Inder's Sports Blog: 08/01/2011

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Utd hit Arsenal for eight, City stun Spurs

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Will India's men of tomorrow stand up?

In the home team's dressing room at The Oval, cricketers in the viewing gallery must keep the company of Thomas Jefferson and Lawrence of Arabia. Or rather, the words they once said which players can read every time they walk into the area that overlooks the field. It is what Surrey cricket manager Chris Adams set up for his team; naturally, during the final Test between England and India at The Oval, only the English could read them.

Jefferson speaks crisply of "mental attitude" two hundred years before Powerpoint presentations and corporate motivational talks. But it is what T. E. Lawrence, archaeologist, scholar, soldier, says that lingers.

"All men dream but not equally," the sign reads. "Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their mind wake up in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible."

The visiting team at The Oval never gets to read this sign. Had any of the Indians walked across that wall on their Tour de Trauma, they would have identified into which category of dreamers their team belonged.

Now, why the waffling on about dreams? Did Lawrence ever open the batting for Arabia?

Fine, here's reality: over six weeks in England, India lost more than a series and their No.1 Test ranking. Eight months after a ringing 1-1 away draw against South Africa, India have been handed a whitewash in a four-Test series after 44 years. What they have lost is their moorings as a competitive Test team of world travellers. It does not, of course, mean that India cannot completely turn England, or indeed any other team, inside out in their own yard. If the two teams were to dash across to Asia this week, India could well do so with interest and fury.

Yet the most respected teams are those who dream beyond their own geography. Their imaginations stretch past the strongest and most obvious probability. It is what gave India their most successful decade in Test cricket at the turn of the millennium, mostly without contracts and often with support staff of precisely four.

From the mix of Tendulkar, Kumble, Srinath, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman came a generation of dreamers who redefined Indian cricket, particularly outside the subcontinent. From the confidence of Test wins overseas, a World Cup final in South Africa, Test series wins in Pakistan, West Indies and England came the environment that a new generation of Dhoni, Gambhir, Ishant and Raina now works and plays in.

The defeat in England is not the end of the world; it is not the end of cricket as India knows it. It is merely a sign of the day after tomorrow in Indian Test cricket. At the moment, it is not good. What Indian cricket, replete with resources and talent, needs most now is a new generation of Lawrence's Dangerous Men. Not merely men of ability but of a larger appetite. Of the greed to succeed, of the hunger for improvement.

If a few of them emerge from the new selection panel or the BCCI itself, the Test team's life will be far easier, methodical and rationally planned (and we will all die happy). For the moment though, the banana peels on the way to the tour of England - a World Cup victory that could not really be relished by those who won it because a seven-week Frankenstein's seductive monster could not be resisted, an unthinking Board and loopy selectors - are not going to be cleared. Neither will what awaits the Test team in less than six months, the one event to try and repair their reputation - a tour of Australia.

India's first overseas Test after 4-0 (or what is now called the 0-val), will begin in Melbourne on December 26. In between there is the Champions League Twenty20, whose qualifier featuring a hopefully-robust Gautam Gambhir begins less than 72 hours after the final ODI against England in Cardiff. MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Munaf Patel will also resume play within a week. Then there are ten ODIs West Indies and England and three Tests against West Indies at home before the Indians jet off to Australia.

At one stage in this series Andrew Strauss did say, "In order to keep improving as a side you've got to keep improving the set-up and sometimes that means different personnel, sometimes it means different methods of preparation."

The BCCI have asked for an additional practice match in Australia, but other than that, sorry, boys, looks like you are pretty much on your own.

The tomorrow of Indian Test cricket is about to reveal itself. Not only in terms of runs scored or wickets taken but about who despite all the hurdles - BCCI, Twenty20, schedules, fatigue, celebrity - can emerge, visibly improved, the greediest of new dreamers.

On the tour of England, India's lack of runs and wickets was quantifiable. What was not was the intangible imbalance between those striving to compete and those content to coast. Those with the big dreams, even if only for personal excellence, and those with pocket-sized aspirations. It is easy to single out India's most recent Dangerous Men in Test cricket; it is those from the next generation - the era of plenty - who at the moment are hard to identify.

