The Elephant in the Room

Disclaimer: This is about Test Cricket. Hence keeping Rishabh Pant, white ball Cricket and Sanju Samson fans out of the debate.

Rahul, Pujara and Rahane have faced a lot of flak for non performance and fitness issues over the past 3 years. Both Purane were dropped and Pujara has come back through some gritty performances thanks to a fruitful English county season. Rahane continues to strive in domestic Cricket. Rahul at least has two overseas hundreds in two test wins in England and South Africa, though his overall performance in non century knocks has been pathetic. 

But as far as red ball cricket is concerned, the Elephant in the room is Virat Kohli. He has had absolutely horrible three years.

2020: 116 runs at 19.33 

2021: 536 runs at 28.21

2022: 265 runs at 26.5 

A total of 917 runs with 5 scores of 50+ in 36 innings in three years. Overall, his average was 26.2 in the last 3 years.

SKY is an Illusion

While Indians are busy rejoicing Pakistan's loss to Zimbabwe, Suryakumar Yadav walked away with yet another Player of the match award. But the stunning fact is SKY, like "Sky" is an illusion.

Yet again tonight, Rahul prodded around, Rohit loitered and Kohli labored. Then arrived SKY. Or did he ? The sky was overcast but SKY wasn't. SKY was as bright and blue as SKY. Suddenly it rubbed on Kohli and there was Sunshine. We didn't notice and before that, SKY hit the last ball of the innings to bring up yet another fifty with a strike rate in excess of 200.

We can see sky but we cannot catch the sky. Ditto with SKY. Bowlers and fielders seldom get to catch him. SKY doesn't play to the galleries. The galleries plead with him to grace them and the spectators become gleeful fielders.

Other players hit the ball. SKY imposes himself on it. Others time the ball. He whispers into the ears of the ball in the last moment as to which direction to be taken. SKY is an Architect. He measures the distance between two fielders and then sends the ball between them inversely proportional to their respective speeds. The ball attains thrill in beating both the fielders to the ropes. No wonder he's been an Architect of many an Indian wins in a short period.

Indian Cricket's tradition of mistreating Cricketing Heroes

We continue our age old tradition of shabby treatment of our cricketing heroes starting from Vijay Manjrekar, the latest victim being the incomparable Virat Kohli. I felt very sad watching him play in the recent matches. It seemed someone had squeezed the life out of him and he was just going through the motions. As a captain he was on the go all the time looking for a run when batting and a breakthrough when fielding. He had the energy and reserve to lead in all 3 formats of the game. That by any standard would require an exceptional level of concentration not to mention a phenomenal level of fitness. And he proved right on both grounds. 

There never was a dull moment on the field with him on the field and kept all the other players on their toes. He led by example and always gave 100 %. It must be said that all 3 formats of the game requiring different tactics and strategies would have put extreme pressure on him physically and mentally but it was never visible looking at him. But in the later stages of his career it must have affected him in some way. 

In hindsight if he didn't take the mantle of captaincy and just concentrated on his batting he probably would have scored 100 centuries with consummate ease. Despite that he achieved great goals in Test Cricket and took India to number 1 position and competed fiercely in the other 2 formats and the least the BCCI could have done is to give him freedom of choice to make his decisions about his future. Instead they imposed sanctions on his free spirit and as a result we may not see the real fighter on the cricket field again. Under the circumstances he may play for a while but I won't be surprised  if he hung his bat and called it a day. I fail to understand why do the politicians or their dear ones need to get involved with the running of the game. We have such a superb array of ex-cricketers who performed exceptionally well on the cricket field and given the chance I am sure will excel at running the cricket board and the players will feel secure in the knowledge that they are under the care of the experts in the game. I really wish that we learn how to treat our heroes otherwise I am afraid Virat won't be the last one in the already a long list of our illtreated heroes.

Dr. K.K. Srivastava for DieHard Cricket Fans

Virat Kohli – The Talisman Red Ball Indian Captain

“We want to be fearless, that’s the brand of cricket we would like to play”. Virat Kohli was chalking out a new roadmap for Indian cricket in the red ball format. His captaincy style discarded the defensive approach and drove the team to not settle for anything less than a win.

Kohli started his test captaincy in 2014, after Dhoni’s sudden retirement from test cricket during the Australian tour. In 2011-12, the team had been drubbed 4-0 in tours to England and Australia. It was at that time that Kohli took on the baton. A small teaser was the 2014 Adelaide test where the Indian cricket team fought for a win, going against expectations for a draw.

