TOURNAMENT MYSTERIOUS

The just concluded worldt20 was one of the tournament I was eagerly waiting to witness in this calendar year and also this cricketing season. The prime reason is the format. Of course, t20's always gives you an excitement of watching a movie in three hours if not the non ending pleasure like test matches. And the next reason is that the Indian team will be playing this format after a very long time.

The first mysterious thing is the qualifiers round. We people in Asia, had never got the opportunity to watch much of the cricket played by the associate nations. I have'nt seen any sports channel telecasting the associate nations cricket here. It was a whole new experience. Out of all, I enjoyed watching Nepal. There was a serious passion and hunger among all the teams to make it to the next level. Netherland's unhuman chase bashing the hopes of both Zimbabwe and Ireland was another thing that raised my eyebrows.

The next mysterious thing is the number of missed catches in this tournament. It's not usual for a t20 tournament. And then comes the biggest mystery of the tournament in the form of Australian team. Aussies were considered to be strong favourites of the tournament with the depth in their squad. But unfortunately, they did'nt click together as a team. They completely looked hopeless. Bangladesh team whom I expected to perform much better than few teams in their group, was also a complete flop. Being home favourites, they were not even aware of the pitch conditions which was very worse.

Upnext was a sweet mystery for me. That is the behaviour of the pitches. The pitches were tailor made for Indians, which I sensed even from the practice games. And as expected, India had a cakewalk in all the games they played. Unfortunately, the finals went the other way. To be honest, I expected Indian to be eliminated from the group stages before the start of the tournament. So, I was completely happy with the performance of my team. The pitches were too biased for the teams which won the toss. Teams were extremely comfortable with the chases if they were not Pakistan batsmen and not facing Dale Steyn.

Chris Gayle is the other mystery element of the tournament. It was easily evident that the big man was not even closer to his ordinary form. Lad struggled to play his ferocious shots and hand eye co-ordination was also terrible. Another mystery with the Windies side is the team management's preference of young Santokie over experienced Ravi Rampaul. Ravi was also an important part of the squad which won the trophy last time. Eventhough Santokie was good and managed to get some breakthroughs, I still feel that the inclusion of Rampaul for some games might have helped them.

Non choking South African side and t20's most consistent Black caps' exit from the group stages are also part of my mysteries list of WT20 2014. Well, you cannot count Virat Kohli's brilliance as South Africa's choke. I strongly believed that Black caps could make it to the knockouts. The lack of quality bowling performances did hurt them. Netherlands' surrender to Sri Lanka was also a mystery. One would never expect a team to bundle out for just 39 after a supernatural chase of 200 runs in just 14 overs.

As I was sitting in my couch thinking that after all England is the only team to not disappoint me playing regular cricket to my expected level, they stood up to beat Sri Lanka and also went on to repeat the london act of losing to the Netherlands side. Also, we should not forget the 5 wicket haul of Ashan Malik among the mysteries of the tournament. Yes, I did'nt expect it as I was one among the people who mocked at Ashan for his school boy bowling action.

I am very fortunate that this tournament, the most mysterious tournament and the most enjoyed one in my recent time fall exactly during my final year project works. As I  was not in a need to sit in the class room all the time and was mostly rolling on my bed in my room, this tournament was a great time pass for me especially with the above mentioned mysteries. Eventhough the men in blue lost the finals, it was one of very very few tournaments that was close to my heart.

TIME FOR TRADE

With the IPL auction is just a couple of days away, I just cannot hide my excitement to see which team will pick my favourite player. I am sure every Indian cricket enthusiast must also be excited as me. After the inaugral IPL auction, this year's auction is touted to be the next biggest one. With an option for retaining a maximum of just five players per team and with the dissolved Pune franchise, some of the big names are set to go under the hammer this time.

And there's also joker cards this time which would enable one or two players to play for their old franchise again. The number of joker cards available for every team is based on the number of players retained. As this is the first time Indian rupees are to be used in the auction and relatively low amount allowed in the purse compared to previous auctions, not many players would fetch a huge amount and the bidding process must be quicker for every single player.

