Battle at the WACA..

After the (not so great) attempt at humor in my last post, it is back to serious business. The Indian team finds itself in Perth and 0-2 down. It was the same situation 4 years back but, as Sambit Bal of Cricinfo has pointed out, the circumstances could not have been more different. Then, an angry Indian team landed at Perth, convinced (as was most of the world) that bad umpiring had done them in Sydney. To add to that was the bad blood between the two sides. And what followed was the most stirring of comebacks by any Indian team ever, as they handsomely won the 3rd Test at the WACA. This time, Dhoni's boys are hurt and despondent. They have been completely outplayed and beaten fair and square by a good Australian side. Relations between the teams have been generally good, excepting the odd incident. Hence, this time, the Indians have to find that resilience from deep within them if they are to stop the slide and maybe, even, get one back as in 2008. But the dream of a test series win in Australia remains that, a dream.

To be fair, it was nothing more than a dream to start off with. Some pre-series media reports that suggested India were starting as favourites were, even without the benefit of hindsight, way off the mark. No visiting team starts as favourites in Australia (except maybe the West Indians in the 1980s and the current English team). It might have been such articles that stoked the Australian fire in the belly, cause they have come back with a vengenance, led, of course, by the captain and the tried and tested middle-order duo around him. So, to think that India had the upper hand to start off with was a mistake. Of course, not even Australian fans would have imagined that the competition would be so unequal. If Melbourne was a case of missed opportunities for the Indians, in Sydney, they were blown away right from the third ball of the match. Much has been made of MSD's decision to bat first at the SCG but I feel he took the right call. It was not a 191-wicket on the first day. His batters simply failed to deliver. Gambhir's technical flaws were once again exposed as, on both occassions, he got a leading edge (blame it on the shorter formats) while trying to work straight deliveries on the on-side. Sehwag did not fire, and one can only hope that the big innings is on its way. Dravid has found out that 2012 is not the same as 2011 while Laxman's 66 in the second innings could not redeem his Very Very Sorry shot in the first knock. Better test batsmen than Kohli have struggled in Australia so it is important that we show some patience with him. And finally, coming to the small man and the big hundred. Rarely before has SRT been in such good touch without having a century to his name. He is batting on a different planet altogether as compared to the other 21 players on the park. But that century is slowly becoming a pain in the neck not only for him, but also for the team. And as innings go by and time runs out for him, it may not be a question of 'when' but of 'if'. Hopefully, once he gets the century, it will liberate not only him but the teamas well. And Indian fans would be hoping it happens at the WACA. The bowling, of course, has to be termed ordinary if the opposition score is 650+ for 4 and the bowlers, especially R Ashwin, need to show improvement and results and of course, need to find a way after the first three wickets which, thankfully, are coming easy as I had earlier imagined.

Now onto Perth and the WACA. Everyone is quick to remind the tourists that the wicket is not quite the one where RP Singh, Irfan Pathan and Ishant Sharma swung India to victory in 2008. It is supposed to have regained its earlier fearsome pace of the 80s and 90s and four quicks might form part of the Aussie setup. This, of course, is supposed to send shivers down the Indian batting line up but, as Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out, many of India's overseas victories have come on sporting wickets (Headingley 2001, Durban 2010, Kingston 2006 and of course, Perth in 2008). But this WACA wicket would surely test the Indian batting line up and MSD, for once, would be hoping its a good toss to lose !!. Speaking of the side, there is high speculation that Rohit Sharma will finally get his debut. I, for one, would not be surprised if we go with the same XI, though I believe Rohit should get a chance. If he gets, it will probably be at Kohli's expense. I would have liked it to be in place of VVS but that seems unlikely given our cricketing setup and his second innings half century. And this is where we are handling the transition very badly. The No.6 batting slot is becoming a game of musical chairs now with Yuvraj, Raina, Pujara, Kohli and now, maybe, Rohit. As far as the bowling is concerned, it should remain the same with Ashwin under severe pressure. Hopefully Umesh Yadav will enjoy (and not get carried away) by the wicket.

Finally, it would be a good result if India can manage a draw (though draws are rare in Perth as per recent records). If they are 1-2 down on the 18th, it would be a huge step forward for the team. But whatever the result, for once, it would not harm the fans to collectively pray for that hundred. I really feel that it is holding back the team.

