Cricket Thoughts

During 2003 – 2004 India tour of Australia, I was in my grand parents’ house for a brief vacation stay. India did very well in that test series. I was watching every ball of the test match by waking up early in the morning at about 5.30 or 6 AM along with the pre & post match analysis. India put up a splendid show in its first 2 test matches in spite of being pushed to tough situations by Aussie bowlers. Every day, excitingly I used to update my grandfather about the happenings but he always simply acknowledged but never showed interest to watch cricket live on TV.

 I knew that my grandfather loved cricket. My grandfather and my father too watched test matches between India & West Indies in TV by waking up at early morning 4 or 5 AM, sipping hot coffee. He watched Sunil Gavaskar’s batting with great admiration and used to tell me the stories of West Indies fast pacers who were like 6 feet tall, bowling bouncers and how Sunil used to bat against them. He somehow did not have the same passion to follow cricket after Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev era and Sachin was the last one he loved to watch.

In movie language: “Cut” - to 16 years later, July 2019

After watching Ind – NZ world cup semifinal, realized that Dhoni would retire sooner or later. I wondered, if Dhoni retires, for whom I should watch out.  After Ganguly, Sachin, Dravid era, Dhoni was the last one I loved to watch.

 I may follow cricket now and then but as my friend told, I do not know whom I am going to root for.

Watching cricket was very passionate for me starting from 2003 world cup. Closely followed lot of matches involving team India – watch pre match + live +innings break + live + post match. I used to remember names of players from other teams also, like Sri lanka, Australia, South Africa, England, New Zealand etc.

Post 2007 world cup, and specifically post 2007 T20 world cup, lot of changes happened in Indina team. ODI matches were being played with new players, seniors being rested/dropped/rotated from the team to achieve better results, some players being persisted even when they were consistently failing to play well, unfair treatment to some other players who might have cemented their place but due to lack of opportunities and some other players who were not cared enough, started fading away. 
Test matches still had my favorite players but they too slowly, after 2011 – 12, were not playing in the team. The players for whom I used to watch cricket for, like Gambhir, Sehwag, Sachin, Yuvraj, Harbajan, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Ganguly, Laxman, Dravid, Irfan Pathan, Uthappa were not regulars any more due to retirement/losing place in the team and other reasons.

After Dhoni retired from test matches, and gave up captaincy in ODIs, my cricketing interest further took a deep dive. Sometimes, I don’t even realize that India is playing a match today.

In my opinion, Dhoni as a captain trusted his team mates, believed in them, even when they were not performing well (ex: Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja). There was stability in the team and sense of calmness probably because Dhoni mentored others around him. There were some stubborn decisions from Dhoni also, but still loved to watch cricket because he was the captain.

 I had discussions with a couple of friends about Rohit Sharma being persisted in ODIs and being pushed into test matches, giving him ample of opportunities. As my friends told, the captain and team management might have seen the special talent in him. My argument was that the similar opportunities were not given to other players (ex: Robin Uthappa) to prove themselves. During Dhoni’s captaincy only some players were given long rope.

After Dhoni, it is now Kohli leading Indian team in all formats. When Dhoni gave up ODI captaincy, I was eager to watch Kohli leading the team because by that time, he established himself as a quality batsman and played crucial knocks. During early days of Kohli’s captaincy (after Ind’s tour of Aus where Dhoni announced his retirement), my friend once stated that Kohli is a very good batsman but doubt his captaincy skills in long term.

Team was never stable, be it ODIs/test matches/ T20s under Kohli. Except for 5 or 6 players in the team, the other players in the final 11 were always rotated. Probably they were trying out various combinations to figure out who would be the best. But on the D-Day, the soft side was exposed. India lost to NZ in world cup semifinal failing to chase 240 odd runs after losing 3 early wickets. As VVS Laxman said, 13 different players were tested for middle order but at the end, nothing good came out. The players are never assured of place in the team for atleast a series. 2 or 3 failures in a 5 match series, the player was left out of the squad. Ganguly always emphasized that a player should be consistently given chances for atleast 2 or 3 series before judging him. I saw a post in Instagram that Kohli is after success and results but not building a good team like what Ganguly & Dhoni did. Is that true?

I feel that Kohli strategies on playing eleven in the last 2 or 3 years leading to the world cup were weird. Don’t know what he or the coach or the team management were thinking.

Some weird samples:

-- There were instances when Pujara was sidelined or sent for opening to make place for Rohit Sharma in test matches.

--  Ajinkya Rahane was never given his due credit and is always not sure about his place in the team. Being a vice captain in test matches, he was not in the team for the first 2 test matches during South Africa series. This is the kind of player India needed in its semifinal match – a solid technical batsman.

-- Karun Nair was in squad but never made into the final playing eleven during England test series. Hanuma Vihari was given a test match debut while Karun was idle throughout the test series.

Below are the list of players who never got their due credit and respect they deserved. There might be other players too but noting down what I remember now. There are many other sorry tales and poor players. 

Gautam Gambir: One of the pillars of two world cup wins. He made a comeback to the test team that toured England after being out of the team for a while. He was in the playing eleven for the first 2 test matches in which he did not make a huge impact. After that he never came back and finally retired.

Harbhajan Singh: A product of Dada. After new spinners – Ashwin & Jadeja came, he was sidelined from the team. Probably a mix of his performance and raise of Ashwin & Jadeja kept him out. He did not get a proper retirement.

Robin Uthappa: His only mistake was that he played during the days of Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir. He was a never a permanent player in the team. I guess he had a lot of potential but never made it big. What if he was given chances like Rohit Sharma? Anyway, at the end, it is all about ifs and buts

Mohammad Kaif: A product of Dada again. The Natwest trophy hero. He told in an interview that after Ganguly, Dravid times, the whole team dynamics changed and he probably was not able to cope up with the changes.

Ambati Rayudu: After Laxman from Hyderabad, he was supposed to break into Indian team and make it big. I have read articles stating the reasons for not making into the team early – state level politics, injuries, joining ICL etc. He was not recalled for world cup squad even after Dhawan & Vijay Shankar were ruled out of world cup and the selectors, team management had their reasons.

Dinesh Karthik: Poor guy. After 2019 world cup, I guess it is difficult for him to have a place in the team.

Irfan Pathan: Just one sentence for him – a wasted talent by our management. I loved your bowling man. Opened test match as a batsman also at one point.

Murli Vijay: Was never given chances consistently in ODIs and now sidelined in test cricket.

Murli Karthik & Piyush Chawla played only when Kumble/Harbhajan were not in team. At wrong place at wrong time.

Let me conclude these never ending thoughts with this small note:

I was fortunate to see India touring Pakistan for 2 times, the 2003 Ind – Pak world cup match, Anil Kumble as captain, 2011 world cup and some other silver linings. My grandfather never embraced the new Indian team with the same passion after Kapil & Gavaskar era. Simlary, I would never be able to embrace pandyas/dhawans/sharmas.

Like the river, which is always flowing and replacing the old waters with the new, I can watch it by sitting on the shore. Leave the shore when the desire ceases. 

Change is the only constant thing.