Here, in this article I would like to discuss about how every teams' plans would be and how their final might look like.

CHENNAI SUPERKINGS:
Starting with my favourite Chennai Super Kings, the top franchise had already used all 5 slots to retain old players. CSK have already retained their integral team with the likes of MSDhoni, Raina, Jaddu, Ashwin and Bravo. As they have already retained all five of them, they are now left out with just one third of the available total amount of Rs.60 crores from the purse. So, it is all up to act smart now. CSK has a strong core team now so they should go for underrated but talented men like Ten Doeschate, Bopara, McKay, Aparajith. Openers slot is wide open now. They must have to find apt men to open the innings. Meanwhile, most of the former CSKians in the auction list are priced heavily like FaF, Vijay, Hussey and A.Morkel. So we might not see most of the old squad. Also a star foreign and an Indian paceman which CSK missed these years, should also have to be an area to be looked up.

MUMBAI INDIANS:
The retirement of Sachin Tendulkar must not be an encouraging news for the defending champions. Always a smart unit when it comes to bidding, MI is expected to play a key role in this auction too. But as CSK, MI also have retained five of their key men. Rohit, Rayudu, Malinga, Harbhajan and Pollard. They should now go for a wicket keeper and a foreign top order batsman. MI are expected to use their solitary joker card on Ashes hero Johnson. All rounders is another area they are in need for. With just Pollard, they are in need for a couple of all rounders for this format of the game.

DELHI DAREDEVILS:
DD definitely have the edge over all the other franchisees this time. It's not just they have'nt retained anyone but they also have five joker cards which means KP or Warner can wear the blue and red jersey again. With the whole amount available in their purse, many top names in the list are expected to join DD this time. As there was a clear plan to build the team from the scratch, we can expect some fierce bidding from the DD table.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE:
RCB have already retained their smash hit trio of Gayle, ABD and Kohli. With a sizeable amount available in their purse, RCB should build a powerful bowling lineup which was their major concern over years without forgetting that the allrounders do play a major role in t20s.

SUNRISERS HYDERABAD:
The newly formed Sunrisers franchisee have already retained attacking opener in Shikhar Dhawan and premium strike bowler in Dale Steyn. With both batting and bowling departments lead by apt men, now they should look to build on it. They might look forward to use their joker card to retain young sensation De Kock for the WK spot.

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS:
KKR have retained their captain Gambhir and strike bowler Sunil Narine. As SRH, KKR also have a sizeable amount in their pocket to build their team. Unlike the last reshuffle auction, where their costly picks like Yusuf, Kallis and Tiwary did'nt come good, they should look forward for some smart bids this time.

RAJASTHAN ROYALS:
The surprise package of last season Rajasthan Royals have kept faith on their youngsters and retained Sanju Samson, Faulkner, Binny, Watson and Rahane. With the base team is well set, they should have to look for a top spinner and good fast bowlers to complement them. With one of the best cricketing brain in the country Rahul Dravid in the administrative team, we can expect some smart bidding from the RR table.

KINGS XI PUNJAB:
One of the most unsuccessful side in the IPL history has made another horrible decision by retaining domestic youngster Manan Vohra for a whopping amount whom they could have got for a much lesser price in the auction itself. On the other hand, David Miller was also retained who's now winning the Ram slam t20 almost single handedly. Still, with a handy amount available in their purse they can go for some of the best available. KXIP should have to make use of this opportunity to build a strong team which can be a tough competition to other stalwarts of the league.

BAGGY GREEN FOR BAILEY?

Australian team is currently at No.5 in test rankings. But in ODIs it is a different story. They are second just behind India. How can this be possible? The answer for this question is George Bailey. He is the main difference between the Australian One day and Test teams. As a test side, Aussies suffered a lot due to the inexperience in their batting department during the first leg of
Ashes. Youngsters like Warner, Hughes and Khawaja cannot bat for a long time and the outputs were disappointing.

