Shouldn’t BCCI be tried for treason?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Isn’t it a shame that a depleted outfit was fielded to take on the mighty South Africans in the third and final One-day International at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on February 27.

The Indians had definitely entered the game with the series already clinched with the triumphs in Jaipur and Gwalior. But did it mean it was compulsory on part of the hosts to gift at least one match to the visitors.

Haven’t the Indians been whitewashed by the various opponents in the past whenever they were found wanting? Wasn’t it their turn to return the compliment to South Africa who had blanked them in the ODI series at home just a few seasons ago?

What was the purpose of resting the seasoned campaigners at a time when they had the South Africans on the mat and another win would have enabled them to finish off the international season at home in style.

Instead of going for the kill, the Indian selectors withdrew their top performers and blooded the inexperienced youngsters in their place for reasons beyond comprehension. Obviously the selectors could not have done this kind of adventure without the consent of the top officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan, three of their most consistent players over the past many years, were unavailable due to injuries. What was the point in resting Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag at this point of time when Gambhir and Yuvraj were unavailable?

Was Saeed Anwar rested for the following game after he had amassed the highest ODI score of 194? For that matter was Brian Lara offered a break after scoring 400? When somebody is in the form of his lifetime he likes to go on and on. Only the BCCI people could know the wisdom behind depriving Tendulkar the chance of playing another majestic knock.

Talking about deprivation, was it fair on part of the BCCI to have withdrawn Tendulkar and Sehwag just a couple of days before the game where as the tickets for the Ahmedabad game must have been sold out well in advance?

Didn’t the people of Ahmedabad deserve to have the sight of the great Indian openers having taken the world by storm?

Even worse to the extent of suicidal was the withdrawal of the experienced bowlers. What was the sense to have a three-man pace attack lacking in confidence, abilities and experience when they had the likes of Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel to name a few to choose from.

Shantikumaran Sreesanth, who had struggled in the earlier two matches, was made the spearhead of the attack and those having showed greater control under pressure, Nehra and Kumar, were sidelined and replaced by two raw youngsters, Sudeep Tyagi and Abhi Mithun.

Needless to say the Indians conceded a record score to South Africa and then got bowled out for a low score in conditions when gripping the ball in wet conditions was quite an issue.

Do the officials of the BCCI have the right to field any outfit of their choice under the banner of ‘Team India’ or do they also have to follow any code of ethics? Isn’t it a crime to play around with the emotions of the people by not letting the best lot do it for their country?

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Tendulkar seals series

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Yet another magnificent knock from Sachin Tendulkar powered India to a series triumph over South Africa, one of the best teams in the business at the moment in every format of the game.

India could not win the two-Test series, managing to square it after losing the first one by the heaviest of margins, but they have come up with better performance in the One-day Internationals closing the three-match series at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior that has remained their happy hunting ground.

Unlike the first ODI in which the South African tail-enders frustrated India against all odds there was no such drama in the second game where the hosts were able to dictate terms until the very end.

There was no guarantee for success for India even after they had posted a total of 401 for three in the allotted 50 overs. They had to come out hard against the South Africans and they did exactly that to prevent anything unusual close to one in the previous game.

In the end 153 runs separated the two sides that looked a fair reflection of the dominance of the home side. With their tidy bowling, the Indians didn’t let the visitors come up with anything extravagant to upstage them.

The limelight was very much on Tendulkar for having set up the monumental triumph but overall it was the team effort that allowed the hosts to remain in the driving seat all along on a day they might not forget for a very long time indeed.

It was one of those days when they were able to bulldoze their fancied rivals in every department of the game. Tendulkar stood out with his magnificent double century but the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Yousuf Pathan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni also made significant contribution with the bat to ensure a massive total.

The trio of Karthik, Pathan and Dhoni kept the score moving at brisk pace to let Tendulkar play his natural game. It could have been a different story to relate if the runs had choked at the other end that would have definitely brought pressure even on the Master Blaster in full cry.

Dhoni’s captaincy, as usual, was spot it. His decision to promote Pathan and opt for the batting powerplay soon after his arrival turned out to be masterstrokes. Then the skipper himself fired on all cylinders in the death overs to let Tendulkar relax a bit in the 190s.

The disappointment of losing Virender Sehwag, who was caught at third man, early in the innings was not allowed to be felt because Karthik built a marathon partnership with Tendulkar and then the stage was set for Pathan and Dhoni to push the score past 400.

India had reasons not to feel complacent even while defending the monumental score because South Africa had successfully chased down 434 against Australia at the Wanderers not very long ago.

The Indians removed the danger man Herschelle Gibbs cheaply and then wickets kept on tumbling at regular internals. AB de Villiers scored a century without threatening to change the complexion of the game.

