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Jaffer and India show no mercy

Wasim Jaffer will think of this in years to come as Good or even Great Friday, but those that thronged to the Eden Gardens expecting a great spectacle were left with the same feeling that most of us get when watching stage-managed wrestling 'fights'.  The script became evident early on and by mid-afternoon, the only question was whether India would top the 366 runs they managed on the second day of their Sydney run-feast in 2004. There was also a slim chance that Jaffer might go on to eclipse the 228 that Virender Sehwag flayed on the opening day of the series in Multan [2004].

Skeletons in the Kirsten closet

One of India's most experienced journalists has run a story that could have serious ramifications as India look to conclude the seven-month-long hunt for a new coach. Barring the ironing out of some details, Gary Kirsten was thought to have the job, but an article in Kolkata's Telegraph asks some serious questions about his suitability for the role.

Lokendra Pratap Sahi, the associate editor who also looks after sports, did the story, and he has perhaps the most meticulous filing system of any journalist anywhere. It should surprise no one then that he unearthed excerpts from an article first run almost 11 years ago.

A few fit men

Usually, on the eve of a game, the speculation surrounds the playing XI - who will make it and who'll be left to ferry the drinks. On Thursday morning at the Eden Gardens, you had a bizarre situation where people wondered whether Pakistan could even get eleven fit men on the park come start of play on Friday. The back problems that have plagued Umar Gul's career have struck again, while Delhi's winter chill and smog have severely enfeebled Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami, the two most experienced new-ball bowlers. Shoaib Malik, the captain, limped around and appeared unlikely to play, while Misbah-ul-Haq was just recovered from the flu bug that laid him low in Delhi.

Will Younis inspire a weakened Pakistan at Eden?

Defeat in the one-day series and the first Test would have been hard enough to take, but now Pakistan face an injury crisis that could severely dent their chances of keeping the three-Test series alive. With less than two days to go for the start of the Kolkata Test, Shoaib Malik, the captain, appears certain to miss out with an injured right ankle. But it's the health of Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan's best player in Delhi, that's causing the most concern.

Can Gary Kirsten do what Greg Chappell couldn't?

By all accounts, Gary Kirsten is set to be India's next coach. Once the fine print is sorted out, the appointment should be announced, though it remains to be seen whether he'll be on board for the tour of Australia. If he can sort out personal commitments in time to make the trip in mid-December, it'll be the sort of baptism by towering inferno that neither John Wright nor Chappell had to face.

Delhi Test ratings - India

India’s seventh successive win at what is now Fortress Feroz Shah Kotla was the complete team performance, with each of the XI making telling contributions over the four days. The doosra look at each man and the role he played in an ultimately comfortable victory.

The Kotla is now India's Gabba

It seems a funny thing to say about a venue where India didn't win for 11 Tests stretching over 15 years, but after a seventh success on the bounce, the Feroz Shah Kotla is now a fortress comparable to the Gabba, where Australia haven't lost since 1988-89. India's last defeat here came 20 years ago, with Viv Richards scoring one of the great hundreds of his career as West Indies chased down 276. Since then, India have seen off Zimbabwe thrice [in the days before reverse racism made them a club side], Pakistan twice, and notched up victories over Sri Lanka and Australia.

Greater experience the key to India's success

It's never over till Bianca Castafiore sings, but with just 32 runs needed on the final morning, India are on the verge of going ahead in the series. It helped that their luck was in - Rahul Dravid survived an excellent shout from the serially unfortunate Mohammad Sami - but they also made their own fortune with greater awareness of the demands of the five-day game. They stayed patient in a morning session where Pakistan were unnecessarily reckless, and the batting in pursuit of 203 was characterised by the sort of bloodymindedness that they have often lacked in crunch situations.

Slipping through the fingers

If India do go on to lose this game, they'll look back ruefully at the third evening, and the chance that Wasim Jaffer failed to grab. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh were on a roll, with three wickets having fallen for 12 in an eight-over spell. Younis Khan had succumbed to Kumble, and the other half of the duo that has tormented India so often, Mohammad Yousuf, had been deceived by the first ball of Harbhajan's second spell. When Shoaib Malik chopped one on, Pakistan were effectively 116 for 5.

