Imran Tahir: The Runaway (Success) Story

Cricket World Cup Match 48: Australia Vs South Africa, 6 July 2019: Imran Tahir got Aaron Finch caught at short covers and started running. "Don't stop Imran Tahir, let him run !" said a Commentator. That was perhaps the last time he was replicating his most ridiculed, his most famed and most memed run in a ODI match. Imran Tahir's story can easily go down as a modern day Urban Myth. Or it can be called a "Runaway Success Story".

Mohammed Imran Tahir was born in Lahore, Pakistan on 27 March, 1979. Eldest born in a huge family, Tahir's running began pretty early in life at 16, when he began working for a pittance at Pace Shopping Mall in Pakistan. He wasn't able to make ends meet and thus kept running.

In between, he bowled leg spin and googly and played for Pakistan Under 19 and Pakistan A team. In an era dominated by Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and other spinners, Imran Tahir just couldn't make it to the next level. He ran away to English County.

At 23, he was so desperate for more chances and a better living, he ran away to South Africa. As starved for a class spinner as India were for a genuine fast bowler in those days, South Africa embraced Imran Tahir with both hands and ever since, he has done most of his running for them.

Imran Tahir and his young wife survived on meagre income in early days in South Africa. He even drove cabs and worked in factories. But the attitude and passion of the man kept him going. Finally he made debut for South Africa on 24 February 2011, almost 32 by that time. He made his test debut in November the same year.

Imran Tahir holds some excellent and some dubious records.

• He was ranked No. 1 bowler in both ODI Cricket and T20 Cricket in 2017, at the age of 38.

Bits and Pieces About Jadeja and Manjrekar

Scroll.in (who else can ?) has come out in defence of Sanjay Manjrekar and published an article with veiled criticism of Ravindra Jadeja. The article written by one Vinayakk Mohanarangan tries to portray Jadeja's attack on Manjrekar as an outcome of CSK Vs Mumbai Indians rivalry. It says Jadeja's Tweet could be motivated by his franchise.

Without going into merits or demerits of the article, I have a few simple bits and pieces of statistics to point out. 30 year old Jadeja has played 151 ODI matches before the world cup. He has scored over 2000 runs at an average of 29.9 and strike rate of 84. Jadeja also has taken 174 wickets with an average of 35.6 and economy rate of 4.88. Jadeja has 10 half centuries from 101 ODI innings and he is the best fielder in India if not in the world.

Still i have played twice the number of matches you have played and i m still playing. Learn to respect ppl who have achieved.i have heard enough of your verbal diarrhoea.@sanjaymanjrekar

— Ravindrasinh jadeja (@imjadeja) July 3, 2019

These are mind blowing statistics for a bowling Allrounder in limited overs Cricket. This is the player Manjrekar has branded as "Bits and Pieces Player". If that is not gross, Manjrekar goes a step ahead with, "Jadeja is purely a bowler in tests." Jadeja has a century and 10 fifties with over 1400 runs from 60 test innings and averages 32 in tests. Purely a bowler averages 32 in tests and has a 50 plus score every 6 innings, right ?

Manjrekar was wrong when he called Jadeja a "Bits and Pieces Player" and he was wrong when he called Jadeja "Purely a bowler in tests." Any article that tries to justify such utterly ridiculous opinion begins on the wrong foot and the only way it can end up is LBW (Low Brow Writing).

Govind Raj Shenoy for DieHard Cricket Fans

Some History and Some World Cup Misery

15th January, 1894: It was Western Australia playing against Victoria in an Australian First Class match. There was a tree just inside the boundary. According to rules prevailing in those days, batsmen can run "any number of runs" before the ball crosses the boundary.

A ball hit by one of the batsmen got stuck between two tiny branches on that really huge tree. Since the ball was within the boundary, the batsmen started running. They kept running as the fielding team tried routine methods like throwing stones to retrieve the ball. The ball was not going to budge, like Rahul Gandhi refusing to take back his resignation.

Some tried climbing the tree with futility. It was like defeating Modi in an election, impossible. Finally they called the fire engine ladder to reclaim the ball. Over an hour had lapsed by this time and the batsmen had completed 286 runs. Batsmen too were on the verge of exhaustion, having run close to three and a three quarter miles between those 22 yards. That is the highest runs scored of a single ball in the history of Cricket.

Now, what has this tiny bit of history got to do with the ongoing World Cup ? Well, big brother Pakistan play little brother Bangladesh on "Friday" the 5th July, hoping to qualify for the CWC 2019 Semifinals. They have pretty simple equations before them.

For Pakistan to qualify, they must beat Bangladesh by...
311 runs after scoring 350 Runs
316 runs after scoring 400 Runs
321 runs after scoring 450 Runs

A Tribute To Bumrah: 30 Years Before He Was Born

A confident Saifuddin gestured to Rubel to play out the last 2 balls of Bumrah's last over, the 5th and 6th balls of 48th over of Bangladesh innings. Saif believed he had his chances to get those 29 runs of the remaining 2 overs of Shami and Bhuvan, especially Shami being his target. It was a reasonable hope but Bumrah had other plans and we know what he did to Rubel and Mustafizur of exactly those 2 balls. He left Saif deflated at the non-striker's end and that was the end !

When Bumrah bowls at death, he must be played out. Don't try to hit him. Just stay there because these are balls of fire. These are not my words. These were beautifully expressed in a song from the 1964 Hindi movie "Dooj Ka Chand". Manna Dey made this fervent request to lower order batsmen in lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi. Music was composed by Roshan.

Manna Dey repeatedly tells tail end batters "Don't hit, don't hit - Na Maaro Na Maaro". The song goes thus.

Full Gendwa Na Maaro, Na Maaro,
Lagat Karejwa me Chot

It pleads, "Please don't hit the full ball. It will hurt inside the chest." Sahir clearly expresses the desperation of Coaches and well settled batsmen like Saifuddin at the non striker's end. As the ball demolishes the heart of the timber behind the batsman, hit hurts the hearts of the Coach, partner and all the supporters.

World Cup 2019: Warming Up

Getty Images

The league phase of the World Cup is well and truly underway with a few marquee matches done and dusted. After the opening salvos, the teams are gradually getting into their grooves and a clearer picture of the likely Top 4 is emerging. It is still early days, but we have had many permutations & combinations thrown haywire not on account of any surprise results but with the rain pouring down! Here are the highlights.

Player of the tournament – On current form, it is the English weather which has played a major part in turning the points table topsy-turvy. West Indies & Bangladesh would certainly feel robbed of a point each against South Africa & Sri Lanka respectively. Sri Lanka meanwhile have clambered to 5th spot based on two rained-off encounters! Also rain put in a dampener at the end of the India-Pakistan clash but didn’t do enough as the teams were forced to take the field for five more overs!

7-Nil: India-Pakistan was the marquee match of the tournament, with some over-zealous reporters hyping it up further on account of recent tensions between the countries. But the gulf in class between the teams is just too wide as India extended their dominance over Pakistan in the World Cups! There is more hype than substance in the rivalry now as it was another emphatic win for India.

Something is rotten - After South Africa, it was now Afghanistan’s turn for some team chaos. Mohammed Shahzad was declared unfit and replaced. However, he claims otherwise and now wishes to quit the game altogether. The first signs of tensions in the Afghan fairytale!

The injured brigade – The list keeps going bigger and bigger with every passing game. Some players replaced (Steyn, Shahzad), others have their replacements in place but are not officially out yet (Dhawan, Stoinis).

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