Test Cricket will not die a Martyr

While watching IPL, I wondered or feared for the life and career of a bowler. Especially IPL taking almost three months of a year from the best international cricket players, their mindset will be structured around 20-20 and they would cease to play the traditional game of test cricket. Paresh Rawal makes a point in the movie, Cheeni Kum, cricket ko rang-birangi dress mein circus bana diya hai (Playing cricket in coloured uniform is like performing in a circus)….. Real Cricket is Test Cricket, Five grueling days to test the perseverance and talent. Or in other words, cricket will never be able to find out another of Rahul Dravid’s class in future.

In T20, the bowlers’ performance appears as Overs-Dot Balls-Runs-Wickets. Dot balls and sixes are the most important element of T20 cricket. Bowler emphasizes on the fact that he does not get hit big and not on the line, length or the swing, the surreal art of cricket is dying a slow death. T20 needless to say has made most millionaires in any industry in our country.

Test cricket matches are wrapped up in three days, so we may be moving towards shorter version of five day matches. Is it time, to take a call on the same as well? Maybe we may make the fourth version of the game popular as well. Rahul Dravid said, Test Cricket is different ball game, you have to take 20 wickets to be declared as winner. While in ODIs, you just have to restrict the other side.

Getting back to the current India – South Africa test series, Indians fans were fretting over the fact that Indian team offered a meager chase of 217 for fourth innings at first Test in Mohali to the mighty South Africans who have never lost test match series outside of their home in last 9 years. Just when Indian fans would have started screaming at Virat Kohli due to poor performance with bat and shopping with his Bollywood actress girlfriend, Anushka Sharma, Indian team bundled out the South Africans for 109. An Indian fan was very surprised at the Indian team’s bowling feat but in India, with spin bowling, Indians are able to perform.

Its only in match analysis, we got to know that the heroes were not our bowlers but the pitch for whom it was curated to perfection. So much so, that what happens to match on 3^rd or 4^th day starting happening on the first day. Our pacers who are always chewing their nails especially after T20 were left flabbergasted once again as the spinners raked in the moolah and they didn’t even get a chance to apply saliva on the ball.

To South Africa’ luck, second test was washed off and then came the third test. 12 wickets fell on first day, 20 on second, remaining 8 on third day for India to clinch the series. Virat Kohli’s magic is happening along with our able Director who strategizes well enough to beat the mighty South Africans.

Clearly again the pitch was the winner and Test Cricket was the loser. I mean, why is the CRICKET losing in this proposition? Similar happened to India in Johannesburg, 2 decades back and I guess it was experimental but this time it seems it may become the norm, a T20 match produces more runs that the third test match between Indian and SA. Ashwin, the magician with carom ball lashes out, if they can do it, what’s wrong with us doing it?

If pitch will perform for the players and then what are players doing on the field? India should have home advantage but that not is all the advantage and leverage and talent in the match. I mean, we want to see classy shots from Murali Vijay or few sixes from Dhawan or fiery batting of AB, some classics of Amla.

Cricket is about competition, about challenges on the field, improvisation according to the situation. But in this case, Ashwin has to demolish the opposition and batsmen have no chance to sweat on the field. Indian team is like a spoilt son of rich man. BCCI does not believe in the talent of its team, hence they have taken the task unto themselves to help them win.

During Mohali, we were still anxious as to what would happen but Nagpur, everybody was certain Ashwin will bowl them out, Jadeja and Mishra will be his sidekicks, it’s just a matter of time. There was a twist when Rahul Dravid’s spirit was hovering over Amla and du Plessis but Dravid pulled some classy strokes in between, while these two were just trying to hold onto the wicket and not win the match, because there was no chance.

I am glad at small element, in the era of T20 when fours and sixes rein and bowlers are merely present to bowl, no technique, no logic, just aim for dot balls, bowlers still have a life. Test Cricket gives them their due importance but like this, when the spinner has to bowl as they fall like a tower of cards but offers nothing for the batsman, only for the bowler. If other nations start emulating India’s strategy, Test Cricket will not even die a martyr but will be murdered by pitch curators and Cricket Board.

