The Captaincy Conundrum

Captaincy in sports is largely overrated. And quite truly so, what you eventually want from a team is the best performance from each individual that eventually helps in meeting the team objective(s). This in turn assists in making the road to victory easier. In sports like Football, a captain has a minimal role to play, with most of the strategy planning being done by the Manager and instructions being sent thereof. However, in Cricket, it becomes different, purely because of the duration over which a game is played. Even if you take Cricket's shortest format, the T20 - you'll see that it takes almost double the time of a complete Football game sans extra-time. It is because of this longer time frame that the man in the middle has to take a lot of decisions regarding which bowler to bowl with, changing the field, scrutinizing the opposition's tactics, etc.

So the question we often ask is: captaincy is overrated, does this statement still stand true when we see it in cricketing context?

The answer is a no. No matter how much captains come out and say- 'a captain is as good as his team,' know for a fact that the statement doesn't hold true. If it did then we would surely not have seen John Buchanan's idea of multiple captains backfire so miserably. A captain plays a pivotal role in the team that just doesn't end with executing the plans. It also requires the understanding of the game, the skill to read situations quickly and take instinctive calls, to know how manage your players and most importantly, it requires the attitude to lead from the front all the time and act as a rallying point during times of lows. This is where the bigger picture surrounding Team India's Test future comes about. We at present are faced with a team in transition and a captain in stagnation, a newspaper report by the Times of India today, talks of the possible replacement of current India Test captain, MS Dhoni with either Gautam Gambhir or Virat Kohli. And that is exactly where this conundrum arises.

For some, it is a no brainer - Kohli all the way. Ever since, he led his team to the U19 World Cup win in Kuala Lumpur, five years ago, Kohli has been touted as a future India captain. He is brash, aggressive and in-your-face, just what Indian cricket requires right now. He won't mind giving it back to the opposition with both the bat and the tongue. Although he seemed to have faltered a bit during the initial days of his career, in terms of attitude, strong guidance in the form of Ray Jennings (Coach, Team Bangalore) and an omission from the National team shook him up. What we saw in return was a more mature, determined Kohli. After all, fifteen international centuries at the age of 23 can never be an aberration. And consider that amongst those fifteen, there is a hundred on World Cup debut, a steely century at Adelaide, a blitzkrieg at Hobart and a patient 103 at Nagpur. It just reflects the skills of a player who has evolved rather quickly and is perhaps at  the peak of his career. Some even go to the extent of calling him the next replacement to the great Tendulkar. However, a novice of ten-twelve odd Test matches, is he the best person to replace Dhoni as skipper? On current form, perhaps yes...but, taking the bigger picture into consideration, no.

Putting Kohli into the frying pan of Test captaincy might just work wonders for Indian cricket. Here is a person who hates to lose and has a burning desire to overpower the opposition. But to put him under such responsibility at the nascent stages of his career would be a move most likely to fail. Examples are often drawn of Graeme Smith, who took up South Africa captaincy at the age of 22 but we tend to forget that this is Indian cricket you are talking about. There's a lot of scrutiny, both from fans as well as the media. You have tons and tons of sponsors and truck loads of commitments. Cricket is not just a sport, it's a way of life. And to master the art of living, you need experience by your side. That is something Kohli desperately needs. And knowing fully well that he has tendencies to lose focus, it would be foolish to give him captaincy and risk presently, India's best player in all formats of the game. Time will come when Kohli will ascend the captaincy, in natural course. But that time is not now. Ganguly was 27 when he became India captain and Dhoni, 28. Four years make a lot of difference in international cricket. Four years can change World Champions, four years can see greats retire, four years can see a promising youngster fade away and four years can see the game change. So by putting Kohli into captaincy right away, we will be taking away four to five years of vital learning time from him. During which he could learn and understand the game better, so that when he does take up the captaincy, he is perfect at it.

