finally something happened during 'the asses'... not necessarily on-field... that caught yours truly eye...
calls for shane warne comeback...
some fans have started a campaign to call him back to save ashes...
now the obvious and natural reaction is to dismiss it as stupid over-reaction without caring a glance... but if you scratch beneath this 'stupid move' you might find something concerning...
for once this is fans, the most important yet often overlooked insignificant something, way of telling the board running cricket that they have lost faith in the way they are managing team and to be precise... talent...
of late cricket australia is like a house on fire where every incident or failure on field requires nothing short of maniac moves and reactions... and it is not a surprise that australian team has seen numerous chops and changes that would make even bangladesh proud...
its a statement on the functioning of so called 'world class system'... that forces an injured opener, in katich, to play in first place... thereby admitting they don't have any alternative in their supposedly best domestic structure in the world...
so why not call warne instead then...?
it seems cricket australia are just not sure what they want to do or who their next best men for the job are... so with each failure there must be a scape goat to be found and necessarily sacrificed just to show something is done...
best examples are the dropping of hilfenhaus after just one below par test... when he was the most impressive oz bowler in india...
dropping hauritz after series in india where even the spinner of the caliber of shane warne has found it difficult to either contain or take wickets...
this 'chop and change' at the drop of hat policy has obviously led to so much insecurity in the team that players are not sure whether they will be playing next test or not... how their performances will be evaluated... instead on focusing on the job at hand...
and yet... at the same time they expect the fans to just observe the show like mute spectators sitting on the sidelines...
so rather than dismissing shane warne comeback campaign without caring a glance... cricket australia or for that matter any cricket board must look at why and what prompted fans, their biggest stake holders, to 'stupidly' demand such thing in first place...
why calls for shane warne comeback should be taken seriously...
shared by straight point on Thursday, December 09, 2010
rotation policy: sangakkara is right on money...
shared by straight point on Monday, August 16, 2010
every now and then someone from the power circle comes out and gives lip service to the rotation policy... but as soon as the statement is over... the issue is forgotten and brushed aside safely under the carpet like unwanted rust...
of late almost every team is struggling to put up their first choice players specially bowlers on the park and given the way cricket is on air every alternate day this situation is not going to change... it will only get worse if proper attention is not given to this 'everybody-talks-about-no-one-follows' problem...
sangakkara is right on money when he suggested...
"From team point of view, we can recommend rest to certain players, especially fast bowlers because of their load. But the final call has to come from selectors, otherwise there is too much responsibility on the individual player.
"And when you have a rotational policy, I think it is important that the player has the confidence that if you are rotated out of the team, you get first choice back. It doesn't matter if your replacement scores a hundred or a double."
sanga's suggestion addresses two points very clearly... first, that it is the system who will have to make the call... and secondly but more importantly... while making rotation calls the system must address to the insecurity aspect of the player... the very core problem of the issue...
administrators have been passing the buck by saying that player should be honest and should themselves take calls on whether they need rest or not or in declaring injuries which just goes to show that they are living in cages and are not in sync with how cricket is being played and how much the stakes are involved these days...
with the amount of money players are getting these days through endorsements which are directly or indirectly linked with whether the player in question is in the team or not... its not hard to understand why they want to make the most of it while they can...
another core aspect is the insecurity... what if the player opts for rest and the replacement player goes on to score a century or a five-for...? will the player who opted to take rest have to again fight for the spot again he vacated willingly...?
until unless the insecurity aspect is not taken care of and we have selectors of integrity and authority... we will never reach to a workable implementation of rotation policy... that is why sanga is right on money for honestly coming out in open with the players concerns yet at the same time asking system to take the call...
we don't mind praveen amre's sacking...
shared by straight point on Friday, August 13, 2010
if this toi report is to be believed... praveen amre was axed for not playing chennai bowler... chandrasekar ganapathy... although question mark left at the end of headline is enough to raise doubts about the authenticity of the report... but even though the report turns out to be true... we really don't mind it...
the 'deserving' word is very subjective and emotions associated with it can't always be set aside from the geography of the one who is using it... but one thing is for sure... this 'news' has put the lad in an unnecessary lime light...
as i said we really don't mind if a coach is sacked for not playing a 'deserving' player... and we know certain CHE'teshwar pujara won't really mind this development... but what we really want to see is that coaches, and dare say, selectors getting sacked for playing non-deserving players...
for perennially attempting to make allrounders out of pathans and jadejas when a specialist would do a fab job...
