India pave the way for a Test revival barring the odd Srikkanth Howler

India finally witnessed some cricketing success after Dhoni and his men pummeled England to a 5-0 defeat in the One Day International Series. The series was played in India and the result really reflected how each team was the “King” only in his own kingdom. India’s 5-0 rout was touted as a payback to the 7-0 whitewash that the three lions dished out to Dhoni’s men in England. Every sensible cricket follower knew though, that the win in India certainly did not nullify the woeful result in England for the men in blue.

The one factor that outweighed England’s victories over India was the fact that the English absolutely thwarted India in the longest and most challenging format of the game – Test cricket. India will surely be aware of the fact that they produced an absolute shocker in England and they will be desperate to make amends when West Indies tours India. What’s more is that the men in blue will look to use the Test series against West Indies as a litmus test for the upcoming tour of Australia. The squad chosen by Kris Srikkanth for the series against West Indies certainly re-instantiates that fact, however, as has become the norm Srikkanth has slipped in the odd howler.

No prizes for guessing who the howler is. With a phenomenal record of 18 wickets at an average of 44.66 this experienced campaigner has played a total of 10 whole first class matches. Wow! Now isn’t that some experience. Really for a player to walk into a Test side of a nation that hails itself as the 3rd best in the world after playing just 10 first class matches is absolutely bizarre and sets a precedent that is downright shameful. To make matters more complicated the bowler has also been chosen at the back of a rather lackluster bowling performance that wielded figures of 0/65 and 2/49 in the Irani Cup match against Rajasthan. Sharma is not known to be a big turner of the ball nor has he produced magical results in the 10 first class matches that he has played, so why then does he deserve a place in the squad? The more one tries to reason his selection, the dizzier the head gets. Certainly Kris Srikkanth does not make it into the famed “Knowledgeable Chennai Crowd” with this selection.

Despite the odd shocker there are a few positives that can be drawn out from the squad selected. Ajinkya Rahane is one such positive who has been rewarded for his consistency at the top of the order in ODIs and has been given a spot in the Test squad. What this has also done is that it has sent out a strong message to Abhinav Mukund who has been dropped to make way for Rahane and that message quite clearly says- perform or else!

The message has not just gone out to young Mukund though, as Harbhajan Singh too has been dropped after a poor showing in England and really owing to a poor showing in recent times that was highlighted by his inability to pick up wickets. Even Suresh Raina has been sidelined from Test cricket and has been replaced by the in-form and more technically equipped Virat Kohli. The biggest positive surely is the return of key players, all of them fit mind you, like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.

One thing that stands out from the selection is that the men in charge have certainly kept the Australian tour in mind. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron have been drafted in to the Test squad set to play West Indies. This move clearly signifies that the selectors are interested in their pace, a factor that could prove crucial in Australia and a factor that India generally has been devoid of. Praveen Kumar has been given the much needed rest he deserves while Pragyan Ojha has finally been rewarded for some good performances in the English County and the domestic circuit with a place in the side. R.Ashwin and Ishant Sharma too have been included.

It will be interesting to see how many chances Yadav and Aaron are given. India will be playing on tracks that offer spin and quite naturally will be tempted to go in with two spinners and Ishant allowing only one of the young speedsters to get a look in. Rahane too will get limited opportunities as the pair of Sehwag and Gambhir will surely open. Apart from the one howler the selection does look to be one that has been based on performance and the team looks balanced. This side should be good enough to overpower the men from the Caribbean and it will also be interesting to see how the inexperienced Indian bowling attack fares.

Squad for 1st Test: M S Dhoni (capt & wk), Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, R Ashwin, Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Virat Kohli, Varun Aaron, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Sharma

Shashreek Roy for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Shashreek on Twitter @shashreek

Cheats Never Prosper….Hopefully!

Mother always told me “cheats never prosper”, and yesterday in Southwark Crown Court, Salman Butt and Mohammed Asif learnt that lesson the hard way.

Guilty of cheating and accepting corrupt payments the two, along with young Mohammed Amir, who pleaded guilty to the same charges before this trail started, have reminded us all of the perils of corruption in professional sport.

Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the whole case was how orchestrated and widespread this particular fixing racket allegedly was, with Mazhar Majeed, the 3 players agent, supposedly the ring-leader, taking requests to fix aspects of test matches that Pakistan played against Australia and England during the summer of 2010, from clients all over the world.