Then comes the next obvious contender, Gautam Gambhir. Hailing from the same place as Kohli and with slightly similar nature, Gambhir had been at the receiving end of the selection system for quite some time. Sidelined, ignored and replaced at last moments, he fully knows what it's like to look over your shoulders in a cricket team, that is one of the many reasons why he should be made captain, he fully understands the insecurity that a player can face and can easily empathise with him. An ability, Sourav Ganguly had, again, because he himself had been at the receiving end of it countless times. Apart from that, Gambhir is an experienced campaigner with nearly 230 internationals to his name. He has played in all continents and is thoroughly seasoned in playing the longer format of the game both at Domestic and International level. He is in his early thirties, making him an ideal choice to see through with the transition before handing over the reigns to a more mature Virat Kohli. Gambhir has been a big game player himself, let's not forget that in both the T20 and 50-50 World Cup victories, it was Gautam Gambhir's knock in the final that made a lot of difference. Let's not forget Napier 2009 and that marathon 643 minute effort to save India that Test. Let's not forget Kolkata, 2009 and that superb 150 to make India come back into the match from nowhere. Agreed that in the second instance, it was Kohli at the other end assisting Gambhir in India's chase. But, what stood out was Gambhir's gesture during the post match presentation when he handed over his Man of the Match Award to none other than the young Kohli who had then scored his first international ton. A repeat of which was seen during one of the IPL matches, when Gambhir again passed his MoM to a lesser known Debabrata Das of KKR, for ably taking the team till the finishing line. There have been odd instances when Gambhir has lost his cool, the 'Shane Watson nudge' being one of them. But the fact that he wears his heart on his sleeve augers well for Indian Cricket. It is time, a more passionate leader takes over from a dispassionate and laid back one and infuse some spirit into a team that is on its downward spiral. The only thing that works against Gambhir is his current form. A captain who cannot perform will be clouded in self-doubt which will have adverse effects on the team-morale and captaincy. But we've seen that in the past, while captaining, Gambhir has taken the onus on himself to lead his team to victory - be it a brilliant 5th IPL or his staggering average of 90 and 2 centuries while captaining India in ODIs.

Kohli should ideally be given the T20 mantle and eased into captaincy. He is tailor made for captaining in all formats but that shall have to wait. Gambhir is a logical choice to replace Dhoni if the selectors decide to. Winning a tournament or a series does add some feathers to the captain's cap. And Gambhir has a 100% win record as India skipper and has the distinctive record of making Kolkata win their first IPL. However, I would like to point out that T20 captaincy should not be the only barometer to gauge someone's abilities to lead but one of the barometers to do so. It is a belief that if given an opportunity, it will hardly take Gambhir any time to turn his form around and help in improving Team India's current performances in the Test arena. 

RIP Tony

The driving force behind the World Series Cricket and a pioneer of what we today know as One Day Internationals, Anthony William 'Tony' Greig lost his fight against cancer on 29th December, 2012. 

(1946-2012)

Be it his energetic voice commenting on Tendulkar's attack at Sharjah or the passionate description of his much loved island nation, Sri Lanka - Greig by and far has been one of the most recognized face and voice of modern day Cricket.

Not fortunate enough to have seen him play, I have endless regards towards his love for the game and his marvelous commentary skills.

May he Rest in Peace. The cricketing fraternity will be a lesser place without him.

(Greig's ESPN-Cricinfo Profile)

The 'Dinda' Story

While I write this post, it's been a few hours since Ashok Dinda saved India the blushes, by taking three crucial wickets, right when it seemed that Pakistan would run away with the match. Although this post has nothing to do with the fact that Dinda assisted in India's victory today, but more to do with the rise of Ashok Bhimchandra Dinda that can only auger well for Indian Cricket.

Dinda comes from a small village, west of Kolkata, Mednipur. His penchant for fast-bowling was first spotted by coach, Atal Barman. It was during one of the trips to Kolkata that Dinda made with his family, that he was seen bowling tirelessly in an empty net. Barman pleased with his efforts, asked Dinda to stay back in Kolkata and hone his cricketing skills.

The next what India saw of Dinda was during the 2006/07 Ranji Trophy Final at Mumbai. It was a keenly watched contest, purely because on one side you had Bengal's prodigal son, Sourav Ganguly and on the other side, Mumbai's own, Sachin Tendulkar. It was that odd domestic match that the India regulars got to play. Also, it was one of those few domestic matches that got televised that season. Another young player from Bengal who was having a terrific season, Manoj Tiwary came into spotlight in that match. With a terrific hundred in vain, chasing Mumbai's target of 472, Tiwary gave glimpses of what was to come. Coming back, that was perhaps the very first time I saw Dinda bowl. He was unconventional which was largely due to the high pre-release jump he had. It reminded one of Zaheer's initial days, only that the jump made Dinda look more like a javelin thrower than a fast bowler. Besides that leap, Dinda had decent pace - if I am not wrong, he could touch the 140 kmph mark quite regularly. But what stood out from the rest was his desire to bowl, he just didn't want the ball to be taken away from him. He bowled a total of 41 overs in that match which was second only to the number of overs bowled by Ranadeb Bose (56). It was a different matter altogether that Dinda's only success in the match was the wicket of Rohit Sharma. And mind you, that match had two current Indian cricketers in the likes of Zaheer and Agarkar. So quite essentially, Dinda's USP, right from the start, has been his heart to bowl all the time.

My interest in Domestic Cricket suffered a bit, the following year. It was a lot to do with India's early exit from the World Cup, Ganguly's resurgence and crowning of the World T20 Champions. And the next I got to hear of Ashok Dinda was just before the first match of the inaugural Indian Premier League was held.