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No one deserved it more than Tendulkar

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I am sure now very few people would argue about Sachin Tendulkar being the most accomplished batsman of all time. He has overcome injuries, lean patches and media trials at regular basis to prove himself as the greatest exponent of the art of batting.

The latest feathers in his cap are the highest individual score and the first-ever double century in One-day Internationals. His innings at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium in Gwalior on February 24 would be remembered for a very long time.

His record-breaking knock against one of the best bowling attacks of the world was a treat to watch and even the South Africans must have known that they were watching something well and truly special.

The manner in which he was dominating the bowling it appeared a matter of time for him to overtake Saeed Anwar and Charles Coventry, who held the record jointly for the highest ODI score. So was the case of his double hundred that seemed always on the cards if he batted for entire 50 overs.

"It feels good that I lasted for 50 overs, a good test of my fitness. I'd like to bat another 50 overs at some stage and see that the fitness level doesn't drop. The ball was coming onto the bat and I was striking the ball well. So when everything falls into its place, it feels nice. It was one of the innings where I felt I was moving well. Since I was timing the ball well, I could be more aggressive and put pressure on the bowlers,” the great man remarked at the end of the epic knock.

He dedicated his feat to the people of India and credited coach Gary Kirsten for the team's success in both forms of the game after the debacle in the World Cup about three years ago.

"I have enjoyed various challenges; after the 2007 World Cup things have looked different and I'm enjoying the game. The credit also goes to Gary Kirsten who has really held the team beautifully. It's about togetherness and playing for each other. You see during the practice sessions that Gary himself trains as hard as anyone else or probably harder than anyone else as he's the one giving us practice all the time,” Tendulkar remarked.

"When I was near 175-180, I thought I could get a 200 as there were quite a few overs left. I don't play for records. I play for enjoyment and play with lots of passion. That's how cricket started. I didn't start playing cricket to break all the records; it's happened along the way. The dream was to play for India and do my best,” he added.

"I don't think any record is unbreakable. Records are made to be broken. I hope that if this record is broke, it's done by an Indian," Tendulkar wished.

Well the records are indeed breakable but some of them are likely to stand for lifetime like the one Tendulkar is fast approaching. He is not very far away from becoming first batsman to score a century of centuries in international cricket, a record that may never be broken.

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Tail-enders frustrate and humiliate India yet again

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Any other team would have been considered victorious if they dismissed Jacques Kallis at that stage when the asking rate was in the double digits and two tail-enders were crease for the last seven or eight overs. Not India.

India for ages have had this tendency of losing their way in the end after being in the driving seat for the better part of the match. That’s why while the others thought it was all over for South Africa I considered ‘Game on’ even after the dismissal of Kallis and didn’t miss a single delivery.

People around me wondered how I was anticipating a close contest when it was appearing a one-sided affair for all practical purposes. My reply was simple. You never know with India. Trust me I would have given it up too if South Africa’s opponents were Bangladesh or Zimbabwe.

The record books will show that India emerged triumphant in the first One-day International against South Africa at Jaipur. What these score sheets might not be able to tell how much frustration and humiliation the hosts had to endure after having dominated the day.

India should have been well and truly home after removing Kallis, who had earlier been missed by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni of all people. The lapse didn’t prove costly but Yousuf Pathan was denied a wicket he so richly deserved after bowling an outstanding spell with the dew factor taking its toll.

But the tail-enders Wayne Parnell and Dale Steyn came up with their career-best knocks. Not only did they score far too many but they also got them very quickly against an attack whose discipline had made life miserable even for the top-order.

Parnell and Steyn had fun with the Indian bowlers and the crowd that had been shouting all day was brought to silence in a matter of few overs. The festive mood of the spectators turned tense and there was more of disbelief and amusement at what really was going on in the field of play.

It was complete chaos for India. The bowlers started getting punished by the tail-enders. Initially it was being believed that a few hits here and there would have little bearing on the outcome but Dhoni was alive to the situation and he was not taking any chances. He immediately took off part-timer Suresh Raina after being clobbered for two straight sixes in three balls.

Ashish Nehra is probably India’s best bowler in the death overs after Zaheer Khan, who was not playing due to injury. Nehra did stem the flow of runs by bowling a superb penultimate over but what followed in his final over was nothing short of a nightmare for the tall left-arm quickie.

Dhoni’s problems were compounded because of the lack of control over line and length on part of Shantikumaran Sreesanth, the replacement of Zaheer Khan. Sreesanth did take two key wickets but he was far too expensive to be risked for the final over.

Dhoni made the right decision to entrust Praveen Kumar the job of sending the last over from which South Africa needed only 10 to complete the unlikeliest of victories. Kumar somehow kept his cool and didn’t let his team down. The dramatic over, that also included an off-side wide, yielded eight runs that ensured India at least won the match.

