The Surfer

Some of Dravid’s batting essays are to cricket what, say, Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov or Llosa’s The War of the End of the World are to the literary world. Like them, Dravid hoped to conceive his stay at the wicket on a mammoth scale, in terms of endeavour, intent and beauty. He succeeded mostly; at times he failed, as he disappointingly did at the fag end of his career. A typically successful Dravid innings did not have the spectators in raptures, on their feet, for every moment of his presence at the crease. His oeuvre wasn’t of the page-turner kind, those books you thumb through cover to cover on a flight or during the inordinate wait at a railway station for a train long delayed.

Another moment of extreme joy was when a couple of hundred students from a nearby university came to see him, bringing with them Indian food and gifts and getting him to sign on the back of their shirts. Yuvraj's sense of humour has not deserted him and at the end of their visit he told his mother, “Look, I am happy I have not forgotten my signature and can still give an autograph."

The question about the Asia Cup is actually an ideological one: why is the Asia Cup? In the mid-70s, when the idea first appeared, borne from an official alliance of Asian teams, there was understandable sense behind it. Australia and England had long run cricket and India and Pakistan, swiftly emerging, wanted to change this. Tellingly for what was to come though, it wasn't until 1983 that they could get it together enough to form an Asian Cricket Council, and 1984 when the first tournament was held in Sharjah. But now? What is the purpose of a continental body in a sport played by so few countries? The Asian bloc is no more.

Now it is simply the India bloc; of the others, one board can't pay its players, another can't play at home and the last is still battling for relevance. Within there is no unity, just unequal, dysfunctional relationships; India and Pakistan are in the middle of another tiff, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh do essentially what the Indian board tells them, Bangladesh are dangling Pakistan around with the flimsy promises of a visit and Pakistan's negligence was nearly fatal for Sri Lanka in Lahore three years ago. This group is in need of a therapist not a tournament.

At the end of that rare mid-afternoon over from McGrath, the batsmen met for a conference in the middle of the pitch. “He’s bowling out of his skin,” Dravid said, and Kaif, having faced five unplayable deliveries, smiled back in agreement. “It’s going to be tough,” he continued, “but we have a chance if we can see off this spell. Otherwise it’s all over.” Kaif said he would do his best, but Dravid told him that he had a better plan: For the rest of McGrath’s spell, Kaif would stay at the other end against Warne, while Dravid would take on the might of the Australian fast bowler playing his 100th Test. This, Dravid hastily explained, was not a reflection on Kaif’s calibre especially since he had been in good form over the last couple of months. It was just something that he, being the more experienced player, needed to do at this pivotal moment of the match.

Virat is a man of contradictions. One moment he’s a metrosexual with a grooming kit loaded with creams and lotions, the other he’s a Delhi alpha male refusing to blink in the toughest of cricketing battlefields. One moment he’s flipping the bird to crowds in Australia, the other he cremates his father and a few hours later leads his team to victory over Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy.

In all, there have been 30 players represent Australia in one-day cricket from the World Cup a year ago, which indicates how rapidly this side is evolving. And there has also been a surprisingly high 21 players picked in the Test side since the beginning of last year. To have such success this summer, when there has been a significant turnover of players in both sides, emphasises the depth of talent in Australian cricket - something questioned a year ago. It means there are players out of the side who are capable of stepping in and stepping up to international cricket. Which in turn reinforces the fact no one can take their place in the team for granted.

The upcoming series in the Caribbean looms as one of the most poorly watched tours in decades. Having already endured what felt like at least four seasons condensed into the past domestic summer, we have been given just a single week off ... The entire series will be over before the end of April, about the time most of us would be ready to enjoy watching another game of cricket.

I am disappointed the hard-working guys in the team won't get the attention and respect they deserve for their efforts over there, but it's highly likely they won't notice anyway. The ridiculous scheduling means there is a huge disconnect between them and the Australian cricket lover.

In the 1920s, the likes of Maurice Tate bowled about 1500 overs in an English season, and another 600 if he toured with England in their winter. In the early 1960s, Fred Trueman bowled about 1100 overs per county season alone. The South African Mike Procter, when playing for Gloucestershire in the late 1970s, bowled 800 to 900 overs in county cricket and batted at No4 in the order. In the 1981-82 season, Richard Hadlee bowled 1131 overs. In the 1998-99 season, the England seamers generally had higher workloads than other international players. For example, Andrew Caddick bowled 910 overs; Dean Headley 792. Courtney Walsh (437) bowled another 600 overs for Gloucestershire. Internationally, Shaun Pollock bowled 515 and Glenn McGrath 740.

His batting could be classical, yet he never viewed himself as the classical hero. As he said: “My only qualification is that I come on television more than a nurse or a soldier or a teacher. Anyway, I don’t think sportsmen can really be considered heroes.” Indeed, in the evening after his retirement press conference, he suggested with amusement that his immediate future included “practising my new sweep shot with a broom”.

So two matches at The Oval that, I submit, encapsulate what Rahul has meant to English cricket lovers. While Sachin – perhaps distracted by the hoopla over breaking a record that nobody even knew existed until it was created for him, bespoke – floundered on that 2011 tour, Rahul’s reputation grew even greater in this country. It is hard, sacrilegious I dare say, for Indian fans to consider, but I believe that in the UK at least, Rahul’s bravery, modesty, professionalism and courtly determination make him even more loved than Tendulkar.

The [2011] IPL was followed by a horror tour of England. Matters got better when India thrashed England on the return leg; but West Indies’ tour of India didn’t get people excited. India’s tour of Australia put [television] viewers off completely and cricket has been on a downward spiral. That is why IPL 5 is so important. The league gets in at least half of BCCI’s revenues. If it doesn’t get ratings to shoot upwards, the BCCI’s two other big properties, the Champions League T20 and international matches played in India will get into a downward spiral as well. The knock-on effect is not felt in the ad rates for the current series but the next one. So, now, advertisers are asking for a minimum guarantee viewership for the next big tournament: IPL.