King Kallis – A royal farewell!

King Kallis retires from Test cricket!

Number 1 All Rounder of his era, Jacques Kallis has decided to retire from Test cricket. Ongoing Durban Test against India will be his 166th and his last. As with every farewell match, emotions are running high on this one and hence the retiring player’s performance can take the back seat. However, Kallis is not the one to let emotions get better of him. He scored a hallmark test century to make the opposition struggle for a draw!

Kallis has better batting average than Sachin Tendulkar, widely considered the best batsman of Modern era and bowling average at par with Jimmy and Zak, both world-class quick bowlers. It is no exaggeration when it is said that with Kallis in its side, Proteas played with 12 man team! Although I don’t want to compare the legends, I can’t help but say that Kallis was important to SA side than Sachin Tendulkar was to India and Ricky Ponting was to Australia. He never had the fervent following that likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Ponting or Lara had but his performances and contributions to team were always on par with them.

Kallis can be compared to All Time Great Sir Sobers statistically as both were hugely successful all-rounders. Sir Sobers had batting average of 58 and bowling average of 34 while Kallis averaged 55 with bat and 33 with ball. Statistics apart, their style of play are polar opposites. With 13,289 test runs and 293 test scalps, Kallis has been instrumental in Proteas being one of the better Test teams. His retirement will affect SA bitter than Tendulkar’s/Dravid’s retirement has effected India.

Compared to Great Tendulkar’s retirement, Kallis retirement has been relatively silent. Also in deep contrast to BCCI which has distrubuted match passes to VIPs and left out the fans, CSA has given free entry to fans into Kingsmead for fifth day and welcomed fans to give King Kallis a royal farewell. The fans will oblige!!

After Lara, Dravid, Ponting and Tendulkar, Test cricket is set to lose another jewel in its crown. Let’s hope that it won’t cost Test cricket dearly.

Tribute or just a BCCI gimmick??

Sachin to decide his 200th Test venue

Looking at how much he has contributed to World Cricket in general and to Indian Cricket in specific, Sachin Tendulkar deserves any tribute one pays to him. And as Cricket’s regulator in India, BCCI decision to pay a never heard before tribute to this great man shouldn’t raise many eyebrows. So why is there a storm of controversy around BCCI’s latest decision?

Sachin Tendulkar is just two match away from the milestone 200th Test match. Although Tendulkar owns almost every known batting record, playing 200 test matches is no ordinary feat and has almost no practical possibility of being achieved again. Hence it would be of great pride for India to host its champion’s landmark test match. So why is the noise all around it?

India is scheduled to tour South Africa this December and Tendulkar is all set to play his 200th Test match there. Don’t know what has happened but West Indies tour of India has come on cards all of a sudden. The Caribbeans will be playing 3 ODI and 2 Test Matches in India from 31 October to 27 November. Now Tendulkar is expected to complete his 200 tests landmark in this series.

Sachin didn’t play his 100th Test Match in India and hence it will be a great opportunity for India to host the 200th Match for the sport’s true champion. After arranging a tournament in haste for him, BCCI further decided to leave the 200th match venue to Sachin Tendulkar himself. Wankhade is competing with iconic Eden Gardens to host the landmark test match. Both Eden and Wankhade are not eligible to host this series as per BCCI rotation policy. But Wankhade, on grounds of being the master’s home pitch, is fighting for the opportunity to host the match while Eden, on grounds of being India’s iconic stadium and master’s favorite hunting ground, is pitching equally strong for the oppurtunity. Leaving venue fixture choice to a player is never heard of before in world cricket.

Although there is no doubt that Tendulkar deserves more than anyone can offer, BCCI’s latest decisions are infuriating the cricket sport lovers. No player can be put above the sport irrespective of him being one of the sport’s greats. By arranging a tournament just to allow him complete his 200th test on home soil, BCCI has put him ahead of cricket itself. And now by offering the choice of venue to him, BCCI is denying to give the sport its due. But the question here is that has BCCI crossed limits just to honor this man or for its selfish propaganda?

