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news preview cover story interview triviaEDITOR SPEAKS 04 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

s February ends and March

sets on, the Indian team has

left for the tour to New

Zealand. The Indian team has

set itself on a path to great-

ness and it seems that with the win in Sri

Lanka, they have completed the first

level and now need to raise themselves

to a higher next level. The tour to New

Zealand marks the first step of this next

level.

Winning the series there will not be an

easy proposition in either the ODIs or the

Tests, for almost the entire squad is

going there for the first time. Bar four

or five players who had visited in 2003,

or before that, the whole team will be

faced with the challenge of acclimatizing

to the conditions, which are windy and

seam friendly to say the least. And then

there is the fear of the unknown.

Thanks to the ICL, the New

Zealand team nowadays bears

a new look and it is tough to

identify the strengths or

weaknesses of many of

its players. Obviously,

India will be looking out

to find even the slight-

est chink in their

armory and we take a

look at how best they

can do it. The series

win in Sri Lanka was

the second for the

team in that country

in the last six months

and with that win, the

Indian skipper MS

Dhoni became the

most successful cap-

tain after leading his

team in forty ODIs at

a success rate of sixty

seven percent. Not to forget, the Indian

team has recently completed their most

successful run of nine ODI wins under

him as well. So now the obvious question

arises, if he is indeed the best captain

ever? Is it too early to crown him so or

are we yet to see him fiddle with the

questions that foreign tours and alien

conditions will pose in the near future.

As a cover feature, we ponder on the

same question as well.

International cricket finds quite some

space in our current issue. While Pakistan

cricket is ever more in turmoil, things can

only look up as a new captain takes

charge in Younus Khan. That they will be

playing their first ever test series at

home in quite some time can also be

counted as a plus. Meanwhile, South

Africa’s new born status of number one,

in both ODIs and tests will be severely

tested in the next couple of months, as

Australia make a return visit to this coun-

try. While they are still the champions in

longer format, how long with that last

against a rampant Proteas side remains

to be seen. The same can be said of the

ODIs where South Africa will look to

prove that the series win in Australia

recently was no flash in the pan either.

Coupled with India’s tour to New Zealand,

the clash of South Africa and Australia is

bound to keep cricket lovers

fixated to the TV screens for

the next two months, as the

three teams will be involved in

a three way fight for the hal-

lowed number one ranking in

both forms of the game. And

to be world champions, in either

tests or ODIs, you have

to be the number one

team in the world as

Graeme Smith tells us in

an exclusive chat with

the South African cap-

tain right before the all

important clash with the

Aussies.

We also have an interac-

tion with former India

captain Sourav Ganguly

who looks back to the

times when he mooted

the idea of Rahul Dravid

keeping wickets for India

in the ODIs. It is well

known that he had a

good chemistry with the

then coach John Wright, and

so this example does form the

background for a though provoking

piece on the fight that is ensuing

between the captain and coach of a

team. Between them, who has more

authority? We also take a look at domes-

tic cricket with the Ranji toppers as well

as Amol Mazumdar’s heroic career for

Mumbai. And our regular columns,

Willowy Words and Greats of the Game

are back, along with the ever present

Down Memory Lane. Happy reading!

The Kiwis beckon

a

Copyright 2005 "Cricket Today" is a registered trademark ofThe Diamond Group. All rights reserved. No Part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in aretrieval system, or transmitted in any form or byany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied,recorded or otherwise, without prior permission.Printed & Published by Manish Verma and Edited byManish Verma on behalf of Diamond Magazines Pvt.Ltd. Printed at Best Photo Offset Printers, A-81,D.D.A. Shed, Okhla Industrial area, Phase-II, New Delhi-20

Winning theseries there willnot be an easyproposition ineither the ODIsor the Tests, foralmost theentire squad isgoing there forthe first time.

EEDDIITTOORRIIAALL BBOOAARRDD

Editor-in-Chief

SSuunnaannddaann LLeellee

Editor

MMaanniisshh VVeerrmmaa

Managing Editor

RRaakkeesshh PPaannddeeyy

Sub Editor

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news letter preview cover story interview trivia 06 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

CAPTAIN COURAGEOUS NEW JERSEY FOR MEN INBLUE - 18

THE BCCI AWARDS - 20

THE RANJI TOPPERS - 28

INDIA’S TOUR OF NEWZEALAND - 34

COACH VERSUS CAPTAIN:IS IT EVEN A RAGINGBATTLE? - 38

DRAVID WAS AUTOMATICCHOICE IN ODI XI:GANGULY - 44

LAST WARNING SERVED -48

ANOTHER SUMMITSCALING EXPEDITION! - 60

SA: NEARING THE NO.1POSITION - 64

SAFS STORY –RESOUNDING CAMPAIGNSEND IN NO.1 DOWNUNDER - 72

AMOL MUZUMDAR: ASTRANGE STORY OFPROMISE UNFULFILLED - 76

TUFF TIME FOR PAKISTANCRICKET - 80

BEYOND 22YARDS - 84

GREATS OF THEGAME:“JACKIE”MCGLEW-92

2ND ALL INDIA ELITECELEBRATION CUP 2009 -99

INDIA’S FIRST WIN OVERWEST INDIES - 100

20

6884

14

CONTENTS

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news content review interview triviaPHOTO FEATURE 08 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

CAB presented Ganguly with a memento

made of one kilogram of pure gold The Captain getting ready for battle

Men in Blue : All set for Kiwi challenge

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 09Cricket TodayMarch 2009

Cricket heroes with NSG heroes

Skipper and his deputy cracking up

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news preview cover story interview triviaNEWS UPDATE 10 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

AFRIDI CONSID-ERING TESTRETIREMENT

Pakistan’s senior all-rounderShahid Afridi is seriously con-

sidering retiring from Testcricket after national selec-tors ignored him for the two-match home series againstSri Lanka, which startedrecently.The 28-year-old Afridi said hewas disappointed over hisfailure to impress the selec-tors ahead of the openingTest against Sri Lanka andadded that he would retirefrom Test cricket if Pakistancontinued to ignore him forthe longer version of thegame.“I was looking forward toearning a place in the Testsquad,” said Afridi, who hasnot been in Pakistan’s Testpicture for almost threeyears.“But I respect the selectors’decision,” he stressed.Afridi played the last of his26 Tests in the summer of2006 against England inManchester. Since thennational selectors have cur-tailed his role to one-dayersand Twenty20 internationals.

PONTING OPTS OUT OF IPL FORNATIONAL DUTYAAuussttrraalliiaa sskkiippppeerr RRiicckkyy PPoonnttiinngg rreecceennttllyy rreevveeaalleeddtthhaatt hhee wwiillll sskkiipp tthhiiss yyeeaarr’’ss IInnddiiaann PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguueessttaarrttiinngg AApprriill ttoo ccoonncceennttrraattee oonn nnaattiioonnaall ccoommmmiitt--mmeennttss..““MMyy ccoouunnttrryy ccoommeess ffiirrsstt aanndd tthheerree wwaass nnoo wwaayy IIccoouulldd ggiivvee mmyy aallll ffoorr AAuussttrraalliiaa iiff II uusseedd tthhee oonnllyyttwwoo--wweeeekk bbrreeaakk wwee hhaavvee ttoo ggoo aanndd ppllaayy iinn IInnddiiaa,,””PPoonnttiinngg,, wwhhoo iiss ccoonnttrraacctteedd wwiitthh tthhee IIPPLL tteeaammKKoollkkaattaa KKnniigghhtt RRiiddeerrss,, wwrroottee iinn hhiiss ccoolluummnn iinn TThheeAAuussttrraalliiaann..““II hhaavvee bbeeeenn ttaallkkiinngg wwiitthh mmyy tteeaamm,, tthhee KKoollkkaattaaKKnniigghhtt RRiiddeerrss ffoorr aa mmoonntthh oorr ttwwoo nnooww aanndd iinn tthheeeenndd mmyy oonnllyy cchhooiiccee wwaass ttoo wwiitthhddrraaww ffrroomm tthhee22000099 ccoommppeettiittiioonn,, bbuutt II wwiillll mmoosstt cceerrttaaiinnllyy bbee bbaacckkffoorr 22001100 wwhheenn II hhooppee ttoo bbee aabbllee ttoo mmaakkee aa mmuucchhggrreeaatteerr ccoonnttrriibbuuttiioonn,,”” hhee ssaaiidd..PPoonnttiinngg,, wwhhoo iiss ccuurrrreennttllyy iinn SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaa wwiitthh tthheeAAuussttrraalliiaann ssqquuaadd ffoorr aa TTeesstt aanndd oonnee--ddaayy sseerriieess,,tthhaannkkeedd KKnniigghhtt RRiiddeerrss ffoorr lleettttiinngg hhiimm ggoo tthhiiss ttiimmeeaarroouunndd..

RP, CHAWLA VISITMAHAKALESHWAR TEMPLECCrriicckkeetteerrss RR PP SSiinngghh aanndd PPiiyyuusshh CChhaawwllaa rreecceennttllyy vviissiitteeddtthhee ffaammoouuss MMaahhaakkaalleesshhwwaarr tteemmppllee aatt UUjjjjaaiinn..LLeefftt--aarrmm ssppeeeeddsstteerr RR PP SSiinngghh aanndd lleegg--ssppiinnnneerr CChhaawwllaaaarrrriivveedd qquuiieettllyy iinn tthhee tteemmppllee ttoowwnn ttoo ppeerrffoorrmm rreelliiggiioouussrriittuuaallss,, tteemmppllee ssoouurrcceess ssaaiidd..LLaatteerr iinn aa bbrriieeff iinntteerraaccttiioonn wwiitthh tthhee mmeeddiiaa ppeerrssoonnss,,SSiinngghh ssaaiidd tthhaatt hhee lliikkeess ttoo ccoommee ttoo UUjjjjaaiinn ffoorr vviissiittiinnggMMaahhaakkaall..TThhee ssppeeeeddsstteerr hhaadd aallssoo vviissiitteedd UUjjjjaaiinn ffeeww mmoonntthhss bbaacckkttoo sseeeekk tthhee bblleessssiinnggss ooff LLoorrdd MMaahhaakkaall..IInnddiiaa’’ss sskkiippppeerr,, MMaahheennddrraa SSiinngghh DDhhoonnii hhaadd aallssoo ppaaiidd aavviissiitt ttoo tthhee tteemmppllee ssoommeettiimmee aaggoo,, ssoouurrcceess ssaaiidd..

by Rakesh Pandey

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 11Cricket TodayMarch 2009

DHONI FACE OF KOLKATAFASHION WEEK

IInnddiiaann ccaappttaaiinn MMaahheennddrraa SSiinngghh DDhhoonnii iiss aallll sseett ttoobbee tthhee bbrraanndd aammbbaassssaaddoorr ooff tthhee ffiirrsstt eevveerr KKoollkkaattaa

FFaasshhiioonn WWeeeekk ttoo bbee hheelldd iinn AApprriill..““OOuurrss wwiillll bbee aann aannnnuuaall eevveenntt.. DDhhoonnii wwiillll bbee tthhee

ffaaccee ooff tthhee eevveenntt ffoorr ffoouurr yyeeaarrss.. HHee hhaass aallrreeaaddyysshhoott sseevveerraall pprroommooss ffoorr tthhee sshhooww,,”” YYuuddhhaajjiitt

DDuuttttaa,, mmaannaaggiinngg ddiirreeccttoorr ooff MMiinnddssccaappee GGrroouupp ooffccoommppaanniieess tthhaatt iiss oorrggaanniissiinngg tthhee eevveenntt,, ttoolldd

rreeppoorrtteerrss..DDhhoonnii,, hhoowweevveerr,, wwiillll nnoott bbee pprreesseenntt ffoorr tthhee ffiirrsstteeddiittiioonn ooff tthhee sshhooww,, bbeeiinngg hheelldd ffrroomm AApprriill 22--55 aasshhee wwoouulldd bbee aawwaayy iinn NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd wwiitthh tthhee IInnddiiaann

tteeaamm..““WWee wwaanntteedd aa ppeerrssoonnaalliittyy wwhhoo iiss oouuttssiiddee tthhee

ssttaattee,, ccaann ggrraabb mmeeddiiaa ssppoottlliigghhtt aanndd aallssoo hhaass ggrreeaattaappppeeaall aammoonngg tthhee yyoouutthh.. DDhhoonnii ffiittss aallll tthheessee ccrriittee--

rriiaa,,”” DDuuttttaa ssaaiidd..TThhiirrttyy ffiivvee ttoopp IInnddiiaann mmooddeellss aanndd 1155 ddeessiiggnneerrss wwiillll

ppaarrttiicciippaattee iinn tthhee ffaasshhiioonn eevveenntt,, hhee aaddddeedd..

IPL MAY SOON HIT ATHEATRE NEAR YOUFollowing a spate of requests from cin-ema theatre owners in the country,the Indian Premier League has decidedto float tenders to sell these rights forthe 2009 IPL season commencing onApril 10.“We have received requests from manychains of cinema theatres. We havedecided to issue tenders for sellingthese rights for one year or so. We willdecide on continuing this after seeinghow it goes on,” said IPL chairman LalitModi.The IPL matches last for around threehours and are ideally suited for theatregoers.

CRICKET TO FEATURE INSOUTH ASIAN GAMESCricket will be included in next year’sSouth Asian Games to be staged inDhaka, a regional Olympic official said. “India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladeshand Nepal have already agreed to par-ticipate in cricket,” Kutubuddin Ahmed,secretary-general of the BangladeshOlympic Association, told reportersafter a meeting in Kathmandu.A Twenty20 competition at under-21level would feature in the games forthe eight-nation grouping, to bestaged from January 29 to February9next year, he added.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 12 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

AZHAR STARTS POLITICALCAREER WITH CONGRESSAfter initial denial, former Indian captain MohammadAzharuddin joined the Congress recently.Azhar officially joined the party at a packed pressconference and will probably contest from one of thethree constituencies falling in Hyderabad in the forth-coming Lok Sabha elections.He is likely to be projected as the Congress’ newMuslim face, to take on the All India Majlis IttehadulMuslimeen. Azharuddin last played for India in 2000 before beinghanded out a life ban for match-fixing by the BCCI.Last year cricketer-turned-politician Dodda Ganesh anda close friend of Azhar joined the Janata Dal Secular.It was Azharuddin who reportedly advised Ganesh tojoin the JDS though he was being wooed by othernational parties as well.One of India’s most successful cricketers, Azharuddin’sinnings came to an abrupt end after a disciplinarycommittee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) imposed a life ban on him in December 2000.Azharuddin challenged the ban in a court. The case isdragging on. Azharuddin now runs a successful eventmanagement firm as well as a health club called Est.

TENDULKAR UNCOM-FORTABLE WITH FANSTOUCHING FEETHe doesn’t receive letters written inblood any more, but Sachin Tendulkarsays that he does not feel comfort-able when a fan touches his feet andtells him he is God.Tendulkar, whose achievements withthe bat have won him fans worldwide,says the adulation never ceases tosurprise him.“I used to receive letters written inblood... but not any more. It feelsstrange when a fan comes and touch-es your feet and says you are God. Idon’t feel comfortable with it, but itis the way they feel about you... thathappened again just a couple ofweeks ago actually,” he says.In a light-hearted interview publishedin celebrity magazine ‘OK!’, Tendulkarspoke about his love for Ferrari cars,his post-retirement plans and how hehandles criticism.Tendulkar said retirement thoughtswere far away from his mind at themoment but he may start a businesswhen he stops playing competitivecricket.

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editor speaks contents letter 13Cricket TodayMarch 2009

RBS BANKRUPT AFTER SIGNING SACHIN & CO.A spendthrift Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) spent £200 million on sponsorshipdeals with Sachin Tendulkar and other top sportsmen just weeks before beingbailed out by the British government, a newspaper reported recently.The Sunday Times said the bank, which is now 68 per cent owned by the tax-payer, signed the long-term contracts before being bailed by the British gov-ernment in October.Former RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin agreed contracts of up to fiveyears.Apart from Sachin, the stars signed as ‘global ambassadors’ include ZaraPhillips, the rider and granddaughter of the Queen, Jack Nicklaus, the golfer,and Sir Jackie Stewart, the former motor racing champion.The news comes after the bank announced that it had made a loss of £28billion last year.Treasury select committee member MP John Mann told the paper: “Theyhave been reckless yet again. This doesn’t seem to be a bank that could doanything in moderation. It now needs to realise the golden days are over.”

ASIF NOW EYES COUNTY STINT AFTER IPL BAN

PPaakkiissttaann’’ss bbaannnneedd ppaacceerr MMoohhaammmmaadd AAssiiff iiss ttrryyiinngg ttoo nneeggoottiiaattee aa ccoonnttrraacctt wwiitthhaann EEnngglliisshh ccoouunnttyy ttoo kkeeeepp hhiimmsseellff iinn ttoouucchh wwiitthh tthhee ggaammee wwhhiillee sseerrvviinngg tthhee ppuunn--iisshhmmeenntt hhaannddeedd oouutt ttoo hhiimm ffoorr ffaaiilliinngg aa ddooppee tteesstt..AAssiiff iiss sseerrvviinngg aa oonnee--yyeeaarr bbaann iimmppoosseedd oonn hhiimm bbyy tthhee IInnddiiaann PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguueeddrruuggss iinnqquuiirryy ttrriibbuunnaall ffoorr tteessttiinngg ppoossiittiivvee dduurriinngg aa ddooppee tteesstt llaasstt yyeeaarr dduurriinngg tthheeIIPPLL..TThhee bbaann ppeerriioodd eennddss oonn SSeepptteemmbbeerr 2222.. TThhee ppaacceerr hhaass nnoott ppllaayyeedd ffoorr PPaakkiissttaannssiinnccee llaasstt yyeeaarr aass hhee wwaass aallssoo ssuussppeennddeedd bbyy tthhee PPaakkiissttaann CCrriicckkeett BBooaarrdd ssiinnccee JJuullyy1155 ffoorr tthhee ffaaiilleedd ddooppee tteesstt..““II jjuusstt wwaanntt ttoo kkeeeepp mmyysseellff ffiitt aanndd rreeaaddyy ffoorr mmyy rreettuurrnn ttoo iinntteerrnnaattiioonnaall ccrriicckkeettwwhheenn tthhee bbaann ppeerriioodd eennddss,,”” AAssiiff,, wwhhoo hhaass ppllaayyeedd 1111 TTeessttss,, ssaaiidd..

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FEMALE FANS WISH DHONI ONVALENTINE’S DAYThe proof that Indian cricket skipper Mahendra SinghDhoni has a large female following was visible onValentine’s Day as many young women gathered out-side his residence and presented cards and roses to hisrelatives, as he was not in the city.The women, who gathered outside the Indian captain’shouse under the banner of the Dhoni Fan Club, shout-ed slogans such as “Dhoni is our Valentine. We love youDhoni”.The fans were carrying posters, cards and roses topresent to the relatives of Dhoni.“We love Dhoni from the bottom of our heart. Wecame here to express our feeling and love for Dhoni,”said Alka Das.Echoing her view, Supriya, another fan, said: “It is sadthat Dhoni is not in Ranchi on Valentine’s Day. We misshim.”

RICHARDS, ROBERTS,HOLDING IN ICC HALLOF FAMEWWeesstt IInnddiieess ggrreeaattss VViivviiaann RRiicchhaarrddss,,AAnnddyy RRoobbeerrttss aanndd MMiicchhaaeell HHoollddiinnggwweerree pprreesseenntteedd tthhee IICCCC CCrriicckkeett HHaallllooff FFaammee ccaappss ttoo ffoorrmmaallllyy iinndduucctttthheemm iinnttoo tthhee eexxaalltteedd hhoonnoouurr lliisstt oofftthhee wwoorrlldd ggoovveerrnniinngg bbooddyy..TThhee ffoorrmmeerr ccrriicckkeetteerrss wweerree pprreesseenntt--eedd wwiitthh tthheeiirr HHaallll ooff FFaammee ccaappss bbyyWWeesstt IInnddiieess CCrriicckkeett BBooaarrdd PPrreessiiddeennttDDrr JJuulliiaann HHuunnttee oonn tthhee ffiieelldd ooff ppllaayydduurriinngg tthhee lluunncchh iinntteerrvvaall oonn ddaayy ttwwooooff tthhee tthhiirrdd TTeesstt bbeettwweeeenn tthhee hhoossttssaanndd EEnnggllaanndd aatt tthhee AAnnttiigguuaaRReeccrreeaattiioonn GGrroouunndd..TThhee ttrriioo aarree aammoonngg 1133 WWeesstt IInnddiieesslleeggeennddss aanndd 5555 ppllaayyeerrss wwoorrllddwwiiddeewwhhoo aarree bbeeiinngg iinndduucctteedd iinnttoo tthhee IICCCCCCrriicckkeett HHaallll ooff FFaammee,, wwhhiicchh iiss bbeeiinnggrruunn iinn aassssoocciiaattiioonn wwiitthh FFeeddeerraattiioonn ooffIInntteerrnnaattiioonnaall CCrriicckkeetteerrss’’ AAssssoocciiaattiioonnss((FFIICCAA)).. PPrreevviioouussllyy,, dduurriinngg SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaa’’ss ttoouurrooff AAuussttrraalliiaa,, ffoorrmmeerr SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaabbaattssmmaann BBaarrrryy RRiicchhaarrddss aanndd AAuussttrraalliiaawwiicckkeettkkeeeeppeerr RRooddnneeyy MMaarrsshh rreecceeiivveeddtthheeiirr ccaappss..TThhee IICCCC CCrriicckkeett HHaallll ooff FFaammee iinniittiiaattiivveeffoorrmmss ppaarrtt ooff tthhee IICCCC’’ss cceenntteennaarryycceelleebbrraattiioonnss wwhhiicchh aarree ffooccuusseedd oonncceelleebbrraattiinngg tthhee uunniiqquuee hheerriittaaggee oofftthhee ggaammee aanndd ccrriicckkeett’’ss eenndduurriinngg ssppiirr--iitt..

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WORLD CUP TO OPEN INBANGLADESH: ICCInternational Cricket Council Chief Executive Haroon Lorgathas said that the opening ceremony of the 2011 CricketWorld Cup will take place in Bangladesh on February 19,2011.“We have decided that the opening ceremony and theopening game will take place on February 19, 2011 which isa Saturday in Bangladesh. We had a preliminary discussionsabout the number of matches to be played over 15 ven-ues,” Lorgat said after the meeting of the 2011 World CupCentral Organising Committee.Lorgat said that the mega-event will be no longer than sixweeks after its scheduled start on February 19, 2011.“We are planning to reduce the time-span, not to gobeyond the six-week period. The last two weeks ofFebruary and March. We are looking to shorten the perioddown to six weeks,” he said.“We want a shorter and sharper tournament not beyond sixweeks and if my memory serves me right, not more than49 games,” he said.

BENAUD TO RETIREFROM COMMENTARYNEXT YEARFormer Australian captain RichieBenaud will retire from television com-mentary next year. The 78-year-oldtold Sydney radio he was quitting afterhis current contract ends in 12months. “I’ll be doing Australian cricket nextyear, 2010, but I don’t do any televisionat all anywhere else now and when Ifinish next year, then I’ll be doing otherthings,” he said. Benaud played 63 Tests for Australiabetween 1952 and 1964, captaining hiscountry 28 times but was just as wellknown for his media work as his playingcareer. He began a full-time career in cricketcommentary after his retirement, split-ting his time between Britain andAustralia.IPL CHEERLEADERS GET THEIR BOLLYWOOD

TOUCHBBoollllyywwoooodd cchhoorreeooggrraapphheerr SShhiiaammaakk DDaavvaarr iiss aallll sseett ttoo ttuuttoorr AAnnggeellss -- tthhee cchheeeerr--lleeaaddeerrss ooff ssuuppeerrssttaarr SShhaahh RRuukkhh KKhhaann’’ss IInnddiiaann PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguuee ((IIPPLL)) tteeaamm KKoollkkaattaaKKnniigghhtt RRiiddeerrss..DDaavvaarr,, tthhee mmaann bbeehhiinndd hhiitt ddaannccee sseeqquueenncceess iinn ffiillmmss lliikkee DDiill TToo PPaaggaall HHaaii,, TTaaaall,,BBuunnttyy AAuurr BBaabbllii,, DDhhoooomm 22 aanndd RRaabb NNee BBaannaa DDii JJooddii,, hhaass bbeeeenn zzeerrooeedd iinn oonn aasstthhee cchhoorreeooggrraapphheerr ffoorr aann uuppccoommiinngg tteelleevviissiioonn rreeaalliittyy sshhooww KKnniigghhttss && AAnnggeellss,, aassoouurrccee ffrroomm tthhee cchhaannnneell ttoolldd rreeppoorrtteerrss..TThhee sshhooww,, wwhhiicchh aaiimmss aatt sseelleeccttiinngg ssiixx cchheeeerrlleeaaddeerrss ffoorr SShhaahh RRuukkhh’’ss tteeaamm,, iissbbeeiinngg pprroodduucceedd bbyy tthhee aaccttoorr’’ss TTVV pprroodduuccttiioonn hhoouussee RReedd CChhiilllliieess IIddiioott BBooxx..TThhee pprrooggrraammmmee wwiillll bbee hhoosstteedd bbyy vveeeejjaayy--ttuurrnneedd--aaccttoorr PPuurraabb KKoohhllii aanndd wwiillll bbeetteelleeccaasstt eevveerryy SSaattuurrddaayy ssttaarrttiinngg FFeebbrruuaarryy 2288..

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 16 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

SRI LANKA CRICKET GETSLUCRATIVE SPONSORSHIP DEALSri Lanka’s second largest mobile phone operator hasagreed to a three-year deal worth nearly $5 million tosponsor the island’s cricket team, Sri Lanka Cricket said.Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel takes over as main sponsorof the national team from April.The team is currently sponsored by Malaysia’s DialogTelekom, in a deal worth $89,000 for a three-monthperiod that ends in March.Sri Lanka’s national team includes Test and one-daycricket’s leading wicket-taker Muttiah Muralitharan.Sri Lanka Cricket called for fresh bids for a long-termsponsor in January after the national team failed toattract backers because of the ongoing economicslowdown in the country, Sports Minister GaminiLokuge said.Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel had offered the highest bidof $4.85 million, Sri Lanka Cricket said in a statement.“Current sponsors Dialog Telekom and NationalDevelopment Bank were also among the bidders,” thestatement said. The previous team sponsor, Sri Lanka’sDilmah Tea, paid $2 million over a three-year period.

KAPIL HITS OUT AT BCCI IN HIGH COURTFormer India captain Kapil Dev lashed out at BCCI in the Delhi HighCourt saying that it has put pressure on public sector undertakings(PSUs) and other organisations for taking punitive action againstplayers joining its rival Indian Cricket League (ICL).The former all-rounder, however, said that the Board has neverbeen disrespectful to him as a cricketer before and after retire-ment.Kapil made the remark while appearing before Registrar of DelhiHigh Court, Pawan Kumar Jain, for cross examination by the Boardon his allegations for taking punitive actions against former crick-eters who have joined ICL.The former cricketer in his affidavit had alleged that the Board ofControl for Cricket in India (BCCI) was neglecting former cricketerswho served the nation and is taking punitive action by stoppingtheir pension and other post-retirement benefits.

FIT-AGAIN JONES GUNNINGFOR ASHES RETURNFormer England fast bowler Simon Jones hasrevealed that he is fit again and ready to tearthrough the Aussies this summer. The Worcestershire pacer has suffered a cruel runof knee injuries since his 18 wickets in four Testshelped England win the 2005 Ashes, reports TheSun. Last season brought renewed hope of an Englandreturn, with 42 wickets from nine first-class games,before further surgery was required. But with his pre-season fitness looking promising,the proud Welshman is eyeing the first Ashes Testat Cardiff on July 8.

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news content preview cover story interview triviaFRESH 18 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

here is no doubt about the

great comaraderie among the

members of the Dhoni led

Indian side. The way the players

have fun in the company of

each other was for all to see at Mumbai

recently during the launch of their new

ODI kit.

The outfit, with striking dark blue

colours, was revealed at a glittering

function organised by the official kit

sponsor of the Indian team, Nike.

