfaces where the ball will grip and stick in the pitch.

Picking my team of the year is a job I almost hate because difficult choices have to be made and deserving candidates have to be left out.