SO LONG, FAREWELL... AUF WIEDERSEHEN GOODBYE...

MS Dhoni's run out signaled India's exit once for all
Image Courtesy - abc.net.au

Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies... The long held adage from Shawshank Redemption kept me going until the time... the time, when the red-light flickered from the bails.. MS Dhoni was run-out! That was the end, the final rites, call it whatever you want...

If anyone had told me before the start that India would be knocked out of the World Cup on the penultimate match of the tournament, fighting for a place for the finals, I would have accepted it, although reluctantly and probably also wonder if it was possible considering the way we bowled and batted at times leading up to the tournament. Since then, winning seven matches in a trot has been the reason why most Indian fans felt and mostly hoped for achieving the glory yet again by defeating the two best teams in the tournament - Australia and New Zealand.

Today's match, right from the start was all about hope, the great Indian hope. The Indian team knew this Australian team, all the Indian fans knew this Australian team and from what we have seen from these endless summer months of playing cricket in Australia, team India had to be at their best, if not more to reach the finals. They met a better side on the day and like most days with Australia in the recent past, the better side (Australia) won.

Is this disappointing? Yes, it is. A loss to a team you support is always a tough pill to swallow. That's about it. Losing the semi-finals in 1987 was a surprise, the 1992 campaign was a disaster, the 1996 campaign ended in tears, shame and what not; the 1999 tournament was a touch and go; the 2003 World Cup went down to the wire; the 2007 World Cup was embarrassing and we were the World Champions in 2011. Yes, today's loss took away the tag of 'world champions'. This year, the conditions were different, something Indians often found wanting, be it any form of the game and yet they managed to stretch till the last four.

   

IT WAS HOPE ALL THE WAY

India started well.. the bowlers kept the in-form Australia batsmen in check for the ten overs. When the bowling was tested and threatened to concede well in excess of 350, the bowlers came back well, taking wickets, restricting the Aussies to 328, the highest they conceded this tournament.

This was the semi-final, and there was no better occasion to finally win a match against the home team. The openers started well, and did not lose those early wickets in those 10 overs. Everything seemed fine, Indians were well on their way chasing those runs, and against the run of play the first wicket fell... and soon Virat Kohli left. Rohit Sharma looked set, pulls Mitchell Johnson for a six, the chase is underway in spite of those two hiccups, the very next ball, he is out. And since then, the run chase was all about hope. After struggling to find boundaries, Raina perished and in came the last hope. 

I don't believe in miracles - but this guy could perform some, the Indian cricketing version of Andy Dufresne - our captain cool, M S Dhoni. I was hoping, in his mind he would plan just the way Andy did and in the end, break the shackles Indians were under right since the time they arrived in Australia. A win today would have felt like that prison break! He did that four years ago, was I expecting too much? Is it just too much to ask from an individual in a team sport?

He tried his best to take it to the last minute, he held on, even when asking rate was 15 per over. I was hoping, he would do it.. though with each ball it seemed unrealistic. And his run-out signaled India's exit once for all. Team India would lose their first match of the tournament and with it, the hopes of a successive titles ended. Post analysis can be made - but it will not alter the result. We gotta live with the fact of Australia being a much better team than India and Indians did not go out without a fight (they fought for a good part of 80 overs).

On this note, the Indian team will finally depart Australia after having spent close to four months playing all-forms of cricket down under. The end was not sudden, it wasn't anti-climax as deep down everyone knew it was as best as they could have played.

Now.. it's time for the finals, and this Sunday, I will be hoping Kiwis would end up winning their maiden World Cup trophy. A new day, a new hope. 

Why so fuss over T20 and a cameo from Rahul Dravid

I have been hearing a lot of things about T20 and its effects on today's generation who wants to take up cricket. A lot of ex-cricketers complain it is not an ideal preparation for Test cricket. My question goes - Is it not left to an individual to choose what he wants or which format he would love to play cricket?

If we compare the present day cricket to our present lives, a lot has changed since the previous generation. We have good facilities coming up and things in general are improving than what it used to be. Of course, it means one had to give up things that were prevalent previously, but in the end no one is complaining for the change that is happening.

Coming back, I read a lot of media and public in general blame the Indian team for the disastrous Test series against England. Why was it so disastrous? A lot of reasons go into it and one being lack of preparation. As the cricket evolved, technology and better personnel are also available to ensure there is a constant churning of good players. The question is how soon are we going to adapt to the modern ways of playing cricket? How soon we are going to merge the modern day cricket with our modern lifestyle?

Look at the big picture - We have ten countries that are eligible to play Test cricket, the ultimate position to be for a cricketing nation. What about the other 194 countries? Surely not everyone is going to be able to play Test cricket and it is good in a way. After a lot of years and since the year 1877, we have 10 teams out of which Zimbabwe and Bangladesh are often criticised for not being up to the mark. So we have 8 nations that often produce the best Test cricket. Now do we want to go forward or just be happy with 8 nations? Any direction is welcome according to me, given a choice I would keep the best 10 teams for playing Test cricket.

And we have One day Internationals. The format was reborn after the success of the 2011 World Cup. When ODI began in 1971, there were a lot of people complaining about the format affecting the Test cricket. And here we are 40 years since the first ODI, things have improved and cricket has become a global commodity. For all those people, who just want Test cricket, it is important to note that, it is the ODI's and the T20's that bring in majority of the money. Yes, it is sad but a hard reality fact in today's sporting world, MONEY. Money is the power required to run the sport, any sport in general, with high standards and also sustain it over a period of time. Sooner or later one needs to accept this fact and. Or else bring in the change? How? That is what the running federation must find out?

I am inspired to write this blog post after watching Rahul Dravid hit three consecutive sixes off Samit Patel in Manchester against England. After scoring well over 10,000 runs in both ODI's and Test cricket, he makes his debut in T20 cricket for India. All I can say is, form is temporary, and class is permanent. He reminds me of Andy Dufresne from Shawshank Redemption. And the line - 'Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things and no good thing ever dies'. I can imagine him saying this line to someone whose chips are down. He never complained about T20 or ODI even though he was widely known only as a Test cricketer. To me, he just loves cricket and that's about it. Rest, his statistics speaks volume on his behalf.

Coming back to the topic - Charles Darwin once remarked it is all about survival of the fittest. Surely with better facilities available fitness should never be an issue in today’s cricket. To top it, there is no forcing for a cricketer to play every match. The formula should be - The fittest 11 and then the in-form 11 to play out a match. It is a simple formula but surrounded by complicated factors. Just like the corporate sector of today encourage employees to take some time off in order to work better; players must also be given the same option. The question of cricket fatigue would never come.

Let’s move forward now and invest in having a good player management and talent scout to keep churning out players day in and day out. The team that plays needs to play with the spirit of the game and the desire to win.

And to talk about globalisation of the sport - It is only possible with T20 to explore different markets of the world. For countries who want to play cricket, T20 is the format to begin with. One doesn't require a proper technique to learn the game. You play you learn. Cricket to be part of Olympics, T20 is the only way. The second source of money is Time.

I am a fan of cricket and I enjoy whatever format cricket is played. It is the game I love and I only want the sport to have worries about how to spread the game to different places than fighting over injuries, T20, ODI's and which format is being superior.