Indian captain MS Dhoni was the centre

of all attention as he along with team-

mates in the Indian dressing-room were

paraded on the stage.

For the skipper, the new jersey is better

for more than one reason.

“We have been using the last jersey for

a long time and hopefully this one

won’t get dirty; so our laundry charges

will be lesser with this one,” joked Dhoni.

Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Rohit

Sharma, Dinesh Karthik and Pragyan

Ojha were among those on stage, and

the players showed off their ability as

ramp models too by making heads turn

with a catwalk.

Spirits were high as a confident set of

players prepare to undertake what

promises to be a stern test in New

Zealand.

The unveiling of India’s new jersey was

also an occasion to walk down memory

lane. Member of the 1985 Benson and

Hedges World Championship winning

team in Australia, Laxman

Sivaramakrishnan got the function off

to a thunderous start by walking in kit-

ted in the colours of that victorious

outfit.

“I think that particular team set the

pattern of play for the future genera-

tions of cricketers to come,” said

Sivaramakrishnan of his 1985-team.

He was followed on stage by a member

of the 1996 Indian World Cup team and

India’s current bowling coach, Venkatesh

Prasad.

Former batsman Vinod Kambli was his

usual gregarious self as he walked down

the ramp with the panache of a veteran

in the India colours of 1997, while Robin

Singh sported the 1999 World Cup

colours.

Master of ceremonies Harsha Bhogle

kept the audience in good humour with

his short Q&A sessions with MS Dhoni

and his men.

“I am a bit scared of heights. I have not

tried bungee jumping,” Said Dhoni who

has been invited by Ministry of Tourism

in Auckland to try bungee jumping.

“According to the contract (the players

sign contracts with the BCCI before

every tour), we cannot do bungee

jumping.”

Yuvraj Singh was at his usual witty self

with his answers, choosing to add a “ask

Dhoni” to all his replies. Asked if he was

happy batting at No. 4, Yuvraj said,

“Very happy, but you have to ask Dhoni.

He decides the batting order.”

That humorous vein continued in

Yuvraj’s answer to whether he would

seek Dhoni’s permission before appeal-

ing too, he said: “I appeal to the leg

umpire.”

Up next was Zaheer Khan who said ‘he

enjoyed the responsibility of leading the

attack’.

“You have to do the right things, like

the elder brother advising the younger

brother. You have to be spot on before

guiding the youngsters,” Zaheer said.

Even as Zaheer was speaking Yuvraj

prodded Bhogle to ask the pacer about

being the leader off the field too.

Zaheer, taking a leaf out of Yuvraj’s

book, replied: ‘you must ask Dhoni’.

A new shade of blue for the members

of the Indian team who had a phenome-

nal run with the last jersey and with the

aim of being the best in the world, will

the nex jersey bring them that extra bit

of luck. �

t

New jerseyfor men in blue

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he annual BCCI awards ceremo-

ny was held in Mumbai before

the departure of the Indian

team for New Zealand, to com-

memorate the outstanding per-

formers of the 2007-08 season. The

Board of Control for Cricket in India

(BCCI) disbursed Rs.25 lakh at the

awards function held on 18th February

2009.

Virender Sehwag received the Polly

Umrigar Trophy and Rs. 5 lakh for out-

standing performance in international

cricket. Sehwag had made a successful

return to the Indian Test team on the

2007-08 tour of Australia after being

overlooked for away series in

Bangladesh and England, and the home

contest against Pakistan. Since then, he

has been in prolific form, scoring 1462

in 14 Tests in 2008 at an average of

56.23 and strike-rate of 85.84, including

a blistering triple-century in Chennai

against South Africa. He was also part

of India’s victorious team at the World

Twenty20 in South Africa in September

2007.

Other honours awarded at the BCCI

awards ceremony for 2007-08 included

Cheteshwar Pujara and Sudeep Tyagi,

who won prizes for the best batsman

and bowler in domestic cricket. Pujara

and Tyagi won Rs 1 lakh each and the

Madhavrao Scindia Award. Pujara, who

plays for Saurashtra, finished the 2007-

08 season as the leading run-getter in

the Ranji Trophy Super League, with

807 runs at 73.36. Uttar Pradesh medi-

um-pacer Tyagi took 41 wickets at 21.63

apiece.

Former India captain Gundappa

Viswanath was chosen for the CK

Nayudu lifetime achievement award. He

also received a cash amount of Rs.15

lakh with the honour.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and

star off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also

got special honours during the annual

awards ceremony. Dhoni, who received

the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award and

Padma Shri, was given a special award

for leading Indian cricket to new heights

during the past year. Similarly,

t

20 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content news interview BCCI AWARDS

The BCCI Awards

BCCI.qxd 2/20/2009 4:39 PM Page 2

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Harbhajan too was felicitated for taking

300 Test wickets in his career, a feat he

achieved last year in the series against

England, and receiving the Padma Shri

earlier this year.

Maharashtra’s Ankit Bawane, Punjab’s

Mandeep Singh, UP’s Bhuvneshwar

Kumar and Delhi’s Rahul Dewan were

awarded the MA Chidambaram Trophy

for the best Under-15, Under-17, Under-

19 and Under-22 cricketer respectively.

Former India captain Mithali Raj and

legspinner Thirush Kamini were named

the best woman cricketers. Each of

these winners received a cash prize of

Rs.50000.

The BCCI also handed out special

awards to the Maharashtra Cricket

Association (best overall performance in

the season).

LIST OF AWARDEES:CK Nayudu Award: G R Viswanath (Rs. 15

lakhs)

Polly Umrigar Award: Virender Sehwag

(Rs 5 lakh)

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Batsman):

Cheteshwar Pujara

Madhavrao Scindia Award (Bowler):

Sudeep Tyagi

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Under-15):

Ankit Bawane (Maharashtra)

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Under-17):

Mandeep Singh (Punjab)

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Under-19):

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (UP)

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Under-22):

Rahul Dewan (Delhi)

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best Woman

Cricketer): Mithali Raj

M A Chidambaram Trophy (Best Junior

Woman Cricketer): M D Thirushkamini.

SPECIAL AWARDS:Maharashtra: Best Overall Performance

in the 2007-08 season.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni: For receiving the

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award & Padma

Shri.

Harbhajan Singh: For taking 300 Test

wickets and receiving the Padma Shri. �

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 21

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22 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report content news market magicDHONI EFFECT

uutt bbaacckk ttoo tthhee 22nndd OODDII

bbeettwweeeenn IInnddiiaa aanndd SSrrii LLaannkkaa

iinn tthhee rreecceennttllyy ccoonncclluuddeedd

ffiivvee mmaattcchh sseerriieess iinn tthhee

EEmmeerraalldd IIsslleess.. IInnddiiaa hhaadd sseett aa

nnoott ttoooo ssttiiffff ttaarrggeett iinn ffrroonntt ooff tthhee

hhoossttss aanndd tthheeyy wweerree hhaavviinngg ssoommee

ttrroouubbllee ddeeffeennddiinngg iitt.. SSrrii LLaannkkaa ttoooo

wweerree sshhoowwiinngg tthhee ssttoommaacchh ffoorr aa ffiigghhtt

aafftteerr tthhee aabbjjeecctt ccaappiittuullaattiioonn iinn tthhee

ffiirrsstt mmaattcchh aanndd tthheeyy kknneeww tthheeyy hhaadd aa

cchhaannccee aass IInnddiiaann ssppeeaarrhheeaadd ZZaahheeeerr

KKhhaann wwaass sshhoowwiinngg ssiiggnnss ooff ffaattiigguuee ffoorr

tthhee ffiirrsstt ttiimmee iinn ttwweellvvee mmoonntthhss.. AA

ffiieellddiinngg eerrrroorr bbyy PPrraaggyyaann OOjjhhaa hhaadd sskkiipp--

ppeerr,, aanndd kkeeeeppeerr,, MMSS DDhhoonnii qquueessttiioonniinngg

hhiiss ccoommmmiittmmeenntt wwiitthh rraaiisseedd aarrmmss aanndd

aarrcchheedd bbrroowwss.. CClleeaarrllyy,, ccaappttaaiinn ccooooll wwaass

iirrrriittaatteedd..

IIsshhaanntt SShhaarrmmaa,, tthhee sseeccoonndd hhaallff ooff tthhee

mmoosstt vvaauunntteedd ffaasstt bboowwlliinngg ppaaiirr iinn

wwoorrlldd ccrriicckkeett ttooddaayy,, ssccaallppeedd tthhrreeee

CourageousCaptain

by Chetan Narula

c

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Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 23

wwiicckkeettss iinn tthhee ddyyiinngg oovveerrss ttoo ffiinniisshh ooffff

tthhee cchhaassee aanndd wwiinn IInnddiiaa tthhee mmaattcchh.. IInnddiiaa

wwoonn,, ttooookk aa 22--00 lleeaadd aanndd sshhoouulldd hhaavvee

ccoooolleedd ooffff aa bbiitt iinn tthhee nneexxtt ffeeww ddaayyss,,

bbuutt ssoommee oonnee wwaass nnoott ttoooo pplleeaasseedd.. AAnndd

tthhaatt wwaass tthhee sskkiippppeerr wwhhoo lleett iitt bbee

kknnoowwnn tthhaatt hhiiss bboowwlleerrss hhaaddnn’’tt bboowwlleedd

wweellll iinnssppiittee ooff ddeeffeennddiinngg aa ttaarrggeett ooff

aabboouutt 225500 rruunnss.. SSuubbsseeqquueennttllyy aa qquuoottee

bbyy tthhee sskkiippppeerr iinn aa lleeaaddiinngg nnaattiioonnaall ddaaiillyy,,

TTiimmeess ooff IInnddiiaa,, ccaauugghhtt oonnee’’ss eeyyee,, ffoorr

tthhiiss wwaass aa ssttaatteemmeenntt mmuucchh uunnlliikkee DDhhoonnii..

HHee aacckknnoowwlleeddggeedd tthhaatt hhee aallwwaayyss

aalllloowweedd tthhee bboowwlleerrss ttoo bboowwll ttoo aa ppllaann

aanndd tthhaatt hhee wwoouulldd bbee aa ppaarrtt ooff tthheeiirr

ffiieelldd sseettttiinnggss,, oonnllyy ooccccaassiioonnaallllyy bbuuttttiinngg

iinn ttoo pplluugg tthhee hhoolleess.. HHee lloovveess ddeemmooccrraa--

ccyy iitt sseeeemmss,, bbuutt ppeerrttaaiinniinngg ttoo tthhee

mmaattcchh iinn qquueessttiioonn,, hhee cclleeaarrllyy vveenntteedd

hhiiss iirree aatt tthhee bboowwlleerrss nnoott ppeerr--

ffoorrmmiinngg uuppttoo tthhee mmaarrkk aanndd

ccaalllleedd hhiimmsseellff aann aauuttooccrraatt iinn

tthhee ppaarrttiiccuullaarr ssiittuuaattiioonn

wwhheennccee hhiiss bboowwlleerrss wwoouulldd

hhaavvee ttoo bboowwll aass ppeerr hhiiss ffiieelldd

sseettttiinngg ddeemmaannddss..

TThhiiss ‘‘aavvaattaarr’’ ooff DDhhoonnii iiss

qquuiittee uunnkknnoowwnn ttoo aallll ccrriicckkeett

aaffiicciioonnaaddooss aanndd tthhee oonnllyy

rreeaassoonn tthhaatt iitt ffaaiilleedd ttoo

ccaattcchh tthhee ccoommmmoonn eeyyee iiss

bbeeccaauussee IInnddiiaa wwoonn tthhee

mmaattcchh.. RReeaadd bbeettwweeeenn tthhee

lliinneess aanndd tthhee IInnddiiaann sskkiipp--

ppeerr’’ss mmoottiivvee bbeeccoommeess aallll

ttoooo vviissiibbllee.. HHee iiss hheerree ttoo

wwiinn,, aatt aallll ccoossttss aanndd iiss rreeaaddyy

ttoo bbee ddoommiinneeeerriinngg oonn hhiiss

tteeaamm iiff tthhee nneeeedd aarriisseess..

TThhee ootthheerr mmaajjoorr aassppeecctt ooff iitt aallll iiss tthhaatt

hhiiss ccaammaarraaddeerriiee wwiitthh hhiiss ffeellllooww ppllaayyeerrss

sshhoouullddnn’’tt bbee sseeeenn aass aa ssiiggnn ooff wweeaakknneessss

iinn hhiimm.. YYeess hhee iiss aa ffrriieenndd ttoo tthheemm aallll aanndd

mmoorree oorr lleessss,, iiss iinn tthhee ssaammee aaggee ggrroouupp

aass wweellll.. BBuutt mmaakkee nnoo mmiissttaakkee,, hhee iiss `̀tthhee’’

lleeaaddeerr ooff tthhee ggrroouupp wwhheenn iitt ccoommeess ttoo

tthhaatt aanndd tthhaatt iiss aa ffaacctt tthhaatt aallll ooff tthheemm

wwiillll hhaavvee ttoo rreessppeecctt.. DDeemmooccrraaccyy,, aaggaaiinn,,

iiss aallll vveerryy ggoooodd bbuutt ssoommeettiimmeess aa kkiicckk oonn

tthhee bbaacckkssiiddee ggeettss tthhee ddoonnkkeeyy rruunnnniinngg

ttoooo..

TThhaannkk hheeaavveennss,, tthhee ‘‘ddoonnkkeeyyss’’ iinn tthhee

IInnddiiaann tteeaamm hhaavveenn’’tt rreeaallllyy nneeeeddeedd aa kkiicckk

iinn tthhee llaasstt ffiifftteeeenn mmoonntthhss oorr ssoo.. CCrriicckkeett

iinn tthhiiss ccoouunnttrryy iiss aatt aann aallll ttiimmee hhiigghh,, oonn

tthhee ffiieelldd aanndd ooffff iitt.. TThhee tteeaamm iiss ssccaalliinngg

nneeww ppeeaakkss,, nneevveerr ssccaalleedd bbeeffoorree aanndd tthhee

llaasstt ttiimmee oonnee cchheecckkeedd,, tthheeyy aarree oonn tthheeiirr

wwaayy ttoo aannootthheerr oonnee,, tthhee oonnee tthhaatt mmaatt--

tteerrss tthhee mmoosstt ooff aallll,, tthhee wwoorrlldd nnuummbbeerr

oonnee ssppoott.. TToo ccaallll iitt jjuusstt tthhee DDhhoonnii eeffffeecctt

wwoouulldd bbee aa ttaadd uunnffaaiirr oonn tthhee rreesstt ooff tthhee

mmaannaaggeemmeenntt wwhhoo hhaavvee ddoonnee aa ssppiicc--nn--

ssppaann jjoobb bbeehhiinndd tthhee sscceenneess,, bbuutt tthhee

To call it just theDhoni effectwould be a tadunfair on the restof the manage-ment who havedone a spic-n-span job behindthe scenes, butthe skipper’s con-tribution cannever beneglected.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 24 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

sskkiippppeerr’’ss ccoonnttrriibbuuttiioonn ccaann nneevveerr

bbee nneegglleecctteedd iinn tthhee ggaammee ooff

ccrriicckkeett..

IItt hhaass aallll bbuutt rreefflleecctteedd iinn

tthhee ccoonnffiiddeennccee,, aanndd tthhee

ggaammee,, ooff hhiiss ppllaayyeerrss

tthhaatt iiss tthhee ppoossiittiivvee

eeffffeecctt tthhaatt DDhhoonnii’’ss

lleeaaddeerrsshhiipp iiss hhaavviinngg oonn

tthheemm.. HHaavvee wwee eevveerr

sseeeenn VViirreennddeerr SSeehhwwaagg

ssoo hhaappppyy ttoo bbee aa ppaarrtt

ooff tthhee tteeaamm bbeeffoorree?? UUnnddeerr

GGaanngguullyy,, ssuurree,, hhee wwaass

hhaappppyy bbuutt tthheerree wwaass

aallwwaayyss tthhaatt yyoouunnggsstteerr ttaagg

aattttaacchheedd ttoo hhiiss nnaammee..

UUnnddeerr DDrraavviidd,, tthhee lleesssseerr

ssaaiidd aabboouutt hhiiss ffaaiilluurreess tthhee

bbeetttteerr.. BBuutt aa rreejjuuvveennaatteedd

SSeehhwwaagg hhaass pprroobbaabbllyy llaaiidd

tthhee ffoouunnddaattiioonn ooff tthhee ssuucc--

cceessss ooff tthhee tteeaamm.. HHee iiss nnooww

nnoott oonnllyy ccoonnffiiddeenntt ooff hhiiss

aabbiilliittyy ttoo ppllaayy tthhee wwaayy oonnllyy

hhee ddooeess,, bbuutt tthhee ffaacctt tthhaatt

hhee hhaass bbeeeenn ggiivveenn aa ffrreeee

hhaanndd aatt ggooiinngg aafftteerr tthhee bboowwll--

iinngg wwiitthh aa sseennssee ooff rreessppoonnssii--

bbiilliittyy,, ccaann oonnllyy bbee uusseeffuull..

AAnndd tthheenn tthheerree iiss GGaauuttaamm

GGaammbbhhiirr.. TThhee mmaasssseess ccrriieedd

hhooaarrssee wwhheenn hhee wwaass ffiirrsstt ttrriieedd

aatt nnuummbbeerr tthhrreeee,, tthhaatt hhee

ccoouullddnn’’tt ddoo iitt.. BBuutt iitt wwaass aallll

ppaarrtt ooff tthhee bbiiggggeerr ppllaann,, ttoo pprreesseerrvvee hhiiss

aattttaacckkiinngg iinnssttiinncctt aatt tthhee ttoopp ooff tthhee

oorrddeerr aanndd aatt tthhee ssaammee ttiimmee,, mmaakkiinngg hhiimm

aann iimmppoorrttaanntt ppaarrtt ooff tthhee tteeaamm.. TThhee

rreessuulltt;; oovveerr ttwwoo tthhoouussaanndd rruunnss iinn oonnee

ccaalleennddaarr yyeeaarr,, llooookk hhooww wweellll tthhaatt

ttuurrnneedd oouutt!!

AAnndd iitt iiss jjuusstt nnoott wwiitthh tthheessee ttwwoo ppllaayyeerrss

pprriimmaarriillyy tthhaatt DDhhoonnii hhaass hhaadd ssuucccceessss

wwiitthh.. EEvveerr ssiinnccee ZZaahheeeerr KKhhaann mmaaddee hhiiss

ccoommeebbaacckk,, hhee hhaass bbeeeenn aa ttrraannssffoorrmmeedd

mmaann.. YYeess,, wwee hhaavvee ssaaiidd tthhaatt eevveerryy ttiimmee

hhee hhaass mmaaddee aa rreettuurrnn ttoo tthhee tteeaamm,,

eexxppeeccttiinngg tthhaatt tthhiiss wwoouulldd bbee tthhee ttiimmee

tthhaatt hhee wwoouulldd ffuullffiillll wwhhaatt hhee hhaass pprroomm--

iisseedd ffoorr ssoo lloonngg bbuutt oonnllyy ttoo sseeee tthhee

hhooppeess eenndd uupp iinn aa ppuulllleedd hhaammssttrriinngg oorr

ttwwiisstteedd aannkkllee.. BBuutt nnoo mmoorree,, hhee iiss hheerree

aanndd hhee iiss ddooiinngg wwhhaatt hhee aallwwaayyss pprroomm--

iisseedd ttoo ddoo,, lleeaaddiinngg tthhee hhuunnggrryy ppaacckk ooff

bboowwlleerrss lliikkee aa vveetteerraann..

TTaallkkiinngg ooff vveetteerraannss,, tthheerree wwaass ddoouubbtt iiff

DDhhoonnii wwoouulldd bbee uunnnneerrvveedd bbyy tthhee

pprreesseennccee ooff sseenniioorrss iinn tthhee ssiiddee..

SSeeeemmss nnoott aatt aallll,, ffoorr hhee rreeaalliizzeedd tthhee

iimmppoorrttaannccee ooff hhaavviinngg tthheemm iinn tthhee

tteesstt ssiiddee bbuutt aatt tthhee ssaammee ttiimmee

wwaassnn’’tt aaffrraaiidd ttoo mmoooott tthhee

iiddeeaa tthhaatt tthheerree wwaass aa nneeeedd

ooff ffrreesshh lleeggss iinn tthhee sshhoorrtteerr

ffoorrmmaattss ooff tthhee ggaammee.. WWhhiillee hhee

hhaass ttrreeaatteedd GGaanngguullyy,, DDrraavviidd

aanndd KKuummbbllee vveerryy wweellll iinn tthhee

tteesstt ssiiddee,, hhee hhaass mmaaddee ssuurree

tthhaatt SSaacchhiinn TTeenndduullkkaarr ssttaayyss aann

iinntteeggrraall ppaarrtt ooff hhiiss ppllaannss ffoorr

tthhee wwoorrlldd ccuupp iinn 22001111..

TThhee ZZaahheeeerr KKhhaann eexxaammppllee iiss

tthhee bbeesstt pprrooooff tthhaatt iitt iiss nnoott

jjuusstt DDhhoonnii wwhhoo iiss ddrriivviinngg tthhiiss

IInnddiiaann jjuuggggeerrnnaauutt.. TThhee ssttaaffff hhee

hhaass bbeehhiinndd hhiimm iiss eeqquuaallllyy ttoo bbee

ccoommpplliimmeenntteedd.. IIff ppeeooppllee tthhiinnkk

tthhaatt SSoouurraavv GGaanngguullyy aanndd JJoohhnn

WWrriigghhtt wweerree aa mmaattcchh mmaaddee iinn

hheeaavveenn,, tthheenn lleett tthheemm sseeee tthhee

rreessuullttss ooff tthhee DDhhoonnii--GGaarryy KKiirrsstteenn

ccoommbbiinnee aanndd tthheenn eexxuulltt.. AAdddd

VVeennkkaatteesshh PPrraassaadd aanndd RRoobbiinn SSiinngghh

ttoo tthhiiss ppaarrttnneerrsshhiipp aanndd wwee uunnddeerr--

ssttaanndd wwhhyy tthhee tteeaamm iiss bblloossssoommiinngg

tthhee wwaayy iitt iiss..

TThhee SSuurreesshh RRaaiinnaass,, RRoohhiitt

SShhaarrmmaass,, RRoobbiinn UUtthhaappppaass,,

YYuussuuff PPaatthhaannss,, RRPP SSiinngghhss,,

IIsshhaanntt SShhaarrmmaass,, PPrraavveeeenn

KKuummaarrss aanndd MMuunnaaff PPaatteellss

ccoouulldd oonnllyy hhaavvee bbeenneeffiitteedd

wwiitthh ssuucchh aa ssttrroonngg hhaanndd

bbeehhiinndd tthheemm.. TTooggeetthheerr

wwiitthh tthhee PPuunnjjaabbii ffllaavvoouurr

bbrroouugghhtt iinn bbyy YYuuvvrraajj

SSiinngghh aanndd HHaarrbbhhaajjaann

SSiinngghh,, tthhee wwhheeeellss

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 25Cricket TodayMarch 2009

hhaavvee bbeeeenn ppuutt oonn wwhhaatt iiss aann IInnddiiaann

yyoouutthh bbrriiggaaddee,, mmoovviinngg qquuiicckkllyy ttoowwaarrddss

tthhee pprriimmee ssppoott iinn wwoorrlldd ccrriicckkeett..

DDhhoonnii’’ss cchhaarriissmmaa aanndd bbrraavvaaddoo iiss wwhhaatt

oooozzeedd oouutt ooff tthheeiirr eevveerryy mmoovvee oonn tthhee

ffiieelldd,, aa ffeeeelliinngg tthhaatt aann aassssuurreedd hhaanndd iiss

gguuiiddiinngg tthheemm eevveerryy sstteepp ooff tthhee wwaayy.. IItt

sseeeemmss aass iiff tthheeyy aarree aallwwaayyss bbiiddiinngg tthheeiirr

ttiimmee ttoo llaauunncchh aa hhiitt aanndd rruunn mmoovvee,, aa

gguueerriillllaa wwaarrffaarree ttaaccttiicc oonn tthhee ffiieelldd ooff

ccrriicckkeett,, aanndd mmoorree oofftteenn tthhaann nnoott,, ssuucchh

aannttiiccss uussuuaallllyy ggeett oonn tthhee nneerrvveess ooff

ooppppoossiittiioonn ccaappttaaiinnss,, eessppeecciiaallllyy tthhee oonneess

aass ggrruummppyy aass RRiicckkyy PPoonnttiinngg..

WWhhaatt iiss eevveenn mmoorree hheeaarrtteenniinngg ffrroomm aa

ffaannss’’ ppooiinntt ooff vviieeww,, wwhhoo aarree aallwwaayyss

wwaattcchhiinngg,, aarree tthhee ccrriieess ooff jjooyyoouuss hhaarr--

mmoonnyy iinn tthhee tteeaamm,, aanndd tthhaatt iiss aannootthheerr

ffaaccttoorr iinn tthhiiss ggoooodd rruunn tthhaatt tthhee IInnddiiaann

tteeaamm iiss eennjjooyyiinngg.. AAfftteerr tthhee TT2200 wwoorrlldd

ccuupp ttrriiuummpphh iinn SSoouutthh AAffrriiccaa,, MMSS DDhhoonnii

hhaass nnoottcchheedd uupp aann aallmmoosstt ssiixxttyy sseevveenn

ppeerrcceenntt ssuucccceessss rraattee iinn tthhee ffoorrttyy oodddd

OODDII mmaattcchheess tthhaatt hhee hhaass lleedd iinn.. FFoorr tthhaatt

nnuummbbeerr ooff ggaammeess,, hhee iiss,, iinn ffaacctt aahheeaadd

ooff SSoouurraavv GGaanngguullyy aanndd nnoott oonnllyy tthhaatt,,

hhaass tthhee bbeesstt wwiinn--lloossss rraattiioo tthhaann aannyy

ccaappttaaiinn iinn wwoorrlldd ccrriicckkeett pprreesseennttllyy.. SSoo

ccoonnssiiddeerriinngg tthhaatt aallll tthhoossee wwiinnss hhaavvee

bbeeeenn ccoolllleecctteedd aaggaaiinnsstt ssoommee ddeecceenntt

ooppppoossiittiioonn –– AAuussttrraalliiaa,, EEnnggllaanndd,, PPaakkiissttaann

aanndd SSrrii LLaannkkaa –– aarree wwee llooookkiinngg aatt tthhee

mmoosstt ssuucccceessssffuull IInnddiiaann ccaappttaaiinn aallrreeaaddyy??

AAss aallwwaayyss tthheerree iiss nneeeedd ffoorr ccaauuttiioonn

wwhheenn wwee aapppprrooaacchh tthhiiss ppaarrttiiccuullaarr

ddeebbaattee.. IInnddiiaannss hhaavvee tthhaatt uunniiqquuee

aabbiilliittyy ttoo jjuummpp tthhee gguunn,, ddrraaww

ccoonncclluussiioonnss aanndd mmoorree oofftteenn

tthhaann nnoott,, aafftteerrwwaarrddss wwaattcchh

tthhaatt ssiinnkkiinngg ffeeeelliinngg ccoommee

ttrruuee aanndd llaatteerr,, ppiicckk uupp tthhee

ppiieecceess wwiitthh aa hheeaavvyy hheeaarrtt..

SSuurree,, hhee iiss pprroovveenn ttoo bbee

tthhee bbeesstt aafftteerr ffoorrttyy oodddd

ggaammeess,, bbuutt rreeaallllyy iiss tthhaatt aa

ppaarraammeetteerr oonn wwhhiicchh tthhee

bbeesstt ccaappttaaiinnss iinn ccrriicckkeett

jjuuddggeedd uuppoonn??