Requests that were placed as casually as social plans are made between friends, Majeed seemingly had control of half the Pakistani team, with Kamran Akmal and Waheb Riaz also implicated by evidence deemed inadmissible for this trial.

This trial centred on the bowling of three no balls, but this could potentially be a small drop in a rather large and murky ocean, if the other evidence now in circulation is to be believed.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has spoken since the verdicts were handed down of his concern around suspicious events that occurred whilst he was still playing. This trial has resulted in 3 convictions, but there are almost certainly more skeletons in the cupboard.

Nick Hoult, cricket writer for the Telegraph newspaper and present in court throughout the trial has since written about evidence, text messages, from and to Majeed, talking about fixing set periods of play (“brackets”) during test matches last summer. It is alleged that the requests from clients would go on to determine who would bowl for Pakistan and when, and how many runs they would concede off their own bowling.

If this was not delivered to order, Majeed would get complaints from angry punters – the game merely a vehicle to facilitate a book of illegal orders, the ebb and flow of test match cricket reduced to inconsequential farce.

How, if these additional allegations are true, could then Pakistan captain Butt focus on setting fields and building pressure on batsmen to take wickets whilst at the same time remembering how many runs were required from specific overs in a bracket to facilitate his agents orders?

This is a major moment for the future of all forms of cricket. Illegal betting isn’t just restricted to test matches, T20 cricket has spot betting too, and given the size of the enterprise that is the IPL for example, we would be foolish to believe other forms of cricket are immune to corruption.

The ICC need to make a stand on this immediately. The News Of The World brought evidence of this practice out of the shadows and onto crickets main agenda, and the authorities in the UK have built a case, the effect of which will reverberate around the cricketing world, but now the ICC has to continue to investigate suspicious patterns in betting and on-field activities, and hand down the most severe penalties to anyone found guilty.

But players need to take responsibility too. Salman Butt has earned £1.7mm from playing cricket over the past few years. It’s not a bad wage, one that he surely could have survived on without plunging into the depths of an illegal spot-fixing syndicate.

I read this morning how Mohammed Amir had terrorised the England batting lineup last summer, taking 19 wickets from 4 test matches played. He was a revelation and was made Pakistan’s man of the series for his efforts.

The waste of talent in his case in particular is extraordinary, and perhaps the best we can hope for is that he returns to cricket one day a reformed character, realising his potential as an exceptional bowler whilst at the same time educating young cricketers against the dangers of getting involved in the illegal spot-fixing under-world.

It may take a role model like Amir to fully deter young players from ever doing something as greedy and foolish as this in the future.

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1

India vs England: The good, the bad, and the slightly unattractive

Personally, I love my metaphors on a plate.

Apparently, we have been avenged.

For me, it’s only close to 30% done – because Tests do matter that much.

But I’ll take the 5-0, mostly because it was fun to watch the English team constantly complain about the cold dish they were being served. (See picture above)

Anyway, here’s what we learned from this series:

• Even if you hate Ravindra Jadeja (which you probably do), you have to admit that he really has worked hard, and is now the ideal all-round option for India, given the lack of Irfan Pathan other options. He was the highest wicket-taker in the series, with 11, and an average of 17. With the bat, he averaged 37 from 3 innings with a good lower-order strike-rate of 110. He isn’t going to single-handedly win you one in fifteen games like Yusuf Pathan, but he’s pretty steady. For now.
• Ashwin, unlike Harbhajan, takes wickets. One Challenger Trophy won’t save you, Bhaj.
• Selection is still weird. Why on earth would you have Rahane open, when there’s no way he can bat in the top 3 in a full-strength XI? He did well enough, but from his innings of 91, he looks like a much better middle-order batsman to me.
• Take Vinay Kumar’s 4-30 away, and in the four other games he gave away 150 runs in 24 overs, taking just 2 wickets. Really shouldn’t be a regular in the side.
• Umesh Yadav was erratic too, but his pace was clearly an asset at several points in the series. I’d keep him around. And what a great debut for Varun Aaron!
• The world’s #1 spinner fails at the home of spin? What’s that about?Swann took only 2 wickets at 95.5, conceding 5.3 rpo.
• It’s all #trottsfault, for scoring 202 runs at 50.5, at a strike rate a shade under 80.
• Virat Kohli (270 runs @90) doesn’t know what ugly batting is. Dhoni(212 runs, not dismissed), on the other hand, knows it better than anyone else, and excels at it.
• Parthiv Patel had a rare bad series since his comeback, but no one cares since he’s just a stop-gap opener, like Dinesh Karthik before him. This can’t happen to Rahane, which, again, is why he should be in the middle-order. Unless someone retires from ODIs soon.
• Do English fans feel the same way about Dernbach as I do about Vinay Kumar?
  Took me five minutes just to decide whether to put the comma after "bitch".

