satisfaction!

shared by straight point on Wednesday, October 13, 2010

though you might be thinking that i am indicating to the 2-0 soopda saaf (white wash) of australia in the latest edition of border gavaskar trophy... err... teri maa ki series as we call it on bored... and you won't be too off the mark...

but i am talking about the satisfaction of a different kind...

the satisfaction of next-gen looking capable of taking the charge as and when the time will come to hand over the baton...

i am sure the seniors of team india, past and present, will not only be immensely proud on winning the series this way but deep down they will be even more happy in knowing the fact that baton will get passed on to the capable hands... the legacy will keep going...

murali vijay in first and second innings... and the moment cheteshwar pujara (CHE) stepped in at no.3... he ensured the game was team india's by the time he left the crease for sachin to take over... and it was only fitting that two veterans of the team gave finishing touches to the comprehensive win... the soopda saaf...

kumble, when he took over as test captain, made a very big and important statement... as future course for team india...  that he would want india to play to win taking pitch out of equation... and when i saw him in stands applauding cheteshwar pujara, i could sense how mightily pleased he must have been seeing it happening for actual in front of him... the satisfaction on his face could be seen and felt even from the distance... transcending the live stream straight to the heart...

so sleep well today... not only for that we have established yet again that why there is no other team right now that deserve no.1 spot more than team india for we don't depend on toss... or fixed eleven to win matches as this series has shown... but sleep well knowing that we have the next-gen players who have it in them to ensure many such wins in future once the baton... the legacy... will be passed on to them when their time will come...

36 comments:

Balajhi said...

SP

Kumble is one of India's best captaincy material never used to its potential. On hindsight when Ganguly was sacked, captaincy should have gone to Kumble. He could have ensured a series victory in SA. He is a strong lad who will not take 'NO', 'BUT', 'IF' for answers. BRC made it in two seasons (2009 / 10) mainly because of him. He leads by example with ball in his hands. A tough guy. Not many captains in world cricket would have said what he said in Sydney that "Only one team played with the right spirit" that too in Australia.

I am happy to see Pujara. He is confident and compact. He shows bit urgency in playing the spinners but that I think that will be addressed with experience. He looks good on the backfoot but then the real test for him will be in SA. Hope he shines there too like his idol did in 1996/97.

Vijay is good and is again another young cricketer with some confidence. But he has to improve his backfoot play. He is good at leaving but could be in trouble when bowled at his ribs. He has to improve his technique against short balls. Another problem for him is consistent opportunities. Surely Gambhir deserves his place when he comes against NZ. That means Vijay will have to wait till another injury moment. He will be touring and not playing much, which will not be good for him. Remember he is not all that young. Another 4 years, he will be 30.

straight point said...

bala... we wanted stars not performers hence kumble was not given captaincy which he deserved it more that anyone else...

murali and pujara are still at nanscent stage so more than their technique we can only talk about their temperament... the test which they passed in flying colors...

its not easy to come in short notice and adjust to the demands of team and match situation... read it to your advantage and then go about it...

pujara not only looked relaxed and calm but showed how uncluttered was his mind at that precarious situation... its not easy to come after sehwag's wicket that too when you are told only on the morning of match that you will bat at no.3 but still he scored at good pace without looking like taking undue risks... hence showed his un-mistakable temprament...

i am sure they will work on their short coming (if there is any and who dont have?) and will come out even more finished product...

i hope and wish to see more of them in nz series tho... :)

Unknown said...

Well said SP and well said Bala!

First... about SP's post. It was heart warming to see Pujara go about so sedately in his innings. At lunch, I had a big grin for Che had finally arrived.

He will definitely face more difficult conditions in his career ahead. Chinks will be found in his armory... but I have high hopes from this young lad! And he showed today that he can handle the pressure of expectations!

And now about Bala's comment. You are right... Kumble's captaincy should have been discovered by India much earlier than it actually was. And you know what, I want Pujara to fail in a couple of innings in South Africa and then come back with a bang. That will bring out as well as build up his real character. With our batting line up, we can always afford a failure here and there.

Lets hope that Pujara can carry the baton a long way forward for India.

Golandaaz said...

Congrats all.....time to rejoice. The way we set about chasing 207 it was un-Indian. A new generation has taken over.....

On Kumble not "given" the captaincy. Did he want it bad enough? Captaincy is not an award to be "given". Though in India it is always "given". In almost every other field leaders aspire for and get the roles they want.

So the fault for the missed opportunity for Kumble as captain, is as much his as it is the board's.

straight point said...

shri... indian cricket took a big leap today by sending che at 3 which showed willingness to change the set pattern according to the match situation... and boy did che disappoint..?

i am sure there are many more talent waiting to be tapped... :)

straight point said...

goal...

going by your argument... yuvi wanted it even more badly than dhoni... :)

i am not sure how player can pitch extra for a captaincy... selectors have to view it and then they should decide...

so i feel more than kumble losing it... it was selectors who ignored him for reasons best known to them...

straight point said...