Searing pace, and a tremendous riposte

Over the past decade, there have been many critics who have questioned Shoaib Akhtar's commitment and appetite for the game. If they had been at the Kotla today, they might have seen a man transformed, someone who finally appears to have grown into the role of the leader of the pack.

Kumble enjoys near-perfect day

When Shoaib Malik won the toss and decided to bat on a typically flat Kotla pitch, most Indians might have feared a bit of a leather hunt. Instead, it was the Pakistani batsmen who were constantly harassed, with the balance shifting only in the final session when Misbah-ul-Haq and Mohammad Sami illustrated just how inept the top order had been.

Money can't buy you love

The Indian board may be second to none when it comes to the business of generating money, but they still have a whole lot to learn about organising international events. Right from a farcical accreditation process that panders to local associations - every other country has a centralised system in place - to shambolic arrangements in the press box, the first day of the Delhi game highlighted everything that's wrong with an organisation  that loves the bottom line without caring less about attention to detail.

The nearly men

Australian cricket tragics often talk of the man who touched infinity - Stuart Law [54 runs in his only Test innings]. But in a sense, Law was lucky. At least he had a taste, however fleeting, of international cricket. Amol Muzumdar, the boy who waited while Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli added 664 runs, was on the fringes of the Indian team for years, but never quite made it. Every country has its share of such hard-luck stories, and it's these men who walk down the boulevard of broken dreams that encapsulate the real spirit of sport. Even when it seems that they have no reason to carry on, they do, for the love of the game. You can read Sriram Veera's wonderful interview with Muzumdar here.

To the winner goes the...Indian Oil Cup

Few sporting contests rival it for intensity or the fervour that it provokes on both sides of the divide, yet India and Pakistan don't even have a proper trophy to play for. Shoaib Malik and Anil Kumble did unveil something called the Indian Oil Cup on the eve of the first Test, but it's just the next in a long line of baubles that have little intrinsic value. England and Australia play for the Ashes, Australia and India contest the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while West Indies and Australia had had many enthralling contests for the ownership of the Frank Worrell Trophy.

Twin blows even up the contest

When Mohammad Asif withdrew from the tour with a long-standing elbow problem, it was assumed that it would seriously impact on Pakistan's chances of victory in the Test series. Mohammad Sami might have done exceptionally well on the last tour of India, but you'd have to speak to a member of his family or fan club to find anyone who thinks he, or a raw Sohail Tanvir, is half the bowler that Asif can be. It was building up to be one of those rare series - as in 2004 - when India's pace attack actually appeared to be more formidable than Pakistan's.

Lone Rangers not enough

Another Asian tour of Australia, and another misadventure. Sri Lanka have never won a Test there, and Pakistan have to look back to the days when alternative music was king for their last triumph. It isn't very hard to explain why Australia keep winning either. Their superiority in all departments of the game was telling, and Muttiah Muralitharan's Bradmanesque bowling average (100) tells you all you need to know about how they dominated this series.

A time to be young

Across the Indian Ocean, an irrepressible Dale Steyn was showing just why youth must be given its fling, even at the expense of legends like Shaun Pollock. And in admittedly more relaxed circumstances, the young bucks from Pakistan and India followed his lead in a dead-rubber match that had too many cameos to ever be boring. Pakistan could take great heart from the displays of an inexperienced pace trio, with Sohail Tanvir, the newest recruit, doing the most damage. There was also a sprightly allround show from Fawad Alam, and a tidy performance behind the stumps from Sarfraz Ahmed.

Have Australia done England a favour?

This was supposed to be the season when cricket's playing field evened out, with the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne bringing Australia back into the fold. But after seven days at Brisbane and Hobart, the chasm between those in baggy green and the rest is as yawning as ever, with Sri Lanka in real danger of heading home on the back of two defeats by an innings.

This was to be the tour where Muttiah Muralitharan broke Shane Warne's record in his rival's backyard. Instead, he has toiled 96 overs for three wickets - still five short of Warne - that have cost him 103.33 apiece. His compatriots have fared little better.