In ODIs, they do have a stable set of batsmen at the top. Finch can provide the firepower at the top, followed by Watson's inputs and the available of much better ODI bats like Bailey and Clarke definitely helps the team. Apart from Bailey and Finch, all the others like Clarke, Watson and Hughes do play in tests. This pretty much shows why Bailey's the biggest difference between ODI and test sides. Finch's stats do read that he's not so consistent. In the just concluded India-Australia ODI series, Bailey formed the nucleus of Aussie batting well supported by some valuable contributions from Maxwell, Finch and Hughes.

After the form of his life performances against India, it's no wonder that people want him to wear the baggy green for the return leg of Ashes which is about to start very soon. But the question is, can Bailey be successful in the longer format of the game. To be honest, it does not mean that scoring more and more runs on flat Indian batting paradises facing not so famous bowling attack would not enable him to bat against quality English attack at the Gabba. But at the same time, the current probables for the spot do not seem to be better than Bailey.

The main thing that's negative about Bailey's selection in the Ashes squad is that his average in domestic shield tournament last year. His performances in last year sheffield shield tournament were disappointing. But the way he did bat in India clearly suggested that he clearly understood his game and he can convert the same confidence into the longer formats too. He was very good in rotating the strikes and had a very sound technique against spinners like Jadeja and Ashwin. His first class stats also suggest that he can make up a decent bat in the longer formats. He has 5,936 runs at 38.29 average. He has 14 centuries and 30 half centuries to his name in the 96 games he played.

With the stage is now set for the away leg of the Ashes in Australia, there can not be any better chance for George Bailey to prove his credentials in facing the red ball. Now that he has got a couple of sheffield shield games after he's back from India, he has to bat sensibly in those games to get the baggy green cap to become permanent member of Australian team across all the formats.  From what we have seen so far, It's very clear that Bailey has  very strong will power and confidence in his abilities. So, let we hope that George Bailey can make it to the Australian test team and will turn out to be the missing jigsaw card for them.

MANAGE THEM TO BE SUCCESSFUL

The squad for Sachin's fairwell series was just announced and as always, the squad consists of a flamboyant set of batsmen. But the pace bowling is the area of concern once again. India's never a great team when it comes to bowling. We just have a set of bowlers who can do a bit of what bowlers from teams like England, Pakistan or South Africa do. We can't deny the fact that we do lack in quality pacemen.  But we can atleast manage and utilise the available resources to be successful.

This squad consists of a total of four pacemen. Mohammed Shami, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar,  Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav. Umesh Yadav was omitted for the ODI series against Australia as he did'nt bowl well and leaked a lot of runs in the Challenger trophy. But when it comes to test matches, we cannot afford to omit a bowler like Umesh Yadav. He can bowl long spells consistently at a very good pace and also he can swing the ball in both ways.

Mohammad Shami did bowl very well among other Indian pacemen in the current series against Aussies. He did bowl with good line and length in the games where both teams set the scoreboard on fire. So without any doubt, he got a callup in the test squad.  Bhuvaneshwar has been our best bowler since his debut. He already plays a vital part of our bowling plans. But the selection of Ishanth has raised many eye brows. He's been inconsistent and struggling very hard to find his form. He was clueless against free flowing Aussie batsmen. He was clearly out of his basics. Many of us thought he would'nt be there in the squad after 3rd ODI but surprisingly, he got the nod.

And now again, Ishant Sharma got selected for the Ind-WI test series ahead of Zaheer Khan.  It's very clear that Ishanth is far away from his best and he is struggling to trouble the batsman with his line and length. It's very clear that he should have to get back to his basics. With the Ranji trophy going on, It would be perfect platform for Ishant Sharma to get into Delhi ranji squad and work hard to find his rythm back. That would be the best way to bring a bowler out of his bad form.

Meanwhile, Zaheer khan who underwent rigorous training and fitness regime, is now back in the mix.

It's obvious that he has'nt bowled so well for Ind A or at Lahli for Sachin's fairwell Ranji trophy game but it seemed that he's regaining his touch slowly in that game against Haryana. But we must have to understand that Zaheer Khan's always a bowler who is made for the highest level. Never in Ranjis or any other domestic tournaments, Zaheer had bowled with the same efficiency he bowls in the blue jersey. This West Indies test series would have been an ideal time for him to get back into international circuit.