The best Test sides in the world have always had enough of Dangerous Men. Between them they can pull, push, lift, blaze and chart the course of every iconic squad's most unforgettable voyages - Lloyd's West Indies, Hussain's England, Ganguly's India, Taylor's and Waugh's Australia, Imran's Pakistan, Ranatunga's Sri Lanka, Howarth's New Zealand, Bacher's South Africa.

England 2011 has established that India's Test cricket must now arm-wrestle with this day after tomorrow. The degrees of difficulty between the long and the short game are considerable but the rewards remain far too skewed.

A player can fake it in short-form cricket but not in Tests. It brutally scrutinises every skill a cricketer may have been born with, developed or dreamt about. Beyond their physical and mental abilities in the craft itself, it also strips bare over and over again, personality itself. England has done that to every man on the Indian team and each of them know, more than a rival or an expert or their own family, just who they are and where they stand - as batsman, as bowler, as fielder, as captain, as team man.

To lift itself as a Test team beyond England, India require more than their new coach; they will need a collective of individual hunger and ambition. Maybe it will be sparked by a revitalised young leader, maybe by a brat-pack of skill and character deeply stung by 4-0.

The tomorrow of Indian Test cricket is about to reveal itself. Not only in terms of runs scored or wickets taken but about who despite all the hurdles - BCCI, T20, schedules, fatigue, celebrity - can emerge, visibly improved, the greediest of new dreamers. Who have decided - as Edmund Hilary so perfectly understood it - not that they want to be extraordinary, but want to accomplish extraordinary things. If those numbers dwindle, so will India's Test team.

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Sunday, August 21, 2011

Doherty, Marsh star in Australia's cricket win

COLOMBO — Xavier Doherty and Brett Lee took four wickets apiece as Australia defeated Sri Lanka by five wickets in the fourth one-dayer on Saturday to gain an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Left-arm spinner Doherty, who was named man of the match, finished with a career-best 4-28 and paceman Lee with 4-15 as Australia dismissed Sri Lanka for 132 before achieving the modest target with 22 overs to spare.

Opener Shaun Marsh (70) was Australia's batting star as he put on 97 for the third wicket with skipper Michael Clarke (38 not out) after paceman Lasith Malinga removed Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting in the same over.

Debutant leg-spinner Seekkuge Prasanna dismissed Marsh and the Hussey brothers, Michael and David, in the space of four deliveries, but Australia needed just 10 runs to win with five wickets in hand at that stage.

Marsh, playing his first match of the series, hit one six and 11 fours in his impressive 80-ball knock.

Sri Lanka were earlier 95-3 following a 71-run stand for the third wicket between Mahela Jayawardene (53) and Kumar Sangakkara (31), but lost their last seven wickets for 37 runs in a dramatic collapse.

Skipper Tillakaratne Dilshan (12) was the other batsman to reach double figures in Sri Lanka's dismal performance on a slow wicket.

Jayawardene, dropped on 34 by wicket-keeper Brad Haddin off paceman Mitchell Johnson, hit just four boundaries in his patient 102-ball knock before falling to Lee in the 39th over.

Lee and Doug Bollinger did not allow Sri Lanka to make a solid start after the hosts elected to bat as they struck in their opening spells, removing Dilshan and Upul Tharanga (eight).

Sangakkara, hit on the helmet by a Bollinger bouncer off the first ball he faced, steadied the innings with Jayawardene before Doherty bagged three wickets in two overs.

The Australian spinner broke the partnership when he dismissed Sangakkara, caught by Lee at long-on while attempting a big shot. He then trapped Chamara Silva leg-before in the same over.

Doherty got his third wicket when he had Angelo Mathews stumped for six runs in his next over before accounting for Prasanna.

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Bell and Pietersen pummel India

London: To say England dominated at The Oval doesn't really do their performance justice. Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen, both with their second hundreds of the series, combined for a third-wicket stand of 350, England's second highest third-wicket stand, as the hosts plundered their way to 457 for 3 with Bell unbeaten on 181 to leave India facing a three-day fight to avoid a whitewash.