Series against Windies coming soon, I’ll be back.

Contributed by DHCF Rishabh Bablani
Rishabh’s personal blog

Blackouts, Whitewashes and Red Faces, England’s One Day Tour of India

Perhaps it was an omen? As the five-match One Day International series between India and England kicked off at Hyderabad on October 14th, Sky Sports were forbidden from broadcasting the game by the BCCI. Normal service was thankfully resumed shortly thereafter, much to the relief of the England fans watching back at home.

At that stage of course optimism was still rife that England could compete in the series, making up for a wretched record in India of only 1 win from their previous 13 matches. Hell, some of us even thought a series win was possible!

Ah the innocence of wild optimism…

India were 129 for 4 batting first at Hyderabad and at one stage England felt they were in with a chance. But then Mahendra Dhoni came in and scored 87 runs off 70 balls including 10 fours and 1 six, all during the supposedly slower “middle overs”.

It’s not just that Dhoni is an incredible finisher; it’s that he can do so on any type of wicket, and at any stage of the match. He played well in England during the summer, apart from Rahul Dravid India’s best player all tour, and he’s been even better back home.

England could do worse than try to emulate Dhoni in their search for a credible wicketkeeper-batsman rather than looking for the next Adam Gilchrist, as has been their want of late.

Craig Kieswetter’s wicket-keeping was erratic and inconsistent this series, taking stunners and dropping dollies in equal measure, but given the explosive nature of his batting, (seldom seen on this tour though to be fair), it is likely he will be given another chance.

In truth though, all of England’s batsmen struggled. Too many starts were not converted and as a result England only batted out their allotted 50 overs once in 5 matches. That simply isn’t good enough in One Day cricket.

Eoin Morgan is England’s best limited overs batsman, particularly when it comes to scoring aggressively against spin, and his absence was sorely missed in India. All of England’s batsmen struggled to keep the runs coming when India’s spinners came on, often giving their wickets away when trying to force the issue. The likes of Ravi Bopara may struggle to come back from this series, failing again to prove that he’s quite up to this level of cricket.

England also failed to embrace spin in their bowling attack. Promising young leg-spinner Scott Borthwick was in India but his only appearance came when replacing Graeme Swann in Mumbai, the series already dead and buried, rather than being picked to bowl in tandem with Swann, which would have been a much braver and more aggressive move on sub-continent wickets.

You can’t pick a spinner just to make up the numbers but if England didn’t think Borthwick was ready for India, why didn’t they take Monty Panesar instead, who at least has the experience to cope with the pressure of playing in front of India’s vociferous fans. Either way, playing two competitive spinners is crucial if you are going to restrict runs and take wickets in India.

Another man sorely missed was Stuart Broad, and perhaps if he had been in India, England would have been more inclined to bowl a second full-time spinner. His inclusion, possibly at the expense of Samit Patel, could have allowed Borthwick to play without having a detrimental effect on England’s batting lineup.

Of course we have to offset the disappointment of this series with the “bigger picture” and that of course comes in the shape of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand 2015. England will still fancy their chances there on the harder, bouncier wickets, but England’s One Day form down under wasn’t much better in January, losing 6-1 against Australia.

The back drop to that series of course was that England had won the Ashes earlier on that tour, and therein lies the biggest obstacle to England’s success of in One Day cricket; their obsession with test cricket.

Domestic cricket in England is set up to produce successful test match players, and obviously we have seen the success of that policy over the past 12 months.

However as a result, One Day cricket comes second. Limited overs County Cricket is still 40-overs-a-side and that immediately puts England at a disadvantage when it comes to the international scene. The middle overs that England failed to convert successfully in India are exactly the part of the game they miss out on when playing domestically. This needs to change if England are to compete in 50 overs international cricket.

Despite 2011 being an incredibly successful year for English cricket generally, this side will return home from India disappointed. 2015 is a long way off, but England will need all of that time to ensure they are competitive at the next World Cup, otherwise there could be a few more England players with red faces in 2015.

