growing racism in cricket...

no i am not talking about this racist incident against pakistan team... though one could very well imagine the uproar this news would have created had this happened to a visiting team in pakistan or for that matter subcontinent...

but here i am talking about the comment posted in cricinfo commentary during tea of first south africa vs england test being played at centurion...

It's been a fascinating first day and has clearly pleased someone calling himself KP "After 400-run test days; 800-run one-days here in India, its so eye-soothing; sense-fulfilling to see decent bowling; pitches with some life. Whoa! This year will be remembered for some splendid tests; so many dull ones. Hope Centurion belongs to the former."

here i am not against lavishing praise for the ongoing test pitch or bowling... but i am against this growing cricracism that every thing good has to be compulsory equated with cricketing 'filth' that is happening in india... to highlight the disparity... even if there is no obvious link...

but then why come sense of perspective come in way of india bashing...?

last time, i remember, when 400 runs were scored in a day of a test match... it happened in england... when england scored them against australia during 2005 ashes... the first time 800 runs or more were scored in a day in one day international match... that was played on south africa soil... and both time it was praised as the celebration of attacking and exciting cricket at its best... and rightly so...

but when the same happened in india... it must be discarded as dull cricket without ever feeling the need to check things... to make an example out of that...

these so called 'experts' can go to any length to achieve pre-conceived conclusions... to give you few examples...

india can not be no. 1 in test ranking coz we 'choked' in the hyderabad one day match... or we can not justify being no. 1 coz we don't have a star fast bowler...

so when india scores 400 runs in a day of a test... when one of india's proudest son scores almost 300 runs in a day... we are accused of taking or replicating one day cricket to tests...

or when 800 or more runs got scored in a day of one day international in india... it is anything but dull cricket at its yawning worst...

these jaundiced eyes suffering from the eye-flue called cricracism refuses to see beyond paleness blocking their 'vision' that this is not the first time it has happened in a test or one day cricket and certainly won't be last irrespective of where it will happen...

but then again... why reason come in way when you can attract cheap eye-balls by practicing racism in the name of cricket and cricket journalism...?

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tale of two tests seen from jaundiced eyes...

i read this article from sidharth monga on cricinfo... the premise of the article is summed up as...

Just for the high quality of consistent fast bowling throughout the match, the Dunedin Test needs to be celebrated...

then what about kanpur test mr. monga...?

it had one team playing as attacking cricket as one would have seen recently... scoring nearly 5.50 runs per over for most part of the innings... scoring more than 400 runs in a day...

we get to see a 'troubled child' of indian cricket staging a comeback into team after good 18 months... making the ball talk both ways not only with new ball but old ball as well... the best reverse swing bowling on indian pitches after a while... on a pitch that was supposed to assist spin bowling... and finishing the game in three and half days... even when there were no demons in the pitch...

in nutshell... attacking test cricket at its best...

but no we must praise dunedin test coz that had pace bowlers doing a job under favorable overcast conditions representing teams that were hell bent on surrendering the initiative to other... there by making that test interesting only coz of their age old deficiencies...

never mind the fact that a pace bowler was man of the match in kanpur test match on a pitch and conditions that had little to do with it... but purely coz of his extraordinary skills...

but i guess the choice becomes easier in the end... coz on one side we had a test match that had equivalent of armani 'pace' tag attached on a picturesque location... and on another a test match that was played on subcontinent patta wicket... that had 'spin' tag attached to it like a stigma...

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