for making the india cap so cheap that even you and me who know how to hold bat and roll the arm over can lay claim to being an allrounder...
for making insult to legends like kapil dev by calling these players allrounders when the fact of the matter is that they can neither bat nor bowl...
good bye no. 1 ranking...
shared by straight point on Monday, July 26, 2010
it was nice till it lasted... was nice up there for a while...
if there were already doubts that we are actually no.1 or not in the real sense... then be prepared to safely say good bye even to the no.1 ranking and not only coz of the skills or talent the current team has at its disposal... which is how unfortunate it can be...
for quite some time it is clear that there is no synchrony between team management or to be precise dhoni and our bunch of jokers... if one is heading north then other is heading south just to show who is actually the boss... there just does not seem to have any thought or effort put into to not only keep the rating at the helm going but taking it to beyond the realms of ranking...
i agree that injuries have not helped but the functioning of current regime goes beyond buffoonery...
we have already discussed here that how 'farsighted' was the selection of ishant and sreesanth... but the ongoing omission of mishra is the classic example of open tussle that is going on between dhoni and the selectors...
it is clear that dhoni does not like mishra... and he has good reason to not... you don't boost your chances of play when you say "sehwag will be better captain than dhoni" while playing under later without putting up performances that can't be ignored...
without going on the merits and demerits of mishra's (non)selection in final xi... under the circumstances picking mishra is just a waste of place as it is happening in sri lanka right now... despite below par performances of harbhajan who is refusing to be the leader of the pack despite his claims and ojha who not even looking like restricting the scoring to bolt one end up leave alone coming close to taking wicket... is playing second tests on a pitch which is offering some bounce where mishra would have been more effective and logical choice...
amit mishra is a seasoned campaigner... he was bowled 20637 deliveries and taken 367 wicket in domestic cricket... and so its not that they want to give exposure to him by selecting him for tests and away tours... but somehow the rope given to him is so short that before you notice him bowl in tests you see him carrying drinks for his mates...
if you pick a player with an intention of not playing him then this is a waste of place to me... no.1 teams do not carry passengers with them... but the ongoing tussle between leadership and bunch of jokers has ensured that we are one option short to fall back to... one place that could have gone to ashwin... piyush chawla (sangakkara rates him as best leg spinner from india) or even to murali karthik or ramesh powar...
in a well settled team most players pick themselves... but selectors gain reputations for their selection of fringe players... which not only shows which direction they are heading to but keep the talent at disposal interested... but current selection panel is hell bent on killing everything their predecessor have managed... and if our team is still performing well and winning more matches than they are losing... then it is despite their buffoonery...
part of the blame should go to dhoni as well who seems more interested in creating his comfort zone... massaging his ego with his set of pet players rather than rise above it and play final xi on its merit... and if someone is thinking that in second test there at ssc we are playing with best xi then i must be watching different cricket...
shape up or ship out...
shared by straight point on Saturday, May 29, 2010
when you hear these words the message you get is the person who has said them means business and if you want to trade with him better be in shape than sorry...
but is shape of yuvraj or rohit sharma the real problem...?
i have seen many a waistlines which borders way out of conventional shape yet they were/are good on field and not only with their primary skills... and if shape is the issue then what one would say about players like nehra etc... who seems to be in perfect shape and yet are liabilities in the field...?
there will always be some players who will be ambitious enough only to the level of being in the team by putting just the amount of effort that will escape them axe... there will always be players who would be unwilling to challenge themselves... to either raise their game to next level... to develop the secondary skills to offer some value addition to the team...
but then why we have system in place for...?
although our 'bunch of jokers' often provide lip service to the fitness issue but when it comes to really walk the talk they either develop selective (or collective) amnesia... or just don't have balls to put the foot down... the result... even if the player in question is no way near the fitness level required at international level... they keep selecting him as if his place is reserved for life...
why would a player in question then put that extra yard when he knows he will be the automatic choice come the time for next selection...?
if our 'bunch of jokers' declare that they would put premium on fitness as much as they put on primary skill and stick to it... we will definitely see the change in mindsets of those who are spared or allowed to become lethargic...
the case in point is sehwag... after being dropped from team india after that fateful SA tour... the first thing he worked on was his fitness... all that while when he was in team and developing that tyre around his waist he never thought on working on it and the 'realisation' took no less than suffering the ignominy of being dropped from the team to work on his fitness... so it was not a coincidence that when he made a successful come back to team india... he was lighter by few kilos...
this brings me to question... india has had history of appointing captain series to series basis... why can't they do the same for the fitness too...?
so mister harsha... i think you are knocking the wrong door... the real culprits are not those players... but some 'bunch of jokers' who are letting them off the hook time and again... and getting paid for it...
why not show cause notice to selectors also...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, May 19, 2010
when the 2007 world cup debacle happened... lots of cosmetic changes were suggested... paid selectors was one of the suggestion which was implemented... the thinking was simple... just coz selectors are paid they will be professional and accountable...