...oh!... and congratulations to you too... we have not only retained no.1 but best part is it has pushed aussies to no.5... so double cheers!!! :D

Golandaaz said...

Point is Kumble never asked for it. Not everyone who asks for something gets it :-) If you want to debate on technicalities...sorry I am not interested.

Yuvi is at least raising his hand up and saying, give it to me, I will take the responsibility. Kumble never did that....

straight point said...

neither am i as far as technicality concerned... :)

but since you followed it up with another argument... so...

not every player behaves the same way... everybody does not rush to press to raise his hands up... yuvi did... kumble not... but that does not mean that we can conclusively say he did not in private... can we...?

may be kumble was from the old school of thinking that his record will speak for him as the biggest match winner india produced that can't be ignored... so once again... we should give him benefit of doubt at least rather then simple dismissing it that he did not raise his hands...

Golandaaz said...

i am not talking about going to the press....please

Its simple, if I think I can do a job better; then the responsibility is equally with me to want the job as much as it is with the managers who spot talent.

You can't unilaterally blame the selectors for ignoring Kumble. All I am saying is that he was equally passive about it.

straight point said...

...and i am just probing you to let us know what are the basis of your thinking that kumble did not wanted it enough or badly... :)

Balajhi said...

Of course SP, Pujara was confidence personified. As Shasthri kept mentioning, he was playing as if he is playing his 20th test. 'Uncluttered mind' is the right word to use for his approach. Good luck to him.

Both against NZ?? I doubt it very much. Gambhir, unless another injury delays him, will certainly return and so will Laxman. Only way to play both of them will be to drop Dravid and Raina from the eleven. I don't see Rahul being dropped after getting selected in the squad, that is if he is selected. Very interesting times. One more thing playing in selectors' mind, when they sit to pick the team for NZ series, will be Laxman's back. He has been carrying a bad back for some time and it is visiting him quite often nowadays. And this has its own dynamics in selection decisions. In any case it's a dilemma good to have. Whom to play rather than who is there to pick?

Unknown said...

Hi there... I have been reading your debate about Kumble's desire of captaincy, if I may put it that way...

Golandaaz, I think I am with SP on this one. You say Kumble was equally passive about it. How do you define passive? And even before that, what is the criteria for getting the captaincy? Asking for it or earning it?

Captains before Kumble became captains on the back of their own solid performances for the team. Kumble did that, but he didn't get it. Captains before Kumble did not ask for the captaincy, but were given the responsibility. Kumble did the same.

So ultimately it comes down to the decision of whoever decides the captain of the team. Dhoni did not ask for captaincy. According to Sharad Pawar, Sachin felt that Dhoni would make a good captain and he should be given the job for T20s.

You see, when Ganguly stepped out, Dravid was into his best career spell... where he had been India's best batsman for a few years. Kumble's performances, like most times in his career, formed just the footnotes.

And as a result, Dravid was handed the vice-captaincy under Ganguly and then naturally, the captaincy. At this moment in time, how can you expect a man like Kumble (a man of few words and more actions) to indicate he wants the captaincy. Who knows whether he even wanted it? We don't know if Dhoni wanted it, but he was given and he has done a good job.

In my opinion, it does not matter whether you want to be a captain or not. What matters is that if someone recognises that you aree captaincy material and gives you the responsibility, then you have it... otherwise you don't. And India saw very late, when all available options were exhausted, that Kumble indeed was captaincy material!

Golandaaz said...

You are not even acknowledging the possibility of that being the case.

Basically you want a bunch of people to agree with you that yes the selectors screwed up. I am bringing in the possibility that Kumble never expressed any interest in the job. Do I have proof, no Do you have proof that he did approach the selectors, no.

The question is do you consider the candidate's desire for a job as a key ingredient in the process of determining who gets the job. It does not seem to that you do. I do and hence the disagreement. Its not about what Yuvraj said to the press and Kumble deserving it. Captaincy is not an award that is given for good service.

Bashing the selectors is convenient and you will get a crowd of people who agree each time you find fault in them. Cricket governance in India is not a transparent process and hence a convenient punching bag.

Golandaaz said...

At least we spotted where we disagree.

I consider the candidates desire and the efforts to communicate that desire as one of the keys for being given the job.

Unknown said...

Gol, I'll put it in a shorter way for you. Which Indian captain in the recent past asked for captaincy and got it? As far as I can recall, none! So why should Kumble have done anything differently?

Secondly, have all the other recent Indian captains been selected on the basis of their match-winning performances for India? As far as I can recall, yes. Did Kumble churn in match-winning performances for India? Yes.