Tom Huelin for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Tom on Twitter @tomhue1

M.S. DHONI – THE CAPTAIN COOL

Behind the stumps he has taken so many catches,
With the bat he has won India numerous macthes.

Helicopter shot is his favorite shot,
With his captaincy he has fascinated the World a lot.

By his performance he shakes the sun and moon,
He made the Poms with their tears fill the swimming pool.

With the Indian team renewed,
Over the Poms, this series, the Indians ruled.

Dhoni our captain coooool,
We will be No .1 again very soon.

Gokul Garg for DieHard Cricket Fans

WICB and West Indies living in denial

West Indies are fresh off a series victory against Bangladesh and have achieved that feat away from home. Bangladesh is known to be a tough opponent in their backyard but after losing a series to Zimbabwe a loss to West Indies was almost inevitable. A West Indian cricket fan would have hoped for some records to be broken but the one that was achieved would not have brought a smile on the face of anyone from the caribbean islands. West Indies posted their second lowest total ever in the final one day international against Bangladesh- a meagre 61 runs!

Now before I continue, it would be worth noting that this article is not an exaggerated reaction of the events that occurred in the final ODI but simply a look into what West Indies has to face in the coming months. If West Indies cannot withstand Bangladesh’s bowling attack for a single day then they are bound to struggle in the upcoming Tests where the challenge will continue for five days. What’s worse is that if West Indies cannot withstand Bangladesh then they do not stand much of a chance against India in the upcoming Test series. In my mind there are just two names that pop up as an answer to these forthcoming problems, Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo.

To think that these two talented cricketers are not required and that young blood is the only way forward would be thinking on the lines of the West Indies Cricket Board. Frankly to live with such thoughts is the equivalent of living in a fool’s paradise. There is no way West Indies can even afford to ignore players of such quality. There was a time when the WICB could be picky and choosy but that was when there was a Viv Richards or a Clive Lloyd certainly not now.

West Indies are no longer the force they used to be, an obvious fact that the WICB must know and more importantly must be willing to face. To throw in a few numbers to prove my point, in the last three years West Indies has not registered a single Test victory outside the caribbean islands. A glance at the stats beyond the three year mark will show that West Indies have recorded just one overseas win out of the 20 Test matches that they have played away from home. This amounts to an appalling 0.09 win-loss ratio. So how then will two men solve a problem that is so grave?

For starters, the one man I named is in the form of his life and to top it all this form has been seen in the subcontinent conditions, the same place West Indies has to play at now, albeit courtesy some T20 cricket. Chris Gayle has been scoring at a blistering rate and more importantly has played quite a few long innings in the shortest format of the game. There is no doubt that his services can be used to good effect in the longest version and in fact his selection in the shorter formats should be a no brainer. Well actually a man who has scored 13 centuries, 33 half centuries and a highest of 333 should walk into the playing eleven of any Test team. Unfortunately the WICB seem to think differently and do not seem to be willing to put egos aside. A clash between the player and the board has led to West Indies losing one of its greatest talents at the moment- a match winner to say the least. Really the WICB must realize that on this occasion the player is bigger than the board. Instead of living in denial the board should really try and resolve the issue at the earliest which according to me is now!

Gayle’s case is clearly an ego clash between the player and the board but then what is stopping the board from selecting Dwayne Bravo? Someone’s got to be blind not to pick a talent like him, a man who can wield the willow and use the cherry cleverly. In my opinion Dwayne is actually better than the man leading this West Indies outfit- Darren Sammy. His batting is surely far superior than the skipper’s, Sammy has a highest of just 48 in Tests and yet he can lead the side whereas 13 half centuries and a highest of 113 is not enough for Dwayne to simply find a place. That is simply bizarre! If West Indies want Sammy to be there leader based on his bowling prowess then so be it, but someone has got to make way for a talented cricketer like Dwayne and there is simply no logical reason as to why he must be left out.

With a poor Test record in the last five years and a tough task ahead West Indies are going to find it very tough to prosper with the current side. I honestly do not see them improving on their record of one away Test victory in five years unless they include class players like Gayle and Dwayne. The WICB needs to awaken from its slumber and needs to start making the right moves. If I was a WICB selector I would take a good hard look at the mirror and ask my self if the decisions being taken out there by my board and I are the right ones.

Shashreek Roy for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Shashreek on Twitter @shashreek