CCaann hhee rreeaallllyy bbee ccoomm--

ppaarreedd ttoo ssoommee oonnee lliikkee

GGaanngguullyy,, oorr eevveenn AAzzhhaarr,,

eeaacchh ooff wwhhoomm lleedd IInnddiiaa iinn

oovveerr ffoorrttyy tteessttss?? AAss iitt ssttaannddss,, DDhhoonnii

hhaass lleedd tthhee tteeaamm iinn ffiivvee tteessttss aanndd tthhee

rreessuullttss hhaavvee bbeeeenn qquuiittee oovveerrwwhheellmmiinngg

wwiitthh wwiinnss iinn ffoouurr ooff tthhoossee,, aa ssuuppppoorrttiinngg

ppooiinntt ffoorr tthhoossee wwhhoo aaddvvooccaattee hhiiss

aasscceennddaannccyy iinn tthhee bbeesstt ccaappttaaiinnss’’ hhiieerraarr--

cchhyy..

BBuutt,, yyeess aass aallwwaayyss,, hhaavviinngg ssaaiidd

tthhaatt tthheerree iiss aa nneeeedd ffoorr aa pprraagg--

mmaattiicc aapppprrooaacchh hheerree,, aa wwaanntt ttoo

ttrreeaadd ccaarreeffuullllyy.. IInnddeeeedd tthhee

IInnddiiaannss hhaavvee ddoonnee wweellll bbuutt ttoo bbee

rreeaallllyy hhoonneesstt,, bbaarr tthhee CCBB sseerriieess,, aallll

tthhoossee wwiinnss hhaavvee ccoommee iinn

ssuubb--ccoonnttiinneennttaall ccoonnddiittiioonnss

wwhhiicchh ggoo hhaanndd iinn hhaanndd

wwiitthh tthhee ssttrreennggtthhss ooff tthhee

tteeaamm.. BBeeaattiinngg SSrrii LLaannkkaa iinn

tthheeiirr oowwnn ddeenn,, ttwwiiccee iinn ssiixx

mmoonntthhss,, iiss bbyy nnoo mmeeaannss aann

eeaassyy ttaasskk bbuutt aaggaaiinn tthhee

ccoonnddiittiioonnss aarree pprreettttyy

mmuucchh wwhhaatt tthheeyy wwoouulldd

ffiinndd aatt hhoommee,, ttrraacckkss llaaiidd

oouutt ffoorr oonnllyy oonnee ppuurrppoossee::

bbeelltt tthhee bboowwlleerrss oouutt ooff

What is evenmore hearten-ing from afans’ point ofview, who arealways watch-ing, are thecries of joyousharmony in theteam.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 26 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

tthhee ppaarrkk..

IInn ttrruutthh,, tthheeyy aarree yyeett ttoo bbee tteesstteedd

aabbrrooaadd aanndd tthhaatt wwiillll pprroovvee ttoo bbee aa cchhaall--

lleennggee.. WWhheenn bbiiddddiinngg aaddiieeuu ttoo ccrriicckkeett,,

ffoorrmmeerr ccaappttaaiinn SSoouurraavv GGaanngguullyy hhaadd ccaatt--

eeggoorriiccaallllyy ssttaatteedd tthhaatt,, tthhoouugghh DDhhoonnii iiss

iinnddeeeedd tthhee mmaann ttoo lleeaadd tteeaamm IInnddiiaa iinnttoo

tthhee ffuuttuurree,, hhee nneeeeddss ttoo ttiiddee oovveerr tthhee

cchhaalllleennggeess tthhaatt ffoorreeiiggnn ttoouurrss wwiillll tthhrrooww

aatt hhiimm..

IInnddiiaa oouugghhtt ttoo wwiinn ccoonnssiisstteennttllyy aawwaayy

ffrroomm hhoommee iiff tthheeyy iinnddeeeedd nneeeedd ttoo bbee

hhaaiilleedd aass ttrruuee hheeiirrss ttoo tthhee tthhrroonnee vvaaccaatt--

eedd bbyy AAuussttrraalliiaa.. AAnndd eexxcciittiinnggllyy eennoouugghh,,

22000099 wwiillll ggiivvee tthheemm tthhiiss ooppppoorrttuunniittyy..

BBeeffoorree tthhee hhoommee wwiinntteerr bbeeggiinnss wwiitthh aann

OODDII sseerriieess aaggaaiinnsstt AAuussttrraalliiaa,, tthheeyy wwiillll

hhaavvee ppllaayyeedd iinn NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd,, ZZiimmbbaabbwwee

aanndd WWeesstt IInnddiieess.. AAnndd,, mmaakkee nnoo mmiissttaakkee

tthhee rreessuullttss aacchhiieevveedd tthheerree wwoouulldd bbee tthhee

ttrruuee mmaarrkkeerr ttoo IInnddiiaa’’ss ssttaattuuss iinn wwoorrlldd

ccrriicckkeett..

AAtt tthhee ttiimmee ooff wwrriittiinngg,, tthhee IInnddiiaann tteeaamm

iiss pprreeppaarriinngg ttoo lleeaavvee ffoorr NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd

aanndd tthhoouugghh tthhiiss iiss nnoott tthhee iiddeeaall ttiimmee

ffoorr aa ddeebbaattee,, aass iiss tthhee wwoonntt iinn IInnddiiaann

ccrriicckkeett,, ffoorrmmeerr IInnddiiaa kkeeeeppeerr SSyyeedd

KKiirrmmaannii hhaass ssttiirrrreedd uupp oonnee aabboouutt tthhee

IInnddiiaann sskkiippppeerr’’ss wwiicckkeett kkeeeeppiinngg sskkiillllss..

TTrruuee,, hhee iiss nnoott tthhee bbeesstt wwhheenn iitt ccoommeess

ttoo ddoonnnniinngg tthhee gglloovveess bbuutt aass hhaass bbeeeenn

wwiittnneesssseedd aanndd rreemmaarrkkeedd vviivviiddllyy,, hhee

hhaass iimmpprroovveedd aa lloott ssiinnccee hhee ffiirrsstt ccaammee

iinnttoo tthhee ssqquuaadd.. AAdddd ttoo iitt,, hhiiss ssooaarriinngg

bbaattttiinngg aavveerraaggee aanndd tthhee bbaallaannccee iitt pprroo--

vviiddeess ttoo tthhee tteeaamm aanndd oonnee iiss ssuurrpprriisseedd

tthhaatt KKiirrmmaannii eevveenn ffoouunndd aa bboonnee ooff ccoonn--

tteennttiioonn..

IIff tthheerree eevveerr wwaass aa bboonnee tthhoouugghh,, iitt

ccaammee aatt aa ttiimmee wwhheenn MMSS DDhhoonnii wwaass

pprreeppaarriinngg ttoo ttaakkee oovveerr tthhee rreeiiggnnss ooff

ccaappttaaiinnccyy ffrroomm RRaahhuull DDrraavviidd iinn tthhee wwiinn--

tteerr ooff 22000077.. FFoorrmmeerr EEnnggllaanndd ccaappttaaiinn

NNaasssseerr HHuussssaaiinn wwaass aammoonnggsstt tthhee ffiirrsstt

oonneess ttoo wwoonnddeerr iiff DDhhoonnii wwoouulldd rreeaallllyy bbee

aabbllee ttoo hhaannddllee tthhee pprreessssuurreess ooff ffiittnneessss,,

bbaattttiinngg,, wwiicckkeett--kkeeeeppiinngg aanndd ccaappttaaiinnccyy

aallll aatt tthhee ssaammee ttiimmee.. TThhee aannsswweerr,, iitt

sseeeemmss,, hhaass ccoommee oouutt iinn tthhee ppoossiittiivvee..

KKeeeeppiinngg wwiicckkeettss hhaass iinn ffaacctt ccoommee oouutt

ttoo bbee DDhhoonnii’’ss sseeccrreett wweeaappoonn.. FFoorr wwhhaatt

iiss tthhee bbeesstt ppoossiittiioonn ffrroomm wwhhiicchh ttoo vviieeww

tthhee ggaappss iinn tthhee ffiieelldd tthhaann ffrroomm tthhee bbaatt--

ttiinngg eenndd?? AAnn aattttaacckkiinngg bbaattssmmaann’’ss eeyyee

ggiivveess hhiimm tthhee aaddddeedd bbeenneeffiitt ooff ffoorree--

ssiigghhtt aanndd hhee iiss aabbllee ttoo ssttaayy oonnee sstteepp

aahheeaadd ooff tthhee ggaammee,, aallwwaayyss sseeeemmiinngg ttoo

hhaavvee tthhee wwhhoollee ccrriicckkeett ffiieelldd uunnddeerr tthhee

ssppaann ooff hhiiss gglloovveedd aarrmmss.. HHee iiss iinnddeeeedd

hheerree ttoo wwiinn!! ��

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28 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview RANJI ROUND-UP

ver the years Australia and

England has done this, now

its turn of India to follow

the same path. The reason

behind Australia’s suprema-

cy in cricket lies in their domestic crick-

et structure. Though of late, India real-

ized this fact and has swung in to

action. During the last couple of years

domestic cricket has become more

competitive. Even senior cricketers have

started participating in the domestic

cricket whenever they are free from

international assignments. This has

resulted in a strong bench strength and

more and more options for the national

team. The just concluded domestic sea-

son has yielded a few new faces apart

from reaffirming strong candidature of

a few probables. Mumbai was successful

in clinching the Ranji Trophy, the

biggest tournament of Indian domestic

module of cricket for the 38th times

from a total of 75 times, the high-

est by any team.

A look at some of the top per-

formers of this season:

BATSMEN: WWaassiimm JJaaffffeerr ((11226600 RRuunnss)),, MMuummbbaaii

Captain of the Champion Mumbai

team led his team by example.

Elegance and experience combined

to deliver performances that might

be easily categorized in to exempla-

ry. Wasim’s four centuries included

a double hundred (256) against

Hyderabad and a triple hundred

(301) in the semifinal match

against Saurashtra in Chennai.

The triple hundred in the semi-

final not only stirred his team

to the final but also earned

him a place in the record

books. He is only the second batsman to

have scored two triple centuries in Ranji

history (other batsman is VVS Laxman)

and the only one to have scored both

of them against the same team

(Saurashtra). Stats suggest his consis-

tent run through out the tournament

which proved vital for Mumbai to claim

the title. Wasim may now look forward

to getting back on the list of selectors.

However, it is highly improbable for him

to get back the opening slot in the

Indian team in near future with the kind

of performances Gambhir and Sehwag

are putting together.

AAMM RRaahhaannee ((11008899 RRuunnss)),, MMuummbbaaii

Ajinkya Rahane mostly batted at No. 3

for Mumbai in the

Ranji Trophy

2008-09.

Strategically,

No 3 is the posi-

tion where the most

reliable batsman of

the team is pre-

ferred. 20 year old

Rahane stood up to

the expectations of

his team. He was one

of the only two

batsmen to have

scored 1000

runs this

Ranji season. In

the history of

Ranji Trophy, only

11 players have

scored 1000 runs in a

single ranji season. His

best effort for this

season was his double

century (201) against

Orissa. Value of the effort

increases manifold keeping

in context that in the first

o

by Rohit Sharma

The Ranji Toppers Wasim Jaffer

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innings Mumbai team was wrapped up

for a mere 180. He scored four cen-

turies and five half centuries in the

tournament. His nice run in the Ranji

trophy silenced raising questions about

his abilities to score big.

CCAA PPuujjaarraa ((990066 RRuunnss)),, SSaauurraasshhttrraa

Cheteshwar Pujara is the most talked

about domestic player of India. 21 year

old Pujara created ripples in the domes-

tic circuit with two back to back triple

centuries for Saurashtra within a week

in CK Nayudu Under-22 tournament fol-

lowed by his maiden first class triple ton

against Orissa in Ranji trophy 2008-09.

The ranji season did not start well for

Pujara as he managed just 8 runs from

two innings against Gujarat, but was

followed by three consecutive big cen-

turies that included a triple hundred

against Orissa, a swift 189 (off 182

balls) against Punjab and a dominating

176 (off 173 balls) against Mumbai.

Unfortunately, the dream run

ended for the young man and he

failed to score even a half century

in next 6 innings. In the Quarter-

final match, it seemed that it’s all

over for Saurashtra with 3 three

wickets down for 13 runs and

312 more runs to chase. Pujara rose to

the occasion and scored an unbeaten

hundred; he may count as one of his

best.

AA MMuukkuunndd((885566 RRuunnss)),, TTaammiill NNaadduu

Tamil Nadu opener Abhinav Mukund got

a dream start in the Ranji trophy 2008-

09 scoring an unbeaten triple hundred

in the opening match against

Maharashtra. Though he was not so

consistent throughout the tournament,

he scored big when the got starts.

Abhinav added four more centuries to

his tally in this Ranji Trophy. His hundred

against UP in the semifinal match

couldn’t see his team through to

the final. Abhinav is just 19. He

has got talent and can prove to

be a good prospect.

RRGG SShhaarrmmaa ((774477 RRuunnss)),, MMuummbbaaii

Elegance personified. Rohit Sharma

is being seen as the best future

prospect for test cricket in India

after Sachin and Dravid call it a day.

He has utilized the chances given and

has proved his worth, especially at

critical times. Rohit’s

performance in

the Ranji trophy

showed that he

belonged to big-

ger league. The

started his cam-

paign with a half cen-

tury in the first

innings followed by a

century in the next.

Rohit missed the

next three matches

as he was called for

the national duty.

He impressed with

his performance

for the most part

of the tourna-

ment but the

twin centuries in

the final match

against Uttar

Pradesh pressed

his claim for

the test spot.

In the first

innings

against UP (in

final) Mumbai

was once tot-

tering at

55/4. Jaffer,

Rahane and

Tendulkar were

back in the

pavilion. Rohit

scored 141 to

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 29

The just concluded domestic season hasyielded a few new faces apart from reaffirmingstrong candidature of a few probables.

Ajinkya Rahane Cheteshwar Pujara

Rohit Sharma

Abhinav Mukund

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in the innings to take

Mumbai beyond

400. Another cen-

tury in 2nd

innings ensured

that Mumbai

easily claimed

the title a 38th

time.

BOWLERS:DDSS KKuullkkaarrnnii ((4422

WWiicckkeettss)),, MMuummbbaaii

The days are gone

when Indian pacers’

role was limited just to

soften the ball in initial

overs. The era is now

when Sreesanth, Irfan ,

Munaf and other are

reserve strengths for

the pace department. One more

addition to the list is Mumbai

pacer Dhawal Kulkarni. In

absence of Zaheer Khan, he

carried the attack efficiently

and was a key factor in

Mumbai’s victory. Dhawal

started the Ranji season with five-for

figure and concluded with one more, in

between he routed oppositions line ups

making it easy for Mumbai. In all, on

four occasions he took 5 wickets or

more in an innings with best figures of

7/50.

RRAA JJaaddeejjaa ((4422 wwiicckkeettss)),, SSaauurraasshhttrraa

Ravindra Jadeja has been the best find

this season. The left arm orthodox spin-

ner was the highest wicket-taker in

Ranji Trophy 2008-09 along with Dhawal

Kulkarni. Jadeja walked away with 42

scalps from 9 matches that included 4

five-for and a ten wicket haul. Though

Jadeja was consistent all through the

tournament but the performance in

the match against Hyderabad was easily

his best ever. In a low scoring match,

Hyderabad was put to chase 177 in

the last innings. Jadeja nailed 7

batsmen in the innings bundling

out Hyderabad for mere 71. In

the quarter-final match

against Karnataka, Ravindra

came out with another

match winning perform-

ance taking 9 wickets in

the match. 4 wickets in

the second innings

ensured that tar-

get was within

reach. His batting

was an added

bonus. He

reaped the

reward for his

phenomenal

performance in

form of call up for the

national squad.

MMBB PPaarrmmaarr ((4411 WWiicckkeettss)),,

GGuujjaarraatt

With reserve strengths in

spin department not too

many, Indian selectors

have something to worry

about. 20 year old Mohnish

Parmar oozes hope with his potential

and first class records. He did well this

ranji season to keep the hopes alive

with 41 wickets from the tournament,

3rd highest in the tournament. The

right arm off-break bowler took 12

wickets in the match against Orissa at

the cost of 104 runs, his career best

figures (first class) in a match. One

good season or two down the line, he

will be knocking the doors of national

team.

LL BBaallaajjii ((3366 WWiicckkeettss)),, TTaammiill NNaadduu

Balaji is popularly known as the smiling

assassin in the cricket fraternity. The

assassin smiled all way through in the

tournament and played a crucial role in

Tamil Nadu’s journey this Ranji season.

He proved his form and fitness with

consistency in the performances that

included three five-for figures. In the

semifinal match against Uttar Pradesh,

He proved his formand fitness withconsistency in theperformances thatincluded three five-for figures. In thesemifinal matchagainst UttarPradesh, hebowled his heartout but couldn’t seehis teamthrough.

Dhawal Kulkarni L Balaji

Ravindra Jadeja

Mohnish Parmar

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 31Cricket TodayMarch 2009

he bowled his heart out but couldn’t

see his team through. Though his

swinging deliveries didn’t get Tamil Nadu

the title, it earned him a call for the

national duty in Sri Lanka series.

SSKK TTrriivveeddii ((3344 WWiicckkeettss)),, GGuujjaarraatt

Siddharth Trivedi is an experienced cam-

paigner in Indian domestic cricket with

almost 200 first class wickets. Siddharth

was one of the most consistent bowlers

in the tournament. The medium pacer’s

best in the tournament came against

Punjab when his match figures of 9/96

helped Gujarat win the match easily by

10 wickets.

ALL ROUNDERS:RRAA JJaaddeejjaa ((773399 rruunnss aanndd 4422 wwiicckkeettss)),,

SSaauurraasshhttrraa

After having been singled out by Shane

Warne, his performance in the Ranji

season 2008-09 made waves in the

cricketing circles. Ravindra Jadeja

almost overshadowed all other per-

formers in the tournament. He

came out as the highest wick-

et taker in the tournament

and sixth on the run get-

ter’s list. Most importantly,

he scored and took wick-

ets when his team need-

ed him. He scored a maid-

en century of against

Orissa and went on to

score a double century.

Though his best effort

with bat in the tournament

was unbeaten 232 (Vs

Orissa), the most remark-

able innings was his 143

against Delhi. The contribu-

tion becomes significant

with the fact that the next

highest score in the innings

was 26.

BBhhuuwwaanneesshhwwaarr KKuummaarr ((440077 rruunnss

aanndd 3311 wwiicckkeettss)),, UUttttaarr PPrraaddeesshh

Sachin Tendulkar scored his first first-

class duck in Indian domestic cricket and

the bowler to nab him was 18 year old

medium pacer from Uttar Pradesh,

Bhuvneshwar Kumar. His rise is one big

gain to UP as they are going to miss the

services of Praveen Kumar more often

(due to his international cricket commit-

ments). Like Praveen, he too hasn’t got

much pace but can swing the ball both

ways. He ended up with 31 wickets

including three five wicket hauls.

Bhuvneshwar is a good bet even in bat-

ting. Batting in lower middle order,

Bhuvneshwar added some crucial runs

for UP in the tournament. His 80 runs in

Ravindra Jadejaalmost overshad-owed all otherperformers in thetournament. Hecame out as thehighest wickettaker in the tour-nament and sixthon the rungetter’s list.

Ravindra Jadeja

Siddharth Trivedi

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the final was his career best

score in first class.

VViinnaayyaakk SSaammaanntt ((447711 rruunnss aanndd

4400 ddiissmmiissssaallss)),, MMuummbbaaii

Along with others Vinayak

Samant played an important

role in Mumbai’s claim. Behind

the wicket Vinayak effected a

total of 40 dismissals (37

catches and 3 stumpings), the highest

for this Ranji season. Not

only behind the stumps

but also in front of it,

he proved his utility

chipping in with

valuable contribu-

tions for his team.

He can bat any-

where in the order

and this season he

also opened for

Mumbai in the

absence of a second

opener in the team.

The champion sledger

that he is, proved his

worth as an

opener and

scored a crucial

hundred (113) in

the second innings

of the final

match.

DD KKaarrtthhiicckk

((663344 rruunnss aanndd

2299 ddiissmmiissssaallss)),,

TTaammiill NNaadduu

Indian Team

discard and

Captain of

Tamil Nadu

Dinesh Karthick,

with his splendid

performance

in the Ranji

trophy this sea-

son, has put his

candidature strong-

ly for the national team

ahead of others.

However, selection is

highly improbable

with MSD in the

ranks; he is defi-

nitely the next

choice. His vital

contribution in

front of the

wicket and

behind the

wicket as well

helped his

team reach the semifinal.

He scored his career best

(213) against Uttar

Pradesh in the group

match and followed

it up with two more

centuries in the

tournament.

PPaarrtthhiivv PPaatteell ((552266

rruunnss aanndd 2233 ddiiss--

mmiissssaallss))

Parthiv Patel, once

first choice keeper

for India and current-

ly Captain of Gujrat is

improving slowly and

steadily. This Ranji sea-

son was an average

affair for him both

with bat and gloves,

except his career best

effort of 206 runs

against Orissa. He also

scored three half cen-

turies in the tournament. �

Karthick’s vitalcontribution infront of thewicket andbehind thewicket as wellhelped histeam reach thesemifinal.

Bhuwaneshwar Kumar

Parthiv Patel

Vinayak Samant

Dinesh Karthick

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34 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content news KIWI CHALLENGE

he year 2008 had seen Team

India lead the winds of change

in world cricket, something that

had begun with the conquering

of the WACA fortress and had

culminated into the comfortable regain-

ing of the Border-Gavaskar trophy – in

turn toppling the Aussies from their

pedestal – and a 5-0 whitewash of the

English ODI team. As March approaches,

the Indians would need to endure the

winds of the literal being, as they gear

up to take on the Kiwis in their own

backyard, a proposition not too many

have relished over the years.

It has been a lot worse for the Indians.

If India’s previous record is anything to

go by, then this series against the Kiwis

could be of utmost vitality for them.

Six series match-ups in New Zealand

have led to the Indians been victors

only once, not any time later than

1967-68, making it the most difficult

country to tour for India after Australia.

However, under the captaincy of M.S.

Dhoni, Team India has continued with

the trend that was first seen when

Rahul Dravid led them to series victories

in West Indies and England, and a test

match win in South Africa; something

t

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that had previously happened as spas-

modically as Shoaib Akhtar’s appear-

ances in test matches. This, coupled

with some other attributes makes one

sense that the upcoming three-test

match series in New Zealand could be

India’s best chance of putting one

across the Black Caps. However, despite

not the favourites, the hosts being

would prove to be a hard nut – or nuts

– to crack in conditions that are usually

as favourable to them as the sub-conti-

nental ones to the Indians. This should

set up an exciting, mouth-watering con-

test that has the potential to delight

the cockles of a cricket fan’s heart.

Here’s analyzing this series in greater

depth…

TOUGHER THAN GUER-RILLA WARFARE: As if the aforesaid record that India

has, isn’t bad enough, what has been

worse is that Team India had come to

this country on their last tour in 2002-

03 and were pulverised – by both, their

opponents and the pitches – into sub-

mission under the able leadership of

Sourav Ganguly. The two test matches

were almost donated away meekly in

three days each, and the ODI series was

squandered 5-2 – the only two matches

India won were thanks to an explosion

called Virender Sehwag by squeaking

through by a couple of wickets and a

solitary wicket respectively – and by the

time the 2003 World Cup had begun,

the self-confidence had been dramati-

cally shattered for the Indians.

This, despite possessing a reasonable

batting line-up and strong enough fire-

power with the ball. Clearly, New

Zealand is not a country for the mere

mortals or for the weak-hearted.

…AND THEN THERE ISDHONI: The way the Indian skipper has led the

Indian side these days, there isn’t much

that seems impossible for the man

from Jharkhand. With a record as

abysmal as India’s, it would be a feather

of multiple hues in the captain’s cap, if

he did get this one straight. And going

by his track record, one can be rest

assured that Team India would do well

under his becalming guidance

WEAKENED PACEARSENAL: A look at the Kiwi pace attack of 2002

and one gets a fair enough idea about

some of the reasons behind the Indian

whitewash. The extreme pace of Shane

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 35

India’stour of

NewZealand

India’stour of

NewZealand

by Suneer Chowdhary

Team India hadcome to thiscountry on theirlast tour in 2002-03 and were pul-verised – by both,their opponentsand the pitches –into submissionunder the ableleadership ofSouravGanguly.

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Bond, the bounce and swing of Daryl

Tuffey, the dependable line and length

of Jacob Oram and the inconsistent,

but surprisingly quick bowling of

Andre Adams all came togeth-

er to expose the major

chinks in the Indian batting

armour. It obviously did

not help too much that

in both the tests India

had had to bat first,

but whether it would

have made too much

of a difference is

something one

wouldn’t bet on.

Not too much bat-

tery remains of that

almost-Caribbean-like

pace bowling attack –

for India at least –

remains and that is

where the Indian bat-

ting would profit.

Three of the afore-

said four have made their way out of

the Kiwi national team to join the

unsanctioned ICL, while Oram is already

having more than the usual second

thought about continuing

with test cricket.

And without mean-

ing to demean the

likes of Kyle Mills

and Tim Southee,

the bowling is sim-

ply not as potent

as it was in that

previous tour.

Even with a fit-

ter, left arm

James Franklin

adding variety to

the flagging Kiwi

attack, it would be

difficult to expect

them to run through

the Indian line-up like a

hot knife through butter.

WHOA, WHATAN ITINERARY: Talk of favourable sched-

ules, and this much defi-

nitely rank as one of

them. Even without a

tour game – which was

scrapped to fit in an

extra international

or two – the

Indians would be

a glad bunch

of cricketers

to have the

shorter formats of the game

first-up. By the time M.S. Dhoni

would have walked out for the

toss in the first test match at

Hamilton, the Indians would have

been in the Kiwi-land for almost a

month; enough to acclimatize

themselves to the bounce, seam

and swing on the unfamiliar pitch-

es and the rather nasty weather

conditions.

Wellington

is better

known as

one of the

windiest

cities in the

world, and

although

India does play

a T20 and an

ODI, the pitch

would get to its

feistiest worst

during the longest

format of the

game. Wellington

hosts the third and

the final test match

and by the time the match would be

around, one hopes that Team India

would have had the full cognizance of

the conditions in New Zealand.

GRASS IS FOR THECOWS…AND THEINDIAN PACE ATTACK!While the Kiwi pitch curator may be

tempted to test the Indian batting by

leaving a tad more grass than he nor-

mally would, he would be well aware of

the fact that such a strategy could

boomerang back hard at the Kiwi bats-

men. With the Indian fast bowling

standing as tall as it ever did in their 75

year old history, it wouldn’t take a rock-

et scientist to decipher that the likes of

Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf

Patel and even a greenhorn in Dhawal

Kulkarni would relish the conditions as

much as a kid devouring his first ever

candy.

To add to the hosts’ woes, their batting

hinges a lot on a Brendon McCullum and

Ross Taylor, but beyond that it would be

the greenhorns in the form of Grant

Elliot, Neil Broom, Aaron Redmond and

Daniel Flynn.

Without mean-ing to demeanthe likes of KyleMills and TimSouthee, thebowling is sim-ply not aspotent as itwas in thatprevioustour.

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KIWIS IN KIWI-LAND: In the last couple of years or so, the

Black Caps have not exactly managed to

paint the town red with their perform-

ances at home. That could have been

partially due to the fact that the pitch-

es have no longer remained as menac-

ing as they had been notorious for

some years back. This would have been

probably dictated by the TV broadcast-

ers who would have lost out on a for-

tune to three-day test matches; hence

brining in the need to play out the

entire duration of five days. What this

has resulted in is the curators over-

compensating and erring on the side of

caution by making much slower and

drier pitches; helping the batsmen in

turn. All this has ensured is that the

home advantage that the Kiwis enjoyed

has been blunted and is one of the

biggest reasons why one gets the sense

that Dhoni may not have it as difficult

as some of his predecessors.

PLAYERS TO WATCHOUT FOR: It is difficult to pick players from the

Indian side, so richly talent-

ed it seems at this point

of time. Yet, for starters,

one would have hoped

that Praveen Kumar had

made it to the test

squad, for his brand of

bowling is as suited to

those conditions as Don

Bradman was to cricket.

Rahul Dravid has had a

good run-up to this

tour too, picking up

hundreds in the Duleep

trophy as easily as the

Dravid of old. Yet, even

a batsman with his

technique would find

the going in New Zealand a rather

tough nut to crack as he would need to

come to grips with conditions as differ-

ent a chalk is from cheese!