No denying the fact that Tendulkar has been the golden goose for BCCI. Tendulkar name itself ensures that stadiums are packed to capacity and TRPs are spiked to max. Tendulkar has played a crucial role in shaping current India’s influence on Cricket while BCCI has successfully converted the popularity he brought to sport into money. As the story goes, the farmer kills the goose in greed of more gold. Is the BCCI doing the same with Sachin?

Looking at BCCI’s never quenching thirst to fill its treasury, one suspects that the main motivation behind West Indies tour is that BCCI plans to commercialize the landmark moment. With the buzz around it, 200th test match for Sachin will open a lot of commercial opportunities for BCCI and BCCI can’t let the moment pass of with minimal money-making opportunity in SA. This also explains SA disappointment over WI tour of India; they have lost the opportunity to cash on Sachin 200th test. Some also say that BCCI desperately wants to push the limelight it has currently found itself under to someone who can handle it. BCCI is lately associated to all wrong reasons and is losing it credibility with every passing day. Analysts say this is the reason the WI tour was brought on cards; to allow the buzz of Tendulkar playing 200th test on home soil take over the news and buzz over corruption at BCCI.

Sachin Tendulkar is a man who plays his cricket with lot of devotion and reverence. He wouldn’t like himself to be put over the sport and he wouldn’t have any personal choices of where to play his cricket. Although I have no clue if BCCI truly feels it has been paying proper tribute to the legend, I sincerely feel that its more of  gimmick than a tribute.

Related articles:

• BCCI to let Sachin Tendulkar choose venue for his 200th Test (sports.ndtv.com)
• Exlusive: Sachin Tendulkar and the burden of expectation (cricketbadger.com)
• BCCI ‘using’ Sachin Tendulkar to mint money? (ibnlive.in.com)

Zaheer Khan: The Hero Team India needs!!

Can Zaheer make it back?

If asked who is India‘s best strike pace bowler, most would say Zaheer Khan. Zaheer Khan is a world-class bolwer, no questions about it. So why has he lost his place in the team? No matter however good, if you aren’t fit then your career as a fast bowler will be cut short. Same has happened with Zak. But it isn’t his loss alone, it’s team loss as well. After Zaheer, India is yet to find a bowler who can be entrusted to lead the pace attack.

With his ability to swing ball both sides, this 34-year-old left arm pacer had given great starts to India in Test matches. He had the habit of providing breakthrough in the first fifteen overs of the innings. Although very effective against right handers, Zak reserves his best for lefties. His balls that pitch on off & outside line and swing back into left handers are very difficult to negotiate. Zaheer isn’t only a talented bowler but also a smart bowler. Through years of experience, Zak has developed a sharp cricketing mind. Zak took 295 test wickets in 88 appearances for India with an average of 32.35.

Zaheer has recently returned from  France after attending fitness training sessions along with Yuvraj Singh. He will be leaving shortly to South Africa to work on his fielding skills. Zaheer has made it clear that he aspires to return to Indian dressing room and he is working hard to achieve match fitness.  It is of no doubt that he has set his sights on forthcoming Proteas tour. He will be participating in domestic circuit to gain some match practice. Although Zaheer is putting full spirited effort to return back, will he find a place in current team?

Although it is unto the selectors and team management, I feel there is a strong need for India to have Zaheer back in its ranks. Although we have talented young bowlers like Umesh and Bhuvi, there is a need of sensible head to lead them in South Africa. Not denying the fact that Ishant is maturing over years, he is no way spearhead of our attack. Bowling in a test match is touch different from bowling in limited over fixtures. Our young bowling talent needs to mature at test cricket level and they can learn a lot under Zaheer’s watch.

Barring Australia tour of India, Indian test performance is very poor since Zaheer left the squad due to injury. Although poor batting is a cause for that debacle, Indian bowlers failed to create an impact where opposition bowlers wrecked havoc. Except in spin paridises, India’s wicket taking ability has suffered during Zaheer’s absence.  In most of those matches, Indian bowlers ran out of ideas to contain the opposition team and none of the bowler could put up an inspiring performance. This where India needs Zaheer; to think sensibly according to the situation and inspire the bowling attack to do better than what they have been doing.

