Imran Tahir and the Best Test Debut Ever!

Cleaned Up! Tahir on test Debut

The test match going on at Newlands, Cape Town at the moment will be remembered for many things, but being Imran Tahir’s test debut for South Africa is unlikely to be one of them, unless South Africa lose 8 more wickets on day 3 and the former Hampshire spinner is required to score the winning runs.

Unlikely, but hell, crazier shit has happened today!

Australia resumed on day two with captain Michael Clarke a ton to the good and his side in a position to pass 250, the minimum Clarke had deemed as acceptable at stumps on day one.

Clarke took Australia to 285 all out and seemingly “in the match”.

Tahir bowled a handful of tidy enough overs but it was other debutant, Vernon Philander who took the plaudits taking three wickets whilst Dale Steyn’s ferocious fast bowling had the hyperbole-merchants going into overdrive with his figures of 4/55.

What came next was borderline farce. First South Africa capitulated for 96 all out before Australia went one “better”, in the lunacy stakes, by scoring a hundred-year worst of 47 all out, yes, ALL OUT, in their second innings.

18 wickets fell for just 68 runs in the afternoon session in what was a quite unbelievable day of test cricket.

And it was needed, even if you’re an Australia fan. After the negative headlines of the spot fixing trial and the poor attendances of last weeks India vs West Indies test match in Delhi, this scintillating battle has resonated all around the world, confirming what many of us have known for a long time – that at its best, nothing beats test cricket.

South Africa put on 81/1 in their second innings before stumps at the end of day two, needing 155 to win with 9 wickets still in hand and they’ll fancy their chances. It is quite unbelievable that, going into day 3, we are already talking about a 4th innings chase – it’s been a surreal, incredible game of test cricket.

But what of our man Tahir? Well, he might not have much more to do in this game, sadly for him. A dozen or so inoffensive overs, no wickets and two runs with the bat, but I think he might just remember his first game in test cricket rather fondly, if the Proteas seal the deal tomorrow.

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

New Stars in Making?

Diwali: Over. England: Gone. F1: Done: Metallica: Finished

What’s next??? For a cricket fan its West Indies next.

Bring on the white’s is what I would say. Before discussing what’s next, I would like to discuss what India got from the just concluded ODI Series against England.

After a disastrous England tour specially a forgettable test series in England, this ODI series was very important for India, it was a chance to try out young talent and check bench strength and it was also a chance to win back their lost morale and confidence and also win the fan’s confidence who have doubted the team. In India fans forget the wins and achievements of the team but never forget the loss and poor performances. Which I feel is very disheartening as I feel we should support the more even more if they are down and out. So coming back to the England ODI series, performance of the team have been nothing short of brilliant. India have outplayed England in all the departments of the game be it fielding, batting and bowling most heartening being the fielding as we are considered to be a little poor in that department.

After the poor England tour the selectors were brave enough to rest and drop a few of the seniors which proved that even the selectors are looking at the future and looking for better options. The most important outcome for me from this series was 2 young bowlers who have the ability to bowl at 145 KMPH consistently, they have been the 2 bright spots of this series and look like the future stars, What they have got to this Indian team is Pace which was never there, the two are Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. At last all the prayers for a real quick bowler from Indian’s have been answered, inform of Yadav and Aaron. Fast bowlers in India are endangered species. Either there are not any quick bowlers in India, the reasons for not having enough fast bowlers in Indian domestic cricket would require another post which I will discuss some other time and 2^nd reason being the amount of cricket they play at international level make them military medium pace, Munaf Patel being the prime example of it, he burst onto the international circuit as a tear away fast bowler but he is only a medium pacer now. We have seen many a games been turned around with just genuine pace, West Indies did it in the 70s and 80s and did it consistently, even Pakistani team have been doing it since a long time, they have been the breeding house for real quick bowlers since a long time.  I wish Aaron and Yadav continue to bowl fast and not sacrifice pace. Another aspect about both of them which is very heartening is that they both are supremely fit and athletic, so it does not look like they would sacrifice their pace for line and length and would continue to remain fit for International circuit. It’s not that pace is very important but you do need a little bit of pace to ruffle the batsmen and specially the tailenders, they find it most difficult to face genuine pace.

In 4^th ODI at Mumbai it was so heartening to see when Aaron who was brought back in final over’s to rattle the tail and dismiss England tail for low score, haven’t ever seen a Indian fast bowler do this to oppositions, it’s always been India at the receiving India of such lethal bowling, one delivery that I still remember bowled by Aaron is the one when he  clean bowled Alistair Cook in 5^th ODI at Kolkata, the delivery isn’t anything special its pitched outside the off stump coming into the left hander with the angle, he was clearly beaten with pace, this is what genuine pace get to the table, even in 1^st ODI at Hyderabad Yadav was made to bowl in the death over’s to dismiss the tail and he did it very well by dismissing the tail quickly. This is the benefit of pace, which Indian cricket have never had. Sometimes there’s nothing of the pitch and the conditions isn’t favoring the swing at that time genuine pace comes in and helps the bowling team. This is where these 2 will benefit and serve India for the time to come.