(do notice the last suggestion... the Indian team must have a pool of 30 cricketers who should be rotated so that no player plays more than 80 days in a year... but this beyond the scope of this post so i leave it to debate another day...)
so from then onwards selectors started laughing all the way to bank... got richer by 40 lakhs per annum for doing the same crap they were doing before for free... but the current regime of 'bunch of jokers' has taken it to an altogether different level... they keep finding new lows after every selection gaffe with spectacular results... latest one being just concluded world cup...
no curfews...
but what about these insipid selectors who just can't see beyond their nose...? who keep on repeating the same mistakes...? who even after promising to nation that they will never select an unfit player... went ahead and did the same unchallenged...? what makes them above board...?
harsha in one of his recent article said...
"I'm afraid India weren't good enough. Sometimes that is difficult to accept, but that is indeed the truth. A different batsman might have been picked, another spinner might have made his way here, but there was no Bradman or Sobers left behind."
i strongly disagree with his line of thinking here... just to give you an example... an unfit yuvraj will not only able to bat that freely but will be a liability on field in a format where every dot ball... every single saved... is treated as gold...
when your first line of defence is part time bowler then what are you left with, if it falls...? so its easy to say that another spinner would not have made much difference... at best it is romantic statement made to close eye on the gaffe that there were no bradman or sobers left behind... a fit, eager and capable player is always going to be better than an unfit, limited star...
bcci has issued show cause notice to seven players... but i wonder what prevented them to do the same to the people who's 'brawl with common sense' has caused more damage to indian cricket than the brawl some players had at pub...
india's exit: whom to blame... dhoni or selectors...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, May 12, 2010
dhoni because...
the flexibility for which dhoni used to be known for has been replaced by some fixed notions as far as his leadership goes... his insistence on preferring pathan and jadeja over specialists has started to hurt india badly... even when selector gave him specialist spinners in the form of mishra and ojha... he kept preferring pathans... for the 'balance' sake... its not only the caribbean even in sri lanka where pitches and conditions were more conducive to spin... he did not play mishra...
he has also started to take 'reactive' decisions... in champions trophy first he said we can't play extra bowler coz it disturbs the balance of the team... then after a defeat and facing elimination... he said extra bowler helps coz you don't have to score that many runs... even in the crunch game his decision to bat first seems reaction to the criticism of bowling first decisions earlier rather than on sound logic...
he kept on bowling first when he did not had bowlers who could exploit the conditions and in crunch game yesterday he opted to bat when the situation was similar to say impending rain... when you want to chase coz you want to keep pace with revised target... but he chose to bat instead coz that appeared more convenient to him...
this goes to show how defensive he has become and do not want to push himself as well as the team... he seems content in the comfort zone... so does the team...
selectors because...
when your chief selector pledges in front of nation, after first test fiasco against south africa, that he will never select players who are not fully fit... and went on to do so for no less than a world cup... what can you do...?
the selections were based on reputations rather than form... the thinking was clear... stuff the team with batsmen coz t20 is a batsman game... and chawla's selections indicated that... who was apparently preferred over mishra and ojha for his batting skills... but they forgot that you just cannot bat and bat... but have to bowl too to defend the total... and no amount of big hitting can defend bad bowling...
dhoni was just not given bowlers to fall back on... instead he was given assembly of part times... it came as no surprise that when situation demanded dhoni could not find bowler to throw the ball to knowing he will give his 100%...
the squad for the world cup should be like where every player can make it into final xi depending upon conditions... situations... but we carried 3-4 passengers in a squad of 15 when even some main players were not close to the top form!
where does this leave captain...? what options dhoni had to maneuver...?
selectors stint thus far has been rank conservative that lacks vision... and if they continue to do so... this will erase everything what team india has achieved of late... despite their insipidity... and one wonders they are actually paid 40 lakhs a year for this crap!!
bcci... attention please... i can do as bad a job for even 10 lakhs per annum... or i might actually...