I don't see what else could Kumble have done!

P.S.: And here I am not even covering the point that I covered in my previous comment that Kumble may not even have wanted the captaincy, and then it would be someone else's responsibility to identify the captain in him (like it happened with most other good captains of India in the past).

straight point said...

nice headache isn't it bala...?

but before supposedly the tuff series of sa i would definetly want to have a dekho against relatively weaker team... this is how i sees it...

Golandaaz said...

SJ,

What is "earning" a captaincy? Being captain and being a bowler are 2 different things. Is taking 800 wickets good enough to "earn" captaincy. I don't view captaincy as a reward for service. No.

An excellent surgeon is not necessarily the right CEO for a hospital. An excellent programmer does not make the best team leader.

Also I disagree that it is the selectors job to spot hidden leadership qualities in stars.

straight point said...

hey goal now you are accusing me of taking the others with me with populist theme... how could you do it man...? :)

i have nothing more to add to the debate than saying that... it has been the general rule of natural justice that when the both parties do not have proofs the verdict goes to the part that has been challenged...

hence kumble's innocence... since we both agree that we both have no proofs... :)

its also a chicken and egg issue that what is considered first...

selectors thinking that the player in question has the right ingredients to be selected as captain and then go to ask him if he is willing to...

or the player goes to selectors saying that i am willing and then selectors take note of him and see if he fits in to the demands of captaincy...

Golandaaz said...

SJ,

So basically you are upset with the selectors that they thought 10,000 runs is better than 500 wickets at the time

I think its 50-50 to be fair, isn't it?

Golandaaz said...

SP,

No I think it is both selectors failing to see Kumble's talent and Kumble unwilling to standup. I just take issue to the fact that you only blame the selectors.

Unknown said...

Oh I am not saying that it was the selectors duty to spot the hidden captaincy talent. It could have been anyone. As the legend goes, Sachin thought that Dhoni could be a captain and told Sharad Pawar about it... as a result, Dhoni is the captain today! Neither Sachin nor Pawar were selectors then.

But really, just as a captain follows his gut instincts to make decisions on the field, the administration or whoever else is responsible must have the gut instinct to see a captain in a player and give him a chance.

Graeme Smith never asked to be the captain of South Africa after their 2003 World Cup debacle. Hell, he wasn't even in their first 15 for that World Cup (if memory serves me correct, he came in as a replacement for the injured Jonty Rhodes). He went on to be a great captain for 7 long years.

Johan Botha, some times, does not even deserve a spot in the XI, but he is their Limited Overs captain and vice captain. I can give you many more examples from the South African system. Another smaller one: Andrew Puttick was not even in the team of Cape Cobras for the inaugural Champions League 2009. But when their captain Graeme Smith pulled out, he was drafted in and drafted in as a captain.

Players usually focus more on advancing their careers and don't worry about captaincy. Here, it becomes important for someone from outside to spot the right one. Only the very ambitious seek captaincy. And history has it there for us that the very ambitious ones are usually the incorrect options (for example, Lalit Modi - I know he was not a cricket team captain, but he did have a leadership role).

Unknown said...

The thing is I will never blame a player for seeking captaincy. In Kumble's case, he needed to make sure that he performs consistently to have a place in the team. During Ganguly's regime, he was dropped enough number of times to know that he could not take his place for granted. So I just cannot blame him for not going after captaincy.

And that is again why I insist that someone from outside should have spotted him earlier.

Golandaaz said...

So from the period Ganguly stepped down (2004?) till the time Dhoni was made captain 2008?, that 4 year period you think Kumble deserved to be made captain

Instead Dravid was made captain. But he was equally deserving, by your own explanation of how captains are appointed.

So who are you blaming here?

We can all agree that Kumble surprised us with his leadership qualities. He surprised the men who run Indian cricket too. Let us just leave it at that. SP standing up and just blaming the selectors is something I am taking issue with

Unknown said...

One point that I forgot to make is that I always felt Dravid was not the captaincy material. In the few chances that he had had during Ganguly's absences, he had not been that impressive in my opinion.

Had someone spotted then that Kumble was an option, he could have been tried and who knows, the surprise would have hit us a lot earlier than it did!

Golandaaz said...

SJ,

Look there are many reasons for not making Kumble captain...of course I am making these up because for some strange reason you don't seem to give any room for the people who should have "spotted him"....

1. May be they wanted a captain for Tests and ODI. (Kumble was not a fixture in ODIs)

2. May be their research showed that batsmen make better captains. Who Kumble might have overbowled or underbowled himself

3. They wanted a captain to last for more than 5 years...with Kumble's shoulder they did not see him last that long..eventually he lasted 3 years.