It will be considered too early to talk about them, but I feel the next series that they play would be the acid test for them, as they will be judged according to their follow up performance until then everyone would believe and they would fear that they would sacrifice their pace for line and length. I just wish Indian cricket nurtures this natural talent and looks after them, as I feel fast bowlers require special care and attention, which Indian cricket should provide them. But honestly Indian cricket isn’t used to taking care of fast bowlers as they have not had any real quick bowlers, it’s very important for Indian officials to find right people and correct balance to take care about them, fast bowlers require right people to help and advice. Just wish these 2 serve Indian cricket for a long time to come and bring a lot of smiles on fans of Indian cricket.

Other players who have also contributed to this fantastic performance are: R Ashwin, Virat Kohli, R.Jadeja and A.Rahane.

Just wish that these players continue the good work done by their seniors over the years.

Indian Cricket looks safe in the hands of these Youngsters.

Ricky Singh for DieHard Cricket Fans

The Spotfixing Verdict

August 21, 2010 – The day the cricketing world was shaken up with following edition of the “News of the World” paper.

In the immediate aftermath of the Lords Test, the trio of Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Amir was dropped from the Pakistan team and later banned by the ICC. But this wasn’t the worse to come for the trio as an year later a jury found them guilty and gave them prison terms of varying lengths.

The first thought on hearing of the outcome of the case was that just punishment had been meted out to the guilty party. The spot fixing scam had left a sense of betrayal. It was weird to imagine to what extent people were going to make money. For the players it must have been an easy option. Take money on the side, bowl a couple of no-balls (which aren’t an oddity by themselves) at fixed points. During this they could still be giving their best for the country as well. I wondered there were people who actually bet on this kind of stuff. And the sums were large enough to be able to buy off the players. All this is still beyond belief.

The whole sequence of events is full of ironies

The whole saga was brought to light not by any anti-corruption agencies, ICC or government bodies but by a now-defunct newspaper which had to be closed down due its unethical ways of getting information.

Mohammed Amir actually bowled one of the better fast bowling spells in recent times. His no-ball was part of a spell in which he took the wickets of Cook, Pietersen, Collingwood, Morgan, Prior and Swann. Showing that except for the no ball he bowled his best for his country.

Salman Butt captained Pakistan to 2 test victories including the first one against Australia in around 15 years. It seemed Pakistan had found some stability when the scandal broke out. The irony of life that his son was born the day he was handed a prison sentence.

Mohammed Asif was the one who had talent, and has taken extra-ordinary measures to blow it away. Drugs scandal, physical fights with team mates and finally the spot-fixing case. Also it turns out that he was paid more than others to ensure that he doesn’t change over to a rival spot-fixing gang.

The verdict has made a few things clear.

• If you are caught fixing you are not just banned from the game, you are jailed as well. At least in England. Hopefully this would set some deterrent.
• There are more names involved here which haven’t yet come out. Comments regarding Asif certainly seem to suggest that.

Hopefully cricket is cleaner now, at least I would like to believe so, though the eveidence may suggest otherwise. But this is only the tip. Every allegation has to be thoroughly investigated. And the concerned should have immediate life bans set on them. Otherwise any odd incident would be looked at it in a different light.

Nishant Kumar for DieHard Cricket Fans
Follow Nishant on Twitter @NishantSKumar

Thank You Zimbabwe, For Helping Save Test Cricket

Everybody likes an underdog. The David vs Goliath battle inherits a unique charm about it, and with all the long years of turmoil and suffering that Zimbabwean cricket has been going through, it seems the corner has been finally turned. New heroes are emerging, and none more so than Brendan Taylor, who at still only 25 years of age has a long and prosperous haul ahead of him. Sample this for a Bradman-esque series:

• Two T20s – 50* & 1 (the only failure)
• Three ODIs – 128*, 107* & 75
• Only Test Match – 50 & 117

Yes it was against New Zealand, a truly toothless bowling unit. However he is fast becoming a talisman for Zimbabwe, the next generation Heath Streak, and good luck to him as well.
However the key point of this post is not a tribute to Taylor, it is a tribute to the Zimbabwean attitude on the fifth day. On day five the target was 366 runs, sitting at 61/2 overnight. The conservative or dare I say sensible approach would have been to enter Dravid mode and bat out the day seeking an honorable draw. We saw some insipid behavior from the (at the time) world champions India in the West Indies this year, when they refused to pursue asimple run chase in the name of ‘safety’. That match flopped and died.
But on this day, there was none of that fluff, the heart of Test cricket was re-invigorated, injected with an air of enthusiasm and unabashed optimism. Zimbabwe went for it, and in fact wrestled the upper hand at one stage. New Zealand were nervous as Taylor went about carving the attack, letting everyone know that they will not lie down, and that the only possible results were a famous victory or a heroic loss. With the able help of Tatenda Taibu, they were within 100 runs of touching distance.

Looks like we'll have to skip that early shower. © AFP

New Zealand had to squeeze every ounce of bowling ability they had to stop them. The result was a loss by a nerve racking 34 runs on paper, and a series lost 1:0. But the true result was much more than that. It was a sign that some teams are willing to play for the win and give us spectators what we deserve. It was a revival of the cricket format that faces intense scrutiny for being the dullest form of all.
It was proof that the number ten cricketing nation is finally making a comeback.
Contributed by : Varun Prasad
Varun’s blog : The Cricket Musings

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