Cheers

Amit

BREAKING NEWS: 99 is the new century.. !!

In an unprecedent development that has stunned the cricketing world, the ICC has announced in a late-night press release on Saturday that henceforth, all scores of 99 would be regarded as a century in the record books. The terse press release stated 'In the interest of all concerned and of the game in general, the ICC has hereby unanimously decided to grant century status to all scores and figures of 99".

The trigger that started this amazing run of events was a late afternoon Indian team meeting at Sydney. In that meeting, MSDhoni suggested to Sachin Tendulkar that he take a break from the Perth Test and clear his mind of that elusive hundred. Visibly upset at this suggestion, SRT shot back: 'Aila.... What ??? You want to drop me from the team ??? Arre Dhoni, you forgot the time in 2007 when I pulled you by your (then) long hair and put you in front of the selection committee as India's new T20 captain ? Well, I did not imagine then that you would win two World Cups but, anyways, is this how you repay me ??'. Going on, he declared, angrier than he had ever been as India captain: 'I will continue to keep playing as long as I get to that hundred !!!'. At that time, there was a thunderclap heard (it was a stormy Sydney afternoon anyways) and Rahul Dravid, who has a keen sense of history, said he was reminded of the Bhishma pratigyaa scene in BR Chopra's Mahabharata. Anyways, many of the others were in their nappies when the serial used to be on air, so they had no idea of the serial. Alarmed at this development, MSD relayed the news to the BCCI top brass. They were even more alarmed. Said one top BCCI official : "At this rate, it will take a few years for him to get there. Forget Rohit Sharma, he will block even Arjun Tendulkar's place in the Indian team. After all, there is only room for one batsman from Mumbai, you know." This sent the BCCI team into a closed-door meeting wherein Sharad Pawar came up with the suggestion of changing the record books and convert the 99 into a century. When someone asked if this would be possible and if it would seem logical, the matter was quickly referred to Rajnikanth, who, in his inimitable style, made it possible :)

Of course, the other members in the ICC were not so enthused by the suggestion. Cricket Australia raised the first flag of revolt, but then they were offered the honour of converting the average of the second-best player of all time, Sir Don Bradman, to a round 100. They were satisfied. Said the Cricket Australia representative: "The ghost of Sir Don can now rest in peace. Else, we dreaded the prospect of he reincarnating himself as an Indian and dominating cricket one more time'. As a further sop to the Australians, the BCCI offered to purge all online content that put Sachin over Sir Don as the best batsman ever. The BCCI official explained that India's cabinet minister, Kapil Sibal, would do a good job of regulating Cricinfo and other sites. New Zealand, too, were delighted at this suggestion. 'Finally we get a triple centurion' said the NZCC representative, referring to Martin Crowe's 299 that would henceforth be termed as a triple hundred. Closer home, there was double delight for former Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin. Not only he would become a double centurion (he has a top score of 199), he would also become the latest member of the 100-Test club (he is currently the only man stranded on 99 Tests). The former captain turned MP also assured the BCCI of full government support in handling any diplomatic fall out of this decision. As far as England's opposition was concerned, the BCCI threatened to retire the Indian team from test cricket altogether !!. Alarmed at the gate money and TV rights money they would lose if the 2014 and 2018 tours were cancelled, the English board gave in. The other boards did not matter anyways and were quickly won over. Finally the issue was settled and it became official. The official statistics committee of the ICC will amend the record books and release the new records within 15 days, it was announced.

Finally, the Indian government has also decided to contribute its bit. The RBI has notified of a new Rs 99 note that will be put in circulation (see picture) with Sachin Tendulkar on it. The RBI Governor D Subbarao said that this the best way of recognizing the efforts of the little maestro who, in the eyes of some, is no less than the man who currently adornes India's currency notes. This note would be officially allowed to be used as a Rs 100 note and would be officially introduced on 24 April 2012, the little master's 39th birthday.

With this decision, the (cricketing) world, and India in particular. can now breath a sigh of relief !!

Cheers

Amit

PS: On hearing of the decision, Sachin Tendulkar remarked that this will not prompt him to hang his boots. 'I always play for the team, you know, and I will keep on playing till I want'. !!!