Posts from — March 2005

It may be one of commentators’ favourite clichés, but cricket definitely is a great leveler!!

Take Kumble for instance. ‘King’ at the Eden and a ‘Pauper’ at home! For someone who almost single-handedly carried India to victory on the final day of the second Test at Kolkata, the first two days of the third Test at Bangalore must’ve surely been a hard toil without any manner of luck or reward.

The way Kumble went about proceedings today, it seemed as though the weight of the entire stadium was on his shoulders. His face had an almost permanent scowl as he bowled over after over at batsmen who seemed to have ’sorted him out’ in the three intervening days between the last Test and this one.

On the other hand, his spin-bowling partner, Harbhajan Singh showed no signs of the pressure (of being reported for suspect action) and concentrated hard on bowling regulation off-spin with great guile and persistence. And Bhajji’s nagging line and length, and his deceptive flight won him the day as he scalped 6 good wickets, bringing him on the edge of a personal landmark (He’s currently one wicket away from completing 200 Test wickets).

Kumble’s fault today was that he seemed to expect a wicket almost as a right after his 7-wicket haul at Kolkata. So he tried to do too much too soon on a pitch that held precious little for him. As a result, he was all over the place most of the time. This prompted Ganguly to ask Kumble to bowl a restrictive line outside the leg-stump, something that he obviously hates to do.

Maybe Kumble should’ve taken a leaf out of Bhajji’s book and relied on patience. But then, he’s a great bowler and will know that the pitch will start turning in a day or two. So he’ll be waiting for the Pakistani second innings to weave his magic once again!

But for that to happen, the Indian batsmen should first ensure that Pakistanis have to bat again! And from the way Sehwag and Gambhir have started, I can’t see any reason why Kumble won’t get a chance to redeem himself with the ball in this Test once again!

“Personally I hate Modi and his politics, but… “

Does that sound familiar?! … Well, of course it does!! That’s the refrain almost everyone has been singing ever since the US government, in a fit of self-righteous grandstanding, decided to refuse a diplomatic visa for Narendra Modi and while at it, also cancelled the visa he was already holding.

Everyone knows that a country has every right to decide who should be allowed in and who should be barred from entering it. I have no issues with the fact that the US chose to deny Modi a visa. And I believe no one in India does too! But the justification that the US has been offering for its act is ridiculous and deserves all the derision being heaped on it!

The Government of India, the Indian media and the public in general have shown how hollow the US claims are. Article after article has been appearing in the media raking up instances after instances in which the US has acted in a diametrically opposite manner in similar circumstances.

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Just about two weeks after the ICC cleared Harbhajan Singh, umpires Darrell Hair and Steve Bucknor have reported the off-spinner once again for a suspect bowling action!

The umpires and match referee Chris Broad thought that Bhajji’s bowling action while bowling the ‘doosra’ in the second innings of the Kolkata Test was suspect.

“The report relates specifically to the bowler’s action when delivering the ‘doosra.’ It was noticeable to the umpires and me that there was an apparent change in action when bowling this delivery between the first innings of the match, when no concerns were raised, and the second, which then prompted the report to be made,” Broad said.

Of course there’ll be a change in the bowling action when an off-spinner bowls a ‘doosra’!! Unlike the leg-spinners’ googly, the off-spinners’ ‘doosra’ cannot be bowled with just a change in wrist action. The elbow has to be used!! So it is natural that there’ll be a change in action!!

Surely umpires, who cannot even see daylight between bat and ball, are not in a position to decide if the arm is bending beyond 15 degrees! Why the hell should they be allowed to call a bowler for suspect action?!! That too when their bosses (read, the ICC) have deemed, with all the gadgetry at their disposal, that the bowler is bowling fair and square!!

Now Bhajji will have to go through the charade once again! … with no assurance that he won’t be suspected once again by geriatrics who are masquerading as ‘respected’ umpires! And all this while obvious chuckers like Brett Lee and James Kirtley never get reported!!

Something has to be done. Either do away with umpires’ rights to call a bowler for chucking or do away with the idiotic rules on chucking. But knowing that ICC is infested with buffoons, I’m sure nothing will be done!!

Ganguly and Wright got it right today. Congratulations are in order for the two of them.

‘Pressure’ was the keyword. It was conspicuously missing in India’s gameplan yesterday. If at all it existed, it was on themselves! But today, smart bowling combinations and intelligent field placements ensured that the two Y’s were not allowed the same liberty this morning. Balaji and Pathan bowled with a shade more aggression and a lot more intelligence. The result was there for all to see.

Balaji set up Youhana beautifully. A succession of out-swingers was followed up by an accurate in-cutter that foxed Youhana completely. When Pathan got rid of Inzamam with a ball that defied logic and swung away from the shiny side, the way he patted his own back and pumped his fists showed that public criticism of his poor form had stung him. And after this, the two tweakers began their show. Ganguly put in extra fielders around the bat, something that he had not done yesterday. Putting Laxman at second slip for the spinners was a masterstroke! Special mention must be made of the run-out of Asim Kamal. The ferocity with which Tendulkar threw the ball from the boundary to the wicket-keeper’s end was terrific! It caught Kamal absolutely by surprise!! Awesome!!

In the end, there were no heroics like the ones at Mohali and India clawed their way back into the driver’s seat. By the day’s end, even though India was just about 147 runs ahead of the Pakistanis with 2 days to go, I would stick my neck out and say that India are the favourites to win this contest.

After all… the snakes in the pitch are ready to surface!

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