Virender Sehwag could be the play-

maker in a couple of innings, but it

would be a good test of Gautam

Gambhir’s technique after the kind of

form he has exhibited for the best por-

tion of the last 18 months or so.

From the home team’s perspective,

there are a couple of really obvious

choices in Brendon McCullum and skip-

per – and all-rounder –

Daniel Vettori, but the one

man that the Indian bowlers

may want to be wary of, and

make according plans is

Jesse Ryder. Indians have

usually found the going

rather stiff against unknown

quantities and by the time

they have found a way out

of it, the series has had an

unpleasant end. Martin

Guptill’s attacking batting

could make him an ideal

choice to get into the squad

for the tests as well. Kyle

Mills has had a good last

twelve months or so, and his

height would be to his utmost advan-

tage against batsmen who haven’t tra-

ditionally handled excessive bounce too

well.

Yet, as this stage, one would have to

label India with the favourites tag in all

the three forms of the game. Not with-

out a serious test of their technique

and clarity in thinking though! �

The home advan-tage that the Kiwisenjoyed has beenblunted and isone of the biggestreasons why onegets the sensethat Dhoni maynot have it as diffi-cult as some of hispredeces-sors.

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38 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content news CLASH OF TITANS

t is hard to imagine that a man

hailed as a hero was dismissed

from his post less than a month

later. It was not planned that

way though and that was cer-

tainly not the way teams would plan

three weeks prior to an important tour

overseas. Is ego between a coach and

captain really so consuming that it

stops a team dead in its tracks? It cer-

tainly did for England and for Kevin

Pietersen and it has certainly left scope

for endless debate on where

and who gets to draw the

line.

A ‘SERIES’ OFUNFORTUNATEEVENTS When the England team

decided to come back to

India after much harangu-

ing in the aftermath of the

terror seizing Mumbai

episode, Kevin Pietersen was

hailed for his role in convinc-

ing the players, especially

those in senior most positions

who appeared reluctant for the

tour, namely, Andrew Flintoff

and Steve Harmison (though they

may have a different story to tell

now), to rethink their decision.

England did end up losing the Test

series but it was after they gave

themselves the best chance

for victory in Chennai, only

to have India chase down

a historic total for a dra-

matic win that would

eventually seal the series

in the favour of the

hosts.

But what happened there-

after threatened to obliterate

all the respect that the

England team had earned for

their decision and their per-

formance as well as the

applause accorded to

Pietersen himself.

Christmas and

new year holi-

days were the

reason why

the England

team was

keen to

arrange the

itinerary

such that

the team could spend time with their

families back home. However, one family

was on the verge of a split with the

relationship breaking down to beyond

repair. But as with most divorces, there

are many angles to the situation and

many relationships that suffer a shake

up as a result of it.

That differences were going to crop up

was obvious even before Pietersen

assumed the leadership position within

the England dressing room. It was the

precise reason why Pietersen and coach

Peter Moores had a sit down before the

former officially took on the mantle of

the captain of England. However, as the

saga unfolded, it became clear that not

all matters were trashed out, and they

continued to operate in a chalk and

cheese method that never allowed the

England team with a single minded,

cohesive agenda to take forward in the

short period of the five month associa-

tion.

WAS PIETERSEN’S DIS-MISSAL ONLY A DISCI-PLINARY ACT?If one were fighting the case on a tech-

nicality, the real reason behind

Pietersen’s resignation (which was

effectively akin to dismissal) would have

to be questioned. In a case of conven-

ient interpretation, the ECB chose to

view Pietersen’s statement that he

could not continue under present cir-

cumstances not as a demand that the

team management in the dressing

room be necessarily tinkered with but

rather that he would relinquish his role

and make the job of the higher authori-

ty at the ECB easier.

The word on the street was that

Pietersen was facing the axe for put-

ting his matters with Moores in the

public, though technically he did not

and expressed as much in the state-

ment that carried his resignation from

the captaincy. Why then was it decided

i Coach versusIs It Even a

by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

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that Pietersen must go? Was Pietersen

forced to resign because he leaked the

information to the public (which techni-

cally he did not) or because he was, in

the ECB’s opinion in hindsight, too big a

player with an ego to match to become

a captain capable of running the show

while maintaining a cohesive dressing

room and a harmonious one with the

management?

It even brought out some cold assump-

tions like that of former England cap-

tain Mike Atherton stating that

Pietersen would always find it tough

finding yes men simply because he was

a ‘foreigner’. As shocking as it may

sound, that there are still prejudices

that govern decisions is something that

is being witnessed the world over, even

in this day and age and alarmingly so.

But whether it applied in this case, is

still a matter that has not even been

looked at. What has also come into the

open is the opinion of many in England

and in South Africa amongst cricketing

circles that believe that Pietersen fails

to operate when the stature of the

coach does not match up on the inter-

national scale, with some even going to

the extent of alleging that he has a

problem with any one who is non

South African, as hard as that is to

believe. But were they the

grounds for encouraging him to

quit?

It would be a safer bet to

assume that it was perhaps

Pietersen’s aggressive

assault on authority and

demands for sweeping

changes that would suit his

agenda for England while

still settling into his new

role are what did him in.

Trashing out grievances

behind close doors would

have perhaps salvaged one

or both men’s jobs rather

than issuing an ultimatum

and then disappearing into

the wilderness, which never

allowed Pietersen back into the game.

WAS MOORES REALLYTO BLAME?Dissensions began in the immediate

aftermath of the Chennai Test which

England should have won after setting

such a mammoth, history seeking tar-

get. It was believed that Pietersen was

frustrated at the lack of technical input

from the coach as England failed to

check Virender Sehwag early and

allowed India to get to the target.

What really blew the discord into the

public glare was the fact that upon

returning to

England, Peter

Moores had

apparently vetoed

Pietersen’s demand for Michael

Vaughan on the tour to the West Indies

when meeting with the selectors.

Pietersen deemed this as a case of

betrayal and sent forth a letter stating

in clear terms, that he could not work

while Moores continued on as England’s

coach.

Moores were also apparently not too

keen for the England team to return to

India because in his opinion, after the

one day trashing and what

happened in

Mumbai,

England would

not be men-

tally up

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 39

Captain

It is hard for anoutsider to decidewhether Mooreswas overworkingthe boys in train-ing and not pro-viding enoughback up input tomake up forPietersen’s inexpe-rience.

Raging Battle?

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for it. There were also insinuations that

Pietersen had done himself a huge

favour keeping the IPL’s second season

in mind, although it is hard to imagine

that deciding against would have

affected Pietersen’s market price in any

way.

It is hard for an outsider to decide

whether Moores was overworking the

boys in training and not providing

enough back up input to make up for

Pietersen’s inexperience. But the

excuse, as valid as it may be, sounds

hollow coming from the captain who

has been dynamic enough to have the

switch hit associated with him like a

patented shot. Tactics apart, critics of

Pietersen’s move are also of the opinion

that Pietersen’s grouse should have

been with the selectors who made the

final decision to leave Vaughan out and

not Moores.

Whether Moores was good for England

can be debated only upon knowing

the reasons for which the ECB

decided to appoint him coach in

the first place. That he was

given a two year contract

just days before he was dis-

missed, knowing fully well

that a storm was brewing

between the captain and

coach was perhaps a clear-

er indication that the ECB

was more interested in

what Moores had to offer

than what Pietersen was

complaining about. But as

the representatives of the

ECB themselves stated,

after the public fall out,

there was no way the man

could have held his

respect in the England

dressing room and therefore, had

become dispensable. So, could it be said

that in this case, the coach came out

stronger though he was dismissed and

was the captain who resigned more dis-

graced by the episode?

WHERE DOES THECOACH STAND?In football, the manager takes the final

call. The captain’s badge will change

from one arm onto another if the man-

ager so decides. The coach’s job in

cricket, on the other hand, is vastly dif-

ferent. Though tactically he will still

assist the skipper, technically it is the

captain that calls the final shots on the

field. The coach is also required to be

adept at man management skills which

basically translates into identifying the

strong and weak areas not only of the

team but also of individuals, working

with them through correcting those

errors and generally being the captain’s

right hand man when resources are

needed in decision making.

That coaching is not for every man is

now obvious. There cannot be too many

egos in the same dressing room, espe-

cially those between a skipper and

coach. It would also explain why Greg

Chappell could never resign himself to

take the role in a background position

while Sourav Ganguly himself thrived on

being the cynosure of all eyes. Recently

Chappell blamed his exit from all mat-

ters Indian because of ‘unkind’ com-

ments made by Virender Sehwag that

stated Gary Kirsten had a more player

centric attitude as opposed to being

media centric, in direct reference to

Chappell. While Chappell may

have had other even more per-

tinent reasons that called for

disassociating himself with

India, inadvertently he has

proven those who deride him

right by once again choosing to

use the media to express

obviously unfinished emo-

tions.

There have been coaches

like John Buchanan whose

meticulousness and fas-

tidiousness did not go

down well with experi-

enced pros like Shane

Warne who used words

like “verbal diarhhoea” to

describe Buchanan’s

coaching methods. Then

there were coaches like

the late Bob Woolmer

who synergized well with

Was Pietersenforced to resignbecause he leakedthe information tothe public orbecause he was toobig a player with anego to match tobecome a captaincapable of runningthe show whilemaintaining a cohe-sive dressingroom.

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the late Hansie Cronje who was not shy

in showing that he relied heavily on his

coach’s laptop data in masterminding

South Africa’s hey days.

Currently two coaching jobs are work-

ing well – the one between Mahendra

Singh Dhoni and Gary Kirsten and on a

lengthier basis, between Graeme Smith

and Mickey Arthur. In both cases, there

is always only one strong voice talking

and more often than not, it is that of

the skipper, even though there is collu-

sion they are forming back door in

strategizing who takes over the voice as

well. It is not like the no-nonsense Gary

Kirsten would fall for every move from

the more impulsive, thinking-on-his-feet

Dhoni. And Arthur would have his own

designs for the team which would clash

with Smith who likes to run a tight unit

hands-on. However, the reasons these

partnerships appear to be working well

is because each is aware of his own

powers and the limitations of authority

that the roles pose.

ARE CAPTAINS RIGHT INTAKING THEIRDEMANDS TOOFAR?

The discussion then throws up the next

question- if captains are right in taking

too much into their hands. Clearly not,

if Pietersen’s dismissal in effect is

anything to go by. Captains, when

hung up on the idea that the coach

is a backstage person by personali-

ty, can often delude themselves

into thinking they are the reincar-

nated messiahs and everything they

say will be tabled down in gold.

But there is a reason why

cricket has resisted

any matter of

change for

over more

than a cen-

tury long

history.

Captains

may well

be right in

thinking

the way

they do on

certain

decisions

and cer-

tainly no

one can

denounce

them with-

out evidence. But the

manner in making a

point can perhaps say

a lot about the style of

captaincy as it does about the

person himself. When Dhoni

reportedly threatened to resign when

the selectors decided to drop R.P. Singh

for Irfan Pathan during the one day

series against England, even for a for-

ward thinking captain who had his heart

and his head in the right place, it was

still not the way to go because one

would only have to look at Pietersen’s

case to understand the dis-

astrous effect it would have

had on the team and plan-

ning.

Pietersen also made the car-

dinal mistake of assuming

too soon that his team would

back his every word.

Even in the most har-

monious of dressing

rooms, the captain may

see eye-to-eye on most

matters and yet have a

contentious issue or

two that does not go

down well with all play-

ers. Pietersen assumed

the team that stood

behind him in the inter-

est of England’s goals

which would also sup-

port his move for an

overhaul that involved

getting rid of the

entire coaching staff. The

captain must command suf-

ficient respect and trust of his team

mates before he embarks on such a

deep impacting decision, and

Pietersen’s fault may have been to have

Greg Chappellcould neverresign himself totake the role in abackground posi-tion while SouravGanguly himselfthrived on beingthe cynosure ofall eyes.

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miscalculated in gauging how much his

team was convinced about his own role

in the first place. The division lines were

drawn; seeds about motives were sown;

and the recipe for disaster set to timer

to cook.

HOW FAR SHOULDTHEIR DEMANDS GO? Another perpendicular question to this

paradigm that if the captain is the ulti-

mate authority on the field, should the

captain then have a say in choosing the

coach of the team as well?

While some people are of the opinion

that it was better to nip the relation-

ship in the bud before it became

increasingly acrimonious, one wonders

if every disagreement can be avoided

by such splits or because a captain

automatically becomes a part of the

decision making

process to appoint a

coach. It must be

remembered that in

the natural scheme

of things, the cap-

tain is selected from

among the final

eleven. But that

norm is often bro-

ken when appointing

a captain in a player

willing to lead the

team that becomes

more essential than

his past qualifications,

as has been in the case

of Johan Botha who led a

successful South African one day unit in

Australia, but not without the initial hic-

cups. And it still does not guarantee

him a place in the team when Smith

assumes the premier leadership posi-

tion.

For a team to be successful, either the

captain must earn and enjoy the sup-

port of the think tank in backing his

decisions on the field or enjoy the sup-

port of his team mates who rely upon

his instinct and believe in him. Very few

captains have tasted success of both.

Former captains like Sourav Ganguly

were heavily criticized for trusting their

instincts and backing vociferously for

the men in their team. In the moment

of crisis as Greg Chappell built forth a

plan to show why Ganguly was no

longer good for Indian cricket, his Indian

team mates continued to back him one

hundred per cent.

In such situations, most boards would

see the captain choosing who should

coach the team as putting more power

What really blew thediscord into the pub-lic glare was the factthat upon returning toEngland, PeterMoores had appar-ently vetoedPietersen’s demandfor Michael Vaughanon the tour to theWest Indies whenmeeting withthe selectors.

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into his hands only for the team to run

amok. Perhaps the appointments of

coach and skipper are better made tak-

ing into consideration the qualifications

as well as the personalities that are like-

ly to gel despite disagreements and

those that are likely to combust at the

first hint of trouble. That delicate

maneuvering of designations with per-

sonnel should not possibly be left to

either man to ensure the best interests

of the team and let them both know

they are in check and being held

accountable.

Captains are always walking a tightrope

on the decisions they take in a moment

of instinct when throwing the ball to a

particular bowler and they are standing

on thin ice when they make the

demands on the scale on which

Pietersen demanded. Now there are

many in the dressing room to whom he

will be a vulnerable, transparent individ-

ual whose thoughts are too clear to

work with. There is a burning desire

within him that has been left without

reaching realization. And there are men

he thought he could trust with his life

only to feel let down in a critical

moment.

A captain must swallow his pride when

his tactics have not worked on the

field. It will perhaps be harder now for

a former captain to do so in a dressing

room that will be more wary of him.

Dangerously now it has perhaps inad-

vertently positioned a precedent for

making a case for captain’s empower-

ment in the future when it comes to

choosing coaches or in the short run, a

reason for sidelining a man who wants

to change the world to change his

team’s fortunes. �

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44 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview LOOKING BACK

by Qaiser Mohammad Ali

Dravid was anautomaticchoice in ODI XI Dravid was anautomaticchoice in ODI XI-Ganguly

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ne of the most debated

and scrutinised decisions

of Sourav Ganguly’s tenure

as India captain was to

make Rahul Dravid keep

wickets in One-Day Internationals. As

Ganguly took over the reins in 2000,

specialist wicket-keeper Nayan Mongia

quickly found out that he was not in

the scheme of things of the new skip-

per, and Dravid replaced him soon

after the 1999 World Cup.

Instead of picking a specialist replace-

ment for Mongia, who Ganguly says

“wasn’t contributing”, the selectors-

Ganguly decided to throw the big

gloves to Dravid. Connoisseurs raised

their eyebrows: How can you risk the

side’s premier batsman by forcing him

to keep wickets? What if he injures his

fingers and thus fails to contribute

with the bat? The gamble was huge,

but Ganguly went ahead with it as he

tried to rebuild the team after the

match-fixing scandal of 2000.

Four years after Dravid played his last

ODI as a wicket-keeper, against Pakistan

in Ganguly’s home town Kolkata in

November 2004, the former captain

says the Bangalorean’s place in the ODI

XI was never in doubt. “Dravid was an

automatic choice. We wanted him to

keep wickets because we didn’t have an

all-rounder then. We didn’t have a

bowler who could bat and the wicket-

keeper wasn’t contributing. So, if we

could make Rahul do that job, we could

play an extra batsman that extended

the depth of our batting line-up,”

Ganguly told Cricket Today in an exclu-

sive interview.

“We were not getting a good wicket-

keeper-batsman at the point. So, asking

Rahul to keep was to strengthen the

side. It’s not that his place was in jeop-

ardy,” asserted the man who captained

India in 147 ODIs.

At the time, however, the popular

belief was that had Dravid declined to

keep wickets it would have been diffi-

cult for him find a place in the XI

because of his perceived inability to

adapt to ODI batting requirements.

Dravid ended up keeping wickets in 73

ODIs and did pretty well with the bat as

well. He took 71 catches as wicket-

keeper and effected 13 stumpings

besides aggregating 2,300 runs at

44.23 -- better than his career average

of 39.49. Four of his 12 centuries came

while playing as a designated stumper

– an indicator that his batting

o

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improved while keeping wickets.

Some experts, including the then selec-

tor Kishen Rungta, publicly questioned

Dravid’s ability to “rotate the strike”.

Ganguly, however, says: “But that does-

n’t mean that his place was in jeopardy.

We looked at him in a completely differ-

ent way. He was asked to keep [the

wickets] to strengthen the side. We

were trying to find an all-rounder. If he

could keep wickets, we would have

found an all-rounder.”

Ganguly gave the

examples of

stumpers who

excelled behind and

in front of the

stumps. “Every one-day team in the

world had wicket-keepers who could

bat, whether it was Adam Gilchrist, Mark

Boucher or Kumar Sangakkara. So, it

was just that we wanted Rahul to keep

because we wanted an all-rounder and

not because his place was in jeopardy.”

So, were the selectors and Ganguly on

same wavelength? “I don’t know what

they thought. But Rahul was an auto-

matic choice in the one-day team,” he

asserted.

Ganguly went on to give his own exam-

ple: “I bowled a lot of 10-over spells in

one-day cricket in my career. That did

not mean that my career was in doubt. I

had to play as a bowler as well; I could

bowl to add

strength as a

team. But I was

playing as a premier

batsman and I was

an automatic choice

in the team as a bats-

man. And the same

was the case with

Rahul.”

When asked if

Dravid was the

most sincere and

committed player

that he had seen,

Ganguly said. “At

that level, all of

them are sincere,

honest and committed.

Some have slightly more

ability than the rest, but I

have not seen one player

who plays for India and is not

committed.”

Ganguly also dwelled on

the curious case of for-

mer Test leg-spinner

Narendra Hiwarni, who tried to stage a

comeback in 2001 under his captaincy.

Hiwarni told me in an interview in 2006

that after he had bowled

“extremely well” at Indian

team’s nets in Mumbai,

Ganguly “promised” him

to play in all three Tests

against Steve Waugh’s

Australia. Hirwani never

played for India

again.

“Hirwani was picked

in the XIV, just like

any other player or

contender to play

the Test matches.

We [instead] went

with a left-arm spin-

ner, Rahul Sanghvi,

and Harbhajan [in

first Test, Mumbai].

Just like any other

contender, Hirwani

was part of the Test

team. It’s just that

we went with Sanghvi

on the morning of the

Test,” he explained. Hirwani,

the previous season’s highest wicket

taker in domestic cricket, was in fine

form. “Yeah. His form was good that’s

why he was in the XIV,” Ganguly admit-

ted.

So, did Ganguly always get the team

that he wanted? “Yes. At times,

you have to listen to the selec-

tors because they see a lot

of domestic cricket, which

you don’t get to see as

you are always travel-

ling and playing with

the team,” he rea-

soned.

Unlike Dravid, Ganguly

never read books on

captaincy – “I was never

a big reader” – but

went by instinct.

“Yeah, but there used

to be a lot of planning

off the field. But it

changes on the field

because many a

times it doesn’t

go as per the

planning and you

have to take a call

on the field,” he

said.

As captain, Ganguly

backed and encour-

aged the likes of

Virender Sehwag,

I bowled a lot of10-over spells inone-day cricketin my career.That did notmean that mycareer was indoubt. I had toplay as a bowleras well.

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Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and

Zaheer Khan. “They were very talented

players. You could have picked them,

but they had to score themselves. It

was because of their ability that they

are getting runs even now,” he said.

“The most talented was Sehwag. Yuvraj

was also talented, but the most talent-

ed batsman in the young lot was

Sehwag; he is a great player, a fantastic

player. His confidence is his biggest

virtue; he has also got the ability. He

batted well in the ODIs in South Africa

in 2000 and you could see clearly that

in terms of talent as a batsman he was

far, far ahead of the rest.”

Despite leading the team from the

front, Ganguly managed only win two

ODI titles – the NatWest Trophy and the

Champions Trophy, both in 2002 –

though he ended up as India’s

most successful skipper in

Tests. “There was always the

scope of doing better. We

lost quite a few finals dur-

ing that period. Overall, I

think, we did well as a

team. Our performance

in Test matches was out-

standing [success

42.85%],” he said.

Although Ganguly

scored more runs in

ODIs (11,363), it was in

Test cricket that he

made instant impression

with a century on debut

against England at

Lord’s – and became a

permanent fixture at

No.5. Does he feel he would

have been more successful

had he batted up the

order? “No. It’s a team

sport. Rahul was playing at

No.3, Sachin was at No.4 so I had to play

at No.5. We had to pick a batting order

for the team and I fitted at the No.5

spot. No qualms,” he averred.

Ganguly’s military medium pace was

useful in both Tests (32 wickets) and

ODIs (100 wickets). Asked if responsibili-

ties as a captain prevented him from

bowling as much as he liked, he said:

“No. The type of bowler I was I couldn’t

bowl much on Indian wickets because

they used to turn and Sehwag and

Sachin used to do the job of the fifth

bowler. When we used to go overseas I

used to do the job of the fifth bowler.

From that point of view, I think I bowled

enough according to my ability. I wish it

was more but I played as a batsman

who could bowl. I had no targets.”

Ganguly retired after the home series

against Australia last year and immedi-

ately there was talk of him venturing

into politics. “I don’t think so. It looks

harder than it actually is and I don’t

think I will be joining politics,” he cleared

the air. At the moment, he is enjoying

the company of wife Dona and daugh-

ter Sana in Kolkata. �

At times, youhave to listen tothe selectorsbecause they seea lot of domesticcricket, which youdon’t get to seeas you arealways travellingand playing withthe team.

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48 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content news CODE OF CONDUCT

ricket’s governing body theInternational Cricket Council(ICC) has had a long, laundrylist of concerns. Pakistan,once a showstopper, has

faded from the cricketing map. It’sbeen a long winter of discontent forZimbabwe. The standard of umpiringcontinues to be dismal. Captains contin-ue to be wilfully ignorant about slowover rates. A major conflict in India, now thegame’s emerging super power, is yet tobe resolved. The Board of Control forCricket in India (BCCI) and the IndianCricket League (ICL) have been feuding

for two years now. So much so thatworld cricket stood on the verge of agreat divide. And despite indications of a possiblereconciliation between the two boards,it is the ICL cricketers who face anuncertain future. But of late the ICChas been fretting over something thatyou would least expect them to addressat this point of time. It seems that

dress code is high on their priority list. Who can forget Sourav Ganguly andRahul Dravid taking the field with plas-tered tee-shirts in order to hide spon-sors’ logos? And remember MahendraSingh Dhoni holding the Twenty20World Cup in his vest?The ICC has now decided to crack thewhip. We have heard of fines for slowover-rates or for showing dissent at theumpire. Now a hefty penalty will beslapped on any offending team thatfails to wear the right equipment.Faded pads or taped/plastered tee-shirts will be deemed as breach of code.The ICC has reminded of Clause Q whichauthorises the Chief Executive toimpose a fine up to US $ 25,000 forsuch mistakes. In a letter dated 28th January 2008,ICC’s Cricket Operations Manager, CliveHitchcock, has issued a notice to all themember nations and the top six associ-ates to follow a strict clothing code laiddown by the ICC regulations. Any viola-tion would lead to dire consequences. Hitchcock further goes on to add: “In recent months we have noticed thatthe standards have dropped in respect

to the appearance of the players ininternational matches. We have encoun-tered serious problems with team cloth-ing issued by the Boards to its playersand also personal kit provided and usedby the players themselves, in particular.” There are situations cited in the letterthat points to faded pads worn by abatsman, different coloured helmets,logos being covered with tape and/or

c

by Artsmith.Sports

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Dhoni in vest

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plasters and a team taking the field inan ODI with non-uniform shirts and toomany manufacturer’s logos appearingon the kit while the match is inprogress. There by, making the sportlook really messy and unprofessional.

FADED PADSUntil recently, in the second one daymatch played between India and SriLanka in the last week of January 2009,Dhoni was playing with faded pads. Thepads had not been re-sprayed in a longtime. The master blaster, SachinTendulkar, too has been guilty of wear-ing faded pads in matches quite a fewtimes before. But next time such a mis-

take would lead to severe penalty forviolating the Equipment & ClothingCode of Conduct.

PLASTER/ TAPED T-SHIRTSThere are several instances whenplayers have worn fellow players’ t-shirt during a match. In the summersof 2008, when India was touring SriLanka, and the first one-day was beingplayed in Dambula’s RangiriInternational Cricket Stadium, Raina,not carrying his own half sleeveshirts, decided to wear a fellowcricketer Harbhajan Singh’s jersey. Raina had chopped the length ofthe sleeves to suite his require-ment. He also put a plaster behind,hiding number five from the digit“35” which is Harbhajan’s playingnumber and made it look like a shirthaving “No 3” written on it, which isactually Suresh Raina’s playing number.Suresh Raina, who in haste had choppedthe sleeves and worn the t-shirt, hadthreads dangling from the sleeves andthat didn’t go unnoticed by the MatchReferee, Chris Broad. Broad cautionedhim and let him go. Last time though hegot away with a mere warning, and nowhe needs to watch out for the ICCwatchdogs. This time around with strin-gent clothing regulations, getting awaywill not be easy.

PRESIDENTIAL FIASCO Dressing fiasco is not a new thing in theIndian dressing room. Both on field and

off the field, there are instances ofsuch faux pa. One such incident was inthe 1996-1997 tour of South Africa andZimbabwe under the captaincy ofSachin Tendulkar. The Indian players did-n’t have the right formal attires withthem. There were different sets ofofficial blazers, various ranges oftrousers and some players didn’t evenhave the official blazers. The then man-ager with the team, Sunil Dev, wrote inhis report later, “The Indian team withdifferent colour blazers and trousersand two members without theofficial blazers left the shoresof India on 18th December,1997.”

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 49

There are situations cited in the letter that pointsto faded pads worn by a batsman, different coloured helmets,logos being covered with tape and/or plastersand a team taking the field in an ODI with non-uniform shirtsand too many manufacturer’s logos appearing on the kit.

Faded crest on Jayasuriya’s helmet

Sachin usingfaded pads

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Dev further mentions,“When we were to meetPresident Nelson Mandelaon the ground at CapeTown in front of thou-sands of people, one ofour cricketers had towear a blazer given tohim by me, which wasobviously without theIndian crest.” This series also highlight-ed the quality of the kitsupplied by the sponsorsbecause the t-shirts pro-vided were of such poorquality that the logoitself faded after two washes and thedress started looking shabby.It is not only Indian cricketers who areculprits of such actions. A case in pointis that of Lankan master blaster, SanathJayasuriya, who continues to play wear-

ing the batting helmetwhich was without the SriLankan logo on it. JavedMiandad had played thefinals of the 1992 WorldCup, wearing a white hel-met instead of the coloredone.Legitimate concerns, youwould think. The uniform issacrosanct and cricketers,after all, are the ambassa-dors of their country. Butit’s just a case of bad tim-ing. The tone that runsdown the letter and use ofphrases like “watchdogs”

and “stringent clothing regula-tions” also makes you wonder: If

only they had been as firm on issuesthat deserve immediate attention,cricket would have been that much bet-ter served. �

Now a heftypenalty will beslapped on anyoffending teamthat fails to wearthe right equip-ment. Faded padsor taped/plas-tered tee-shirtswill be deemedas breachof code.