From the sublime to the nervous

When India and Pakistan met at the Gaddafi Stadium in February 2006, the one-day series was beautifully poised at 1-1. Pakistan set India 289 to win, and Mohammad Asif soon began to move the ball this way and that almost at will. India lost two wickets in no time, and with even Rahul Dravid struggling to put bat to ball, it was left to Sachin Tendulkar to show everyone just how it should be done. His judgment was impeccable, and his shot selection faultless. While Dravid struggled to get a run every other ball, Tendulkar ticked on serenely, utterly changing the complexion of the match.

India won't rock winning boat

The Indian squad for the first Test against Pakistan has been announced, and the selectors have stuck by the men who did so well in england not so long ago. That means no place for Virender Sehwag, despite four centuries and an average of 91 from his nine Tests against Pakistan. Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik are the men in possession of the opening slots, and unless either fails miserably against Pakistan, the chances of Sehwag making it to Australia - where he struck a resplendent Boxing Day hundred in 2003 - are increasingly bleak.

Indian cricket, and new-age players

One of the readers pointed me to this article which looks at a documentary done by ABC based on Greg Chappell's time as Indian coach. I remember being interviewed a couple of times by the trio that made it, and it should certainly make for interesting viewing. It will doubtless ruffle feathers in India, and uncork a few new bottles of vitriol that can then be thrown in Chappell's direction.

India prevail despite Butt masterclass

It takes only one poor umpiring decision to ruin an otherwise enthralling game. India would in all likelihood have won this match, but Amiesh Saheba's spontaneous triggering of a magnificent Salman Butt innings took some of the sheen off the proceedings. By that stage, Pakistan needed 49 from 20 balls with only two wickets in hand, but the erroneous decision denied the crowd the possibility of another down-to-the-wire conclusion.

How late it was, how late

This post doesn't start with a burst of profanities like the James Kelman novel, but the title perfectly sums up Anil Kumble's career. After 118 Tests and 566 wickets, and at the age of 37, the selectors have finally given him the captaincy. There were several times during the course of his 17-year career when he was perhaps the right man for the job, but it always ended up going to one of the 'bigger' names, never mind that those august folk hadn't won India even half as many matches as the soft-spoken but flint-hard Kumble.

Younis and Boom Boom make profligate India pay

This high-scoring thriller may have entertained a passionate crowd on the eve of Diwali, the festival of lights, but it also revealed many of the frailties that have condemned both teams to middle-of-the-road mediocrity in recent times. Given how incredibly sloppy both were in the field, it was somehow appropriate that the game ended with a fumble at cover.

Murali makes it a contest

Much has been made of Muttiah Muralitharan's dismal record in Australia - three wickets at 116. Most of those critics don't bother to mention that the two Tests he played were almost 12 years ago, an indictment of an international schedule that panders shamelessly to the so-called big teams. His one-day appearances in Australia during that period have been coloured by as much controversy as the Boxing Day Test of 1995, when Darrell Hair called him for throwing, and the crowds at most venues have scarcely distinguished themselves with their boorish heckling and no-ball calls.

A tale of two warriors

After India's unexpected triumph in the T20 World Cup, autumn has become the season of youth. Impatient supporters, many of them with memories of the past decade conveniently erased, are clamouring for change and there have been more scathing words said about some legends of the game than at any time in the past. After his triumphant return from the wilderness, Sourav Ganguly has been largely immune to the criticism. Instead, it's Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid that have borne the brunt in recent times, with cruel barbs from those that would like to see Indian cricket go through a Prague Spring of its own in the near future.

What's in a name?

Someone wrote in asking if I would explain the doosra to the uninitiated. Unlike facing Murali at the Premadasa or Warne at the Gabba, that's simple enough. In Hindi and Urdu, doosra means the second one or the other. As far as cricket goes, it's the offspinner's answer to the googly, a leg break bowled with an offbreak action.