Scorecard

For the first session there was actually a contest as England's openers departed but India's challenge evaporated after lunch to such an extent that the remaining 72 overs brought 331 runs. Bell's 16th Test century was classical and elegant while Pietersen thrilled with some of his strokeplay in his 19th hundred as the bowlers wilted. Both batsmen had to earn the right to score freely by battling through to lunch and ensured they didn't waste the hard work.

It became a head-to-head between the pair for each of the milestones. Bell was the first to his fifty and hundreds, but Pietersen, who went to his hundred with a crunching pull off the first ball after tea, reached 150 ahead of his team-mate as he unleashed his full array of strokes during the final session including a switch hit off Amit Mishra. Bell, though, caught up with consecutive sixes off Mishra in the final half an hour of the day and will have a chance of his maiden Test double on Saturday.

Pietersen, who was dropped at mid-on by Gautam Gambhir the ball after reaching his hundred, missed out on the chance of his second double in the series when he chipped a return catch to Suresh Raina for 175 shortly before the close. The partnership had moved past the 308 of Graham Gooch and Allan Lamb at Lord's in 1990 and sits behind the 370 added by Denis Compton and Bill Edrich against South Africa, again at Lord's, in 1947.

It was the latest example of the hunger among the England batsmen and if there were any question marks over a loss of intensity with the series secured the ruthlessness of Bell and Pietersen showed how they have refocused their minds. Again, though, it has to be said that, after the morning session, the bowling was friendly and fielding even worse.

What a false dawn the early exchanges proved to be. Ishant Sharma struck with the fifth ball of the day when Alastair Cook was caught at first slip and Andrew Strauss, who added just two to his overnight score from 32 deliveries, edged a loose drive at Sreesanth to leave England 97 for 2. That was the highpoint of India's day, and could even prove the highpoint of their match.

SMART STATS

The 350-run stand between Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell is the second-highest third-wicket stand for England in Tests. It is also the sixth 300-plus third-wicket stand against India.

Pietersen and Bell have been involved in five century stands in their last ten partnerships. They have now aggregated 1283 runs in Tests since July 2008 at an average of 128.30.

Pietersen's century is his 19th in Tests bringing him joint-third on the list of England batsmen with the most Test hundreds.

Pietersen also moves level with Ian Botham and Graham Gooch on the list of England batsmen with most centuries against India (5).

Pietersen now has eight 150-plus scores in Tests. Only Wally Hammond and Len Hutton are above him on the list of England batsmen with most 150-plus scores.

England have now scored 100 centuries against India in Tests. West Indies are second with 98 centuries.

England batsmen have now scored seven centuries in the series. They have achieved the feat on only two previous occasions against India in 1990 (nine centuries) and 1934 (seven centuries).

Bell's current aggregate of 896 runs in 2011 is second only to Alastair Cook's tally of 927. However, Bell has scored the most centuries in the calendar year so far (5).

Bell's hundred is his 16th century overall and 11th in home Tests. It is also his second 150-plus score of the series.

Ishant was excellent during his first spell of 6-3-7-1 but, with his extensive workload in this series and in West Indies beforehand, it was little surprise he became less effective. RP Singh, meanwhile, just isn't prepared for Test cricket and Sreesanth huffed and puffed without much impact. Mishra was bowling round the wicket at Pietersen's pads before tea and was given some harsh treatment.

The work of Bell and Pietersen was the perfect example of weathering a tough period and cashing in later. Bell laid the ground work following the early dismissal of Cook and, after his innings at Edgbaston last week which was a skittish affair, he was back in full control in the way he had been at Trent Bridge during his 159.

As in that innings third man was a favourite area with India refusing to plug the gap. They preferred a man at deep point, but Bell toyed with them as he slotted boundaries either side of the sweeper. He continued to churn out the runs with the efficiency and style he has shown during a season where his Test average is well over 100. In fitting style his hundred came with a sweetly-timed back-foot drive off Raina having faced 181 deliveries with the second fifty taking 71 balls. With the early threat of Ishant nullified it became an exercise in milking and retaining concentration - Bell had no problem with either.