Virat’s mantra to win matches abroad was to get 20 wickets irrespective of the conditions. He, along with the support staff, created a pool of fast bowlers who were relentless and fearless. And, spinners took care of most test matches at home. Kohli’s tough period started with South Africa away tour, then England tour, finally to Australia. Though the SA and England test results were not in favor, there was a paradigm shift in Indian test cricket. The approach was bold, strategic, and most importantly, invoked fear in the minds of the opposition. Kohli always questioned the conventional wisdom, played 5 batsmen, 4 fast pacers and vouched more for all-rounders. At that time, it drew irks but the result was bound to come.

India tour of England, 2021

The current India-England series (we still don't know if it is complete or not) is proving to be quite extraordinary in more ways than one. It has been quite a seesaw affair. Apart from the Headingley Test, the other 3 could have been won by either team. 

The last Test at the Oval has brought so many new truths home. India has always been a team of great individuals who played fantastic cricket but couldn't gel with each other as a team to win matches. They were capable of walking into any world eleven on their own accord. Players like Merchant, Mushtaq, Hazare, Mankad, Manjrekar, Gupte, Ghulam Ahmed, Nawab of Pataudi, Farokh Engineer- the list is endless. Mankad's performance at Lord's in 1952 was of such a class that the MCC decided to label it as Mankad's Test. Freddie Trueman when asked about the players he didn't like bowling to mentioned Vijay Hazare. 

The Shock Absorber: Beyond Numbers

Rishabh Pant has played the best knock of his fledgling career and has perhaps exorcised the demons that haunted him between the 2018 tour down under and this tour. Shubman Gill has announced his arrival on the big stage and he will be a Superstar for the coming decade. Mohammed Siraj has once again vindicated the belief in our first class system and the emergence of new India. Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur turned the test head over heels when Australia were in sight of a 130 plus first innings lead. Everyone contributed to this extraordinary win at Gabba. It was truly a team effort.

Every smooth riding vehicle requires an efficient shock absorber. Great monuments stand on great foundations. Cheteshwar Pujara was that shock absorber and that foundation in this series. When we enlist great Indian batsmen of the last 50 years, we will remember Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag. But what does Cheteshwar possess that none of these greats have ? He has anchored two test series wins in Australia while none of the past masters have even one. Kohli played second fiddle to Pujara in 2018 and missed all the fun this time.

Right through his career and especially during this series, people have criticized Pujara for his slow batting and lack of "intent". He even was dropped during the 2014 tour down under. When Rohit Sharma plays rank bad shot and gets out, people defend him claiming, "That's his natural style." Strangely, same people slam Pujara for "Tuktuk" batting. Double standards ! Fortunately for India, Pujara hasn't allowed none of this to affect him and has carried on with a Sagely calm.

Pujara scored just 271 runs in the series with an average of 33.88 per innings. His strike rate was 29.2%. Both are way below par compared to his career statistics. He scored almost twice as many runs during the 2018 tour of Australia. But perhaps, these 271 runs are worth a lot more than the ordinary numbers. Here is the reasoning.

In 8 innings, Pujara occupied the crease for 1368 minutes or 22 Hours and 48 minutes. He faced 928 balls in the process and got out to extraordinarily good balls in 7 out of the 8 knocks. He played just one ordinary shot to get out while facing 928 balls. Cummins was the best Australian bowler in the series and Pujara alone faced 42 overs or more than 25% of his bowling. The importance of Pujara's knocks go far beyond mere numbers.

The MCG Story

Undoubtedly, one among the top 5 test wins for India. Going in with 5 bowlers after getting bowled out for 36 at Adelaide. That is what this win is all about. Doing that in absence of your Captain and best batsman makes it even more special.

Let's look at the number of people missing from India's best test 11. Virat Kohli, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami, 3 absolute match winners missing. Add Rohit Sharma for the experience. Then Umesh breaks down right when he was on song. If India had gone with 4 bowlers, the match would have been lost then and there.

I have believed Mohammed Siraj is India's 4th fast bowling option behind Bumrah, Shami and Ishant since 2017/18. Some of my friends have laughed at this choice of mine. Even while he was called "Chenda" or "Drum" for his IPL woes, I was of the firm conviction that he deserved to play ahead of Umesh in tests, especially in Australia. The lad has done absolutely magnificent job coming after the sad demise of his father, who supported the youth all through the hard toil. Some special success stories do carry a tinge of moistness at the corner of the eyes. Perhaps it was just meant to keep the lad grounded and he would keep scaling greater heights.