Taped t-shirts on India’stour to New Zealand 2003

Miandad and histrademark helmet

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60 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content news interview ROUND TWO

anta Claus certainly heard the

plea of the true aficionados

of the game late last year.

They were delivered a deliri-

ous feast of Test cricket at

the turn of the year that even gave

Twenty20 cricket a run for its money.

But the stocking was filled deeper for

the goodies to last longer than original-

ly imagined as March sees battles

resume, as the top spot is once again

up for grabs and Australia are holding

onto it with rather slippery fingers.

WHEN TEST CRICKETKILLED THE TWENTY20STARHow often has this been said in the last

year and a half – ‘it is now official;

Twenty20 has taken the cricket world

by storm’? With the IPL and the lure of

wealth now translating into realistic

expectations even in the midst of a

financial meltdown, purists moaned

that Test cricket needed a revival. The

truth however was that the Test for-

mat did not need as much tweaking as

it needed to be revisited. And how!

It is to good credit for the England

team to brave the mood when they

decided to come back to India and com-

plete their original series that also

involved the two Test matches. The

results may not have gone in their

favour. But they were certainly instru-

mental in providing the entertainment

factor in the series that saw India chase

a monumental, not to mention histori-

cal, target. That it ripped apart an

already fragile relationship with the

England coach and skipper was another

matter.

But over the Australian summer, the

Test series captivated the cricket loving

public the world over as South Africa

put up the most extraordinarily belliger-

ent battle, from seemingly feeble posi-

tions, to wrest the series from Australia

and hand them their first home defeat

since 1992-’93. This was the downfall of

the champion side exposed with such

finesse and alacrity, it made the world

sit up.

All in all, the Test matches received

unprecedented attention over the span

of five months to constitute one of the

most glorious Test cricketing years over

the last two decades. More importantly,

what it has done is whet the appetite

for more. Suddenly the focus has shift-

ed on the IPL only for a blink of an eye

for the auctions and the second season

of the IPL is not the most anticipated

event of the year, at least not on the

immediate agenda. Hardly anyone is

even talking of the second World

Twenty20! What they are looking for-

ward to is the return leg of the battle,

the Australian tour to South Africa, and

to only a slightly lesser extent, the

Indian tour to New Zealand. That has to

be attributed to the power of Test

cricket.

INDIA, SOUTH AFRICA –TRADING SPACESWhat precipitated the ranking chaos

was India beating Australia in India. That

set forth frenzied imagination. All of a

sudden India were doing it again – pos-

s

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by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

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ing a challenge at the very top by push-

ing Australia again and taking the sec-

ond best spot from South Africa when

beating England. It was a small matter

that South Africa were beating

Bangladesh to maintain that same sec-

ond spot, next only to Australia. But a

much bigger challenge awaited South

Africa than it did India.

All South Africa had to do to seal the

top spot was beat Australia 3-0 in the

three Tests down under, this after they

failed to beat Australia in a series down

under since their readmission in 1991

and were essentially going in with a

young team that has not really experi-

enced playing Australia in a Test match,

especially in Australia before.(By that

same measurement, a similar excuse by

Australia on the tour to India then goes

out of the window.) But South Africa

proved to be warriors on the field and

pushed the champions who believed

they could not be disposed and there-

fore, failed to prepare sufficiently for

an onslaught. Suddenly two Tests

fought courageously were netted in

South Africa’s pockets and India was no

longer South Africa’s problem. They had

set their eyes skywards.

CAN LOGIC PREVAIL?The ICC Test ranking is something like

the all time greats list released also by

the ICC - baffling! South Africa

already technically have the num-

bers to prove they have been

the better team in competition

with the best. And yet their his-

toric victory in Australia could

not secure them the crown.

And they must now once again

fight the foes, this time at

home, to ensure that

the trophy comes

home.

Now it will not

be a series

whitewash

that will be

required. It

will be a victo-

ry in any for-

mat that will

topple

Australia from

the perch. That is

because South

Africa have closed

the gap on Australia

and their consistent

performances in

the Test matches

have seen them win

eleven out of fifteen

Test matches with two

draws and two losses,

which is more than a

shade better than the

rest as they leave the competition far

behind on the same tally. That alone

should have qualified them to be

declared the outstanding winners, and

not dynamic runners up to a poor look-

ing number one.

CHANGE ININDIAN PALATE -KIWI FOR DINNER? In almost a repeat level of

challenges, India should have

an easier ride than South

Africa do on the climb up.

But one would only have to

rewind back to see that

India had a disas-

trous time in

New Zealand in

an earlier

episode only to

bounce back in

the World Cup

of the past. So,

not all lingering

memories will

be the fondest.

Virender Sehwag

himself admitted

that though

India would be

expected to

put up a bet-

ter front,

even a white-

wash against

New Zealand,

in three Tests

now that the tour

to Pakistan has

been cancelled, is

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unlikely to see an immediate three way

battle for the top.

India will be going in without key per-

sonnel with Sourav Ganguly and

Anil Kumble retiring. But where

old hands have hung their

gloves, the younger ones are

showing a great deal of

resilience, hunger and sub-

servience to the no-holds-

barred skipper Mahendra

Singh Dhoni. What will per-

haps make their task easi-

er, not to mention inching

further towards that num-

ber one ranking points, is

the fact that New Zealand

have not exactly been

bouncing with the same

panache as some of their

other opponents. Daniel

Vettori did not inherit the

team Stephen Fleming put

in place. If fact, Vettori’s

most trying days in international cricket

have perhaps come as a skipper in vir-

tually helpless circumstances

when New Zealand lost a huge

cluster of players such as

Shane Bond and Craig

MacMillan to the ICL and seen

the retirement of Nathan Astle

and Fleming himself. New Zealand

bear names that are

largely unfamiliar to the

rest of the cricket world

and have already tasted

trouble first hand with

Jesse Ryder a la Andrew

Symonds.

Facing a red hot team

India is not likely to be a

fun walk in the park even

with the hosts playing in

home conditions that

once had the Indian team

looking hopelessly feeble,

and virtually toothless. If

Dhoni can prepare his

team to take on a com-

paratively fragile opponent

on a series overseas like he did

in the Commonwealth Bank series in

Australia in what will officially be his

first series abroad as captain of the

Indian Test team, New Zealand may not

have it all going their way notwithstand-

ing weather and pitch conditions. A win

here though will greatly redeem India’s

issues in series overseas as they edge

even closer to make the battle for the

top a three way, instead of ending up

as a distant second runner up in the

drama.

FLAVOUR OF THEMONTH – KANGAROO(MEAT)? Will the road for South Africa get any

easier to beat Australia now that they

have beaten Australia in Australia?

Absolutely not. And this is precisely why

this series, instead of being something

that would cause viewer fatigue watch-

ing same teams battle each other time

and time again, is actually the most

anticipated in less than a month’s time

of the completion of the first leg of

the battle.

South Africa had unfinished business in

Australia, where they did earn the

respect of the paying public that even a

handsome draw in Sydney would not

perhaps have fetched, for a world rank-

ing sealing victory. What it basically now

means is that South Africa are only five

points short of Australia’s 126 and India

are trailing by three more than South

A win herethough willgreatly redeemIndia’s issues inseries overseasas they edgeeven closer tomake the bat-tle for the top athree way.

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 63Cricket TodayMarch 2009

Africa.

South Africa will still essentially have the

same strengths and weaknesses which

basically means that their top five who

were tipping the scales at the top last

year will still be available for South

Africa while Graeme Smith will be get-

ting fighting fit, despite postponing

surgery. Their bowling make up is unlike-

ly to undergo a make over, which means

Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne

Morkel will form the crux of their

attack, with perhaps another fast

bowler thrown in good measure

depending on the pitch and conditions.

Boucher’s fitness and Smith’s ability to

fight his pain once more after postpon-

ing surgery will be the key areas of

focus for South Africa.

Australia though have a battle on their

hands. Matthew Hayden retired in the

aftermath of a disastrous tour to India

that was exacerbated as South Africa

exploited his mental weaknesses and

brought them into the open. What

this has basically left Australia

with is an aggrieved batsman-

cum-captain Ricky Ponting, a

man itching to fill Ponting’s

shoes – Michael Clarke close on

the skipper’s heels, a street

smart wicket keeper in Brad

Haddin and a less consistent

Mr. Cricket – Mike Hussey.

The bowling department has

been considerably weakened

since Stuart Clark has been

declared unfit to embark on

the tour to South Africa, Brett

Lee has had injury added to an

indifferent cricket year and a

turbulent year personally, and

Mitchell Johnson has

perhaps wisely turned

down the IPL offer

given his lengthy

assignments as the

spearhead in the

absence of more

experienced pros.

But Ponting’s con-

cerns are not restrict-

ed to the spinner’s

job as Nathan Hauritz

hardly seemed the

ideal replacement

after Jason Krejza showed ability in the

fourth Test in India. Andrew Symonds

has been deported even before he

embarked! If that were possible!

Symonds once again did himself no

favours when he passed unkind remarks

about Brendon McCullum after his stint

in Australia’s domestic cricket. More

than his words perhaps it was the lack

of perceptible change in his behaviour

and attitude towards the game and its

exponents that has caused Cricket

Australia to revise their opinion on

whether Symonds has successfully com-

pleted his stint in rehab. In Symonds,

Australia have lost hugely on an aggres-

sive player with the knack to not only

turn a match on its head but also, to

get disconcertingly under the skin of

the player.

Now Ponting is the one who is feeling

heat under the collar while Dhoni is in

ravage mood. Smith needs to set the

record straight to prove their victory

down under was no fluke while Daniel

Vettori’s men must prove they are as

deserving of the applause as some of

their predecessors in a reality television

like remake of the movie “The

Replacements.” With so much drama

that is bound to cause a few sleepless

nights (literally and pun intended given

that the timing schedules of the two

series are likely to leave cricket lovers

with little sleep), and so much at stake,

this is no time to be caught napping! �

What it basicallynow means isthat South Africaare only fivepoints short ofAustralia’s 126and India aretrailing by threemore than SouthAfrica.

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64 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match trivia content news CHAMPIONS-IN-WAITING

hey are no longer chokers or

bridesmaids. They have won

the right to be the No 1 team

in ODIs on sheer merit and

results. And they could well be

the No 1 team in Tests too very soon.

The transformation in the South

African team is complete and the meta-

morphosis has been stunning. They

have verily been the team of the past

year not having lost a series, winning

one in England after 43 years and then

sealing a famous triumph in Australia.

If there is one factor that underscores

South Africa’s

t

SA: Nearingthe No.1

Positionby Partab Ramchand

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impressive progress to the No 1 spot it

is their recent triumph over Australia.

Over the years while they had a fair

record against all opponents they

always came a cropper against the

Aussies. In eight contests in the two

countries since 1993-94 (leading up to

the recently concluded Test series in

Australia) the South Africans did not

even win one. In Australia the teams

played 12 Tests and the visitors won

just one, lost seven and drew four. This

time however they finally scaled the

Aussie wall - and in style. The remark-

able victory in the first Test at Perth

where they chased down the second

highest total of 414 in Test history was

final confirmation that the South

Africans were no more chokers. For

good measure they won the next

match by an emphatic margin of nine

wickets to clinch a Test series in

Australia for the first time. And to

think that they had played their first

series ‘Down Under’ as far back as

1910-11!

Indeed the South Africans have given

enough evidence that they are now

ready to bully the big bullies, to turn

the tables and pound them into sub-

mission. The glorious 4-1 triumph in

the ODI series confirmed the corona-

tion of South Africa as the new No 1

side and one would not be surprised if

they go over to the top in the Test

rankings too – perhaps even at the end

of the return series against the Aussies

in South Africa.

South Africa’s traditional strength has

been their bowling and fielding and

while this has been maintained the bat-

ting has touched new heights. Just last

year Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie

broke the famous first wicket record

partnership of Vinoo Mankad and

Pankaj Roy by being associated in a

415-run stand against Bangladesh.

Smith and Herschelle Gibbs are the only

pair in Test history to share three 300-

plus first wicket partnerships. And

while Smith remains a formidable bats-

man at the top of the order with his

power-packed shots and a career aver-

age of fifty, those following him in the

batting order are no less awesome for

any bowling line-up. Hashim Amla has

transformed himself from a strangely

tentative batsman to a tower of

strength at the pivotal No 3 position.

Little need be said about Jacques Kallis

a batting all rounder par excellence. His

record in both forms of the game is

quite mind-boggling. And in the middle

order AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince and

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 65

In the middleorder AB deVilliers, AshwellPrince and thenewly discov-ered JP Duminyprovide style,solidity andsub-stance.

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the newly discovered JP Duminy provide

style, solidity and substance. South

Africa’s batting strength is right now at

an all time high since their return to

international cricket in 1991.

If anything the bowling could well

match the batting. In Dale Steyn they

possess the outstanding fast bowler in

world cricket today. At over five wickets

a Test and at a niggardly average of 23

he couldn’t have competition from any-

one else. Makhaya Ntini lends experi-

ence and hostility to the attack and in

the two Morkels they have more than

adequate support. It is true that the

spin attack is rather weak though Paul

Harris in Tests and Johan Botha in ODIs

have acquitted themselves creditably.

But with an outstanding pace attack

the lack of a world class spin bowler is

hardly felt. As for Mark Boucher he

remains the outstanding wicket keeper

batsman in the game.

It would be difficult to pinpoint the

period when South Africa shed their

chokers image and became world beat-

ers. But that unforgettable ODI at

Johannesburg three years ago might be

a good starting point. When a team

concedes a heart breaking total of 434

South Africa’straditionalstrength hasbeen their bowl-ing and fieldingand while thishas been main-tained the bat-ting has touchednewheights.

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 67Cricket TodayMarch 2009

runs and then has the guts, skill and

verve to chase it down with one wicket

and one ball to spare that is the stuff

dreams are made of. From that

moment on South Africa gained a new

respect in the cricketing world. Under

the dynamic leadership of Smith they

became a team high on confidence and

self belief.

These were important qualities for

South Africa to possess for so often in

the past they had faltered at the

doorstep of victory, had somehow con-

trived to lose matches from winning

positions. Three World Cup matches in

1996, 1999 and 2003 sufficed to show

that they lacked gumption. In the first

instance they were the favourites going

into the quarterfinal against the West

Indies having won all their group match-

es. They were playing like champions

but somehow squandered away the

chance against the Caribbeans losing by

19 runs after having the game in their

grasp. Three years later all

the last pair of Lance

Klusener and Allan Donald

needed was a single from

three balls to book a berth

in the final and on form

seal a sure World Cup triumph.

Inexplicably Donald

was run out and it

was Australia who

held aloft the covet-

ed trophy. Four years

later an inexplicable

miscalculation in their

last preliminary

league match against

Sri Lanka led to South

Africa’s

exit at the first round

itself when it was pre-

dicted that a semifi-

nal place for starters

was a cert for the

hosts. The choker tag

in Tests was placed firm-

ly on them right from the

first match they played on their return

to international cricket against West

Indies in 1992. Requiring 201 for a

famous win South Africa were 123 for

two but then crumbled to 148 all out.

Certainly Smith can take the king size’s

share of the credit for ever since he

took over the captaincy at the age of

22 in 2003 following the World Cup

debacle he has led with imagination and

purpose. And leading from the front

comes naturally to a gifted batsman like

the pugnacious left-handed opening

batsman. He has had faithful deputies

whether it has been Boucher or Kallis or

anyone else and the team members

have responded to his positive captain-

cy admirably. These are glorious times

for South African cricket and the signs

are that the upbeat mood will not be

over soon. �

They have verilybeen the teamof the past yearnot having lost aseries, winningone in Englandafter 43 yearsand then sealinga famous tri-umph inAustralia.

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68 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview CAPTAIN SPEAKS

“Thisis just

thebeginning”

- Graeme Smithby Artsmith.Sports

IInn aann eexxcclluussiivvee cchhaatt wwiitthhAArrttssmmiitthh..SSppoorrttss,, tthhee ccaappttaaiinn

ooff tthhee WWoorrlldd NNoo 11 tteeaamm iinntthhee IICCCC OODDII rraannkkiinnggss,,

GGrraaeemmee SSmmiitthh sshhaarreess hhiissffeeeelliinnggss aabboouutt bbeeccoommiinngg NNoo11 aanndd tthhee ssuuddddeenn rriissee ooff tthhee

PPrrootteeaass TTeeaamm.. GGrraaeemmeebbeelliieevveess,, tthhee rreeaall tteesstt iiss tthhee

WWoorrlldd CCuupp,, 22001111.. HHee sshhaarreesshhiiss ffeeeelliinngg aabboouutt bbeeaattiinngg

AAuussttrraalliiaa iinn AAuussttrraalliiaa aannddbbeeccoommiinngg tthhee oonnllyy tteeaamm ttoowwiinn bbootthh tthhee tteesstt aanndd oonnee

ddaayy sseerriieess iinn 1177 lloonngg yyeeaarrss..SSmmiitthh,, wwhhoo hhaadd iinnjjuurreedd hhiimm--

sseellff,, hhaass jjuusstt rreessuummeedd ppllaayy..HHee wwiillll bbee ppllaayyiinngg iinn tthhee

sseemmii ffiinnaallss ooff tthhee ddoommeessttiiccTT2200 mmaattcchh ffoorr hhiiss hhoommee

ssttaattee,, NNaasshhuuaa CCaappee CCoobbrraass..TThhee eexxcceerrppttss ffrroomm tthhee iinntteerr--

vviieeww..

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AS: ITS BEEN MORE THAN TWOWEEKS NOW AND SOUTHAFRICA IS THE NUMBER ONEODI TEAM IN THE WORLD, HOWDOES IT FEEL TO REIGN THEWORLD?GGSS:: IItt iiss vveerryy rreewwaarrddiinngg.. IItt hhaass ccoommee

ssoooonneerr tthhaann II eexxppeecctteedd bbeeaarriinngg iinn mmiinndd

tthhaatt wwee hhaavvee aa ffaaiirrllyy iinneexxppeerriieenncceedd ssiiddee..

WWee hhaavvee aallwwaayyss ffoolllloowweedd aa pphhiilloossoopphhyy

ooff ggooiinngg

ggaammee bbyy ggaammee aanndd

lleeaavviinngg tthhee rraannkkiinnggss ttoo llooookk aafftteerr

tthheemmsseellvveess..

AS: DID YOU EVER IMAG-INE OF ACHIEVING THISFEAT?GGSS:: OOuurr ggooaall iiss ttoo hhaavvee aa

tteeaamm tthhaatt ccaann wwiinn tthhee

WWoorrlldd CCuupp iinn ttwwoo yyeeaarrss’’

ttiimmee aanndd oobbvviioouussllyy wwee

hhaavvee ttwwoo ootthheerr iimmppoorrttaanntt

IICCCC eevveennttss tthhiiss yyeeaarr iinn tthhee

TT2200 aanndd tthhee CChhaammppiioonnss

TTrroopphhyy aanndd yyoouu pprroobbaabbllyy

nneeeedd ttoo bbeeccoommee wwoorrlldd NNoo

11 ttoo aacchhiieevvee tthhaatt.. TThhiiss iiss

jjuusstt tthhee bbeeggiinnnniinngg……

AS: WHEN YOUSTARTED OFF, YOUWERE THEYOUNGEST CAPTAIN

AND IT WAS SAID THE SOUTHAFRICA IS A TEAM OF CHOK-ERS. CRITICS WERE OF THEOPINION THAT IT WAS TOOEARLY TO GIVE YOU THERESPONSIBILITY, WHAT WOULDBE YOU TELL THEM NOW?

GGSS:: ((ssmmiilliinngg)) IItt wwaass aa cchhaalllleennggee ttoo pprroovvee

mmyy ccrriittiiccss wwrroonngg..

AS: WHEN YOU HAD SET FORAUSTRALIA, EVERY BODY

THOUGHT ITWAS

NOTPOSSIBLE TO BEAT

AUSTRALIA INAUSTRALIA BUT YOUGUYS MADE IT POS-SIBLE, WAS IT ARESULT OF GREATPLANNING ANDWELL RESEARCHEDEFFORT?GGSS:: TThheerree wwaass aa lloott

ooff ppllaannnniinngg iinnvvoollvveedd

bbuutt tthhee kkeeyy ffaaccttoorr

wwaass tthhaatt tthhee ppllaayy--

eerrss bbeelliieevveedd tthheeyy

ccoouulldd bbeeaatt

AAuussttrraalliiaa aanndd

tthheeyy pprroovveedd iitt..

AS: YOUR PART-NERSHIP WITH

COACH, MICKY AURTHURIS BRILLIANT. WHAT SORTOF CHEMISTRY WORKSBETWEEN THE TWO OFYOU?GGSS:: ((llaauugghhss))……MMiicckkeeyy aanndd II hhaavvee

ddeeffiinneedd oouurr rreellaattiioonnsshhiipp.. HHee ttaakkeess

cchhaarrggee ooff tthhee pprreeppaarraattiioonn aanndd II

ttaakkee cchhaarrggee aatt tthhee ffiinnaall tteeaamm

mmeeeettiinngg aanndd tthheenn oonn ttoo tthhee ffiieelldd ooff

ppllaayy.. IItt iiss iimmppoorrttaanntt tthhaatt wwee ssppeeaakk

wwiitthh oonnee vvooiiccee aatt aallll ttiimmeess aanndd oouurr

rreellaattiioonnsshhiipp iiss bbuuiilltt aarroouunndd tthhaatt..

AS:. THERE WERE REPORTSABOUT THE PROTEASTAKING TIPS FROMINDIAN COACH, GARYKIERSTEN, WHO PLAYED ACRUCIAL ROLE IN DEFEATINGTHE AUSSIES WHEN THEYTOURED INDIA?GGSS:: AAss aa mmaatttteerr ooff pprrooffeessssiioonnaall ccoouurr--

tteessyy ttoo GGaarryy aass ccooaacchh ooff IInnddiiaa,, iitt wwoouulldd

hhaavvee bbeeeenn wwrroonngg ttoo aasskk ffoorr hhiiss aaddvviiccee..

GGaarryy aanndd II hhaavvee bbeeeenn ggoooodd ffrriieennddss ffoorr aa

lloonngg ttiimmee aanndd wwee hhaavvee lleefftt iitt tthheerree..

AS: IF IT WAS GREAT CAPTAIN-CY FROM YOU THEN IT WAS ANOUTSTANDING EFFORT FROMYOUR TEAM-ELABORATEGGSS:: AAss yyoouu ssaaiidd,, iitt wwaass aa tteeaamm

eeffffoorrtt aanndd hheerree,, II iinncclluuddee aallll

1155 ppllaayyeerrss iinn tthhee ssqquuaadd

aass wweellll aass oouurr mmaannaaggee--

mmeenntt tteeaamm.. AA cchhaarraacc--

tteerriissttiicc ooff tthhee tteeaamm

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 69

A characteristicof the teamwas that therewas alwayssomebodyputting theirhand up, win-ning the bigpoints forus.

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wwaass tthhaatt tthheerree wwaass aallwwaayyss

ssoommeebbooddyy ppuuttttiinngg tthheeiirr hhaanndd

uupp,, wwiinnnniinngg tthhee bbiigg ppooiinnttss ffoorr

uuss.. OOuurr lloowweerr oorrddeerr bbaattttiinngg aatt

MMeellbboouurrnnee wwaass aa ccaassee iinn ppooiinntt..

EEaacchh oonnee ooff tthheemm wweerree bbrriill--

lliiaanntt……((llaauugghhss)) ccaann’’tt ssiinnggllee oouutt

aannyy oonnee..

AS: MAKHAYA NTINICAME UP WITH GREATSUPPORT IN THE LASTTEST MATCH, COULD HEBELIEVE HIS OWN PER-FORMANCE?GGSS:: MMaakkhhaayyaa wwaass ffaannttaassttiicc.. II

eevveenn jjookkeedd wwiitthh hhiimm tthhaatt hhee

wwaass tthhee sseenniioorr ppaarrttnneerr!! HHee ssttuucckk iitt oouutt

ffoorr 9900 mmiinnuutteess aanndd,, iinn ffaacctt,, wwaassnn’’tt ddiiss--

mmiisssseedd iinn tthhee sseerriieess.. ((aanndd llaauugghhss……))

AS: PLAYERS LIKE HASHIMAMLA AND NEIL MACKENZIEPLAYED A CRUCIAL ROLE INTHE WIN.

GGSS:: BBootthh hhaadd aann oouutt--

ssttaannddiinngg yyeeaarr,, ssccoorriinngg

mmoorree tthhaann tthhoouussaanndd

TTeesstt rruunnss.. AAss aa rreessuulltt

wwee nnooww hhaavvee aa vveerryy

ssoolliidd aanndd ddeeppeennddaabbllee

ttoopp tthhrreeee iinn oouurr bbaatt--

ttiinngg ddeeppaarrttmmeenntt

AS:OUTSTANDINGPERFORMANCEBY YOURBOWLERS?GGSS:: TThhee bboowwlleerrss mmaann--

aaggeedd ttoo ttaakkee 2200 wwiicckk--

eettss iinn eeaacchh ooff tthhee ffiirrsstt

aanndd sseeccoonndd tteessttss aanndd

bbeelliieevvee mmee aass aa CCaappttaaiinn tthhaatt

iiss aallll II ccoouulldd hhaavvee aasskkeedd ooff tthheemm aanndd

tthheeyy ddiidd eevveerryytthhiinngg ttoo wwiinn tthhee mmaattcchh..

WWhhaatt hhaass pplleeaasseedd mmee hhaass bbeeeenn tthhee wwaayy

tthheeyy hhaavvee ooppeerraatteedd aass aa ccoolllleeccttiivvee uunniitt

aanndd ssuuppppoorrtteedd oonnee aannootthheerr,, bbaacckkeedd

eeaacchh ootthheerr..

AS: DO YOU THINK, JP DUMINY WAS THE FIND OF THETOURNAMENT?GGSS:: JJPP cceerrttaaiinnllyy hhaadd aann oouuttssttaannddiinngg

sseerriieess.. WWee kknneeww aallll aalloonngg hhee hhaadd iitt iinn

hhiimm ttoo ppeerrffoorrmm tthhee wwaayy hhee ddiidd aanndd tthhee

pplleeaassiinngg ffaaccttoorr ffoorr uuss hhaass bbeeeenn tthhee

ggrreeaatteerr bbaattttiinngg aanndd bboowwlliinngg ddeepptthh wwee

hhaavvee uunneeaarrtthheedd iinn oouurr ssqquuaadd..

AS: IN YOUR ABSENCE, WAS ITA SURPRISE TO SEE THE BOYSWINNING THE ODI SERIES 4-1?GGSS:: II wwaass rreeaallllyy tthhrriilllleedd bbyy tthhee wwaayy tthhee

tteeaamm ppuulllleedd tthhrroouugghh wwiitthh vviirrttuuaallllyy aallll

tthhee ppllaayyeerrss ssttaannddiinngg uupp ttoo aassssuummee

rreessppoonnssiibbiilliittyy aatt ddiiffffeerreenntt ttiimmeess..

AS: HOW IS YOUR TENNISELBOW, HAVE YOU OPERATED?HOW SOON CAN WE SEE YOUBACK ON THE GROUND?GGSS:: II aamm ppllaayyiinngg mmyy ffiirrsstt mmaattcchh iinn tthhee

ddoommeessttiicc TT2200 sseemmii--ffiinnaall wwhhiicchh iiss rreeaallllyy

eennccoouurraaggiinngg.. ��

Our goal is tohave a teamthat can winthe World Cupin two years’time and obvi-ously need tobecome worldNo 1 to achievethat.

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72 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview THUMPING WIN

South Africa pulling off the Test

series, although incredible, still

appeared in the realm of the

achievable. But to completely

overshadow Australia in the one

day series in the manner in which they

did with the resources that were con-

sidered feeble at best, is perhaps some-

thing even they would consider exceed-

ing expectations.

