Spin is out!

(Also in Bengali daily Ek Din)
VVS Laxman has finally come out and said it like it is. Quite courageous, if you consider the BCCI’s rather glorious tradition of shutting people up whenever they open their mouths. In Laxman’s case, that’s not happened. He has come out and openly said that the depleting spin reserves in the country is a cause for concern. And we have accepted it.

We have accepted it because the truth is that there isn’t one quality spinner in the country anymore. Once upon a time, paraphrasing Jatayu, the Indian team could choose from the ‘innumerable spinners in this spinner-infested country’. Not so anymore.

Harbhajan Singh is at best a containing bowler right now. The spin is almost gone. The flight is completely gone. All he has are spearing darts at the batsmen’s feet. And very few wickets. Amit Mishra. Good. But is he good enough? Ditto for Pragyan Ojha. Or Piyush Chawla. The only spinner of any standard really is Murali Kartik, but he has fallen foul of the Indian selectors a long time ago.

At the end of it, the situation is that a country that was once famous for its spin bowling now has not even one spinner the world will fear.

Look at the list of top spinners in the world at the moment: Muttiah Muralitharan, Daniel Vettori, Graeme Swann, Nathan Hauritz, Ajantha Mendis and Saeed Ajmal. Not one of them is Indian.

Part of the reason for this is that about five years back – in the face of growing criticism from many quarters – the BCCI decided to change the nature of the pitches in India, choosing to make them more pacer-friendly. What that meant is that spinners stopped getting assistance from the domestic wickets. And the number against their wickets’ column dried up, making the selectors ignore them.

Part of the reason is also the advent of T20 cricket. One-day cricket had, in any case, made spinners become defensive. And with more and more teams scoring at a rate of over 4.00 in Test matches too, economy became more important than striking. It seems to have affected the Indians more; obviously, seeing that India play more ODIs and T20s than most other teams.
And part of the reason is also the change of focus in the last 20 years. Pace bowling became more popular in India after Kapil Dev. We didn’t have a spinner of the stature of Bishan Singh Bedi or Bhagwat Chandrashekhar to inspire youngsters. So now, we have an assembly line of pacers.

When it comes to Harbhajan though, the problem is somewhat different. Some bowlers are happiest when not playing the lead role. Harbhajan was a lethal weapon when playing under Anil Kumble’s shadow. As an individual, he doesn’t have the same bite. And with him losing sheen, none of the youngsters who have come in have managed to play the support act with as much panache, simply because the lead hero isn’t good enough.

Ball-biting: how much is too much?

(Also on www.cricketakash.com)
I’m sure Shahid Afridi didn’t expect to get away with it. Holding the ball with both hands, taking three-four chomps on the ball, with a good dozen-plus cameras focussed on him. Obviously he didn’t think he could get away. Not even if the camera had focussed on Rana Naved-ul-Hasan’s face – where a big, indulgent smile spread out the moment the ball went between Afridi’s teeth. Surprisingly, bowler Mohammad Asif showed no emotion – almost as if it was par for the course.

In any case, whenever something like this happens, you ask a few questions: (a) why do cricketers continue tampering with the ball when they get caught? (b) Is there a chance cricketers think they can get away? And most importantly, (c) Do cricketers think they can get away because they know they can get away?Afridi might have taken the thing to an extreme. But what he said afterwards is more damning. Afridi said that all countries and players continue to tamper with the ball. Outrage followed. But is he completely off the mark?

Truth is, he is not.

Yes, there are 20-odd cameras on the cricket field, but how much do they actually catch? More than one former paceman I spoke to confirmed that while bottlecaps are out, various other things are still in. Like the trusted old fingernail. Yes, it still works wonders, and yes, despite Sachin Tendulkar getting caught in South Africa back in 2001, hundreds have not gotten caught in the nine years since.