I urge Dravid and the likes to work with BCCI and other cricket associations to produce better pitches to allow the competitive game to be witnessed in every format. If Test Cricket has to die, it should die as a HERO and forbearer and the spirit of cricket but not a terrorist.

Means is important not the end

On 9th, one of my friend's Facebook status read, “when was the last time, India lost by an Innings”. Indian team has never been consistently good, but recently we have been doing well as we had most of our matches in Asia or against minnows. It was way back in 2008, it’s a lot of time looking at the cricketing standards of the Indian Cricket Team. With the loss of this match, India’s position also dropped from the premier rankings chart in Test Cricket. The position should have dropped couple of ranks.

India aspires, oh sorry, they claim to be world class team. But the manner in which our team despises the whole theory. Recently they played against Bangladesh, they could have learnt something from them. Bangladesh had pushed such a fine struggle to save themselves from the misery, they didn’t allow Indian team to win by an innings. Sehwag and Gambhir came to crease in second innings for scoring three runs to win the second test match.

Suddenly everybody got up and started searching for VVS Laxman. I hope, Laxman denies to play at this time or may not be physically fit. Indian Team does not deserve a class player like Laxman. Especially in the absence of anyone responsible, who can stand shoulder to shoulder with him? Indian team is probably practicing for IPL starting March 12, 2010.

Dhoni and his boys need to be fed some theory classes. Test cricket is real cricket as Paresh Rawal said in the movie, Cheeni Kum. Five grueling days, which test your technique, your stamina, your endurance, your perseverance. Test Cricket is deeply and heavily dependent on bowlers. To win a test match, one side needs to take 20 wickets. Where have we got the expertise to claim twenty wickets? Except Zaheer, there are no regular or second graders in fast bowling. Ishant Sharma with tag of Rs. 4 Crore is not able to strike anything, Sreesanth is generally busy with his Malayalam film stars. How long can we tread saddling on Zaheer’s back? Unfortunately, he is also looking tired and wired. Harbhajan Singh, the only spinner is down and out. He has probably lost everything to 20-20 cricket. 20-20 leaves no scope or room for any temperament or technique to develop. He seriously needs to undergo some reconditioning pertaining to his bowling. For a second spinner, we are in testing stage, Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha play in alternative, so after six months or perhaps one year, one will be playing more matches over the other. The problem as one of the cricket experts said, bowlers try to bowl as many dot bowls as possible. Unfortunately, not only bowlers but the game as the whole is victim of 20-20 (more on that sometime later).

Coming back to our world class batsmen, as batting is thought to be India’s pote. Yuvraj Singh, even after becoming ODI vice-captain had difficulty in securing a place in test cricket. I am not saying they are not good. Our batting line-up is truly good, they can really score runs but we need to stick to the wicket in a test cricket, which the young generation is faltering in the past. Sourav Ganguly has been forced to retire, Rahul Dravid is injured, Laxman, selectors are searching for him, Tendulkar, I reserve my comments. Rest do we have any batsman in the country, who can pose some trouble or make the winning difficult for the other team even if we are playing without bowlers. Australia in Australia were biting their nails, that’s what Rahul and Laxman ran havoc on their bowling attack and still won the match.

We have not conditioned or seasoned batsman to protect our honour. The manner in which we fielded and Dhoni and his likes gave away their wicket to South Africa is truly a sad disappointment. Maybe Test Cricket is not that enjoyable, as Dhoni always says, enjoy the game guys. The same wicket, the same day, SA can strike 10 wickets and we are cherishing the two wickets. In four days, they strike twenty wickets and we are slumbered into our sad oblivion with only six wickets.

You need to fire, not to win but to make the other team work to defeat you. Winning is not important. More important factor is how we approach winning or losing. Indians has conceded the defeat on the first day itself when we got out in 60 overs. Perhaps if they could have just stretched the match for the five day and a charitable target, would have been much better.

Even South Africa is expecting to play with at least international standards as AB de Villiers quoted, “It is going to be a great challenge here at the Eden Gardens. I'm pretty sure India will come back with a big fight”. We don’t require match winners but match savers. Coz in the end, I’d say “MEANS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE END”.