Zaheer's selection is the one very essential thing for us at the moment. We are slated to play an important away series against RSA, which would be the start of many. It's not like the just concluded ODI series against Aussies where we won games single handedly with our top three batsmen. We must need inform and efficient pacemen to emerge victorious outside the sub continent. I do not want to say that Zaheer would be much better than Ishant and he would pick more wickets than him. It's just that we cannot pick Zaheer in the test squad to SA directly for his comeback. The selectors have missed a perfect chance to try out the other best possible options available before the start of important series against RSA which will be followed by many test series away our home flat decks.

As I was rolling cluelessly on my bed after watching a grand chase by my favourite Chennai Super Kings in the third league match of the CLt20, I got an idea to write this piece out.  We all know how test matches should be played and how One dayers should have to be played. While the tests require steady and a solid approach, ODIs requires brain games with powerplays and death overs involved in it. We all knew it very clearly already. But how does the t20′s should have to be played and it’s just the slogging abilities you would require to be a top t20 team?

Well, many of us do think like this.

If you say that a team who can slog the ball well can only be a top t20 team, then Royal Challengers Bangalore should have won atleast three IPL tournaments with Gayle, AB Devilliers and Kohli in their ranks. So if you say tactics and some planning would do good in this shortest format of the game, then Rahul Dravid‘s Rajasthan Royals should have won atleast a couple of trophies. Or if you say a team with clever bowling unit can win t20s, then look at the case of Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Now I can clearly explain this with two top t20 teams. Let us look at Otago Volts at first. Well, many of you would curse me for stating Otago Volts as a top t20 team but before that we should have to remember that we have’nt seen any other team from New Zealand other than Volts even from the day when Champions League was inaugrated.  They were unable to justify their talent in the Champions league in the previous editions but, we should have to notice a significant change in their approach in this edition. They have won three games in a row to get qualified where all three were comfortable wins.

By watching them closely during the qualifiers and having watched the great Chennai Super Kings as a crazy fan over the years, I have some how managed to find the winning formula or we should say, the way to play t20s.  Both of the teams have many in common. A mixture of classic stroke makers like Rutherford and Hussey, a combination of deadly hitters of the ball like Dhoni, Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina along with the street smart all rounders like Bravo, Neesham, Jadeja, Ten Doeschate who do play an integral part in t20s.

When you bat first in a t20 game, those classic batsmen at the top will always build a solid platform above which you can post a grand total with the help of natural sloggers and all rounders down the order. And if you want to chase down a big total, we can take a clear cut example of what happened in today’s league game between Super kings and Titans. And if you are chasing a small target in tricky conditions against healthy bowling unit, that is the scenario where batsmen who are all rounders would become handy in case of a batting collapse. Many of us would have seen Bravo or Jadeja saved CSK in some of the chases. Not only in small chases but also in chasing a big total.

And it’s not Gurunath Meyyapan or Srinivasan behind CSK’s wins, but it’s the quality of all rounders they have. All rounders form the nucleus of a bowling unit. There are only few games in t20s where a team won by a five wicket haul of a bowler or by an individual bowler’s brilliance. Spinners do get spanked most of the times except some special cases like Narine. In the powerplay overs and in the death overs, batsmen would go bang without any doubt. The middle overs are the ones which comes into play. You need street smart bowlers in these scenarios.

For Otago Volts, Jimmy Neesham and Ryan Ten Doeschate do that perfectly. They bowl very tight lines which would always result in a wicket if it gets a harsh treatment. Bravo, Morkel, Morris are doing it for the CSK. This always do the trick in the t20s. You can note down many t20 games and winning sides would have atleast a bit of this formula. Well, there are exceptions too where mostly this West Indians win the game single handedly. But to be a consistent winning side, your team must have atleast glimpses of this formulae.