Drafted in as a net bowler for the Kolkata based franchise, the Knight Riders, Dinda managed to trouble the likes of McCullum and Ponting quite regularly. As a matter of fact, the then Australian skipper even went on air stating that he was highly impressed by Dinda's skills as a pacer and was amazed at how he could make the ball zip off the pitch. Now those comments didn't come from an alleged 'Bengal partisan' former Indian captain, it came from a batsman who had seen the world's best in the likes of McGrath, Lee, Moody and Gillespie. And as Dinda said later on, the motivation and encouragement from the likes of Ponting played an extremely important role in shaping him up as a good fast bowler. Ganguly who always had the uncanny skill of spotting talent, pushed for Dinda's selection into the squad and eventually into the XI that would be facing Bangalore in the opener. In an IPL debut that became more famous for McCullum's heroics, Dinda managed to take two important wickets upfront, in the form of Jaffer and Kohli and in the process just leaked 9 runs in his three over spell. There was something about him that made you look out for him in the near future.

A decent IPL outing ensured a trip with the India A team to Israel and later in the year, a place in the Rest of India Irani Trophy team. Dinda was in the selectors' radar, a notion that was reaffirmed by his continuous presence in a number of A-Team tournaments leading up to his T20 debut in December 2009. Dinda's International T20 debut was against Sri Lanka at Nagpur in 2009. He got the wicket of Jayasuriya in the first over itself and since then he has been a part of eight more T20Is and is by far India's best T20I bowler (in terms of average) and not lagging too far behind in terms of wickets.

Coming to his abilities, time and again, people have spoke of his 'big-heart'. Even while I write, Sunny Gavaskar made a comment about how Dinda learns from his mistakes and is a lion hearted bowler. Similar praises have come from Ganguly and South African former cricketer, Alan Donald, with the latter even going to the extent of comparing Dinda with himself in his hay days. Dinda has been mentored by the likes of Wasim Akram (KKR), TA Sekar (Daredevils) and Alan Donald (Pune) besides being with the National side, countless times. And that gives him varied knowledge of different conditions and additional skills that have been passed on by the greats of the game. He is someone who isn't afraid to bowl the odd bouncer and in fact has great control over it. Where Dinda errs is his length with a tendency to bowl just a little back of length. While in places like England and Australia, it could do wonders but on slow subcontinent tracks, it leads to easy runs.

As I wrote earlier, what augers well for Indian cricket is the fact that someone like Ashok Dinda is coming through the ranks. He has a lot of experience and has been a regular Ranji performer, leading the Bengal bowling attack for quite some time now. He is at the threshold of making a Test debut and is slowly gaining prominence in India's ODI requirements. We've always heard former Indian captain, Kapil Dev asking for bowlers to give their all out & I believe that in Dinda we finally have someone who can toe Kapil paaji's line. But what really concerns me is his injury management. Time and again, we have seen good promising fast bowlers (like Varun Aaron) get injured, unable to manage the work load. As of now, those concerns haven't come alive in Dinda's case. But assuming that he does get greater responsibility in the near future and is asked to play all three formats, add to that his high jump and the subsequent heavy landing and growing years, will Dinda manage to be India's first injury-free bowler after Kapil Dev? Perhaps something only time can tell.

Preview | India v Pakistan - 2nd T20I

After the close fought encounter played at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Christmas Day, Pakistan and India come face to face, to play the second and the final T20 international of this short series. One down, India will try and do whatever it takes to win the match and even the series. While, Pakistan on the other hand will try to make the best use of the momentum they have, which started with beating India for the first time in T20 internationals. 

Till the Ishant-Kamran tongue wagging took place in the closing stages of the match, the 22 yards at Bangalore, was the only source of  drama witnessed - something that is time and again expected from this series. It had enough moisture to allow the ball to nip around and ensure a good outing for the likes of Umar Gul and debutante, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Especially in the second half, during Ishant's second spell, we got to see glimpses of Melbourne (CB Series ODI, 2008) with the batsmen trying hard to connect bat to ball. At times, such juicy wickets actually make for a fun watch. Every time, the ball narrowly missed the bat or the stumps, the crowds roared and with every roar, returned the confidence that bowlers too have something to derive out of T20s.

What aided the Pakistani bowlers in the first half, apart from the Gul spell, was the uncanny ability of Team India to make a mess out of a strong position. From 77/1, little did the fans imagine that the innings would end up at 133 but such is the unpredictability of the game and not forgetting, the predictable running from the Indians. The Pakistan team too stuck to their reputation and made what would be a relatively easy chase into a hard fought one. A lot of credit must go to the young lad from Uttar Pradesh, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar - who turned the match around its head with the three early wickets. But a gritty knock from Hafeez and the local lad (oops, local son-in-law), Shoaib Malik saw Pakistan home with two balls to spare.