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Laxman’s elegance simply enchanting

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

What a joy it is to watch VVS Laxman bat! His stroke-play is truly poetry in motion. He is a pure artist. He has been the most elegant batsman in the game for quite sometime now.

He hasn’t lost any of his touch as we witnessed it at the Eden Garden in Kolkata where he plundered his first Test century against South Africa. It was a magnificent knock that delighted his large number of fans at what has been his favourite ground.

It’s not mere coincidence that he has completed 1,000 runs in just nine Tests at the Eden Gardens. He has played a few of the most memorable knocks of his career here with the epic 281 against Australia in 2001 being the standout effort.

India had missed him so much in the previous game in which he couldn’t take part due to injury. His return to the side immensely bolstered the batting line-up that had cracked at Nagpur primarily due to inexperience that had allowed the South African bowlers to get on top of them.

There was plenty of buzz with Laxman coming back into the side in the second Test that India needed to win in order to retain their top ranking. More significantly they also had to prove the point that the odd failure in the Nagpur Test was more due to the non-presence of their stalwarts than any other factor.

There was greater pressure on Laxman to deliver because Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh were still unavailable and he had to fill the vacuum with the likes of Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

There were suggestions to promote Laxman to the number three position in the absence of Dravid, having made the one down position his own for a number of years now.

John Wright, the former Indian coach, firmly believed that sending Laxman at number three would help the cause of the team immensely. After all he and skipper Sourav Ganguly were instrumental in sending him up the order when the team was in dire straits at the same venue against the mighty Aussies nine years ago.

It had proved to be a master stroke with the Hyderabad touch artist rewriting history with a colossal knock of 281 that led the turnaround and India went on to win the Test match from the brink of disaster.

The present Indian think-tank, however, had different ideas and they probably had the conviction that Laxman was to come good at any position. They were proved right.
Murali Vijay, not surprisingly, failed again at number three but by holding Laxman back they had ensured that there was not a big hole in the middle-order. The tactics worked very well once more.

India had very nearly surrendered the initiative by losing three quick wickets in the closing stages of the second day’s play and South Africa were very much in the game at the start of the third day’s proceedings.

It was Laxman’s fluency that tormented the charged up bowlers and their shoulders dropped when the balls were dispatched merrily to every part of the ground. Dhoni kept his company all the way and together they built a magnificent partnership that entertained the big crowd and consolidated India’s position.

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Incredible India somehow overcome all obstacles to retain top ranking

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

I incline to agree with all those experts and critics who believe that India won’t be able to retain the number one ranking in Test cricket. Not because the Indian team carries any real weakness or lacks depth and character.

The reason why they would find it tough to be top ranked side is simple. They have to overcome far too many obstacles than any other team to continue their winning streak despite being in the possession of the best outfit in business.

We have already witnessed how difficult it has been for them to register victories even after dominating the rivals. They were threatened more by the weather in Bangladesh than the team they were confronting.

The weather very nearly ruined their chances of squaring the just concluded Test series against South Africa. It’s quite extraordinary how the Nature comes to halt the Indian progress so frequently. No other team has to be wary of such factors.

Yes only weather could have saved South Africa in the Kolkata Test after they had a conceded a monumental first innings lead with over two days to spare. Obviously Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra were to be deadlier with men round the bat on a pitch offering them more assistance than in the first innings.

There was only one result possible, unless outside factors intervened, once Mahendra Singh Dhoni had declared the innings in the closing stages of the third day’s play.

The first sign of the outside factors came into the equation right away as the light faded dramatically after just five deliveries of the South African innings and the Indian bowlers were deprived of the opportunity of a crack at the batsmen who must have been fatigued after having done leather chasing for almost two days.

Then the heavens opened and considerable amount of time was lost on the fourth day. There had not been any signs of rain in the earlier part of the series but it just came when the South Africans needed to get some relief.

India had to take seven wickets on the fifth and final day to translate their dominance into victory. The morning was bright and sunny but the injury to their spearhead Zaheer Khan meant the quarter of their bowling power had been lost before taking the field.

Not surprisingly the Indians were frustrated by each and every player who came into bat. Even last man Morne Morkel batted with the steely determination of Geoff Boycott while Hashim Amla appeared to be in greater control of the situation than even Don Bradman would have been at any point of his career.

History is witness to the fact that the oddest things have happened against India. It would have had come as no surprise if the South Africans had escaped with a draw even after having been outplayed in every department of the game.

Well India just managed to take the last wicket that helped them win the Test, level the series and retain the number one rank. Dhoni was obviously a very relieved man when Harbhajan took the final wicket with barely a few minutes play remaining.