The googly has been around for a century, and the Australians still called it a Bosie after Bernard Bosanquet, the Englishman who was the first to bowl it, claiming the wicket of the legendary Victor Trumper among others. The doosra's history is less well documented, though Pakistan's Saqlain Mushtaq is credited with mastering it in the 1990s.

India cruise against Pakistan Lite

As India-Pakistan contests go, this was an especially tepid affair. Indian generosity in the field helped Pakistan to 239, but the pursuit was accomplished so casually that you had to pinch yourself to believe that one of sport's great rivalries was being played out in front of you.

The last two games on India's tour of Pakistan in 2006 had been similarly uneventful. India won with ridiculous ease at both Multan and Karachi, with the strength of their middle order the difference between the two sides.

Let the games begin

For most of my generation, India-Pakistan matches meant day-long jousts in white clothes in intense Sharjah heat, at the end of which Pakistan usually won. For nearly two decades, until the match-fixing scandal persuaded the Indian board that the venue had been tarred with the corruption brush, these matches were the staple diet of cricket-lovers in the subcontinent. Former greats mingled with Bollywood stars, and some dubious characters, in the hospitality boxes, and the passion in the cheap seats was no different from that found in Mumbai or Karachi.

The Gabba Gambit

Australia's tactics over the past decade haven't exactly been subtle. Soften up touring teams - usually underprepared - with a fast pitch in Brisbane, and then apply the finishing touches in front of the raucous hordes at the MCG. If that doesn't work, there's always the WACA in Perth, though the pitch there now bears little resemblance to the greased-lightning one on which Roy Fredericks smashed 169 (145 balls) against the fearsome pace of Lillee and Thomson.

Powar bowls himself into contention

There was no doubt which was the standout game as the first round of Ranji Trophy matches started on Saturday. Surplus to requirements in the one-day arena, Rahul Dravid has two matches to play himself into form before the Test series against Pakistan starts in Delhi on November 22. Since the second one is against lowly Himachal, the first - against Mumbai, the defending champions and the New South Wales of Indian cricket - assumed paramount importance. And with Barrington Rowland lasting all of four balls, Dravid was in the middle long before the new ball had lost its sheen.

Top 20 Asians

The first thing that strikes me as I go through Patrick Kidd's Asian Top 20 is the role of television in how we assess the past. I must confess I was jolted to find my numero uno languishing at No.16 in his list, and then I realised that the reality of TV coverage in the 1980s meant that he was unlikely to have ever seen Imran Khan at his peak. In my mind, there's not even a debate. There are great Asian cricketers and then there's Imran. The best fast bowler the subcontinent has ever produced - a senior Indian journalist once told me of how he would probably have bowled India out with an orange in that 1982-83 series that he bestrode like a Colossus - a batsman good enough to bat in the top order, and the most inspirational and single-minded of captains.   

The axe falls on Dravid as India "build" for 2011

Most fan sites, like the 606 phone-ins, are a waste of time, a chance for some idiot to abuse players, coaches, journalists and just about everyone else, safe in the knowledge that he [women are rarely so idiotic] is anonymous. But while it may be the ultimate coward's refuge, you also get the odd discerning poster who argues on the basis of facts and figures, the only currency that matters in such discussions. Indian Cricket Fans  has some really excellent posters, and it was one of them that pointed out the sheer mindlessness behind Rahul Dravid's exclusion from India's one-day side.

Pakistan rocked by Asif blow

Pakistan cricket doesn’t do simple and uncomplicated. Rare is the major tour that starts off without controversy or mishap. If it was Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif failing drug tests before the Champions Trophy last October, it was Shoaib taking a swipe at his new-ball partner in the build-up to the World Twenty20. And like Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, it seems as though the dream pairing just isn’t meant to be. This time, it was Asif that stayed behind at home as the team touched down in Delhi.

Welcome to The Doosra

The doosra has changed the complexion of offspin bowling and divided opinions over the past decade, and we hope to stir up similar debate with this blog that deals with a region that is now very much the beating heart of international cricket.

India may be bankrolling much of international cricket, but the fans in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal – Roy Dias, the former Sri Lankan legend, has done a sterling job as coach there – are no less passionate about the game.