Shubman Gill still is raw, flashy but perhaps the best batsman of his generation. He also is very quick in scoring. That adds positivity to batting. Hope he's nurtured well by the team management.

A lot of people hate Rishabh Pant. But his test records are the best for an Indian wicket-keeper after 13 tests. He's the only Indian wicket-keeper with test centuries in Australia and England and only second Asian behind Kumar Sangakkara. His keeping is work in progress. But he has 50 plus catches and stumpings after 13 tests. He's ahead even there. Perhaps, he deserves a lot more support than all the hate he's getting. And he didn't bat badly at the MCG, involving in a crucial 50 plus partnership with Rahane in first innings that pushed India ahead after 4 wickets were lost quickly.

Jadeja is already a legend. His bowling average is lesser than Kapil Dev and Ian Botham and batting average is higher. Does that sound good ? Then remember he's the finest fielder we have in India. Can there be a more valuable player ?

Kohli, the Mortal and Immortal Words of Sahir Ludhianvi

2011 April 2: Somewhere around the delayed dinner time of millions of Indians, Mahendra Singh Dhoni launched that famous six to win the second Cricket World Cup for India. Coming 28 years after the first win, Indian fans were over the Moon.

We had Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Kohli, Dhoni, Raina and our test team boasted of Dravid and Laxman too. But over the next 3 years, Dravid and Laxman retired after back to back 4-0 drubbing in test series in England and Australia. Sehwag and Gambhir fell into bad times. Yuvraj Singh could never be the same force after he came back from cancer and Raina slipped into mediocrity. SRT was given a staged farewell at Mumbai. With only Virat Kohli going from strength to strength, MSD too retired midway through a test series Down Under.

Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane had formed a new top order that fought the loss of an entire generation of greats who dominated the decade between 2000 and 2010. Rohit Sharma's emergence as a superlative top order batsman in limited overs Cricket practically coincided with the decline of Sehwag. Indian Cricket marched into newer heights in spite of lack of big titles.

"I can go on with the same intensity for another two-three years. If you ask me when I am 34 - 35, my priorities and answers might be different..." said India Captain Virat Kohli when asked about the hectic schedule and his unflagging intensity. That pretty much sums up life as well as Cricket. Even Sachin Tendulkar has left and it's almost 6 years and India have only got better.

10 Years of Resurgent Indian Cricket

2010s decade started with a bang for Indian cricket. The team led by charismatic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with his uncanny techniques, tasted quite a lot success in the shorter formats. 

2011, the Cricket World Cup returned to Indian sub-continent and there was a likely chance of India winning the cup, knowing home conditions well. April 2, 2011, 120 crore Indians lived the dream after 28 years of wait. A memory for lifetime.

2013, India added another feather in the cap. ICC Champions trophy, aka mini world cup. India won by defeating the tournament favourites England. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Indian cricket achieved almost everything which was required in the big stage arena. Team was doing well in the shorter formats amid some hiccups in the 2014 & 2016 T-20 World Cup tournaments.

Boom: Once in a Lifetime Phenomenon !

India have played 550 plus tests till now. We've had history of flickers of good to fabulous bowling overshadowed by humongous runs piled by run machines like Hazare, Merchant, Tiger Pataudi, Vishwanath, Gavaskar, Mohindar, Azharuddin, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag and Kohli.

Except for a perfect 10 by Kumble, a couple of test hat-tricks and the legendary spin quartet of the yore, Indian Cricket is an enduring story of batsmen lording over barren brown patches and capitulating like greenhorns on greener surfaces. We always lionised our batsmen or condemned them because we never really had a bowling unit that could claim 20 wickets in overseas tests. Ajit Wadeker and Kapil Dev achieved some success in West Indies and England. But consistent success abroad was a mirage for the Indian fans.

Though Ganguly was the first ever captain to dream big and aim for overseas test wins, he never got the bowlers to work as a unit. It was mostly one of them bowling well with others misfiring. That consistent hostility of the West Indies of 1970s and 80s, Pakistan in the Imran Khan to Wasim - Waqar era, Australia in the first decade of new millennium had always remained an elusive dream for Indian Cricket fans.