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Tendulkar should forget retirement

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

After watching the first Test of the ongoing series between India and South Africa there’s very little doubt in my mind that the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid have done greater service to their country than being thought of generally.

India owe their success in the recent past to their world class batsmen, having proven record against all teams. Their bowlers have also come up with improved performance particularly abroad but everyone knows that it were their own batsmen to have laid the strong foundation more often than not.

India started winning overseas games more frequently when they had the strongest-ever batting line-up in the world. That allowed their bowlers the luxury of attacking the opponents with purpose.

Take the example of Anil Kumble. Why did he have an ordinary record abroad by his own high standards at a time when he was considered only a match-winner at home in the 1990s? It was the time when the Indians didn’t possess a settled or consistent batting-order that could put huge totals on the board in the challenging conditions abroad. That meant Kumble and others didn’t get the opportunity to have a go at their opponents.

Things changed from the moment India found the most charismatic middle-order with Tendulkar and Dravid getting the support of Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman. The emergence of the master blaster Virender Sehwag at the top of the order made their batting the most formidable in the game.

While Sehwag and his opening partner Gautam Gambhir have fired in every format of the game the stalwarts like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman have had far greater utility in Test matches where the occupation of crease remains paramount.

India, who won the inaugural ICC Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, have produced quite a few outstanding dashers of late but the performance their raw youngsters in the Nagpur Test brought to light the fact that they lack in the backup talent for the longest version of the game.

The failure of the trio of Murali Vijay, Subramaniam Badrinath and Wriddhiman Saha, must have served as a warning bell for the Indian think tank. None of the three young batsmen could make it count.

Vijay had played in the past as well but he used to be drafted in a side packed with stars all around him. This time he himself was senior to two debutants in the playing eleven. It presented a golden opportunity of making a big impression to all of them but they just couldn’t deliver.

With the youngsters not showing the application needed to stay afloat against a high quality bowling attack it has become increasingly important for the seasoned campaigners to extend their career. They should forget about retirement for a long time.

Tendulkar and Dravid are still the backbone of the Indian batting in Test matches with Laxman not too far behind. These three batsmen need to take fresh guard and continue performing with the same passion that has been the hallmark of their illustrious careers.

Tendulkar obviously remains the most important component because of his versatility even in his 20th season in international cricket. Having 46 in his bag already the golden figure of 50 Test hundreds must have started crossing his mind.

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Dhoni’s boys whipped by Smith’s men

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Who would have believed after watching the first hour of the Test match that the hosts India were to lose it so decisively inside four days. That was the story of the Nagpur Test where South Africa overcame a nightmarish start on the opening day to record their most emphatic of victories in the recent times.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have dearly loved to bat first too, had he won the toss on a dry pitch that was to be full of runs on the first couple of days before breaking up gradually.

But Dhoni must have considered it a blessing in disguise when Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled with fire to have the South Africans on the back foot from the outset. Zaheer in particular was truly outstanding to the extent of being unplayable at times. His opening spell accounted for the opening pair of Graeme Smith and Ashwell Prince in quick succession.

Prince was touch unlucky because the replays were not conclusive in determining any contact of the ball with bat or glove but what a delivery it was. Zaheer got it to lift from the good length spot and the left-handed opener was in all sorts of trouble in saving his skull.

The one that got through Smith was another beauty. Zaheer was moving the ball both ways and none of the South African batsmen were confident against him. Both Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis were not off the mark yet and the pressure was on the visitors to see off the new ball.

Not for the first though India surrendered the initiative far too quickly and the field had to be spread out to stem the flow of runs instead. Amla and Kallis were allowed to build a partnership that in fact was the highest for any wicket in the South African history.

Harbhajan Singh failed to provide the breakthrough that denied Amit Mishra the opportunity of attacking the batsmen. Neither of the two spinners bowled anywhere near to their best and Dhoni had a tough task up his sleeves.

The ineffectiveness of Ishant Sharma compounded India’s problems and they were forced to play the waiting game. Their bowlers were milked and the runs kept on coming almost effortlessly. They somehow prevented Kallis from reaching his career best score but they had no clue how to get rid of Amla who played the innings of his lifetime.

The inexperienced Indian batting line-up was to be put to more stern examination after South Africa, by posting a huge first innings score, had more or less ensured that they were not going to lose the match.

The fancied quartet of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendukar and M S Dhoni, had greater responsibility to come good because they had to cover up for the lack of experience of as many as three newcomers in their side with two of them making their debut.

It could have been a different story to relate in the presence of Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman and Yuvraj Singh but they were not there. Sehwag and Tendulkar did score a century each but that they needed to score many more under the circumstances.

As Dhoni admitted in the post-match ceremony, India were well and truly outplayed with Dale Steyn being the standout bowler, returning a haul of 10 wickets to power South Africa to an innings victory.

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