CHANGING FACE OF CRICKET

The game has changed a lot these days and it is there for all to see..The latest marketting gimmick has been 20-20.This probably spells out the beginning of the end for bowlers.Soon you might find them getting replaced by bowling machines…!!!Already we have all those batsman friendly field restrictions and the latest cricketing baby(20-20) swings the pendulum 200% in favour of the batsmen,and it is sad that India which had resisted the temptation to join the bandwagon has now been forced to acknowledge this format of the game.Now we have to first understand that this 20-20 was invented by the Englishmen mainly to counter the growing interest in soccer among the youth in the United Kingdom.The new generation which has been fed on a regular diet of a 2 hr game of soccer would find this to their interest, and so could people from countries like south africa ,new zealand, australia where 2 hour rugby games are extremely popular.The attendence for the tests and onedayers were not impressive enough and hence the money minded authorities have resorted to 20-20 to woo back the audience.The Indian scenario is extremely different.We are not bothered about any other sport other than cricket and hence this is only place in the planet where you get packed houses for all onedayers and for most of the test matches.!50 overs cricket is our major source of revenue and hence we simply do not need such a silly cousin like 20-20 at all!There is a silly little sugggestion that bowlers dont find much of a place and the crowd throng to the stadium only to see the batsmen carting the bowlers around the park.Ask any cricketing fan and they would always vouch that low scoring thrillers too provide an equal amount of excitement.The impact that 20-20 is going to have on test match cricket will defenitely not be good for the game.More emphasis is being laid on restricting the scoring than picking up wickets.The simplest way my friend to stop a batsman from scoring is to get him out!The attacking instinct among the bowlers will be lost as they are now being forced to alter their lengths and bowl a lot flatter( The only way u can hope to see any sort of “flight” would perhaps come in the form of an aircraft…).The easiest way to win a test match is not scoring umpteen runs but taking 20 wickets( sorry but this “20″ keeps following us).So let us forget this obsession with such ultra instant cricket and instead look forward to an even contest between the bat and the ball.

TEAM INDIA-THE PRESENT TURMOIL

A lot has been said and written about the performance ( or , rather the “non performance” ) of the Indian Cricket Team and the various underlying reasons make interesting reading..

BOUNCING ‘EM OUT
“Straight Drive”
Indians have never been good tourists and the failure to adapt to the bouncy conditions has been our undoing..and just a single practice game before international matches did not help our cause either.All said and done it was perplexing indeed that players like Sehwag,Dravid,Sachin too could not produce any convincing performance..

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DOMESTIC CRICKET
Most of the youngsters who created an initial impression have gradually faded away.. The main cause for our downfall has been the lack of emphasis on domestic cricket..It is indeed startling to note that Parthiv Patel who made his debut at the age of 16 played his first match for his state side Gujarat after having made his debut for INDIA!We simply seem to ignore our prestigious domestic set up.. More stress is laid on the under 19 competitions.. once we spot a talent there.. it is then a couple of matches with the ‘A’ team and before you realise..you find the youngster in the Indian Team..let us have a comparision with the best team on the planet at the moment…”AUSTRALIA”.. people who made their debuts for India in the recent past-Suresh Raina( he was eighteen when he first wore Indian colours) ,Piyush Chawla(17),Parthiv Patel(16),R P Singh(19),Irfan Pathan(18)..barring their U-19 matches..not one among this set played more than 10 first class matches before donning the Indian cap.. let us look at Australia .. Mike Hussey-made his International debut at the age of 30.. having made more than 15000 runs in domestic cricket..Brett Lee(24),Michael Clarke(24)-both played for their respective state sides for atleast 5 full seasons before replresenting Australia.. Stuart Clarke a fast bowler who made his debut at the age of 30!While our youngsters have faded away after a promising beginning.. these Australians ,with a wealth of domestic cricketing experience have easily adapted to the rigours of International cricket… after all not everyone can be a SACHIN TENDULKAR..!

IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF PITCHES
“Straight Drive”
If you had been to some of the first class matches ,you would have noticed that finding balls bouncing consistently above waist height is as rare as spotting bengal tigers in Antartica( hmm not that u get too see many bengal tigers in India these days).. The Pitches are slow,low and lack bounce..to add to the misery,the grass is almost completely shaven off ( it would even put a good barber to shame). Only when we start producing good sporting pitches for first class fixtures,can we expect to produce quality batsmen who can handle good bounce and pace..
“Reverse Sweep”( the other side of the coin)
The board has taken a step in the right direction ..very soon you would find Ranji games being hosted by a non participating state and if the pitch is not of good quality,the host associaton would be facing a heavy penalty.