Remember Rahul Dravid’s little cough drop on the ball? Well, you don’t necessarily need to run the sweet on the ball, but the spit from your mouth when sucking on a cough drop is good enough. It does the trick. Dravid might just have accidentally dropped the sweet when all he wanted to do was use his spit. He got caught. The ones who continue to use the spit and manage to keep the sweet in their mouths are fine.

Importanly, Afridi and Dravid are at two ends of the spectrum. Afridi is a repeat offender. Dravid is one of the nicest people you’ll meet.But both realise that the game, especially ODIs and Tests, are loaded heavily in the batsmen’s favour. Every once in a way, the bowler needs a bit of extra help. Does that mean fielders can tamper with the ball? Not at all. But, to widen the scope of the debate a bit, maybe a couple of rule changes to make the game a better match between bat and ball might do the trick.

Time to say 'to hell with hockey'?

(Also in Bengali daily Ek Din)

Indian hockey is a rather interesting subject. Not many people are really interested in it. But everyone knows that it is the right thing to shed tears about. Whether we like hockey or not, we can’t criticise it. We can’t, as Aslam Sher Khan once said, say ‘to hell with hockey’. We can’t. So when a set-up that has won nothing of note since 1980 cries about the players being slighted and ill-treated, we must cry for them. We must make the right noises about them. And we must criticise the powers-that-be for being insensitive towards our great national sport.

Okay, I agree that hockey must be backed, like all other sports. Not more, not less. If the Indian kabaddi team is in trouble, we should back them. If the Indian judo players are in trouble, we should back them. Only because they are being ill-treated by their bosses. For no other reason. So the Indian hockey players – men and women – must be backed and supported if their bosses don’t pay them money. Not because hockey is our national sport – it isn’t. Cricket is our national sport; about time we accepted it.

Honestly, I am a bit sick of this neverending sob story around hockey. It’s been well over 20 years that the world has moved to the astroturf. India doesn’t have a lot of grounds with astroturf, true – but the national team has always practiced on astroturf. Why then can’t we stop crying over being discriminated? Why is it that the rest of the world can play the fast-paced hit-and-run game while we can’t? We can’t because we choose to use it as an excuse to be failures.
We cry about hockey not being popular among the masses. Of course it’s not. It’s not popular because we haven’t taken it to the masses. Cricket became as popular as it is, because we won the 1983 World Cup just over a decade after the format was introduced. We adapted. We won the 2007 T20 World Cup – just 5 years after the format was introduced and before any of our players had played any serious T20 cricket. We adapted. As a result, the formats became popular. As a result, youngsters wanted to play cricket and nothing else. They also want to play tennis and football because they have their role models.

They don’t have a role model in hockey – no, not even Dhanraj Pillay.

It’s taken us 30 years, and we still haven’t adapted in hockey. Yes, the players should get the money they deserve, but at the same time, isn’t it high time they went out and won something important – apart from the Asia Cup and the Azlan Shah Trophy and the Champions Challenge? If they won, they would be heroes. They don’t win, so even a Shah Rukh Khan superhit can’t make the sport popular. No chance. And till then, all of us will continue to cry for our ‘national sport’ even though it’s not important enough.

It's not just cricket

(Also in the January 2010 edition of Man's World as part of the overall look at the highlights of the decade gone by)
A millennium ended, a new one swung by. In many ways, nothing changed in Indian sport. Cricket remains the big deal. Politicians continue to run (nay, rule) sports federations much as they run the country: ineffectually and indifferently. The National Sport continues to languish at the bottom of the foodchain. But, as if from nowhere, we found individuals who cut through these constants; they are the ones who made ‘change’ possible.

Abhinav Bindra
None more so than Abhinav Bindra. Possibly because his federation’s apathy didn’t matter to him – his affluence puts him above these petty obstacles. But more than anything else, it didn’t matter because he is super! He’d missed out in Athens 2004 as Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore set the benchmark – almost ‘up there’. So if Abhinav were to bring home a silver in Beijing 2008, it wouldn’t have counted for much. It had to be better or bust. And better it was. Gold! The first time anyone but the Indian hockey team had conquered the world in the Olympic Games. And even if his feat is emulated in years to come, Abhinav Bindra will remain the man who broke the glass ceiling. Speaking of glass ceilings, a couple of old men who know all about that were still out there rock-and-rolling.

Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi. Admittedly, they didn’t do anything important together in the current decade except win the French Open doubles crown in 2001. But Leander has gone on to win six men’s doubles and seven mixed doubles Grand Slams since. While Bhupathi has won one men’s doubles and seven mixed doubles Slams. We can shake our heads and wonder about what could have been… Fact is, they split up. Fact also is that they made us happy more often than most others have. And, in a sense, they also paved the way for people like Sania Mirza, Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman to poke their heads out. Meanwhile, away from the glam-sports was a small, muscular and uncannily spirited young woman breaking new ground.

MC Marykom
Magnificent Mary – MC Marykom. A four-time 46-kilogram world champion in women’s boxing. A feat no one can stake claim to. And, would you believe it, Mary is not yet 30. This means that apart from being India’s longest-ruling world champion, Mary also has a shot at Olympic glory when women’s boxing is introduced in the 2012 Games.

Viswanathan Anand
Now, when a sportsperson receives the Khel Ratna award, you assume the person is closer to the end of his career than the beginning. Viswanathan Anand earned the accolade in 1992. In his case, the award was more a beginning than an end. Seventeen years since, Anand is the undisputed world champion. Still. A title he first assumed in 2000. He lost it in between, regained it in 2007 and has held it since then. Along the way, Anand became the first player in history to win the World Championship in the three different formats: knockout, tournament and match. Along the way, Anand has also been the undisputed world number one – twice. All in this decade; one decade after receiving the nation’s highest sports award.

Saina Nehwal
And on the way out, we must include the one person best-placed to become India’s next world champion – Saina Nehwal. Queen Saina has already made us sit up and take notice of her. First, when she reached the quarterfinals at the Beijing Olympics. Then, when she won the World Junior Championships last year. And in 2009, when she became the first Indian woman to win a Super Series title. Saina is just 19. Already sixth in the world, she is getting stronger and better. Who knows, number one might not be all that much to ask.

I like Manish Pandey

(Also on www.cricketakash.com)

Yes, I like Manish Pandey. I liked Pandey when he threw caution to the winds in the IPL last year to score that 114 against the Deccan Chargers. I liked the fact that it was in South Africa that he got the hundred, and not in India. I liked the fact that he was happy to hook and pull. I liked the fact that he had a stroke for every delivery, and had natural footwork to back him.

Then I liked Manish Pandey in the Ranji Trophy final on Wednesday and Thursday. The top order had fallen. There were three India discards bowling with a fair bit of pace on a track that offered good bounce. Manish slammed 144 off 151 balls to give Karnataka a chance. He pulled the pacers with ease. He appeared to be a compulsive hooker, which may or may not be a good thing. But not once did he hook or pull without watching the ball till the last moment. I haven’t seen a single top-notch Indian batsman do that except Rahul Dravid.

Why isn’t he in the Indian team yet then? Well, for starters, he has been a bit inconsistent. He is also a bit of an impulsive chappie, who wants to hit every ball for a boundary or more. And though he was brilliant while he lasted in the Ranji final, it was his all-or-nothing attitude that seemed to mess it up for him in the end. He seems to be the sort who can be very exciting, but not very dependable.

Which also suggests that he can be a good T20 or ODI prospect, but not a Test prospect.
And that’s the mistake we might end up making.

Manish clearly has the talent, the strokes, and the ability to become a great Test batsman, and I use the word ‘great’ knowing I will be accused of using it too loosely. He has a good cut. He has a good cover drive. He has a good hook and a good pull. Plus a neat flick around mid-wicket. But more than all these things, he has presence. He ‘looks’ like a good cricketer. Something that I last saw in Murali Kartik – when he walked out to the field, he looked like a cricketer.