LIMITED OVERS, A DIF-FERENT BALL GAMEIt was not easy for the South Africans

to win the Test series. Those were hard

fought contests where South Africa

hung on bravely in difficult sessions to

grab the pivotal moments of the

match. But South Africa believed they

had the wherewithal to brave the

assault of the Australians and to dish

some of their own, even though much

of the rest of the world, including

Australia’s coach Tim Nielsen, dismissed

it as another case of big talk that came

cheap.

There were still areas unconquered, like

the top spot in the ICC Test rankings,

but it mattered little compared to their

achievements of the summer. They had

just beaten Australia at home, an expe-

rience no Australian team or fan has

withstood since 1993. Perhaps had

Graeme Smith not returned home with

a fractured hand and tennis, more peo-

ple would have given the team a chance

in the one day series.

But the one day series were another

matter altogether. Mickey Arthur made

amply clear what lay ahead for South

Africa when they won the Test series in

England handsomely but fared rather

poorly in the one day matches that fol-

lowed. It gave Pietersen a great impetus

in his early days as the captain of the

England team, but it

chalked out clearly

how hard the

climb in another

format was

going to be for

the South

Africans. But that

did not mean that

South Africa chose

to sit on their lau-

rels.

The injury upon injury

for skipper Graeme

Smith left South Africa

with a huge hole.

After all, Smith had

manufactured most

of South Africa’s wins

in the Test series over

the last six months and

his absence was a crucial disadvantage

as it was in England when the flared

elbow first reared its ugly head in inter-

national assignments for South Africa

after making its brief presence during

the inaugural IPL.

The South African one day squad had

been put in jeopardy through a series

i

by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

Safs Story –ResoundingCampaignsEnd in No.1Down Under

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of unfortunate events even before

Smith’s injuries. Mickey Arthur

expressed that he was not a bit sur-

prised that South Africa struggled as

badly as they did in England in the one

day internationals. South Africa under-

went a change of personnel in the one

day internationals when they lost Charl

Langeveld to a Kolpak agreement after

his fiasco indirectly with Andre Nel for a

place in the squad for the series in India

over the quota system and lost key all

rounders such as Andrew Hall, Justin

Kemp and Johan van der Wath to the

ICL. With Shaun Pollock’s retirement,

the gaps had become rather wide,

especially in the one day context and

South Africa had harder work to make a

team to reckon with, in two years’ time

for the World Cup.

SIDE STEPPING THE(T)20’S South Africa were either doing a good

job throwing Australia off their scent or

really still coming to terms with the

change of form, captain and personnel.

Johan Botha came under fire from

Ricky Ponting who claimed

Botha was not the man in

control on the field as

advice was flying in all

directions by all South

African men in plausible

authority by rank, age or

reputation during the

Twenty20 matches in the

build up to the five one

day internationals.

South Africa were blown

away in the first

Twenty20 match by

uncapped David Warner

whose eighty-nine from

forty-three balls was not

only astounding but also,

effectively had South

Africa throw in the towel, unless one of

their own could match this unknown

kid’s sudden famous feats. South

Africa’s wonder kid on this tour, Jean

Paul Duminy, gave his best. But even his

seventy-nine from forty-three would

not be enough as South Africa crashed

to a fifty-two run defeat.

The second Twenty20 match was a lit-

tle more of the same, South Africa

adjusting, Australia perfecting. It must

be little wonder that the most names

for the next IPL auction are from

Australia. JP Duminy once again stuck

out in an otherwise sullen score card

for his sixty-nine off forty-one balls.

But Ponting and Cameron White rallied

around Michael Hussey to ensure

Australia would escape to a six wicket

victory, with South Africa still looking

dicey for the upcoming one day series

ahead.

PERFECTING THE FOR-MULA Johan Botha took his time, but found

his feet. Not only did he grow more

authoritative in captaincy during the

one day internationals but also, in his

own role as a spinner of which he did a

sterling job, strangling Australia’s middle

order on more than one occasion while

picking up the key wicket that tended

to prove to be the thorn in the flesh

for his team. The decisions became

more precise, the pieces of the puzzle

fell into place and the rest of it was

purely clockwork.

Australia did their best to cooperate

with South Africa’s agenda inadvertent-

ly. While Australia have a good

nucleus of batsmen, getting

their act together has proved

to be a tangle, that exacerbat-

ed when they somehow took

on the onus on themselves into

playing a more Twenty20 like

cameo instead of stringing

partnerships together.

Matthew Hayden’s omis-

sion and his subsequent

retirement left a hole in

the opening slot and even

though Warner started

well, it was simply not pos-

sible to put up a match

winning performance at

every opportunity.

Another area that

Australia failed miserably

was in the matter of the

batting power play. South

Africa were putting their

plans in place, from rein-

ing in Australia when the

hosts were threatening to run

away with their batting innings to using

their own batting power play to near

perfection. Ricky Ponting found himself

resigned to seeking advice from the

younger men in the dressing room who

had experienced the use of the rule in

the domestic circuit. But Australia lost

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 73

No one was evenlooking at theICC’s ODI teamrankings beforethe series began;that is how lowthe expectationswere when itcame to SouthAfrica in the oneday interna-tionals.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 74 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

more wickets during their batting

power play than scoring runs with a

restricted set of fielders out of the

thirty yard line. They could certainly

have taken a leaf out of South Africa’s

books.

ALBIE ‘KLUSENER”MORKEL, MARK “NEVERSAY DIE” BOUCHER If there was one decisive ploy that

could be the most prominent differ-

ence between the two teams, it was

South Africa’s trump card, held long

enough up their sleeve on every occa-

sion. In the past Justin Kemp often lived

with the expectation of being South

Africa’s next Lance Klusener. But it is

Albie reliving Zulu’s magic in Kemp’s

absence. In all of the first three match-

es, Morkel was involved in fetching runs

in the tricky final overs when South

Africa also chose to employ the batting

power play to good effect. Two innings

of forty off eighteen balls in the first

match and off twenty-two balls in the

third were reminiscent of a Twenty20

match encased within the fifty over

game. The only reason Albie could not

complete his cameo in the second

match was because South Africa’s top

order slowed down the rate too long in

the middle overs, leaving South Africa

with too much to do in the end, not

allowing the now set partners and

established finishers of the game, Mark

Boucher and Albie, to complete the job,

missing it by five runs which would have

given South Africa a clean record.

REFINING PERFORM-ANCES, HUMBLEDHOSTSThere were other heart warming per-

formances from JP Duminy and Neil

McKenzie in the first match, Kallis and

AB in the second and Gibbs and Kallis in

the third. But South Africa not only

clinched the series at the Adelaide

Oval but also, did it so emphati-

cally that Australia had to

accept that they had been

once again outplayed

smartly and tenaciously in

the fourth and more

comprehensively than in

all three past matches

that went down to the

wire. South Africa sealed

Australia’s fate in the

series. Despite the half

century from Ponting

and the partnership with

the Hussey brothers

after the early double

dismissal of Marsh and

Warner, Australia needed

the late dash from James Hopes and

Cameron White to get them to a rather

modest 222.

But if Australia really needed to know

how ordinary their efforts were, they

had to simply doff their hats in the

manner in which South Africa went

about the chase. Herschelle Gibbs

attempted a blitzkrieg while

Hashim Amla stood rock solid.

When Gibbs departed, Amla’s

stand only solidified, this time

with AB de Villiers for company.

In a near flawless performance,

the duo put up a 143 run partner-

ship in good time that

South Africa’s annihilation

of Australia was complete

in under thirty-nine overs

to give South Africa a com-

prehensive series victory,

prompting even Ponting to

admit this would have to

perhaps be the worst per-

formance of Australia in

the summer.

NOT WITHOUT THENO.1!

In all of the firstthree matches,Morkel wasinvolved in fetch-ing runs in thetricky final overswhen SouthAfrica also choseto employ thebatting powerplay togood effect.

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 75Cricket TodayMarch 2009

South Africa stumbled on to two

opportunities to go number one in the

world. One opportunity presented

itself as South Africa won the first

two of three Tests and had to

then win the third in Sydney to

become the number one team in

the ICC Test rankings. Though

they ended up losing the game,

they won enormously more

than what perhaps even the

number one would have given

them. But it still meant that

technically one goal remained

unfulfilled.

No one was even looking at the

ICC’s ODI team rankings before

the series began; that is how

low the expectations were when

it came to South Africa in the

one day internationals even though

they occupied the second spot. But the

cohesive efforts of the team ensured

that the final match would present an

additional incentive – the opportunity

to upstage Australia for the number

one position at least in the one day

international rankings.

Perth was the venue and South Africa

had every intention to go with a bang

and a title. South Africa had a slightly

different challenge though. They were

batting first, something they did not

have the opportunity to do in the series

thus far. This was not going to be about

chasing a target anymore. This time it

was Amla’s responding once more to

the challenge of the one day interna-

tionals with a salient knock of ninety-

seven only to be followed up by the

twin sixty run innings from AB de

Villiers and JP

Duminy.

Australia, chasing 289 for

pride, found the middle

order trying to recover from

another despicable position

of five down for 122. David

Hussey’s innings of thirty-two

was sandwiched between Brad

Haddin’s sixty-three and brother

Michael’s seventy-eight. But South

Africa romped home to the num-

ber one crown as Australia once

again lost their way, as they have

for much of the present season.

Mickey Arthur did not want his

team standing on the pedestal

because in his opinion, his team is

not in full readiness to take the

expectations that come

with the position. He

may well advise cau-

tion as South Africa

performed beyond

their means in many

ways. That they

even managed to do

it in the final match without the likes

of Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and

Jacques Kallis speaks enormously of

their success. But Arthur knows the

challenges that lay ahead in gaining con-

sistency in the run up to the world cup.

While South Africa enjoy the number

one for as long as it lasts in the

close points race, they are firmly

rooted to the ground. �

With ShaunPollock’s retirement,the gaps hadbecome ratherwide, especially inthe one day contextand South Africahad harder work tomake a team toreckon with, in twoyears’ time for theWorld Cup.

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76 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview UNSUNG HERO

ow many cricketers can you

recall who have established

a world record on their

debut but never played for

India? It’s probably difficult

to answer. On the other hand, a spin-

ner starts his career in a normal man-

ner and goes on to establish one of

the most difficult world records?

The records set by Amol Muzumdar,

the batsman, and Anil Kumble, the leg-

spinner, will be difficult to better. And

one common link between the two

world marks is umpire A.V. Jayaprakash,

who from 22 yards watched 19-year-

old Muzumdar score a brilliant 260 on

his first-class debut in 1993-94 to

erase the 73-year-old world record of

South African Waldemar Frederick Eric

Marx highest knock on debut. Five

years later, Jayaprakash gave all

Pakistani batsmen out as Kumble mes-

merised them in the Delhi Test in 1999.

While Marx went on to play three

Tests, Muzumdar was never picked for

India and is now on the last legs of his

first-class career spanning 16 years.

Things have come to such a pass for

Muzumdar that in the 2008-09 Ranji

Trophy final against Uttar Pradesh in

Hyderabad, he was not even included in

the Mumbai XI, despite being in the

squad. This is a clear signal from the

Mumbai selectors and the team man-

agement that the right-handed batting

prodigy is not wanted anymore even as

youngsters are being blooded. “I was

not specially told anything. They proba-

bly wanted to play an additional spin-

ner,” says a disappointed Muzumdar,

now 34.

Kumble, the other world record holder

along with Jim Laker of England, also

had quite a rousing start to his cricket

h

by Qaiser Mohammad Ali

Amol Muzumdar

promise unfulfilledA strange story of

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career before he lost way as quickly as

he had begun. Five months after mak-

ing his debut for Karnataka, he was

playing a One-Day International for India

in Sharjah. In November 1989, he made

his Ranji Trophy debut against

Hyderabad and in April 1990 he made

his ODI debut. In August 1990, he played

his first Test. After he was quickly omit-

ted from the Test squad, Kumble briefly

contemplated leaving cricket for an aca-

demic career after completing mechani-

cal engineering in 1992.

When he turned out for the Rest of

India against Delhi at Ferozeshah Kotla,

which would eventually become his

favourite ground, he was probably giv-

ing cricket one last chance to succeed.

He snared 13 wickets and was on the

plane to South Africa and never looked

back. He ended his career, aptly, at the

Kotla, in November last year with 619

Test and 337 ODI wickets, both Indian

records.

Unlike Muzumdar, Kumble did not have

much competition from a leg-spinner.

Only Narendra Hirwani,

who was already

slipping away

after his 16-

wicket haul on Test debut in 1988, was

still a major threat to the bespectacled

Bangalore boy.

Muzumdar, on the other hand, had stiff

competition from some of the well

established names as he fought for a

middle order berth in the Indian team.

He was lucky that he got the opportuni-

ty to play first-class cricket so early,

though in the absence of Sachin

Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli. But full

credit goes to the immensely talented

Shardashram School and Mithibai

College student who showed exemplary

temperament and patience while

announcing his arrival with a grand dou-

ble century.

Umpire Narendra Menon, who was

Jayaprakash’s colleague in Muzumdar’s

debut match at the Nahar Singh

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 77

Muzumdar, on theother hand, had stiffcompetition fromsome of the wellestablished namesas he fought for amiddle order berth inthe Indian team. Hewas lucky that he gotthe opportunity toplay first-class cricketso early, though inthe absence ofSachinTendulkar andVinod Kambli.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 78 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

Stadium from February 12-15, 1994,

remembers the magnificent knock

vividly. “The best aspect of his knock

was the patience that he showed. As I

saw in him later on, he was never afraid

of any kind of bowling, much like

Tendulkar,” Menon told Cricket Today.

“Another good quality in Amol was that

he never used to see the face of the

bowler. Usually, batsmen see the face of

bowlers and lose half the battle there. I

noticed that Amol never did that,” he

averred. “The way he batted on his

debut it looked like he would definitely

go on to play for India. During the lunch

interval, I had a chat about him with

Ravi Shastri, who was the Mumbai cap-

tain and was with him when he com-

pleted his century. While batting

together, Ravi kept encouraging him

during that knock.”

Asked if he noticed any chink in

Muzumdar’s batting, Menon said none.

“The only bad habit with him was that

he was never satisfied with an umpire’s

decision when given out,” he said, with

a chuckle. On a serious note the 63-

year-old former first-class cricketer

from Indore pointed

out: “In those days the

Indian team’s middle

order was choc-a-bloc

with star players. The

negative thing was that

Amol did not bowl often.

Had he bowled a

lot in those days

he would have had

a chance of break-

ing into the nation-

al team.”

During the 1999-

2000 Ranji Trophy

between Mumbai

and Hyderabad,

Menon asked

Muzumdar to start

bowling in order to

make another try

to break into the

Indian team. “He

told me it was ‘too

late to do so’. But he

did realise that he should

have been bowling more to qualify as

an all-rounder,” he recalled.

Muzumdar is, naturally, disappointed

that he was unable to translate his

potential into a national berth. “I don’t

want to talk about it, because there is

no specific answer to why I did not play

for India. You don’t reach any conclu-

sion with answers. There can be several

answers to that question,” he said.

Muzumdar mostly batted at No. 4 posi-

tion for Mumbai, West Zone and other

teams and competition was intense at

everywhere. For Mumbai, he had to

drop down the order when Tendulkar

and Kambli used to play. “I was compet-

ing for a national berth with the likes

Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Vikran

Rathore, who were all well established

when I arrived on to the scene. I scored

many runs in my first four first-class

seasons. But when I was not picked in

the national team by then, people start-

ed saying that I was too old to play for

India, though I was only in my early 20s

and scoring as heavily as anyone else,”

he explained.

Muzumdar scored 494 runs in three

matches in his debut season in 1993-94,

with two centuries and two half-cen-

turies. In the next four seasons his

amazing streak read: 1,068 runs in 15

matches, 788 in 10, 942 in 12, including

four centuries and two half-centuries,

and 788 in 13. And after an indifferent

1998-99 (242 runs in four matches), he

hammered 814 in 13 matches in 1999-

00. But, by that time, many middle

order batsmen had emerged and had

supposedly overtaken this low-profile

and quiet boy.

So, were the selectors at the time did

not back him sufficiently? “Probably

the selectors had a different approach

my story would have been different,” is

all Muzumdar says now.

Muzumdar, however, is not mulling to

end his first-class career as yet, despite

the 34-year-old not being included in

the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy final against

Uttar Pradesh. One reason is that he is

tantalisingly close to the all-time Ranji

Trophy career aggregate record of

Amarjit Kaypee. The wiry Mumbai bats-

man is just 31 runs short of stocky for-

mer Haryana captain’s tally of 7,623.

The wiry Mumbaikar, whose aggregate

at the end of the 2008-09 Ranji season

reads 7,593, did not hide the fact that

he is yearning for the record. “I am not

thinking of retirement now. I feel till the

time I am also mentally fit, besides

being physically fit, I will continue to

play. Whether I am selected is a differ-

ent thing. After all, I have the right to

decide when to retire,” he stressed.

Whenever Muzumdar decides to retire,

without realising his dream of repre-

senting India, he would take solace from

the careers of Rajinder Goel and

Padmakar Shivalkar, the top class left-

arm spinners of 1970s and 1980s who

also never played for India. They exhibit-

ed their wares in the same era in which

Bishan Singh Bedi weaved his left-arm

magic.

Goel, the low-profile spinner from

Haryana, bagged 750 wickets in 157

first-class matches for Patiala, Southern

Punjab, Delhi and Haryana in a career

stretching from 1958-59 to 1984-85.

Mumbai’s Shivalkar captured 589 wick-

ets in 124 first-class matches from

1961-62 to 1987-88. �

The best aspectof his knock wasthe patiencethat he showed.As I saw in himlater on, he wasnever afraid ofany kind ofbowling, muchlikeTendulkar.

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80 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content newsUNENDING DRAMA

n more ways than just one,

Shoaib Akhtar epitomises

Pakistani cricket of the more

recent times. In Akhtar’s career,

as is the case with the upper

echelons of cricket in Pakistan, there is

a regular sprinkling of a doping scandal,

the odd – and more – dressing room

squabble, the usual disciplinary issues,

the corresponding hearing and ensuing

bans, perpetual court cases, and result-

ant overturns, all of this interspersed

with a spasmodic show of talent.

Clearly, Pakistan cricket today is a far

cry from those times of a leader called

Imran Khan and the era of an odds-

defying, hackle-raising, straight-out-of-

the-fairy-tale book win of the 1992

World Cup.

The only fairy-tale associated with their

cricket currently is of the proportions

of crashing out of the 2007 World Cup,

brought about by a team as powerful

as Ireland and thus making it a stuff of

legends for the minnow cricketing

nation.

Since those times of Imran, the

Pakistani team has shown visible signs

of disintegration, degenerating slowly

and steadily like the furniture which has

been attacked by termites. However,

even by those standards, the fall from

the perch has been rather strangely

exponential ever since the team did

make a mockery of themselves in the

World Cup in the Caribbean. If the hell

had partially broken loose with their

defeat to Ireland – and the subsequent

knocking out – then it reached the pin-

nacle with the shocking of one Bob

Woolmer’s death, the coach of Pakistan.

THE COMPUTER-COACH LOGS OUT, SODOES LAWSON: It was for South Africa that Woolmer

had gained reputation for being the

coach that he was, but Pakistan would

have undoubtedly been his most chal-

lenging assignment. Little would he have

known that it was going to be his last.

Sadly for him, he had to bow out of this

world on a low; he had after all just wit-

nessed his team play the cricket one

can only have nightmares of, but never

really think of playing, in a crucial match

that they should have won 99.99% of

the times.

Where the plot got murkier was when

his death was attributed to a host of

reasons, none worse than murder –

because he was supposed to have hit

upon evidence that some of the

Pakistanis had conspired to lose the

Ireland match. Nothing was proved in

the end, and his death has remained a

mystery till date, yet, Pakistani cricket

had been indelibly blotted then.

Geoff Lawson took over, but his was

also a totally feisty reign at the top.

There were more media altercations

with him around than the sum total of

all the previous coaches, and by the

time the new PCB chief came in,

Lawson had no option but to depart

i

Tough time for Pakistan Cricket

by Suneer Chowdhary

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from the scene.

AKHTAR CHECKSIN…AGAIN: If ever there was a detention cen-

tre for cricket-related ‘crimes’,

there would have been one

Pakistani cricketer who would

have probably made it his

haven; Shoaib Akhtar. The

tug-of-war-like battle

between the Pakistani

cricket board and Akhtar

makes for legendary

stuff and would

require a dossier to

get going on. Yet,

what stands out

from everything

was his not-so-

ultra-critical comments – a nation-

al pastime amongst cricketers past

or present – about the Pakistani

board (PCB) that landed him a mess

that even he wouldn’t have imag-

ined. Taking strong exception to this

criticism – especially since he was ‘out

on parole’ for his earlier sins – the

PCB chief banned this mercurial pace

bowler for five years, effectively ter-

minating his career.

The PCB head, while giving the rea-

sons for this extreme punishment,

cited a figure that would have left

even the most ardent of Akhtar

fans awe-stuck; in the four years

leading up to this ban, Akhtar

had committed fifteen disciplinary

offences. Yes, fifteen, that includ-

ed everything from illegal bowl-

ing action, breach of players’

code of conduct throwing

bottles into the crowd, ball

tampering obscene language

and taunts towards oppo-

nents, doping and even hit-

ting his own team-mates for

no plausible rhyme or rea-

son!

MOHAMMADASIF JOINS INTHE PARTY:He was touted to be the

Glen McGrath of Pakistan.

Instead, he currently runs

the risk of being remem-

bered not-too-fondly as a

druggie, who ran into troubles for his

continuous run-ins with the

dope. Already on the

verge of been banned by the

IPL for testing positive – he

has been suspended for a

year since – Asif was caught by

the Dubai officials for

possessing illegal drugs

and has not played a sin-

gle international match

ever since.

AND AFRIDILETS HISMOUTH,HANDS ANDBAT DO THETALKING…LIT-ERALLY: Trust Shahid Afridi to

keep the flag of the

Akhtar school of contro-

versies fluttering.

Brandishing the bat in the face of a

South African spectator, slapping

another Pakistani one, being that third

catalyst in the Akhtar-Asif fiasco, and

calling his IPL skipper names that made

VVS Laxman question his team ethics

were only some of the chapters from

his rather eventful book. It didn’t

help his cause that his batting in

the last eighteen months has

seemed nothing better than a

mishap and that has almost

meant that he has had to repre-

sent Pakistan as a frontline

bowler whose bat can do a little

bit of talking!

CAPTAINCYISSUES:

Whether one terms it the

tool of the hindsight, or

anything else, and

whichever way one

looked at otherwise,

Shoaib Malik’s appoint-

ment as a captain raised

quite a few eyebrows in the internation-

al cricketing circle. Either this had been

one of the most daft decision since the

appointment of George Bush as the

President of his country, or even

worse! By the time he was on his way

out, more than 18 months later, one

had still not fathomed the ration-

ale behind his appointment.

There had been no charisma,

no body language, no results

– except a T20 World Cup

final – and no unity in the

team, and most of the

defeats were blamed on his

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 81

The tug-of-war-like battlebetween thePakistani cricketboard andAkhtar makesfor legendarystuff and wouldrequire a dossierto getgoing on.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 82 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

inability to motivate a team that has

always had the reputation of been frag-

mented. To add to his woes, his relation

with the media had always been on the

tenterhooks, so much so that he went

up to extent of using a tape recorder in

his media interactions to avoid been

misquoted by them!

Mohammad Yousuf had expected the

top position to fall into his lap and

Malik’s appointment had clearly been a

bitter pill to swallow for Pakistan’s best

batsman. On the other hand, there was

a Younis Khan who had flip-flopped on

this issue many more times than a nau-

seous roller-coaster ride, and in the end,

refused to take it up.

SECURITY SCARES: If there was one country that still

backed Pakistan after the rest of the

world had decidedly ended any

hopes of touring the country, it

was India. The terror attacks on

Mumbai ended that rather strong

support system for Pakistan.

Australia, New Zealand, South

Africa and England have always

been the first to back-out of a

situation as sensitive as it is in

Pakistan currently, but when India

refuses to tour them for security

reasons, then one can be rest

assured that the PCB is in some

trouble.

Even before that, it had been the

postponing and later cancelling of

the Champions Trophy that had

put paid to the PCB’s chances earning

anything out of the tournament.

Although the neutral venue concept

would bring in something for the board,

the situation looks quite grim for

Pakistani cricket in their own country.

BUTT VERSUS MIANDADVERSUS THE SENATORS: That Javed Miandad has been one of

the best – and cheekiest – Pakistani

cricketers is beyond doubt. That

Miandad is also one of the most – that

word again – controversial is a no-brain-

er too! After giving up on being the

coach of the team on countless occa-

sions, he was appointed as the Director-

General – huh? – of Pakistan cricket

about a couple of months back.

Apparently, no contract was offered

then, and when it finally was, Miandad

was in for a surprise. The PCB chairman,

Ejaz Butt, had had offered the former-

skipper a chance to improve the domes-

tic cricket in Pakistan, instead of deliver-

ing what had been apparently promised;

working with the Pakistani national

team. Miffed – I wouldn’t use the word

hurt for Miandad – he had no hesitation

in tendering his resignation to the

board, in a rather unlikely, but polite

tone. He said, “I have no hard feelings

towards anyone but a cricketer of my

stature cannot be happy with the

responsibilities they are giving me.”

That was not all. In this day and age, the

politicians have to have their share of

pie, and the senators of Pakistan had a

gala time raking up this Miandad resig-

nation and grilling the PCB chief for a

period of six hours! The conclusion

was anything but flattering, and

the chief was asked to tender

his resignation in return. Mere

mortals would have collapsed

here, but not so a chief of the

PCB, who in turn questioned the

credibility of those very senators

in questioning his integrity! I

don’t know whether you

guys – the readers – are

still with me on this, but

the last one has heard

on this is that Butt has

refused to resign, and

he claims to have the

full support of the

President of the

country!

PAKISTANICL XI VSPAKISTANXI? Even after Imran

Khan had called it

quits from inter-

national cricket,

the problem faced

by the national

team was never

that of a lack

of talent. It

was more to

do with the

in-fighting

that the

Pakistani crick-

eters were so famous for, some-

There were moremedia alterca-tions with himaround than thesum total of allthe previouscoaches, and bythe time the newPCB chief camein, Lawson hadno option but todepart fromthe scene.

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thing that gave that fragmented look

to the outsider. It was said that if only

did the national team get rid of that

disjoint, they could have gone that

extra mile.

At this stage, one is not too sure what

one can actually say this about the

team; especially after a substantial

number has joined the board-disap-

proved, Indian Cricket League. And what

a gamut of them it was; the swashbuck-

ling Imran Nazir who could knock the

stuffing out of the opposition with his

explosive batting, the ever-so-consis-

tent, the graceful and the best ever in

the Pakistani team, Mohammad Yousuf,

budding and aggressive opener in Imran

Farhat, along with the pace bowlers of

the quality of Rana Naved and

Mohammad Sami and an irresistible all-

rounder in the ice-cool Abdul Razzaq. All

of them lost to Pakistan and to the rest

of the world because the PCB applied

life-bans at the behest of the BCCI.

The rage amongst the Pakistani fans

was very evident and there had been

talks amongst them of the ICL team

challenging the national one for a

match-up, with the winning team hav-

ing the right to represent Pakistan. For

obvious reasons that did not materi-

alise, and the Pakistani cricket plummet-

ed further into darkness.

THE SUNDRIES: If Darrel Hair had applied the Law

whichever-it-was for forfeiture of a

match a trifle too early, then Inzamam-

ul-Haq had given him ample reason to

do so. The Oval test match was then

reversed into a draw, but the last one

heard in this see-sawing battle between

the two cricket boards had the English

team been declared winners. This hasn’t

gone too well with most cricket experts

in Pakistan and the PCB has been under

fire ever since!

The on-field performances have only

dwindled over a period of time, what

with a couple of dopers for fast

bowlers, an all-boast-no-roast leg-spin-

ner, and a wicket-keeper who seems to

be wearing the veil of one anyways!