4. They wanted an option in away tests to sometimes play Harbhajan

What surprises me is that you are unwilling to give any benefit of the doubt to the men who spot captains, that something reasonable might have led to them making Dravid captain and not Kumble

Men who run Indian cricket are far smarter, successful in many other walks of life than you and me (sorry I am making an assuming for you here :-) they deserve more benefit of doubt than they are given in the media and blogs.

Unknown said...

The 4 points that you gave me were valid even when Kumble was eventually made the captain.

Look, even though I may have sounded harsh on the people who chose Indian captains, I don't really intend to be. Dravid was given the captaincy, and though I didn't approve of it, he did get some fine results (Test series wins in WI and Eng, first Test match win in SA, a run of 18 ODI wins while chasing, etc).

But all the frustration that may have come out in my previous comments was basically to lament the fact that Kumble's captaincy abilities could have been far better utilised. And then when I think of the South African system, where they really lay a stress of a captain (I consider Botha almost as a specialist captain), I feel even worse about it.

Golandaaz said...

SJ,

India has been fortunate to have men of the caliber of Ganguly, Dravid, Sachin and Kumble to play on the same team. They were all leaders in their own way. They contributed not only individually but also for the collective team. Whether they were captain or not.

I don't lament the missed opportunity with Kumble as much as you do. Nor do I get frustrated with the selectors as much as many bloggers do. I think we have a reasonable selection committee who make reasonable decisions. Its just not in the BCCI culture to be media savvy.

I don't think that by not making Kumble captain, we lost much of anything. He served as a transition captain before Dhoni was ready and performed admirably.

Unknown said...

Yes he did perform admirable during that transition period... which is why there is the feeling of "if only he'd gotten it earlier"...

And then, as Bala referred to in his first comment, his tenure as the skipper of RCB reaffirmed that feeling.

I usually don't get frustrated at wrong decisions. And frankly, Dravid's selection as captain cannot even be judged as "wrong" (there are no 'right' and 'wrong' in such cases... to each one his / her own judgment). But the prospect of what could have been had Kumble been the captain for a longer period was quite tempting to make me feel a little sore at the men who made the decisions.

P.S.: I am signing off for the day, so my reply to any reply comment you may post now will come only after another 12 hours. It was nice debating with you... Ciao!

namya said...

Did MSD ask to be made a captain? ;)

Golandaaz said...

namya, who knows :-)

Govind Raj said...

MSD didn't ask to be made Captain. It was the poor form of Sehwag and Sachin's recommendation that earned Dhoni the Captaincy.

Kumble didn't succeed Ganguly mostly due to Kumble not being Ganguly's main spinner. Dada was keen on Bhajji and hence Kumble was eased out of ODIs. This and RD's sizzling form through 2004 - 2005 made him the obvious choice.

But we all are smarter in retrospection. RD should never have got Captaincy. India are cursed with this. Your best batsman rarely becomes a good Captain.

RD would have been past 13K if he were to remain VC all life. Captaincy and subsequent resignation demolished RD. Alas :-(

Making MSD the skipper in a way helped in keeping Sehwag out of the race. Captain Veeru wouldn't have been as good as what he is today. This is a fact.

Captaincy is taking the toll on MSD now. He is missing catches and stumpings. His batting at best is pedestrian.

straight point said...

govind...

i am from the school of thinking that says... players job is to play and perform to the best of their capabilities and selectors job is to select team (and then captain)

i also believe that if a player is propagating about his selection for captain then i see it as the failure of system and selectors who are assigned the job...

like always there can be disagreements with this notion with which i am perfectly ok...

Captaincy is taking the toll on MSD now. He is missing catches and stumpings. His batting at best is pedestrian.

i am not sure its captaincy taking toll... but what i am sure about is that it is the non-stop cricket he is playing... he might be the busiest international cricket who plays every inconsequential series... match... like the odi series we are gonna play just now with oz...

his hands are reportedly swollen... the fingers specially middle one mitigated... and back is also not holding well and if any player need urgent rest from the international cricket (and specially this odi series) it was dhoni...

Govind Raj said...

Even I believe it is stupid for anyone to ask for Captaincy. If Yuvi asked for it, then we know what he is.

Dhoni should say so and stay off the series.

He did it when India went to Sri Lanka under Kumble.

If Dhoni the WK could do it, Dhoni the Captain should do it.

This ODI series is crap. Even Che can play captain. Nobody will be sad if India lose the ODI series 3-0.

If the Selectors were serious about plans for WC-11, they should rest Dhoni NOW and not during the WC !

Golandaaz said...

I have actually nothing new to say, which is that selecting a leader is very much a political decision. Selecting a cricket captain, a team leader, a CEO, you can draw parallels amongst all an each will have its uniqueness.

And in most cases, leadership qualities, intent and desire are key ingredients.

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