As our focus turns to Ahmedabad, the venue of India's last international victory, what comes to mind is the slow-nature of the pitch. It's hard to expect good seam movement off the Ahmedabad pitch and that's where the key question about the playing eleven comes in. A lot of talk has gone into whether Ashwin should've played in the last game or not, all the questions being uncomfortably dealt by the Indian skipper, MS Dhoni. However, if signs are to be believed, Ashwin should be a certainty in the playing eleven for the 2nd T20I, but, what will be really interesting to see is who misses out. As of now, the two names one can think of is Jadeja and Rohit Sharma. With many experts calling for Jadeja to be benched in place of Ashwin.
However, on that note, it wouldn't be unfair to say that Jadeja has a stronger case to stay in the XI. Considering the fact that there are very few left handers in the Pakistan line-up, a left-arm off spinner would always be handy in taking the ball away from the right-handers. Besides, Jadeja also provides an additional utility in the form of his brisk batting and containing bowling abilities, where Sharma loses out. Rohit Sharma is of the Virat Kohli mould, someone who would help in building an innings. But to imagine him playing higher up the order, with the likes of Kohli, Yuvraj and Raina already there, would be a little difficult. And hence, there is no sense in keeping Rohit waiting in the dug out till the 17th-18th over and allowing him to come out at No.7 and throw his wicket away while trying to slog. And that is exactly why, it'd be quite logical to have the big-hitter Jadeja play and give the luxury of an extra batsman who can bowl as well.

It is highly unlikely that Pakistan would want to change their winning combination. But, their top-order cannot afford to fail twice in a row.

What India would  ideally want is a good knock from either Yuvraj, Kohli or Raina, with the others playing second fiddle to them. Likewise, if a strong foundation can be laid by Gambhir and Rahane, it will be interesting to see whether Dhoni decides to promote himself up the order and play at number three, a position which most former players feel Dhoni plays best at.

On current form, Pakistan seem favourites to win this encounter and with it, the series. But at the same time, one can't write India off. However, for India to win, a far far better performance has to be put in by the middle-order, so that unlike the previous match, the bowlers will have greater runs to play with. 

The Neighbours Meet

After a hiatus of 5 long years, it's India versus Pakistan...

And along with that comes encounters with no less of passion, spirit, drama and volatility than perhaps the Ashes, on any given day. And what's really beautiful to see is the fact that two neighbours with a lot of shared history and culture, are for once leaving the politics behind them to engage in these encounters, best described as emotional.

If Centurion, 2003 was remembered for Tendulkar's loft over third-man, then Karachi, 2004 was remembered for his leg-break that could make Warne proud. And if these memories manage to bring a nostalgic smile on one's face, then one better not forget the spotless 97 at Gwalior against the same opposition in more recent times.  But sadly enough, as I write, a truth encompasses the nostalgia, this series will be best remembered as the series before which the Master called it quits from ODIs. Ever since his '89 debut, Tendulkar has seldom missed a series against Pakistan. And did it not make for beautiful viewing - a steaming in Akhtar up against a poised Tendulkar. Long before the Kohlis and the Ajmals took centrestage, such clashes (including Wasim v/s Ganguly) made sure that Indo-Pak matches were a compelling watch.

All said and done, the absence of Tendulkar makes the series no less anticipated. There was indeed a time when streets used to be devoid of population at the time of an India-Pakistan match, but with bilateral ties resuming post 2004, the marginal utility seemed to be diminishing  However, 4 years after the tragic 26/11, the glimmer of hope was seen in the revival of political ties between the two nations and what better than sport, to bring the estranged brothers together.

Agreed that the series ends before it begins and agreed that Test matches would add more depth to the series, but the very fact that its India versus Pakistan, makes the statements appear largely diminutive. It'll be very interesting to see how the present bunch of Indian players cope with the pressure that comes from facing Pakistan on home soil. One knows for a fact that nothing might compare to the pressure that was faced during the 2011 WC Semi Final at Mohali, but losing against Pakistan at home could very well ensure the curtains on some promising careers.

Saying so,  if one does want to see the positives that could very well emerge from this series - it would be in the form of a chance for the boys to become men. And one wouldn't find a better opportunity than playing a match saving knock at a  packed Eden Gardens. The likes of Rohit Sharma can achieve a lot in terms of confidence that could be gained from decisive knocks played against Pakistan under testing circumstances and most importantly at home.

 It's a much anticipated meet, not because of Rahman Malik's comments but because a lot of fun, excitement and joy for the fans can be derived out of such meets between nations that have so much in common, with so much yet to prove. No matter what Dhoni says about this series being just another series, we all know that the world would be watching. Not because it is India versus Pakistan, but because it is India versus Pakistan, once again.