Pietersen had dominated the partnership early on, firstly while the pair consolidated before the lunch break and then when the rate increased. The first 10 overs of the afternoon brought 59 runs and Pietersen took the attack to Mishra. The contest had started when Pietersen cracked Mishra's first ball through the off side and it was clear he wasn't going to let the legspinner settle. Mishra's lack of drift allowed Pietersen to target the leg side and midwicket was a profitable area.

There was a nervous moment for Pietersen when he was nearly caught at leg slip, in very similar fashion to the early chance during his double hundred at Lord's, as he flicked Ishant off the last ball before lunch but the catch didn't quite carry. Unlike at Lord's there was no controversy, but it had been a clever piece of thinking from Ishant who'd noticed how far across the stumps Pietersen was moving.

However, India's fielding has been largely shoddy during the series and there were two examples in consecutive balls with Pietersen approaching his hundred. RP Singh didn't appear fully committed to a catch at long-off when Pietersen miscued a lofted drive off Raina, then off the first ball of the next over, he dived over a ball at deep backward square to gift another boundary. Gambhir's later drop added the list of errors and, to top things off for India, he was left dazed after banging his head. The scoreboard will have left him dizzy, too.

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Tuesday, August 16, 2011

No let-up by England ahead of fourth Test: Swann

LONDON: While praising Rahul Dravid for his resolute batting, England off-spinner Graeme Swann on Tuesday said that there will be no let-up from their side when the fourth and final Test against India starts on Thursday.

"We are not thinking (the) series is over. Any backslapping and pat on the back can save itself for November," Swann, whose side has already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series and the world No. 1 ranking, said.

Swann cited the example of last Ashes series in Australia where England entered the final Test in Sydney with the 2-1 advantage in the series, but showed no signs of complacency, winning the game by an innings and 83 runs.

"After Melbourne Test, everyone said the hard work had been done and wouldn't blame England for taking their foot off the pedal. But we reserved our best in Sydney.

"If we are at the halfway mark in this Test, we would be doing very well. Besides, nobody would like to be in the room with (coach Andy) Flower if we did take our foot off."

As far as Dravid was concerned, the offie was full of praise.

"He has been exceptional. He has challenged our bowlers the most. He has used his feet and crease very well. He's looked in real good form. He's the wicket which is cherished the most. Once you get him, you sense it should send shockwave through the Indian batting -- the wall or rock or whatever you call him is gone. You sense you're a little further into their batting," Swann said.

England's pace bowling has been devastating in the series but they were dealt a blow after James Anderson was reported unfit for the Oval Test.

"He's fine. I didn't know he was injured. He didn't seem to be limping when out of car. He said it was just stiffness. When he's doing well, he is hungry to keep it going. If not, he doesn't mind a week's off."

Despite the Anderson blow, England are not worried as they have a strong bench strength.

"When we missed Chris Tremlett, we thought it as a big loss but (Tim Bresnan) Bressi has been unbelievable over the last two Tests. We have a vast stock of fast bowling -- I don't know from where they all are coming but they all are around at the same time."

While his side has dominated India in all the three Tests, Swann himself hasn't had a very good series, picking up four wickets at 80.25.

"It would be nice to play a bit more role. I did bowl well at Edgbaston but was disgusted with my bowling at Trent Bridge. It's my home ground but you feel like taking leave when Tests come around at that venue.

"It hasn't been a hot and dry summer. Someone up there looked after us by giving cloudy and moisture conditions. I hope it's dry out there but there are 3-4 guys hoping it's a bit damp."

Despite the Indian batting's failure to reach the 300-mark in six innings here, Swann felt the visitors could give a better account of themselves at the Oval.

"The break India had from Test cricket worked in our favour. India went to West Indies which is 100 degrees and not swinging. Conditions are completely different here. I certainly wouldn't write off Indians. We need to be on top of our games to keep them under 300."

Swann also found it hard to believe that the series has panned out in a way he had wanted, but added that the real test would be the tour of the sub-continent where they play against Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India later this year.

"When we went to Loughbrough (cricket academy), if anyone had looked how we plotted, he would have found it incredibly implausible given the results we have had. Anyone would've seemed sensationalist what we had on the board but it has panned out exactly so.

"The litmus test though would be where we are as a team if we do well in those very hostile conditions."

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