The Surfer

You look at Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke. They both struggled for 12 to 16 months, then all of a sudden they came out of that and got double hundreds and triple hundreds.

So, you’ve spent anywhere up to $333m in buying your franchise, nearly $10m assembling a handful of world-class players, and you’ve dusted down the mantelpiece in anticipation of showing off your brand new, shiny Kingfisher Fair Play Award. Now, just sit back for eight weeks, and hope that everything clicks into place, whilst you console Preity Zinta as she holds back the tears every time a young Kings XI bowler gets hit for six. Sounds great, right? In theory, yes. You’ve done the groundwork, and it’s too late to entirely overhaul any struggling personnel.

Staleness and complacency can creep into sides, as and poor tactics and strategy will inevitably be the bane of your side. With that in mind, out of the goodness of my own heart, we have devised report cards for each team – please note that grades are not just based on overall performances, but also based on how each side is faring with their available resources.

There are players like M. Balan Pandit of Kerala. In 24 years of playing first class cricket, Pandit played only 46 matches. From 1946 till 1958, he played in the Ranji knockout format. Not having played 75 first class matches, such players do not stand to gain anything from this scheme and they are more than 80 years old.

Cricket commentary on radio and TV was always done in the English language in Pakistan until 43 years ago when the airwaves carried a new voice treating listeners and viewers to cricket commentary in Urdu. The voice behind the microphone may have sounded alien initially but it wasn’t long before Munir Hussain became a household name among the lovers of the gentlemen’s sport here.

“We used to hear hockey and football match commentary in Urdu but for cricket the commentary was always done in English. Still I took the idea of doing cricket commentary in our national language to the then General Manager PTV Aslam Azhar who along with his producers, including brothers Athar Viqar Azeem and Akhtar Waqar Azeem, decided to take my test,” remembers the pioneer [Munir]. “I had been practicing for it for a long time but they rejected me initially ... "

It’s [also] obviously nothing to do with the extra attractions like cheerleaders or accompanying band-baaja; the novelty has worn off and some cheerleaders are even sporting saris this time around. The fan frenzy, including wearing team shirts, waving flags, screaming hysterically and performing high-fives with total strangers, is so out of proportion to local or even state representation that it clearly points to something deeper and more psychological.

Is Pakistan now safe for a cricket team to tour? Kamal is convinced and so is the highest authority of Bangladesh. But ask anybody else or even a Pakistani and he will whisper in your ears, "Peace must return to Pakistan before cricket does".

When you consider all the issues the Pune Warriors had to go through in the run up to the [2012] IPL — the late entry, the fact that influential teams such as Mumbai and Chennai had been able to corral all the players they wanted, the unfortunate loss of Yuvraj Singh, the threatened Sahara pull out of sponsorship of the national team and with it, uncertainty over the fate of the Warriors — it is remarkable what he has achieved. Within a short period of time, he has managed to instill confidence and combativeness into his unit, and that is fundamental to success.

It's the thirst for knowledge, competition and never ending search to fill the unbridled passion these guys have for the game of cricket. That's what makes them the legends of cricket we know them as - it’s really what separates anyone in their chosen field from good to exceptional. Passion.

I am often asked what it's like having Ricky Ponting come back and play for Tassie; Does he train harder? Does he embrace the team? Does he fit in? The first thing that always strikes me with Punter has been not how hard he trains (though I will get to that) but how excited he is. About training. Playing. Picking up your cricket bat.

In under 20 years, cricket has become one of India’s most lucrative businesses. This dramatic transformation is recorded here in the voices of the men who played starring roles in either promoting the cause or standing in its way. This oral history is constructed by piecing together excerpts from interviews these men have granted me over the years and from primary documents and letters written by them ...