MSD was a revolutionary Captain in ODI Cricket. But he somehow became a passive spectator in overseas tests as Indian bowlers practically threw in the towel when faced with flat decks. When it comes to Test Cricket, Kohli is a different Captain. He might err with team selection, he may not be quite imaginative in his handling of spinners but he has brought in a hitherto unknown element into Indian Cricket. The consistently aggressive fast bowling unit that can claim 20 wickets in most tests. We aren't talking about the 130kmph variety but those who can keep it above 140 to 150 kmph even in the third session of the day.

45 Minutes of Bad Play

“45 minutes of bad play and we are out of the tournament. Such is the knockout format of the World
Cup”. As Virat Kohli said this, 1.25 billion fans cried. Dhoni's run-out in the pen-ultimate over was a heart breaking moment. We knew it was all over once he was no longer there to take the team over the finishing line.

Such has been the tournament for the Indian team - the top order clicked in every match and we managed to grab the top spot in the group stage. Rohit, Shikhar, Kohli and even KL Rahul in the end played exceptional cricket to get the team through semis. But, at the back of the mind, there was always this the fear of middle order not being tested. It came back to haunt us. When it mattered the most, they failed. There was one straight-forward strategy which every team planned against India. Get the top 3 out early and you are in the game. No other team could do it but New Zealand played well to enter the finals at Lords.

India Pakistan CWC 2019 Match: Lessons Learned !

Pakistan PM Imran Khan wrote a long and passionate message on Twitter to motivate Pakistan team. He exhorted them to try and give their best in the India-Pakistan match and fight till the last ball. He categorically asked Sarfaraz Ahmed to bat first if he won the toss.

Sarfaraz Ahmed won the toss. He promptly chose to bowl. He was yawning widely while keeping and fell asleep while batting as the asking run rate crashed through the roof. Forget the last ball, Pakistan were out of the game after Amir finished his 4th over.

Even with Duckworth Lewis looming large, they were never in the hunt after the 20th over while batting and each over widened the gulf between DL target and Pakistan score. And then it was all over in the 35th over. There was no fight left.

A disinterested looking India went through the motions when play resumed for those farcical 5 overs with Pakistan needing over 25 runs every over. Even if Dhoni, Kohli, Rahul, Rohit and some Indian fan from the crowd had bowled those 5 overs, India still would have won handsomely. It was a total non-contest, quite like the crowd; India all the way.

So what are the lessons learned for Pakistan ?

1. Sarfraz Ahmed doesn't care for CWC history
2. Damn, Imran Khan's message was in English

Virat - The Making of a Champion - Review

What is the first word that comes to mind while discussing about Virat Kohli?
Most people would say 'passion'!

"Virat - The Making of a Champion" by sports journalists Neeraj Jha and Vidhanshu Kumar chronicles Kohli's journey - from cricket camp to becoming the world's best batsman across formats, shouldering the hope of more than a billion people, and be the champion that he is.

The book talks about each and every aspect of Virat's life:

Personal - his equation with his parents, his rapport with his coach, influence of his life partner, his dynamics with the fans and the sacrifices he made to reach where he is.

Professional - His hunger for runs, his passion for the game, becoming the biggest celebrity brand, fitness icon, an influencer, transforming himself and the Indian team's culture, his records and achievements, and of course the controversies.

My World Cup Predictions

According to recent form, we can predict that the Final of 2019 World Cup will be played between Venomous England and Voracious India. ICC World Cup 2019 is the 12th edition of Cricket World Cup, hosted by England, from 30th May to 14th July 2019. The format of the tournament will be a single group of ten teams, with each team playing the other nine teams, and the top four teams reach the knockout stage.

Lets talk about the teams which are capable of making into the Semi Finals.

1. INDIA

ODI Team Ranking : 2

Best Batsmen with ODI rankings : Virat Kohli (#1), Rohit Sharma (#4), Shikhar Dhawan (#10).
Best Bowlers with ODI rankings : Bumrah (#1), Kuldeep Yadav (#7), Chahal (#8).

There is no doubt that India will enter the World Cup 2019 as one of the favourites. In the past, the strength of India used to be batting, but these days Indian bowlers are also efficacious, meticulous and incorrigible. In recent times, India has been in miraculous form. Recently India vanquished over South Africa in their backyard. As a Cricket fan you might be aware of what it takes to achieve this.  If you have stupendous and enigmatic players like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Bumrah, Bhuvi, then how couldn't you have the strongest team? Indian players are capable of ravaging any team on their day.