The simmering political tensions with

India not only ensured that the Indians

called off their tour to Pakistan, but

also that none of the Pakistani crick-

eters would be representing any of the

franchisees in the second edition of the

IPL. That by itself would have been the

biggest tragedy of them all for the

players!

To mildly conclude it, Younis Khan has a

rather tough job on his hand. �

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84 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia news interview POLITICAL NEXUS

emptation of wielding power or

being close to power is some-

thing very few can resist.

Particularly this is difficult for

those who have once been cen-

tre of attention and interest for mil-

lions of people. Cricketers are a brilliant

example of this theory.

Cricket evolved as a game, played on a

22 yard long strip in the 19th century.

Time changed and with time changed

the dynamics of this game. With every

fall of wicket and each run scored, the

face of the game has changed outside

the stadium too. The echo of success

on the 22yard long strip goes beyond

the boundaries of the stadium and

influences millions of lives. The rever-

berating sound of success has translat-

ed in to many forms including donning

the role of a politician. Sports and poli-

tics are closely related to each other.

Currently, at least in India almost every

sports body is headed by political lead-

ers and cricket is no exception.

Britishers used cricket as a tool to

increase its clout in their colonial parts

around the globe. Kings and head of

states were the initial administrators of

this game and this trend continued

even after freedom of the British

colonies. This system had direct influ-

ence on team selection and players as

well. In countries like South Africa, Sri

Lanka, Pakistan, Zimbabwe etc

Government and politicians have direct

interference in the game even today.

The history of cricket in South Africa is

essentially political in nature, and the

close connection between politics and

cricket goes back to the emergence of

South Africa as a Test playing country

in the late 19th century. Cape Prime

Minister Cecil John Rhodes included

cricket in his drive to impose a segrega-

tionist structure in the African sub-

continent, and together with his

acolytes in the Western Province cricket

establishment successfully blocked the

inclusion of the coloured fast bowler,

Krom Hendricks in the South African

teams of 1894 and 1895. Situation is no

better in India either but in a subtle

way. Hence as a part of this system,

players got an opportunity to experi-

ence politics from close quarters.

Cricketers, since the inception of the

game are attracted towards politics and

this incident is more prevalent in

today’s world where politics has got a

different dimension.

India’s youngest cricket captain Mansoor

Ali khan Pataudi Jr. was a right-hand

batsman and a right-arm medium pace

bowler. Pataudi Jr. better known as

Mansoor in the cricketing world, was

elevated to the captaincy of the Indian

cricket team at a relatively young age

of 21 in March 1962. He played in 46

Test matches for India between 1961

and 1975, where as he captained Indian

cricket team in 40 matches, only 9 of

which resulted in victory for his team.

He was however captain when the

Indian team recorded its first ever over-

seas Test victory, against New Zealand

in 1967.

To protest the abolition of Privy Purse

in India, Mansoor Pataudi Jr. contested

t Beyond22yards

by Rohit Sharma

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in 1971 elections to the Lok Sabha. He

contested from Gurgaon as a candi-

date of the Vishal Haryana Party.

Patudi Jr. was not the only name during

that period, even before him, another

cricketer- Palwankar Baloo created a

sort of furore. Palwankar Baloo ‘s name

stands out in history, and not just in

cricket as he, though being an unfair

victim of the caste system, managed to

challenge this very system with his

immense cricketing talents. Palwankar

Baloo was an employee of the Poona

cricket ground. He had the opportunity

to bowl in the nets to the English who

would come to the ground to practice

and play cricket. His talent was immedi-

ately recognized. But owing to the

prevalent caste system, and given the

fact that he belonged to a

lower caste, the Brahmins

and other higher caste

people refused to include

him in the teams. But

with the insistence of a

few players and some

Britishers, Baloo got

the opportunity

to represent the

Hindus.

Nevertheless, he

never got the

opportunity to

bat and was

confined just

to bowling.

Batting was

always reserved

for the higher castes.

Palwankar Baloo took

179 wickets in 33

matches before quit-

ting cricket and join-

ing politics. He

became a close aid of

BR Ambedkar and

fought for the rights of

the lower castes.

In India, where politics is

synonymous of power, it is

a great hunting ground for

the ambitious souls. Cricket

is like a vast religion in

Indian sub-continent with-

out any barrier of cast,

creed or geographical

boundaries and cricketers

as demigod. Today when

every astute politician

wants to mix religion with

politics, no other option is

better than cricket. Cricket

seems to be last refuge for

the politicians looking for

mass puller

during elections.

With the glam-

our quotient

involved in

cricket and the

much hyped

attention

which crick-

eters draw

during their playing

days, force even

the politicians to drag crick-

eters in their fold in order to

encash the cricketer’s populari-

ty in their favour. In such a situ-

ation it is not easy to distance

cricket from politics. Though the

glamour and mass turning up to

have a glimpse of these stars

doesn’t convert in the ballot box

every time, politicians doesn’t

seem to learn a lesson from their

past experiences. Now even the

cricketers have started showing

interest in the politics but not merely

the for a role of being a crowd

puller. They have their own ambi-

tions. The list of such cricketers is

not very long, neither

too short.

General Election 2009

are round the corner.

Hence, the news of Dilip

Vengsarkar, Anil Kumble,

Md Azharuddin, Vinod

Kambli and others join-

ing politics is not a sur-

prising element. Though

this trend is not new,

but the increasing num-

ber of cricketers joining

politics during recent time

has created some interest in this

episode. Apart from the trio mentioned

above, Chetan Sharma is also in the fray

to become cricketer turn politician as

BSP candidate from Ballabhgarh

(Haryana). In past too, Indian parliament

has witnessed cricketing heroes like

Navjot Singh Siddhu, Kirti Azad, Chetan

Chauhan, etc representing people in the

house.

Former India captain and spin legend

Anil Kumble might join politics following

an offer from the Karnataka BJP to

give him a ticket to contest in the

forthcoming elections. Another cricket-

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 85

General Election2009 are roundthe corner.Hence, the newsof DilipVengsarkar, AnilKumble, MdAzharuddin,Vinod Kambli andothers joining pol-itics is not a sur-prising ele-ment.

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 86 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

ing stalwart to have

been offered a similar

deal is Dilip Vengsarkar.

The former chief

selector of the BCCI

and an established

cricketer of his times,

Vengsarkar is report-

ed to be aligning with

Shiv Sena to contest

elections from any

seat in Mumbai. Name

of former Indian cap-

tain Md Azharuddin is

also doing the rounds.

In all probability he will

contest election for

the lower House from Hyderabad on a

Congress party ticket. Former Indian

cricketer Vinod Kambli too made his

intentions to join active politics clear by

joining a Mumbai based local outfit Lok

Bharati as its national vice-president.

Former UP captain and cricketer Jyoti

Yadav is also making foray into the hith-

erto unexplored territory of politics.

Jyoti, son of veteran politician and for-

mer MLA from Allahabad City West con-

stituency Gopal Das Yadav, has fuelled

fresh speculations that he is all set to

don political colours by sharing dais with

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam

Singh Yadav at a function organised by

the Allahabad High Court Bar

Association recently. This stylish left-

handed batsman was a member of the

Indian team against arch rivals

Pakistan for the Sahara Cup at

Toronto led by Mohammad

Azharuddin in 1998. He came

into limelight when he was

adjudged the Castrol best jun-

ior cricketer. Last year, crick-

eter-turned-politician Dodda

Ganesh and a close friend of

Azhar too joined the Janata

Dal-Secular (JD-S).

In past, though cricketers’

contribution in politics has not

been quite significant, rather

they have left politics after

one or two terms. Famous

opening partner of Sunil

Gavaskar in the late 1970s,

Chetan Chauhan who played 40

Test matches for India is another

example of cricketer turn politician. This

Arjuna awardee of 1981 was twice a

Member of Parliament, elected to the

Lok Sabha from Amroha in Uttar

Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand). Chauhan

was a member of the lower house of

the parliament from Amroha in 1991

and 1998 as a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party. Kirti Azad, a

right hand middle order batsman and a

member of Cricket World Cup wining

team of 1983 too contested election

on BJP ticket from Darbhanga, Bihar

and got elected for the lower house in

the parliament. Navjot Singh Sidhu is

another cricketer who turned to poli-

tics. This former Indian opener took up

television commentary, political career

and films post retirement. Sidhu was

elected to the Lok Sabha as a member

from Amritsar in 2004 on a Bharatiya

Janata Party ticket.

India is not the only country where

international cricketers are joining poli-

tics. In other countries too there are

many players who have joined politics

and serving their country. The most fit-

ting example is World Cup cricket win-

ning team captain of Pakistan, Imran

Khan. After retirement from cricket he

spent some time in social service then

he joined full time active politics and

floated his own party- Tehreek-e-Insaf.

In April 1996, Khan founded and

became the chairman of Pakistan

Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice).

Besides political activism, Khan is also a

charity worker and cricket commenta-

tor. Arjun Ranatunga, another World

Cup cricket winning team captain,

entered into politics by joining the

People’s Alliance (Sri Lanka) led by

Chandrika Kumaratunga. Later, he was

the Deputy Minister of Tourism for Sri

Lanka.

In cricket where 50 overs or 5 days are

where you can make or break it and rise

to fame, politics asks for enduring

devotion to succeed and moreover here

there is no time for you, your whole

time is for others. Bridge the gap and

make it your heaven!.. �

After retirementfrom cricketImran spentsome time insocial servicethen he joinedfull time activepolitics andfloated his ownparty- Tehreek-e-Insaf.

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t is generally believed by many

readers that all those newspa-

per columns carrying bylines of

cricketers are written by them.

But it is not true. Very few

cricketers are capable of writing well

and actually write their own columns,

match reports, books and even autobi-

ographies. The rest, who cannot write

and yet indulge in this lucrative busi-

ness, depend on ghost writers. But Ian

Peebles, the former England leg-spinner

who later became a journalist and

established himself as one of the finest

cricket writers ever, strongly objected

to “ghosting” and expressed his feelings

in no uncertain terms.

“If some old players have their opinions

transcribed by a ‘ghost’ it ought to be

clearly stated in the interests of all con-

cerned. If a man has something to say

there is no disgrace in a professional

writer recording and clarifying his

views; but to purport that he has actu-

ally written the script in his own words

is a deception,” he said. Peebles

watched to his utter dismay the tribe

of celebrity cricketers getting their

columns and books ghost-written with-

out giving credit to the hacks increase

by the day. It has flourished beyond

imagination today.

“Any work which is the genuine product

of its author I am prepared to try, and

that extends to cricketers who have

told their stories to professional writ-

ers, provided the point is made clear.

The book which appears under one

man’s name from another’s hand

strikes me as a deception which taints

the whole work thereafter. This applies

to all books on all subjects, one or two

of which have appeared under very dis-

tinguished names in spheres other than

cricket but, to common knowledge, are

‘ghosted’,” he added.

Peebles, who penned some highly-

acclaimed cricket books – ranging from

autobiography, tour accounts, biogra-

phy, history, and an analysis of the issue

and problems of bowlers throwing – in

his smooth, uncomplicated and trans-

parent style, was very sensitive on this

particular issue. A man of convictions,

Peebles always stated his original and

independent views, howsoever strong

or bitter, as clearly as he could. He

never minced words and seldom cared

for the reputation of the person he

had been attacking or exposing. Such

honest, courageous cricketers-turned-

critics are as rare as the proverbial

phoenix in a game completely engulfed

by the crass commercialism.

“As I have a taste for period cricket

reading this is a prejudice I frequently

have to swallow, for in years gone by it

was an accepted practice. One of the

great cricket classics is The Jubilee Book

of Cricket, which is officially ascribed to

Ranji, but is generally attributed to

Charles Fry and, indeed, is very much in

his style. Whatever its origin it is, to this

day, grand reading and contains sound

technical advice. Under Charles Fry’s

own name is a masterly work entitled

Batsmanship, a complete analysis of the

art which, it is said, he wrote in a long

week-end under heavy pressure from

the publishers,” he wrote in his autobi-

ography, Spinner’s Yarn, which won the

prestigious Cricket Society’s equally

prestigious Book of the Year award.

“Recently I was given a copy of W.G.

Cricketing Reminiscences and Personal

Recollections published in 1899. The

Doctor has never been notable as a

man of letters, and the book was in

fact written by one Arthur Porritt, who

received just £100 for his services –

but not a signed copy from W.G. In this

case it seems churlish to question the

authenticity as the book is 524 pages,

with over a hundred extremely good

full page illustrations and beautifully

i

Ian Peebles,

English cricket literaturethe Scot who enriched

by Haresh Pandya

WILLOWY WORDS

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bound, all for six bob. The price is not

marked, but my estimate is based on

the enormous attached list of other

works available from James Bowden,

the publisher. A striking if irrelevant

feature of this list is the number of

non-conformist Victorian clergymen

who were given to writing ‘powerful’

novels. It is unlikely that W.G., thumbing

through this appendix to his own book,

was prompted to read them.”

The charm of Peebles’ critical articles

was that he brought his vast experi-

ence as a cricketer into his writing. His

match reports, analytical pieces and

personality profiles were always very

insightful and delightful to read. It was

only to be expected of a man of

Peebles’ eminence and stature.

However, it is his books that put him in

a class of his own despite being a con-

temporary of a quite a few giants

among cricket writers.

Besides Spinner’s Yarn, some of his

other fascinating books include Batter’s

castle: A Ramble Round the Realm of

Cricket, Bowler’s Turn: A Further

Ramble Round the Realm of Cricket,

Straight from the Shoulder: Throwing –

Its History and Cure, Talking of Cricket,

On Top with United, Woolley – The

Pride of Kent, Patsy’ Hendren: The

Cricketer and His Times, Denis

Compton: The Generous Cricketer, The

Fight for the Ashes 1958-1959: The

English Tour in Australia and New

Zealand, The Ashes 1954-1955, Celtic

Triumphant, The Watney Book of Test

Match Grounds and Growing with Glory.

Ian Alexander Ross Peebles was born on

January 20, 1908, at Aberdeen in

Scotland. His father was a “very good”

club cricketer and it was only natural

that Peebles also became one, albeit a

better and renowned one. Peebles had

never seen a cricket match until he was

10 because of World War I. There was

little cricket to be seen in Scotland at

the time. Besides, organised cricket was

hardly seen at Wick, the wartime home

of the Peebles family 18 miles south of

John o’Groats. Shortly before the end

of the actual hostilities, they moved to

Uddingston, which was then a village

near Glasgow.

“The following year the local cricket

club re-opened, and with it a new world

for me,” revealed Peebles. And what a

world it opened for Peebles, the world-

class leg-spinner! There was a time

when he was one of the most formida-

ble bowlers in international cricket, one

who could flummox even Don Bradman

and make him look fallible. “A tall man

with a beautifully easy run-up and a

high action, which gave him a particu-

larly awkward flight, he bowled leg-

breaks and googlies, and in an age of

fine leg-spinners he was, for a while,

the equal of any,” wrote Wisden of

Peebles, who was educated at Glasgow

University.

At 15, he had been rubbing shoulders

with the professional Leicestershire

cricketers, who were on a

northern tour. At 17, he

headed for London for a

holiday, hoping to get a

chance in the world. He

visited the newly-opened

Aubrey Faulkner School of

Cricket. So impressed were

Faulkner and Sir Pelham

Warner by young Peebles’

rich talents for a difficult

art that they predicted a

great future for him.

Faulkner even made him

secretary at his cricket school. On his

part, Peebles always acknowledged a

great debt to Faulkner’s coaching in his

real development as a fine practitioner

of leg-spin.

After about a couple of years of club

cricket in London, he was selected to

play for Gentlemen versus Players at

The Oval in 1927. He bowled Andrew

Sandham for his only wicket in the

match. Though he failed to impress

even later in the season at the

Folkestone and Scarborough festivals,

he was included in the MCC side for the

winter tour to South Africa. He was

ostensibly sent as secretary to the

English captain but he bowled well

enough to figure in the first four Tests,

although he did not achieve much suc-

cess.

In 1928, he played his first few county

matches for Middlesex. Playing regular-

ly for Middlesex in 1929 he dominated

the season with 120 wickets at just

under 20 runs each. He played for

Oxford in 1930 and took 70 wickets,

including 13 against Cambridge. He

staged a comeback into the England

side, in the fourth Test against

Australia at Old Trafford in July 1930,

after claiming 6 for 105 (including Jack

Hobbs, Herbert Sutcliffe and Maurice

Leyland) for Gentlemen versus Players.

The Fleet Street had fostered the idea

of a personal duel between Peebles and

Bradman, who had been striding like a

Colossus on the playing fields during

that particular English summer. On the

eve of the Test the two teams were

entertained at the home of the Duke

of Norfolk, where Arthur

Mailey, the former Australian

leggie who had been covering

the tour as a journalist, was

seen huddled in a corner with

Peebles. After the meal Mailey

requested for a cricket ball.

Armed with the ball, he told

Peebles to follow him into

the garden. Using an old

oak tree as a wicket, he

taught the tyro several

tricks of the trade,

notably how to more

effectively disguise his

wrong-un. Later, when

the Australian team man-

ager accosted Mailey and

expressed his apprehen-

sion that the youngster

might employ against the

Aussies what he had

taught him, he said: “Spin

bowling is an art. And art

is universal.”

When Peebles came on the

firing line, Bill Woodfull was well set. But

he started struggling against Peebles

and once left a ball which just went

over his middle stump. Peebles greeted

Bradman with a perfect googly, which

all but took his middle stump. When on

10, Bradman snicked a leg-break to the

slip but Wally Hammond floored a sim-

ple enough catch. But Peebles contin-

ued to torture the Aussie and eventual-

ly consumed him in his next over.

“When he had made 14, he again came

down the wicket and played the same

off-drive, only to snick the ball to sec-

ond-slip, where Duleep made no mis-

take. A roar went up from the crowd

that must have lasted a full minute

A man of convic-tions, Peeblesalways stated hisoriginal and inde-pendent views,howsoever strongor bitter, as clearlyas he could. Henever mincedwords and seldomcared for thereputation.

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and, for the moment, I had fulfilled my

purpose,” recalled Peebles. “A well-

known artist named Nevinson wrote

later, in a book entitled The Savage

Islands, that he had returned to these

shores in the midst of a bank crisis, and

various other disasters, to find, much

to his disgust, that all the evening

newspaper headlines said simply PEE-

BLES DOES IT.”

Why, Bradman himself paid a glowing

tribute to Peebles a few months later:’

“When I got to the crease, I found

Peebles bowling extraordinarily well… I

may as well admit that for the first

time in my life I was unable to detect a

bowler’s leg break from his ‘bosey’ [goo-

gly]. I watched Peebles as closely as I

knew how, but there was no use.

Neither by watching his hand nor the

ball could I detect it, and definitely this

day his bowling was too good for me. I

had a most unhappy time,” admitted

Bradman.

The story did not end just there. The

first three balls that Alan Kippax

received from Peebles produced three

confident appeals, for LBW, but they

were turned down. Considering the way

he had bowled, figures of 3 for 150 did

not do any justice to Peebles in the

drawn Test. Australia piled up 695 in the

final Test at The Oval and Peebles fin-

ished with 6 for 204 in 71 overs.

Peebles’ performance against Australia

was certainly not outstanding, save the

way he tormented Bradman at Old

Trafford, but Wisden did nominate him

as one of its Five Cricketers of the Year

for 1930 on th4e strength of his overall

showing in the season.

The winter jaunt to South Africa

fetched Peebles 18 Test wickets. He

added 13 more against the Kiwis in the

following season. Sadly, his Test cricket

proved to be as transient as it was daz-

zling to begin with. The amount of

bowling he had to do for Middlesex and

England, followed by countless hours in

the nets in winter, began to tell upon

him. As if that were not enough, a

shoulder injury dating back from his

heavy bowling duties in Aubrey Faulkner

School of Cricket also began to affect

his form. His leg-break had been fast

losing its sting and he had been forced

to increasingly depend on his googly. It

seemed as if his best years were sud-

denly behind him.

Peebles had lost all hopes of ever repre-

senting England again when, playing in a

country house match at the stately

Kinnaird Castle in Angus, he received a

wire from the chairman of selectors

asking him to play in the deciding fifth

Test against Australia at The Oval in

1933-34. Peebles thought it was a hoax

and simply ignored the telegram. Until

he read the newspaper billboards,

Peebles was not prepared to believe

that he was indeed selected. But the

Press was more critical rather than

complimentary. In fact, a national news-

paper screamed: “WHY PEEBLES?”

As ill luck would have it, Peebles injured

his finger at Kinnaird Castle while catch-

ing a ball thrown by someone from the

crowd. Still, he did report to London

with a banana finger. He ended up

watching the Test from the pavilion as

Australia, riding on Bradman’s 244,

amassed 701 runs and regained the

Ashes in style.

After several seasons of intermittent

appearances, Peebles returned to regu-

lar County cricket in 1939 to captain

Middlesex and helped it retain its posi-

tion as the runner-up to Yorkshire. But

he was only a shadow of his brilliant self

and was reduced to a change bowler.

The onset of World War II brought the

curtain almost down on his playing days.

Although he played occasionally until

1948, the loss of an eye in a wartime air

raid had, to all intents and purposes,

marked the end of his serious cricket

career.

“Memories of Compton, Edrich and

Hutton rapidly faded and he would find

in his everyday vocabulary such porten-

tous words as Home Guard, Blitz,

Dunkirk, and the Channel Ports. On a

night of incessant bombardment on the

capital in May 1941, he became a victim

of one attack, losing the sight of his

left eye and also suffering deafness

and leg injuries. The bad luck that

caused him to be so close to the death

that fell from the sky was matched by

the good luck in receiving immediate

medical treatment which saved him

from being killed outright,” wrote

Fraser Simm.

Asked if any bowler had severely tested

him in his most memorable year, 1930,

Bradman said: “Only one bowler had

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editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 91Cricket TodayMarch 2009

really troubled me. And he was a Scot –

Ian Peebles. At all times there was a

serene gentleness, a lurking sense of

humour and a soft expression, which

were appealing. Of all my English

friends, there was nobody for whom I

had a greater admiration or affection.”

In 13 Tests and 20 innings, Peebles took

45 wickets at 30.91, including three

five-wicket hauls, the best being 6 for

63. He bagged 923 wickets at 21.38 in

251 first-class matches – 5 wickets in

an innings 62 times and 10 in a match

on 15 occasions. His best ever figures

were 8 for 24.

An acknowledge bon viveur and mes-

merising raconteur, Peebles began his

second and longer and more distin-

guished innings as a journalist. He was

also employed in the wine trade for a

while after his retirement as a player. “I

was always purring with delight at his

soft-told tales of wine, wickets, and

song. He was pretty good on women,

too! He taught me (without the slight-

est pretension) a little more each time

about wine,” said Frank Keating.

Robert Menzies, the former Australian

prime minister and universally-

acclaimed cricket connoisseur,

described Peebles the leg-spinner and

Peebles the journalist in the best possi-

ble manner. “Peebles was a fine slow

bowler, one of a class of men trained in

art and patience, the fly fishermen of

cricket,” wrote Menzies.

“His playing time passed, and he

became a writer. Not, thank heaven,

one of those snappers-up of unconsid-

ered trifles who prefer gossip to

description and who are indifferent to

the great contest going on at the wick-

ets, but a true writer. He has an affec-

tion for the game, a respect for those

who play it, and a scholar’s command

of English, for which he also has affec-

tion and respect.”

Since his “original excursion” into jour-

nalism with Evening Standard, he had

written at intervals on a freelance

basis. The paper did not renew its con-

tract. But as it turned out, the loss was

Evening Standard’s, not Peebles’. He

wrote periodically for The Sunday

Times and, “largely by the courtesy of

Max Aitken, for The Sunday Express.

Meanwhile, he also wrote a book, “ambi-

tiously entitled” How to Bowl, for

Chapman and Hall, the “most kindly”

and “long-suffering” of publishers.

After the World War II, Peebles found a

steady outlet for his writings in a week-

ly called Everybody’s that boasted a cir-

culation of around a million. It was a

soberly-produced and well-written fam-

ily-owned publication, principally a re-

hash of old stories, pieces of history

and articles on every subject. After

Everybody’s folded up altogether,

Peebles began writing for Men Only

short sketches of various scenes and

characters that had caught his fancy.

Men only was a mildly risqué publication

in the 1950s, full of good stories on

every subject of predominantly male

interest. As these seemed to be popu-

lar, he looked for wider field, which he

found with Sunday Graphic, a Kemsley

paper. His first assignment was to com-

ment on the Kiwis versus Yorkshire

game at Bradford. “If I was nervous

about my reception amongst the full-

time professionals, I was soon reas-

sured… Everyone was both kind and

helpful. When a leaky pen had covered

me in ink Charles Bray, of Essex and the

Daily Herald, observed that now I

looked quite like a real newspaperman,”

he stated.

In 1953, Peebles joined The Sunday

Times, replacing Billy Griffith, who went

to Lord’s as assistant secretary. It was

obviously a much greater platform

than Sunday Graphic could ever be for

a man of Peebles’ genius. It was in the

fitness of things that he later became

its cricket correspondent. “The Sunday

Times was a rewarding newspaper for

which to work, with Harry Hodson and

Pat Murphy in the lead, and Ken

Compton an undemonstrative but thor-

oughly competent sports editor.

England won a series against Australia

in 1953 for the first time since 1938,

so there was plenty to write about, cul-

minating in the deciding fifth Test

Match at the Oval,” he recalled.

“In the course of the years with The

Sunday Times I covered a match almost

every Saturday, and saw a series played

by every nation of Test match status. It

was an eventful period in the cricket

world, with considerable changes and

occasional controversy, besides which I

twice visited Australia, and also made

one tour of the West Indies.”

In his late 60s, Peebles began to con-

tribute an occasional series of quite

scintillating and scholarly essays to The

Guardian and added yet another feath-

er in his already inundated cap.

Whether you read his reports, articles

or books, you are bound to notice

Peebles’ “generous love of life” and

“genial modesty”. While maintaining

that it was a plus point to have played

the game, Peebles was always quick to

add that the cricket writer would be

read only when he was intelligent and

had flair for writing.

“It is an advantage for a writer to have

a name as an international performer,

because people will listen to what he

says, knowing it has been founded on

the most exacting personal and practi-

cal experience. But the value of what

he says is dependent on many other

qualities, of intelligence, memory,

integrity and power of expression.

What is important to the writer who

commands these qualities is that he

should have served some practical

apprenticeship in order to have an

understanding of the technical difficul-

ties of the job and, importantly,

enjoyed or suffered the mental joys or

anguish,” he emphasised.

“If he has dropped a dolly, or made a

decision which has lost the needle

match for the village, he is less likely to

sit in lofty judgement of someone else

who has done likewise in a Test Match.

Many correspondents like [E.W.]

Swanton, [Jim] Kilburn, and [John]

Woodcock have been extremely capa-

ble cricketers. John Thicknesse was for

three years in the Harrow side while

many others who have not sported an

England or Australian cap have figured

in school, league or club cricket.”

Any aspiring cricket writer would be

better off remembering these pearls

of wisdom. Ian Peebles passed away on

February 28, 1980, at Speen in

Buckinghamshire. The game has seen

only a few better writers, especially

with regard to cricket books, than

Peebles before and after him. �

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92 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match content news interviewGREATS OF THE GAME

ny discussion about the truly

great South African crick-

eters without a special men-

tion of “Jackie” McGlew is no

discussion at all. For he was

one of the stalwarts of South African

cricket a decade before the rainbow

nation was banned from the interna-

tional arena for encouraging the abhor-

rent apartheid and treating the non-

whites inhumanly.

A brilliant batsman with an impressive

array of strokes, Derrick John McGlew,

to give him his full name, was one of

those unfortunate willow-wielders who

had to curb his natural game because

of the force of circumstances.

Like our own Aunshuman Gaekwad, who

still keeps saying he was “slow by com-

mand”, McGlew was often told, by the

powers that be, to keep his basic

instincts in check when armed with the

bat, even when he was captain.

Like an obedient soldier, he played to

the letter most of the time, always giv-

ing greater importance to his team

than his individual performances or per-

sonal achievements. That he would still

show flashes of his brilliance at times

was a different story altogether. It was

a tribute to his genius, anyway.