Manish Pandey has that. The right attitude. Possibly one for the future then.

Is the Ranji Trophy relevant anymore?

(Also in Bengali daily Ek Din)

Another Ranji Trophy final. Another appearance for Mumbai in the final – their 43rd. And then, another win – their 39th. Of the 76 editions of the Ranji Trophy, Mumbai have won 39. But that’s just a record. If we play the Ranji Trophy for another 50 years, Mumbai will probably win it another 30 times.

How does it matter though?

Yes, I still think Test cricket is the most important format of the game, and I do think the Ranji Trophy is the best source of young talent. But if the BCCI doesn’t care about the Ranji Trophy, then why are we so bothered about it?
Senior Indian cricketers are not asked to play the Ranji Trophy. Rahul Dravid played the semi-finals for Karnataka, but Sachin Tendulkar, despite being in India, refused to take part. Tendulkar, of course, does what he wants, and the BCCI does whatever Tendulkar wants. But if the BCCI is not in a position to force the players to play in the Ranji Trophy, what legal right does the BCCI have to force the players to play in the Indian Premier League?

Yes, the players, being human, would rather play the IPL to earn money. They are not as interested in the Ranji Trophy, because they are already in the Indian team – their state teams don’t matter anymore.

Yes, the IPL is played within a fixed window, the Ranji Trophy is not. This means that players who are playing for India cannot, logically, make time for the Ranji Trophy in its entirety.

And that brings me to my point: why do we have to play the Ranji Trophy then? Only because it has become a tradition? Only because no one has the guts to say “let’s forget the Ranji Trophy – it doesn’t matter”? Or only because the state associations and their cricketers don’t have any other big stage to perform in?

Come on, let’s face it: The Ranji Trophy doesn’t matter anymore. The IPL does. Whether we like it or not, the Indian team is selected on the basis of players’ performances in the IPL, or on the basis of Krishnamachari Srikkanth’s likes and dislikes. Success in the IPL brings you a place in the Indian T20 team. Then the ODI team. And once Dravid, Tendulkar and VVS Laxman retire, the same people will be in the Test team.

Then why this annual farce?

Give the Churchill boys a chance

(Also in Bengali daily Ek Din)

When he spoke to us, Felix Chimaokwu claimed that he and Odafe Onyake were chatting in the aircraft when he accidentally elbowed the airhostess in question. He says both of them immediately apologised. He also says that the airhostess in question didn’t say anything; it was a steward standing close by who raised the stink.

How much of this do we believe?

Do we believe every word Felix says?

Do we believe Churchill Brothers goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya when he says both the Nigerians are completely innocent?

Or do we refuse to believe them and side with the Indian airhostess, whose modesty was outraged – allegedly?

I don’t really have an answer to this. But I do have a couple of points to make in this regard.
Firstly, Indians are by nature racist. Blacks are usually treated with trepidation, disrespect. A Black man going slightly out of line is often looked upon with a tad more suspicion than a White man. We have all bumped into enough women over the years – unintentionally – and gotten away with an apology. A Black man in India might never have it so easy.

To this day, we refer to Blacks as ‘kallus’. You do too, reader of this editorial. It’s ingrained in our DNA.

The second argument is that Felix, or Odafe, or any Tom, Dick or Harry, will think at least 500 times before attempting to molest a woman inside an aircraft. There are people all around. There are stewards, airhostesses...very little space, in an airline like SpiceJet. In fact, having travelled in SpiceJet often, I can vouch for the fact that airhostesses and stewards bump into passengers in the aisle seats all the time. All the time!

Now, I am not ruling out the possibility that the two Nigerians did commit the crime they are being blamed for.

But I think the possibility that they are innocent is much bigger.

It’s just that India, as a nation, along with being racist, is also suspicious of foreign sportspersons. It’s almost as if we can never trust them or take them at face value. And if that foreigner is an African, with a strange accent, he becomes that much more alien.