QUANTITY AND NO QUALITY
We currently have more than 25 first class teams in India and that gives an astonishing number of more than 500 first class cricketers..Unfortunately we can hardly single out 8 – 10 good teams and hence most of the runs and wickets come at the expense of minnows.. look at a country like Australia where you have just six first class teams! It is much easier to look out for quality cricketers in their region..it is only in the recent past that we have gone for this two tier system of the top 16 teams competing for the Ranji trophy and the bottom tweleve teams competing for the plate championship.. but that too hasnt produced any significant improvement.If the Australians dont have any international commitments ,you invariably find them reperesenting their state teams..so the quality of competition is of very high standards as the domestic players compete along side seasoned professionals.. but here in India once the players make the International grade,they hardly look back..
“Reverse Sweep”( the other side of the coin)
From the current season ,seasoned professionals from other countries would appear in our domestic circuit ( already English internationals- Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali have been signed up by Rajasthan)

SELECTION WOES AND A NEWSMAKING COACH
“Straight Drive”
A situation where in you have 5 selectors representing 5 different zones does not help either.. each and every member tries to “push ” in players from his zone to satisfy the state associatons from his zone ..hence good cricketing talent from minnow states is always ignored.. the shining exceptions have been M.S.DHONI-Jharkand and SREESANTH-Kerala..
Of course we dont even elect our Prime Ministers properly( and look for some “Foreign Origin Inspiration).. talkin about foreign origin the other “foreigner” who has been makin the headlines ever since his arrival has been Greg Chappell..A loud mouthed coach has not helped our cause either..much as been said and written about the man and some of the criticism has been harsh..he has been accused of causin instabilty by changing the batting order..but his real intentions have not been properly comprehended.. the Aussie Batting legend merely tried to push the players out of their comfort zones but the players have not been very receptive..now if you cant bat in any postion between number 1 to 6 n cry over a fixed postionn are you really good enough to play for India..??
“Reverse Sweep”( the other side of the coin)
All said and done it is pretty evident that the national coach has his own favourites in this Indian team.. We follow this wierd system of coach n captain picking the team along with selectors.. in my humble opinion a coach should only refine the resources deputed to him and not involve in selection matters.. in the case of a champion team like Australia.. they first pick out their squad and then only name their captain!

OPENING SALVO

I eat ,sleep and breathe cricket…lets have a brief insight..I am indebted to my grandfather who instilled the cricketing urge and passion in me.I started playing cricket from my third grade..and by the time i reached the age of 16 ..my budding career was as good as over..i stopped playing the game i loved most to concentrate on academics.. a decision that I ll regret for the rest of my life..I am a left arm spinner..who followed the old school art of turn and flight ..I was extremely privileged to represent my STATE Junior Team (TAMIL NADU) and the CITY Team for two consecutive seasons..1998-99 and 99-2000.. my idols in cricket are SACHIN,KAPIL DEV,WASIM AKRAM,JONTY RHODES,AZHAR,KUMBLE,LARA to name a few..
I was fortunate enough to play along side some of the best talent in the state..
a few of my team mates who have made it big..
DINESH KARTHICK-INDIA WICKET KEEPER( he was my team mate when we played together for the state and city juniors..) a nice chatterbox..and a very encouraging and friendly person..
K.SHRI VASU DEVA DAS-PLAYS FOR TAMIL NADU RANJI TEAM.. he is definitely the best captain I have ever played under..ANIRUDHA SRIKANTH-PLAYS FOR TAMIL NADU RANJI TEAM
R.ASHWIN-PLAYS FOR TAMIL NADU RANJI TEAM… he made his ranji debut recently.. we have been family friends since childhood..VIKRANTH a.k.a SANTHOSH.( city juniors) a very modest and unassuming guy.. well he chose a different career.hes now a movie star.. he made his debut as a hero in KARKA KASADARA..

WARMING UP..

.. “GOD could not pay individual attention to each of hiscreations.so he invented..MOTHER..he wanted his children to always be happy..so he invented CRICKET..well ..these two statments sort of sum up my interests and attitude.. hello all..!

Starting on a bright note … I was fortunate enough to have my schooling at PADMA SESHADRI BALA BHAVAN(PSBB)..I am doing my undergraduation programme at SSNCE( B.E. -COMPUTER SCIENCE..)-FINAL YEAR..thats it..I donna wanna drag it on further..most of my blogs are gonna be on cricket,my memorable college experiences ,religious attitudes and currrent affairs..
esp politics..

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