Kohli's Blunderbus

Virat Kohli blamed his bowlers for failing to defend 75 in last 4 overs. It was 66 of 24 in reality. He is well within his rights to be upset and criticise his bowlers. But it was Virat Kohli who was the worst culprit in last night's debacle against KKR. Why ? Let's see.

KKR bowling:

Fast bowlers: 6 overs - 89 runs - 0 wickets - 14.83 Runs per over
Spin bowlers: 14 overs - 115 runs - 3 wickets - 8.21 Runs per over

RCB bowling

Pacer Saini bowled pretty well for 4-0-34-2. He picked up 2 wickets including that of DK of his last ball of 17th over. But what did others do ?

Fast bowlers: 8 overs - 125 runs - 0 wickets - 15.83 runs per over.
Spin bowlers: 7.1 overs - 45 runs - 3 wickets - 6.38 runs per over.

RCB spinners had put in a magnificent show and picked up 3 wickets too. Yet, they bowled only 7.1 overs of spin. Negi bowling last over was because Siraj and Southee had screwed up big time. Else, the last over would have been bowled by a pacer too. Kohli simply forgot Moeen Ali was alive and kicking. Kohli just doesn't fit as a captain when Dhoni isn't there on field in the shorter formats of Cricket.

Youth and Fame – A Deadly Concoction!

India’s test series win in Australia is a moment in time, a piece of history, one of the most awaited and cherished wins in memory. This team has shown ruthlessness, consistency and superior performance – let it be the aggression of the pace battery, the run making prowess of Pujara, or the now-used-to consistency with which Kohli scores. But there are talks about how this was probably the weakest Australian side to take field; a team undergoing rebuilding phase – both on and off the field. The absence of Steve Smith and David Warner was no doubt a massive gain for India, but still, Australia managed to win the Perth test. However, what made this series spicy (don’t forget that this series started with no pre-series aggressive comments from the Aussies, and both teams showing mutual respect, which was unseen till now) was the banter behind the stumps. Tim Paine and Rishabh Pant hogged the limelight for their innovative, catchy and sometimes childish comments (can’t call it sledging, as Channel 9 was broadcasting it by asking the commentators on air to be quiet and let the wicket keepers do the talking, as perhaps, for some weird reason, it made good viewing). I wonder what the likes of Richie Benaud would have had to say for such antics!

The Final Frontier

7th January, 2019: Sydney –a rained out day and not a ball bowled. Yet, it would go down as a red letter day in the annals of Indian cricket. India had finally conquered Australia, the first ever Asian team to do so. It has taken 71 years of toil but we finally did it. 

Yes, this was the weakest Australian team that I can recall. But it still had a world-class bowling attack which needed a special blunting down by Pujara. And for their batting lineup, missing Warner & Smith, while not a single one of them would walk in to any of the other Test teams, they were a collective pest, scoring 20s & 30s, stitching together little partnerships down to the No. 11. Yet, we did beat them in their own backyard. Something none of the Indian (or Pakstani or Sri Lankan or Bangladeshi) teams had ever done. 

Our fast bowlers outgunned their counterparts, our batsmen were better at survival and blunting attacks and our wicket-keeper gave it back as good as he got on the sledging front. A 2-1 victory doesn’t really reflect the gulf between the two teams, thanks to the washed out last day in Sydney. 

While I do not believe in Ravi Shastri’s hyperbole about this being bigger than 1983 or 2011, it certainly is special. After all every India fan carries mental scars of multiple maulings received in Australia over the years. Personally, I recall horror details from the many tours of Australia. 

• 1991-92 – when we were thrashed 4-Nil with a Ravi Shastri double century, which included walloping of the debutante Shane Warne, in Sydney nearly winning us the game. Then there was Sachin Tendulkar’s coming of the age kind 100 at Perth. But we were smashed in every other game. 
• 1999-2000 – A 3-nil thrashing, which was the actual prediction of the Mr. Niranjan Shah, the then BCCI secretary. The highlight of the series was a VVS Laxman 163. It didn’t affect the result in one bit but it was the first sign of the torment that VVS would unleash on the Aussies. This became part of the 16-game winning streak for Australia, which ended in Eden Gardens at the bats of Laxman and Dravid. The tide had started to turn. 