Great batsmen are known to adjust

their play to any situation. Having decid-

ed to control his shots, McGlew devel-

oped tremendous concentration and

powers of endurance, qualities

Geoffrey Boycott was to perfect later

on.

McGlew put such a heavy price on his

a

by Haresh Pandya

“JACKIE” MCGLEW,A STALWART OFSOUTH AFRICA

IN 1950S

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wicket that it was not easy even for the

best of bowlers to dismiss him quickly.

He would not score prolifically but he

would most certainly grind the bowlers

to dust with his defensive methods.

It was an effective way of frustrating

bowlers. Most bowlers do not like such

batsmen; they prefer to bowl to those

who take a chance or two and give

them hope to dismiss them.

In the Durban Test against Australia in

1957-58 McGlew had displayed the

patience which was as amazing as it was

unbearable. With South Africa losing

two early wickets, he had the right plat-

form to parade his stoicism.

He simply dug in, making only 105 in

575 minutes – one of the slowest of

Test centuries. It was sort of an anti-cli-

max, for in the first Test at

Johannesburg he had scored 108 in

much quicker time.

At Durban, he shared a 231-run part-

nership with John Waite for the third

wicket, while at Johannesburg he and

Trevor Godard put on 176 for the open-

ing wicket.

McGlew’s best Test series was probably

against England in 1955. He finished the

rubber with 476 runs at 52.88 with a

century each at Old Trafford and

Headingley.

He toured England three times – as a

player in 1951 and 1955 and as a cap-

tain in 1960. He exceeded 1,000 runs on

each of his England jaunts: 1,002 runs

at 38.53 in 1951, 1,871 runs at 58.46 in

1955 and 1,327 runs at 42.80 in 1960.

On the 1952-53 tour of New Zealand,

too, he made 1,138 runs at 47.41. It

enabled him to establish himself firmly

in the South African team. The highlight

of his heavy scoring in New Zealand was

his career-best 255 not out in the first

Test at Wellington.

Until Graeme Pollock essayed an eye-

catching innings of 274 against the

powerful Australians at Durban in 1969-

70, it was South Africa’s highest individ-

ual Test score. McGlew carried his bat

through the South African innings of

524 for 8 declared.

He also shared a seventh wicket stand

of 246 runs with Anton Murray. Another

feature of this particular Test was that

McGlew was on the field throughout

the match.

It was in Pietermaritzburg, Natal, that

this dour and determined batsman

with not too big a height was

born on March 11, 1929. Like

most South Africans, he was

also a topnotch fielder with

a sharp eye.

His ability to judge the ball,

both as a batsman and as a

fielder, was quite remark-

able. He had strong arms

and subtle reflexes. He

was a sight to behold in

the covers.

Like Colin Bland and Jonty

Rhodes, he had terrorised

many a batsman, though

he was not exactly in their

class as a fielder. But there

was no doubt about

McGlew’s magnificence as

a fielder in the off, partic-

ularly in the covers.

McGlew, who had led Natal for many

years in South Africa’s domestic cricket,

was an intelligent, imaginative, astute

and adventurous captain. When he first

captained South Africa, many felt he

was at the helm for all the wrong rea-

sons.

Actually the mantle of captaincy fell on

McGlew thanks to an elbow injury to the

original skipper Jack Cheetham on the

tour of England in 1955. But he silenced

his detractors by scoring centuries in

the next two Tests.

If anything, South Africa levelled the

series after being down by two Tests.

Never before had a South African side

been so successful in the Old Country.

As a captain, McGlew never believed in

commanding respect of his team-

mates. Rather he always believed in

“earning” it. And very few captains of

South Africa were as respected as

McGlew by the players, the Press and

the public.

Sadly, he got to lead South Africa in

only 14 Tests. Yet, he won 6 and lost

just 4. Of course, at times he found

himself in controversies, directly or indi-

rectly, when leading the national side.

For instance, in the second Test against

England at Lord’s in 1960, his fast

bowler Geoff Griffin had triggered a lot

of controversy by his suspect action,

creating problems for McGlew.

Griffin had done well initially in this par-

ticular Test, achieving the first ever hat-

trick by a South African in the heavy-

weight division of cricket. Importantly, it

was also the first ever hattrick by any-

one at the Mecca of cricket.

The two officiating umpires

were Syd Buller and Frank Lee.

And it was Lee’s “distinctly

unpleasant” duty to have to

no-ball Griffin no fewer than 11

times for “throwing” during the

England innings.

It was not the first time

that Griffin was no-balled

on the tour. He had been

penalised in earlier match-

es as well – against MCC

(at Lord’s),

Nottinghamshire (at Trent

Bridge) and Hampshire (at

Southampton) for the

same “offence”.

As the Lord’s Test ended

a quarter of an hour

after lunch on the fourth

day, the agreement to

play an exhibition one-

innings each contest

came into force. In this

game, Griffin bowled only

one over.

But what an eventful over it turned out

to be! It consisted of as many as 11

deliveries! Buller “called” him for “throw-

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 93

As a captain,McGlew neverbelieved in com-manding respect ofhis team-mates.Rather he alwaysbelieved in “earning”it. And very few cap-tains of South Africawere as respected asMcGlew by the play-ers, the Pressand the public.

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ing” four times in his first five balls.

Of course, Buller did not take such a

severe stand without a careful study of

Griffin’s action. The legendary umpire

looked at the bowler first from square-

leg and then from point before he

raised a hand.

Irritated, even embarrassed, McGlew

told Griffin to complete the over with

under-arm deliveries. But only to be no-

balled immediately by Lee because

Griffin omitted to notify the batsman

of his intention to change his action!

It was funny and frustrating, entertain-

ing and exasperating,

although many spectators

gave the impression of

enjoying every bit of it.

A vast amount of discussion

and bother followed from

all this, both among people directly con-

nected with the running of cricket and

in the Press.

But the inexplicable thing for Lee was

that despite the part he played during

the actual Test, in which Buller, being at

the bowler’s end on each occasion that

Griffin bowled, had no opportunity to

penalise the Protea for “throwing’, most

of the “unpleasant publicity” fell upon

him.

“Why a man should be pilloried for con-

scientiously fulfilling his duty?” he

argued. And Lee had a valid point there.

McGlew and company declined to Buller

umpiring in any of the remaining Tests.

To their credit, the English authorities

paid Buller his fees he would have oth-

erwise received; and also restored him

to his rightful place the following sea-

son.

But it was difficult to understand the

hostility shown towards Buller in so

many ways in so many quarters after-

wards. He was perfectly justified in his

action and did as any right-minded

umpire should have done.

When asked for his version of the mat-

ter, Lee was naturally able to state pre-

cisely what had taken place on the field.

He categorically disclosed the argu-

ments between McGlew and Buller and

also the language and the manner in

which all that was done. Lee added his

opinion that he failed to see how any-

one could have taken offence with

Buller who had correctly performed his

“unsavoury” task.

“I personally felt that the whole busi-

ness was unbelievable – and especially

when I considered the ethics

of umpiring, as I believed

them to be, that an umpire

should carry out his job in as

quiet a manner as circum-

stances permitted,” said Lee.

In 34 Tests, McGlew scored

2,440 runs at 42.06. He

hit 7 hundreds and held

18 catches. If anything,

these are far better sta-

tistics than those of

many former South

African, Indian and

Pakistani players glori-

fied by generations of

cricket writers.

In a glittering first-class

career spanning 1947 to

1967, McGlew made

12,170 runs at 45.92,

including 27 centuries.

He also took 103 catch-

es and claimed 35 wick-

ets at 26.62.

McGlew died of leukemia at

Craighill Park, Johannesburg, Transvaal,

on June 1998. Only cricketing ignora-

muses, who cannot see beyond cold

statistics, will not give McGlew a pride

of place in the history of the willow

game. �

He would notscore prolificallybut he wouldmost certainlygrind the bowlersto dust with hisdefensive meth-ods. It was aneffective way offrustratingbowlers. Mostbowlers do notlike suchbatsmen.

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96 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content interview STRIGHT TALK

WHAT IS ELITE SPORTSMANAGEMENT ALLABOUT AND HOW DIDYOU BEGIN WITH THISVENTURE?Elite Sports Management is a venture

that is passionate about cricket and

cricket is a top priority for this compa-

ny. We are involved in four streams as

of now, including, player management,

sports marketing, organizing cricket

tournaments and giving opportunities

to raw and prodigious talent. Cricket is

the number one sport in our country

and its high popularity encouraged us

to support the vast talent available

across the nation.

WHY ARE YOU JUSTINVOLVED WITH CRICK-ET? OTHER SPORTS ININDIA ARE IN NEED OFSUPPORT AS WELL.Any venture of this kind is always driv-

en by passion. That is the key require-

ment for sports management and

cricket is my passion. Therefore, with

due respect to all sports, we decided to

begin with cricket. It is not that we will

never proceed with other sports for we

are a sports management firm and not

a cricket management one. But even

variance in cricket is high and so we

thought it best to begin with something

My aim is toencourage

talent As the Director of Elite

Sports Management,Nishant Dayal has known

a lot of hard work beforehe has known success. Heis now a known quantity

across the country for thehard work he has put into

promoting the talent,especially in Bihar and

Jharkhand, regions whichhaven’t known much

sports backing. Cricket ishis passion and one love

and his one aim is to pro-mote the game into the

future.

Nishant Dayal, Director, Elite Sports Management

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we are passionate about.

WHAT ALL PLAYERS DOYOU CURRENTLY HAVEON YOUR MANAGE-MENT ROSTER?Our management system’s synergies

work well with younger players so we

have primarily targeted the under-19

players. We like to find them young and

mark them for the future. We would

love to have senior players in the basket

as well but competition in the field of

sports management is quite intense.

Currently we have Saurabh Tiwary,

Ashok Dinda, Wridhiman Saha, R Ashwin,

Debabrata Das, Siddharth Kaul and

Ajitesh Argal to look after and rest

assured this is an ever growing list.

ARE SMALL TOWNSAND REGIONS YOURCATCHMENT AREA ORDO YOU ALSO GO ONA STAKE OUT IN THEBIGGER CRICKETINGCENTERS?We haven’t restricted ourselves to the

smaller regions for cities like Delhi and

Mumbai are quite abundant in talent.

But here the availability of players is a

big problem as there are umpteen clubs

and teams to look at. At the same time

we also want quality

players to come to

the fore, who can

show they have the

mettle to perform

at the top level.

They have to dis-

play that they are

in it for the long

run and that is the

bottom line,

whether they come

from metropolitans or the rural areas.

There are 30,00,000 cricketers in the

country but the top players are only

about a hundred in number.

WHAT IS THE ELITECELEBRATION CUP ALLABOUT AND WHEN WASIT INCEPTED?This tournament was started last year

only and the main aim was to give crick-

et players from relatively backward

regions of the country a chance to

showcase their talent and come to the

fore. This is mainly because in Bihar and

Jharkhand there is not much financial

aid for sports. In the first edition, the

tournament was limited to Jharkhand

and Bengal but this time we have gone

across the nation. It was always my

dream that I do something for the

sporting talent available in Jharkhand

and Bihar. We got an egg on with the

T20 World Cup and India’s CB Series win

in Australia under MS Dhoni and

Saurabh Tiwary’s contribution to the

Under-19 World Cup win and we are

happy that this tournament now has a

well known status.

WHY DID YOU SELECTRANCHI AS THE VENUEFOR THIS PARTICULARTOURNAMENT?There are many reasons behind select-

ing Ranchi. Players here are very strong

mentally and the biggest example of

that today is Indian captain Mahendra

Singh Dhoni who hails from here. Inspite

of this being a small city, it is quite

rich in talent and all they need is the

right backing to showcase their talent

but due to lack of opportunities are

not able to make their mark on the

horizon. My one aim is to give them

that platform so that more and more

players of the Dhoni and

Saurabh Tiwary mould come up

and make us all proud.

HOW MUCH SUP-PORT HAVE YOUBEEN ABLE TO GAR-NER, ESPECIALLYFROM THE CORPO-RATES?We are in talks with all major

corporates who indulge in sports

sponsorship and we are hopeful

that we will be able to get what

we want. Mention worthy is the

fact that Cricket Today is support-

ing us as the print partner and Big

FM is the radio partner. Meanwhile we

are also confident that we will get oth-

ers on board with us.

THE FIRST EDITION OFTHE TOURNAMENT LASTYEAR WAS QUITE SUC-CESSFUL, SO WHAT ISNEW AND DIFFERENTTHIS TIME?Last year, Elite Cup garnered fabulous

response from the fans. All spectators

were mighty impressed by the per-

formance of the players on the field

and the quality of cricket. This time we

are planning to take the level of enter-

tainment one step higher. We are also

planning to appeal to the BCCI to make

this an official league on a national level

so that this tournament can also get

the adulation which tournaments such

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 97

Cricket is thenumber onesport in ourcountry and itshigh popularityencouraged usto support thevast talent avail-able acrossthe nation.

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as Buchi Babu are able to gather.

AS YOU SAID, INDIANCAPTAIN MS DHONIHAILS FROM THIS TOWN.IS HE AWARE OF THEINITIATIVE THAT YOUHAVE TAKEN AND IFYES, WHAT IS HIS OPIN-ION?We have worked quite closely with MS

Dhoni over the past few years and he is

very well aware what Elite Celebration

Cup is all about and yes, he has been

very supportive of the initiative that we

have taken.

WHAT IS THE FUTUREFOR JHARKHANDCRICKET?At present, Jharkhand cricket is a bit

weak but I am confident that the

future is bright. Cricket is a team game

and when any team has four-five play-

ers who are performing at the top

level, they invariably do well and go on

to achieve more. There is no lack of tal-

ent here but the need is to groom

them. If the team is able to get the

direction they want to progress in, then

it will indeed be a good thing for cricket

in Jharkhand.

HOW WAS THE EXPERI-ENCE OF THE PLAYERSWHO PLAYED IN LASTYEAR’S TOURNAMENTGIVEN THAT THE VENUEIS NOT AN INTERNA-TIONAL ONE? They felt very nice especially since we

had a large fan following and each

match had sufficient spectator

response. And this was considering

that the tournament was hosted

in a small town but it all went

through very well. The

Makon Grounds here are

very well kept and the

players were satisfied

with the preparations.

WHO ARE THEBIG NAMESPARTICIPAT-ING IN THISYEAR’S ELITECUP?Mohammad Kaif, RP

Singh, Piyush Chawla, Parvinder Singh,

Tanmay Srivastava, Manoj Tiwary, Ashok

Dinda, Ranadeb Bose, Wridhiman Saha,

Amit Bhandari, Ashish Nehra, Gagan

Khoda, Vikram Malik, Ishank Jaggi,

Sourabh Tiwary et al are much talked

about players on the Indian team’s hori-

zons. Getting so many fringe players to

participate is a success for our venture.

WILL THE TOURNAMENTPROGRESS ON THE EVEOF FESTIVAL OFCOLOURS, HOLI?

The festival will be celebrated on

11th March and as such we have

not scheduled any match that day.

For the evening, we have organized

a small get together for the play-

ers, press and the well known people

of the town to get them to

interact on a common plat-

form. There is also a special

cultural event that has been

prepared for the occasion.

APART FROM THEELITE CUP, WHATOTHER PLAT-FORMS HAVEYOU PROVIDEDFOR PLAYERS?As I said, the Elite Cup is now

in its second year running.

Apart from this we also had

the Elite Summer League,

which is held in the months of

May-June and is played between

teams from the second level of cricket.

These are teams with a mix of profes-

sional players and corporate cricketers.

This year’s edition will also be the sec-

ond time we will be hosting this tourna-

ment. Apart from this, we have also

incepted the Elite Corporate tourna-

ment which we are planning to host

somewhere in September this year.

Participation is open to corporate crick-

eting teams.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE,SINCE WHEN HAVE YOUBEEN INVOLVED WITHTHE GAME AND HAVEYOU YOURSELF PLAYEDTHE GAME?I have been in love with cricket since I

was a kid. I played cricket in school and

though I couldn’t but a lot of my co-

players have gone on to play profes-

sional cricket. �

We have workedquite closely withMS Dhoni overthe past fewyears and he isvery well awarewhat EliteCelebration Cupis all about andyes, he has beenvery supportive ofthe initiative thatwe havetaken.

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editor speaks interview letterT20 TOURNAMENT99Cricket TodayMarch 2009

lite Sports Management is

actively into Player

Management. Elite is also

into Sports Marketing having

wings in PR, Media and

Marketing Management. Organising

Cricket Tournaments, especially Twenty-

20 and taking youth Cricket tours to

England has also been on the Activities.

After the Grand Success of Elite

Celebration Cup and Elite Summer

League, at the MECON Stadium in

Ranchi, where in the final, a crowd

turnout of around 2000 spectators wit-

nessing the best ever Cricket in Ranchi,

Elite Sports is again planning to organise

another Cricket Tournament in

Jharkhand. The Matches will be

again played in Coloured Dress

and with White balls.

Elite Sports is proud to

announce 2nd All India Elite

Celebration Cup 2009 at

MECON Stadium from 8th

March, 2009 to 13th

March, 2009.

The Schedule start day

of the Tournament is

8th March, 2009 until

13th March, 2009 with a

Minimum of 6 Teams

Participating. There are

going to be 2 Pools and

Each Pool will have three

teams, playing each

other once followed by

the Grand Finale. Elite

would take out the draw

on February 25th, 2009.

The Winning Team would be awarded

with a Cash Prize of Rs.2,00,000/- and

Dr S Dayal Winners Award, the Runners

– Up would get

Rs.1,00,000/- and Dr S Dayal

Runners – Up Award. The

Man of the Series would get

a TVS Motor Bike. Each Man of

the Match would get a Rs 20,000

worth Gift Voucher of Club Mahindra

sponsored by CRICKET TODAY.

Cricket Today is the magazine Sponsor

for the Tournament. Sapphire

International School is the Official

Carrier of the Team’s local travelling

along with Vasundhra Homes.

PROBABLE TEAMS* Jharkhand State Cricket Association

* Air India

* Cricket Association of Bengal

* ONGC

STAND BYES:* Orissa Cricket Association

* MRF Pace Foundation

* Delhi District Cricket Association

* Bihar Cricket Association

* Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association

Elite Sports will also be sponsoring 10

players (5 Batsman and 5 Bowlers) with

MATTRRIX Cricket Kit (from Mattrrix

Ventures Inc) under Dr S Dayal

Sponsored Players on the 13th March,

2009 (FINAL)

Mr Rajeev Ranjan Verma and Mr Gautam

Upadhayay are the Local Organised and

Co ordinator for the 6 Day Event. �

2nd AllIndia EliteCelebrationCup 2009

Elite Sports isproud toannounce 2ndAll India EliteCelebration Cup2009 at MECONStadium from8th March, 2009to 13th March,2009.

e

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Page 94: Cricket Today

100 Cricket TodayMarch 2009match report trivia content DOWN MEMORY LANE

y early 1983 India had still a

long way to go to achieve

any sort of credentials in

one day cricket. Despite play-

ing almost 40 ODIs in nearly

a decade in India, England, New Zealand,

Australia, West Indies and Pakistan,

Indian teams had struggled to come to

terms with the intricacies of the short-

er version of the game then still in its

infancy. Test cricket was still the in

thing as far as Indian cricketers, Indian

spectators and Indian fans were con-

cerned.

Given their woeful record India were

given little chance in the three ODIs to

be played on the tour of the West

Indies from February to May 1983. By

the time of the second ODI at Berbice

on March 29 they were one down in the

Test series and one down in the ODI

contests as well having lost the first

match at Port of Spain by 52 runs. The

West Indies were then the undisputed

No 1 team in the world. Having won the

World Cup in 1975 and 1979 they had

steamrolled their opponents in ODIs.

Their team was held in awe and why

not? With batsmen of the striking cali-

bre of Gordon Greenidge, Desmond

Haynes, Vivian Richards, Clive Lloyd,

Faoud Bacchus, Gus Logie, Larry Gomes

and Jeff Dujon they had a line-up that

could give any bowling line up bad

dreams. And there were bad dreams for

opposing batsmen too with the fear-

some pace quintet of Andy Roberts,

Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Joel

Garner and Winston Davis to confront.

It was taken for granted that the West

Indies would wrap up the series in

Berbice and then go on to make it a

clean sweep in the final match at

Grenada. This feeling was strengthened

when a supremely confident Lloyd won

the toss and invited the Indians to bat

on a pitch that could be exploited by his

quartet of fast bowlers. But Holding

and Roberts were harshly dealt with by

Sunil Gavaskar. The Indian opening bats-

man had built his game over the past

dozen years on his superb technique,

utmost dedication and monk-like con-

centration. He displayed his anathema

for limited overs cricket in no uncertain

terms and yet here he was hitting out

at the fastest of bowlers and playing

unorthodox strokes that were anything

but straight from the textbook. He

dominated the first wicket partnership

of 93 runs with Ravi Shastri (30) reach-

ing his half century off 52 deliveries.

There were many Indians among the

spectators and they had plenty to

cheer. And the entertainment was just

beginning. Joined by the in-form

Mohinder Amarnath Gavaskar outscored

his opponent during a second wicket

stand of 59 and by the time he was run

b

by Partab Ramchand

India sfirst winoverWestIndies

Down Memory Lane.qxd 2/21/2009 1:26 PM Page 2

Page 95: Cricket Today

out at 152 he had scored 90 off 117

balls with eight hits to the ropes. It was

a rather extraordinary performance

given Gavaskar’s unimpressive record in

ODIs including his most infamous knock

– 36 not out off 174 balls in the World

Cup against England in 1975.

Kapil Dev did the right thing in promot-

ing himself. He and Amarnath gave the

scoring rate a further impetus by

adding 72 runs for the third wicket in

quick time. Amarnath scored 30 off 34

deliveries with two boundary hits but

he was put completely in the shade by

the 24-year-old Indian captain. By this

time the spinners were on and Kapil

took a heavy toll off Gomes and

Richards. Sixteen overs from the two

saw them concede 108 runs even

though Richards chipped in with the

wicket of Amarnath. But Kapil continued

undeterred slamming his way to 72 off

just 38 balls with seven fours and three

sixes. By the time he was fourth out at

246 India were on their way to a fight-

ing total. Yashpal Sharma (23 off 26

balls) and Dilip Vengsarkar (18 from 19)

maintained the momentum in the slog

overs and India were able to post 282

for five off 47 overs. It was their high-

est score in ODIs and the highest by any

team against West Indies and that in

itself was reason to

rejoice.

Soon there was further rea-

son to rejoice. Even for

the world champions a

target of six an over

could well be tough

going. The bowlers

and fielders howev-

er would have to

back the batsmen for as I said the West

Indian line-up was quite awesome.

However the pressures of chasing such

a seemingly insurmountable target soon

started to tell. Haynes was leg before to

Balwinder Sandhu for two and

Greeniedge gave Kapil a return catch

when 16.

Twenty two for two was hardly the

start the home team needed particular-

ly in the face of a daunting ask. But

Richards settled down without any dif-

ficulty and with Lloyd added 40 runs

before the captain was caught by

Amarnath off Madanlal for eight.

Richards however seemed hell bent on

trying to achieve the impossible and as

long as he was at the crease the Indians

knew they could not take any-

thing for granted. However after

he hit 64 off 51 balls with eleven

fours and a six he was bowled by

Madanlal. West Indies were now

98 for four and India were well

on course towards a famous vic-

tory.

Bacchus and Gomes however

kept the West Indies in the hunt

with a fifth wicket partnership of

56 runs. But the dismissal of

Gomes for 26 meant that West

Indies at 154 for five were up

against it. Jeff Dujon ever the

fighter commenced a brilliant

counter attack but when Bacchus

was out for 52 off 65 balls it was

obvious there could be only one result.

West Indies were now 181 for six and

Dujon had only the four fast bowlers

for company. Refusing to accept the

inevitable the plucky wicket keeper con-

tinued to play daring strokes but he

could do little to prevent wickets falling

at the other end. Marshall, Roberts and

Holding all fell after token resistance

and the last cheer for the West Indian

camp was Dujon’s half century. He fin-

ished with 53 not out off 64 balls with

three fours and a six but after 47 overs

the West Indian score was 255 for nine.

The quartet of Kapil, Sandhu, Madanlal

and Shastri backed up the batsmen

admirably and the result against all

expectations was a famous 27-run vic-

tory. It was India’s first win over West

Indies and a breakthrough victory. The

adjectives notable and significant were

also strewn about freely in describing

the result. Even today 26 years later

the unforgettable events at Berbice

occupy a hallowed place in Indian cricket

history especially against the backdrop

of the World Cup triumph just three

months later. �

Cricket TodayMarch 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review market mania trivia 101

The quartet ofKapil, Sandhu,Madanlal andShastri backed upthe batsmenadmirably and theresult against allexpectations was afamous 27-run victory. It wasIndia’s first win overWest Indies and a breakthroughvictory.

Down Memory Lane.qxd 2/21/2009 1:26 PM Page 3

Page 96: Cricket Today

news preview cover story interview MARKET MANIA 102 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

By Rakesh Pandey

HHPP 22113333 MMIINNII--NNOOTTEE

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MARKET Mania.qxd 2/21/2009 4:04 PM Page 2

Page 97: Cricket Today

editor speaks contents letter review interview match report 103Cricket TodayMarch 2009

YYAAMMAAHHAA RRXX--VV886633Triple tuning fork strikes the right note with

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MARKET Mania.qxd 2/21/2009 4:04 PM Page 3

Page 98: Cricket Today

match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 104 Cricket TodayMarch 2009

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MARKET Mania.qxd 2/21/2009 4:04 PM Page 4

Page 99: Cricket Today

editor speaks interview market trivia content letterEVENTS105Cricket TodayMarch 2009

JOHN ABRAHAMFLAGS OFF THECASTROL POWER1PASSION HUNTCastrol Brand Ambassador -

Actor John Abraham, recently

flagged off the Castrol Power1

Passion Hunt, in Mumbai, in

search of India’s ‘Most

Passionate Biker’. The Castrol

Power1 Passion Hunt will

enable biking enthusiasts

across the country to come

together to showcase and

share their passion for biking and also vie for the title of the “Castrol

Power1’s Most Passionate Biker”.

The contest preliminaries will be conducted in 8 cities (Pune, Mumbai,

Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore) and the

grand final will be held in Delhi in April. The winner of the All India title of

“Castrol Power1’s Most Passionate Biker” will win a Yamaha R1 Superbike

which will be handed over by John Abraham.

Castrol Brand Ambassador - John Abraham, who is a passionate biker

himself, said, “I am proud to be associated with such a high perform-

ance, top-of-the-line brand like Castrol Power1. The Castrol Power1

Passion Hunt will be a really exciting event and I would have definitely

participated in it were it not my own Brand event! This event is the

place for bikers to demonstrate their passion and biking skills rather

than on the roads where you can endanger your lives and the lives of

other people. At Castrol, Road Safety is the number one priority and

therefore this event has been designed to ensure maximum safety

while making it enjoyable and exciting”.

REEBOK PROMOTES SPORTS AMONG KIDSWITH HARBHAJAN SINGH In an ongoing effort to promote sports among kids, Reebok, the leading

sports brand got ace cricketer Harbhajan Singh to Guru Harkrishan

Public School in Delhi to interact with them and talk about the impor-

tance of sports in life. Harbhajan Singh addressed the students during a

special assembly where he spoke about the significance of sports in the

life of everyone and

very fondly remem-

bered his school days.

He also gave tips &

guidance to the young

kids pursuing cricket

on various aspects of

playing the game.

Harbhajan Singh said,

“Sports is an integral

part of every child’s

life. Reebok has always

been a leader in pro-

moting young talent.

Such opportunities to

interact with sports

persons will surely give the children a good insight into the world of

sports and it will help the children work towards achieving their goals. ”

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sajid Shamim, Executive Director

Marketing and Product, Reebok India Company said, “We at Reebok

believe in nurturing young talent who will in the future become the face

of Indian sports. This is an initiative we have undertaken in an ongoing

effort to promote sports among kids. Such events give students a plat-

form to interact & learn from their heroes .” �

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Postal Registration No. DL(S)-18/3009/2009-11RNI. No. 67924/98

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