புதிய சகாப்தத்தின் தொடக்கம்

நம்மில் பலருக்கு ஒரு உண்மை தெரியாது.இன்று ஆஸ்திரேலியா அணிக்காக சதம் அடித்து அனைவரின் கவனத்தையும் தன் பக்கம் ஈர்த்து இருக்கும் ஸ்டீவ் ஸமித், ஆஸி அணிக்கு சுழற்பந்து வீச்சாளராக வந்தவர். ஷேன் வார்னேயின் ஓய்வுக்கு பின்பு சரியான சுழற்பந்து வீச்சாளர் இல்லாத கஷ்டத்தை போக்கும் நோக்கில் வந்தவர் பின்னாளில் மைக் ஹஸ்ஸியின்  இடத்தை நிரப்புவார் என்று யாருமே நினைத்து இருக்க மாட்டோம்.

2008 உள்ளூர் போட்டித் தொடரில் அறிமுகமான ஸ்மித், 2009-2010 தொடரில் 13 போட்டிகளில் சராசரியாக 50 ரன்களைக் குவித்தார். ஆனாலும் அவர் சரியாக பந்து வீசவில்லை என்று ஒரு விமர்சனம் இருந்து வந்தது. வார்னேவிடம் நேரடியாக பந்து வீச்சுப் பயிற்சி பெற்று வந்த ஸ்மித், அதே ஆண்டின் கடைசி டெஸ்ட் போட்டியில் 7 விக்கெட்டுகளை சாய்த்து தேர்வாளர்களின் கவனத்தை ஈர்த்தார். 2010 ஆம் ஆண்டு டி20 உலகக்கோப்பை தொடருக்கு முதன்முதலாக ஆஸி அணிக்கு தேர்வு செய்யப்பட்டார். அந்த தொடரில் 11 விக்கெட்டுகளை எடுத்து பந்து வீச்சாளர்கள் பட்டியலில் 2ஆவது இடம் பிடித்தார்.

பாகிஸ்தான் அணிக்கு எதிராக 2010ஆம் ஆண்டு தன்னுடைய முதல் டெஸ்டில் விளையாடியவர், அந்த போட்டியில் 77 ரன்களை குவித்து தன்னால் பேட்டிங் செய்யவும் முடியும் என நிரூபித்தார்.
அதன் பின்பு 2013ஆம் ஆண்டு இந்திய அணிக்கு எதிராக மொகாலியில் நடந்த டெஸ்ட் போட்டியில் மற்ற ஆஸி வீரர்கள் சொற்ப ரன்களில் ஆட்டமிழக்க, ஸ்மித் மட்டும் தனியாக நின்று இந்திய சுழற் பந்து வீச்சாளர்களை திறம்பட சமாளித்து 92 ரன்களை குவித்து அசத்தினார். இந்த ஒரு இன்னிங்ஸ் ஆஸ்திரேலியர்களால் இன்றளவும் வியந்து பேசப்படுகிறது. இதன் மூலம் ஐபிஎல் இல் புனே அணிக்காக ஒப்பந்தம் செய்யப்பட்டார். பேட்டிங், பந்துவீச்சு மற்றும் பீல்டிங் என அனைத்து துறைகளிலும் திறம்பட செயலாற்றிய இவர், அந்த  ஆண்டுக்கான சிறந்த இளம் வீரருக்கான விருதை வென்றார்.

இந்த ஆண்டுக்கான ஆஷஸ் தொடருக்கான அணியில் முதலில் ஸ்மித் சேர்க்கப்பட வில்லை. பின்பு வார்னருக்கு விதிக்கப்பட்ட தடையால் வாய்ப்பு பெற்ற இவர், ஒரு அரைசதம் மற்றும் ஒரு சதம் அடித்து இந்த தொடரில் ஆஸி அணியின் கிறிஸ் ரோஜர்ஸுக்கு அடுத்து ரன் குவிப்பில் முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கிறார். அதிலும் ஐந்தாவது மற்றும் கடைசி டெஸ்டில் அவருடைய 138* அனைவரையும் வெகுவாக கவர்ந்தது. ஆண்டர்சன், பிராடு மற்றும் சுவான் போன்ற அனுபவமிக்க பந்து வீச்சாளர்களை எளிதாக சமாளித்து நேர்த்தியான ஷாட்களை ஆடி கிரிக்கெட் வல்லுநர்களை ஆச்சரியத்தின் உச்சத்துக்கு அழைத்துச் சென்றார்.அதிலும் இந்த இன்னிங்ஸ் ஆஸியின் பரம எதிரியான இங்கிலாந்துக்கு எதிராக வந்ததினால் இன்னும் சிறப்பானதாக பல நாட்களுக்கு அழியாத இடம் பிடித்திருக்கும்.