On Top of the World, Down Under

There was Sunil Gavaskar and he scored runs in tonnes. He was the first Non-Australian batsman to record centuries in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane, all the test playing grounds in Australia, though on different tours. He toiled hard and India managed to pull back a test from Lillie and Co in 1978, thanks to Kapil Dev bowling with a 102F fever.

There was Sachin Tendulkar, the best batsman of his era with Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Saurav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag forming the greatest Indian batting line up of all times. They toiled to achieve a drawn series before they went down under in 2012, a cruel 4-0 drubbing. An era ended there.

Half Captain Virat Kohli scored 4 centuries and more runs than any overseas batsman in Australia on that 2014 tour. Yet, victory was elusive. 72 years, countless series, magnificent batting shows, then those "We just missed out an opportunity" moments galore and depressing heart burn moments for fans, Indian Cricket fans like me.

He was down but not 'out' with 201 runs from 6 innings during the 2014 series. He was getting those starts, grinding the bowlers down and then getting out, to an extremely good ball or a bad decision or just a freak unlucky mishap. And then he was out of the series in the final test. Cheteshwar Pujara has lived the last 4 years, branded as a flat track bully with serious technical shortcomings against moving ball outside India.

Nice guys don't finish last, always. They too can finish first. Dravid did that many a times but a series win Down under eluded him, even after his best ever efforts. If India had their best chances to win a test series in England and Australia, it was this time, everyone believed. But Pujara wasn't part of that belief. Kohli it had to be.

Unselfish Team Man: The Missing Link Team India Needs

24 October 2015, Mumbai: Quinton de Kock and Faf Duplessis had flattened Team India before Abraham DeVilliers demolished them as South Africa buried India under a mountain of runs and won their first ever bilateral ODI series in India. That 214 runs margin of defeat was India's largest on home soil and more or less made sure M S Dhoni was on his way out as Captain of ODI team too.

More than MSD, that match in particular and the series in general also put a huge question mark before the future of another player. Suresh Kumar Raina, just 29 at that time had a miserable series due to his well advertised shortcoming against the short ball. In that match, he bowled 3 overs for 19 runs and took the wicket of de Kock. On a day when South African batters battered regular spinners Harbhajan, Amit Mishra and Axar Patel for 213 runs from 28 overs for just 1 wicket, Raina was the most economical bowler for India. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar was the only century maker for India, conceding 106 from his 10 overs.

But it was the batting that cost him his place in the side. Raina made 12 of 13 balls with a six and a four. Intimidated by the Rabada short ball, Raina moved too far across the stumps and was felled by that deadly leg-stump Yorker by Rabada. That remains the last ODI Suresh Raina has played. In those 28 months since then, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav, Manish Pandey, Hardik Pandya and many younger guys have crammed the middle order spot once Raina owned thanks to his value as a utility player.

Even in the shortest format of Cricket, Raina has been missing in action for long. When he arrived on our screens during IPL 2017, Raina had put on so much of weight, it was difficult to believe our eyes. There were jokes and memes. "Raina got married and now he's become pregnant instead of his wife." These were the jokes and Raina definitely looked like a lost case.

The 2017 - 18 domestic season was pretty ordinary for Raina. Rookie medium fast bowlers were digging it short at him in domestic Cricket and guys like Karun Nair were scoring 52 ball hundreds in domestic T20 championship. All of a sudden, ahead of Rahul, ahead of Karun, ahead of an explosive middle order all rounder like Deepak Hooda, Suresh Raina was given a recall. A lot of eyebrows were raised considering form, fitness and foreign conditions did not justify the selection of Raina for a T20 series in South Africa.

18 February 2018: 28 months after he last played an ODI against South Africa, Suresh Raina was back in the famous blue, the Indian color. Honestly, this writer was one of those who had written Raina off as an IPL Poney. His strike rate and averages were still good for a No. 6 batsman in international Cricket, in spite of many career slumps. But why go back to a thirty plus, overweight (or pregnant) Raina when we have a lot of younger players to take that slot ? That was the question many like me were asking.

The match last night gave us the answer to that question. Why the selectors, Shastri and even Kohli were going back to Raina ? Manish Pandey has been in and out of the team since 2014. He's played a few brilliant knocks and has flattered to deceive many a times. The way Pandey batted last night and the way Raina batted last night offers a stark contrast and explains why the team management loves Raina.