Last spell Zaheer bowled for RCB in IPL 2013, it was a mesmerising spell. This proves Zaheer has still got what it takes to perform at international level. It is remained to be seen if Zaheer can attain match fitness and win selectors’ nod to join the squad again! I for one hope to see Zak in Whites for India again! And I am certain tha Graeme Smith would be praying for the contrary!!

Related articles

• Zaheer Khan: ‘My fitness has let me down’ (icricketbuzz.com)
• Zaheer Khan working on his fitness issues – Indian Cricket News (blogs.bettor.com)

Is Ravindra Jadeja overrated?

A joke on Jadeja

It is not a far fetch to call Ravindra Jadeja the most ‘joked at’ cricketer of the decade! Jokingly referred as ‘Sir Ravindra Jadeja’, jokes on him are flowing all over the web. Many call him the most overrated Indian cricketer of modern times. Well we have our very ‘talented’ Rohit Sharma competing for that title, but for now Sir Jadeja holds it.

However, do the jokes have facts backing them? Is Ravindra Jadeja an overrated player who manages to stay in team just because of his CSK ‘background’? Jadeja earned Indian cricket fans’ wrath owing to his flop show in 2009 T20 worldcup. Fans consider India lost two matches due to Jadeja’s ‘ball-eating’ skills.  To make things worse, Ravindra Jadeja had done a horrendous blunder in that historic ODI against Australia in Hyderabad.

On November 2009, Sachin Tendulkar played a miraculous innings to singlehandedly take India closer to Australia’s target of 350. But he was dismissed when India needed 19 out of 17, after building a 32 run partnership with Jadeja. Jadeja, who now had to take India’s responsibility, ran himself out cheaply in the same over as India lost the match by 3 runs leaving 2 balls. That was a heartbreak for millions of Sachin Tendulkar fans who never forgave him for his foolish run-out that even a club player would have avoided. Even though he was dismissed similarly in previous matches, he didn’t learn his lesson.

Indian cricket buffs got shock of their life when Ravindra Jadeja turned out to be the Million dollar baby of IPL5. However, Jadeja turned out to be laughing-stock again owing to his epic failure in that season.

If we look at his T20 stats, we understand why he is so overrated. Playing 14 T20 matches, he successfully gave away 331 runs while taking only 7 wickets with a bowling average of 47.28. The less we speak about his batting skills the better! He scored 74 runs with 10.57 average. So Jadeja is a flop in T20 till date. So it was surprising indeed that he won a ODI berth.

But we can say that he fared slightly fairly better in ODI format. Playing 65 ODIs, he took 70 wickets with an average of 34.17. He scored 1028 runs with an average of 30.23. So the ODI average isn’t very bad for an all-rounder. In recent times, Jadeja has evolved to be a handy all-rounder in ODIs, better than what the stats say. His fielding skills are a bonus to him. Although his skills have never shone abroad, he can be considered as an asset for ODI team in India.

Many eyebrows rose again when Jadeja was awarded with test berth. Why did he deserve his place in test squad? Let’s put this question aside and look at his peformance in Test matches. Here we will come out surprised by his stats! Playing four tests, he took 20 wickets with an average of 21.90!! This is too good for an all-rounder!!! But his batting stats aren’t at all impressive. He scored 54 runs with an average of 13.5! Now, in ongoing 4th Test against Australia he scalped 7 wickets and improved his already impressive wicket tally. He scored 43 crucial runs in first innings and placed India in lead.

So looking at his tests stats shall we consider Jadeja, as Dhoni believes,a boy wonder ? 27 test wickets in 5 tests isn’t at all bad, but if you consider how other spinners, including touring team spinners like Swann, Monty, Lyon and Maxwell, made merry of the sub continent turning tracks it isn’t as a big stat as it looks like. His batting record in subcontinent pitches itself is pathetic, so we can’t expect it to improve abroad. We can’t sure how effective his bowling would be on tracks that aren’t turners. And if we only want a bowler, why to take an allrounder?

It is really a question to ask: Does Jadeja deserves to represent India in all three formats of a game?  Except for ODI format, I believe Jadeja isn’t what ‘team management’ believes him to be. Lucky for him that he has backing as solid as ‘cement’! A backing that players like Ambati Rayadu never had or will have!!!