மேலும் பிக் பாஷ் லீக் தொடரில் சாம்பியன்களான சிட்னி  சிக்ஸர்ஸ் அணிக்கு கேப்டனாக சிறப்பாக செயல்பட்டு தன்னால் கேப்டனாகவும் சிறப்பாக செயல்பட முடியும் என நிரூபித்து இருக்கிறார். இன்றைய இளம் வீரர்கள் டி20 விளையாடுவதிலேயே அதிக ஈடுபாடு கொண்டவர்கள் டெஸ்ட் போட்டிகளில் அவர்களால் சாதிக்க முடியாது என்ற பெரும்பாலோருடைய எண்ணத்தை மாற்றும் விதமாக இருக்கும் ஸமித்துடைய ஆட்டம் நிச்சயம் ஒரு புதிய சகாப்தத்துடைய துவக்கமாக இருக்கும் என்பதில் சந்தேகமேயில்லை.

LION CUBS NEED EXPOSURE:

When a teen aged Indian guy survived bouncers against the likes of Waquar Younis and Wasim Akram that too in a high profile game in his debut test match, many of the cricket admirers could have sensed that he might become a legend oneday! That guy turned out to be the game's finest batsman named Sachin Tendulkar. When another teen aged guy from pakistan toyed   with the Sri Lankan bowling to notch up fastest century in the history of  ODI cricket, most pakistanis should have guessed that this guy would make it really big. He turned out to be one of the best allrounder named Shahid Afridi. Majority of successful cricketers started their journey as an U-19 cricketer and slowly transformed into a successful professional cricketer. But to be successful at the highest level, they need support and some right selection decisions. Here we are going to see two next generation cricketers Kusal Perera from Sri Lanka and Quinton De Kock from South Africa who both are currently facing problems in their transition from an U-19 cricketer to a professional cricketer

Kusal Perera, a wicket keeper attacking batsman from Sri Lanka debuted for SL against Australia. He showed good signs of being a batsman and wicket keeper. His fiery half century against India in CT2013 warmups, showed his ability of lofting the ball and to play attacking strokes in the powerplay overs which lead the Star Cricket commentators to call him 'Junior Jayasuriya' through out the tournament whenever he comes out to bat. But he does'nt come up with another good knock to his name. He followed the same routine of walking into bat trying to loft some balls and then going down with a rash shot. Selectors had faith in him and selected him for t20's against South Africa. He played as a top order batsman in all three games but he repeated the same old story of trying to loft some and going down to a rash shot. He never seemed to correct his mistakes.

While his domestic and U-19 stats says about his abilities, he needs to understand that it requires a strong mindset and much calm and composed approach. He has to learn this from Adam Gilchrist who was also a top order left handed attacking batsman and a wicketkeeper. He has many and many years of cricket left in him. So, his only aim should be to develop his batting skills without losing his primary ability to disturb the bowler's rythm.
while talking about Quinton, I get reminded with the oldest steam engine train in India which is being operated at the Nilgiris hill station down South India. Passengers would always feel a kind of discomfort in this train and when it comes to hair pin bends, the train will struggle like hell. This is what exactly happening when Quinton walks into bat. He always play with a kind of discomfort against pacemen but when it comes to spinners, he always struggles like a Nilgris steam engine train on the hair pin bends. Basically from South Africa, he might not have faced some quality spin bowling in his back yard. But the main thing to worry here is, he is also struggling against pace men. His domestic and U-19 stats are as impressive as Kusal Perera. But he is facing the same problem of transforming into an International cricketer.
There is no doubt with the quality of these players, their problem lies in their transition from a junior level cricketer to senior level. They need some exposure and some games with their international A sides would definitely help them and improve their stability. Hope these two attacking batsmen can learn from their mistakes and will be back with a bang soon.