With an obviously struggling batsman like MSD on the other side, Pandey hit just one sixer on his way to 29 off 27 balls. He looked more concerned about his place in the side than accelerating the score in the slog overs. Compare this to the way Suresh Raina played. With the field restrictions on, South African bowlers taking the short ball experiment to ridiculous levels and an in form Dhawan at the other side, Raina had the freedom to play for his place in the side. He could have knocked the ball around to score a 35 or so off 30 balls to make his contribution look substantial.

Most people would have taken the safe route back into the team but then that isn't how Suresh Raina has played his Cricket all these years. There isn't a more unselfish player in this team today. He went bang bang because India still had Kohli, Pandey, Pandya and MSD behind him. Raina's unselfish act clubbed with Rohit's early blitzkrieg presented India with their highest 6 over score of 78/2 with Dhawan and Kohli still at the crease. 15 runs of 7 balls is all he made but what mattered was how he made those runs and that is what gives Suresh Raina the edge over others.

Cricket in this era is driven by fitness. Virat Kohli puts extreme importance of fitness. Raina would have flunked the Yoyo test in 2017. But this time around, he is leaner, meaner and fitter and he aced the Yoyo and booked his ticket to South Africa right in time. World T20 is around this year and the 2019 CWC is going to be the most important tournament for Kohli and Co. The No. 5 and 6 slots have remained unstable and unsettled. With his fielding still top notch, his immense experience, more than useful off spin bowling and totally selfless batting, Suresh Raina can still be a great asset for Team India if his zeal to play for India remains intact. Last night, we witnessed what Raina is capable of on the field when he made two relatively tough catches look ridiculously easy.

Raina has been frequently criticised as the blue eyed boy of selectors and team managements. Often the criticism has appeared justified too, especially when MSD was the captain. Only after Virat Kohli became full time captain, Raina's fortunes dwindled. But even Kohli - Shastri team recognise the value Raina brings to the team; that utterly unselfish team man nature.

Virat Kohli: An Armour of Amor

Rohit and Virat are almost of same age. They have played together and against each other in most age groups Cricket. They are a mutual admiration society in spite of their incompatibilities when it comes to running between the wickets. If we look at the talent aspect, Rohit was always rated higher than Virat in the early days.

When a young Rohit made a name for himself in 2007 T20 World Cup, Virat was nowhere on the scene. But a decade later, Virat is the best batsman in the world across 3 formats while 30 plus Rohit is still considered young and talented underachiever. In spite of his great average and towering sixers, Rohit still remains an enigma for the Cricket crazy Indians. He has this "All or None" phenomenon where he either flops or buries the entire opposition team under humongous scores. He scores a 200 not out in a match and precious little in next 5 and manages to keep his average above 40. It has almost become a ritual.


While Rohit is consistently inconsistent, Virat is monotonous and monstrously consistent. I have always wondered why is it like that ! I finally found my answer in the post-match interview last night. Virat told Shaun Pollock, "I am especially thankful to my wife, who has always been supportive but has faced a lot of criticism in the past." He was searching for words there because for once, he was emotional. He was definitely talking about the 2014 tour of England when he had a string of low scores and Anushka Sharma, his girlfriend at that time was blamed by many on the social media.

Rohit Sharma is married to a demure and innocent looking middle-class girl. Virat Kohli on the other hand was in love with a Superstar in her own right. In the early days of their romance, Anushka was more famous and must have been richer than Virat. The media and social media is always obsessed with celebrities and the atrocious acronym Virushka or Virushka was trending weeks after they finally became man and wife.

Indian middle-class isn't kind to lady celebrities and they are superstitious to their bone marrows. They still consider a girl walking into the life of a boy can bring good or bad luck. Thus every time Virat failed, Anushka was blamed. India's failure to win 2015 CWC too was placed at the doors of the Sharma home. People thought the Sharma who wasn't playing was a greater reason for the debacle than the Sharma who was playing. Virat is a man with elephantine memory. He is an honourable man and has remembered all the abuse heaped on his girlfriend then and wife now. His commitment and passion to his girl is no less than his commitment to cricket and his team.

Rohit has a relatively easier life. He needs to score a century on his wife's birthday and a double century on their second wedding anniversary. His wife was never blamed for his failures and will never be blamed in future too. The teary eyed beauty became the Darling of the nation on their wedding anniversary. Even if Rohit had failed on that day, nobody would have even thought of her, leave alone blaming her.