IPL good but ICL better

We have seen so many articles in past couple of years about ICL but there have been very few based on the actual action on the field. The so called “Rebel” league enjoys very less space on the media due to its status. Well keeping the political standpoint aside lets for once concentrate on the actual cricket. I have watched two editions of ICL and the inaugural edition of IPL earlier this year.
While IPL is all glamour and glitz, ICL is more about cricket. Even though I loved watchin IPL’s first edition earlier this year I would rate ICL higher in terms of action on the field. ICL provides more close contests than what I saw in IPL earlier this year. We might put that down to IPL being in its first season and ICL has already completed 2 editions. IPL was enjoyable but there was a overdose of bollywood stars in the first edition. It was exciting in the beginning but later in the tournament it became little bit irritating and annoying.

Every four or a six from the Kolkata Knightriders was followed by the camera focussing on Sharukh khan dancing on the stands with his esteemed bollywood friends. The purpose of the league was lost on the same. The cricket was good but it was unable to sustain the hype for too long. ICL on the other hand does not have the burden that IPL has, its sans hype and media attention. Not many high profile bollywood stars are involved which shifts the focus on cricket. I have seen few bollywood stars here and there but none dancing in the stands regularly for all the games.

The franchise system is a good attempt in cricket and it was highly successful in the first edition of IPL. But the organizers need to be careful as the focus can easily shift from cricket and the league can become one big budget bollywood movie. The stars are fine as they own some of the teams but while there is a cricket match going on, the focus should remain on the ground rather than on the stars in the stands. IPL was good as an overall entertainment package but as Kapil put it ICL is definitely better in terms of quality of cricket.

India hang on as Kumble retires

The third test ended in dull draw after the bowlers from both the teams were unable to force a result. The Indian team after scoring 613 in their first innings dropped too many catches to let Australia off the hook to allow them to reach 577 in reply. Once that happened it was almost sure that this test would head for a draw and it did. The Indians were guilty of dropping too many chances on a pitch which was offering slow turn to the spinners. Sehwag was India’s most successful bowler in the Australian first innings taking 5 wickets.

The Indian batting though held on for a draw on the 5th day as the Australians had an outside chance of winning the test match. The Indian batsmen scored freely against an inconsistant Australian bowling in the first innings to set up the game in favor of the hosts. The bowlers bowled with lot of heart on a pitch which offered very little assistance. If only the fielders had held on to few of the chances created by their bowlers, probably we could have eneded up with a closer result. Ishant and Zaheer were good once again without luck. Anil was injured early in the Australian first innings after bowling 9 ineffective overs but Mishra troubled the Australians with his variations.

Sehwag was called upon to replace Anil, who had to leave the field with an injured thumb and used the conditions the best among all the bowlers on view. He accounted for 3 of the 4 Australian wickets to fall on the third day. Micheal Clarke, hayden and Ponting made valuable contributions to propel Australia to 577 in their first innings. Even though the test match ended in a draw it will always be remembered for being the last one played by one of the greatest cricketers India have ever produced. Anil Kumble surprised one and all by his sudden decision to quit on the 5th day of the test match. Kumble later said that the injury prompted him to take the decision.

Kumble had been subjected to media pressure after Amit Mishra’s successful debut in the Mohali test and no one can deny that it played a small part in his decision to retire. Kumble’s career spanned for over 16 years and he became the highest wicket taker for India overtaking Kapil’s tally of 434. Anil now finishes with 619 wickets which is the all time third highest tally in test cricket behind Shane Warne and Muralitharan. Kumble was a fierce competitor on the cricket field and a soft spoken induvidual off it.

India for sure will miss this great legend but as the old saying goes “Every good thing must come to an end”. I wish Kumble all the best for the future and thank him for providing us with lots of moments to cheer during his illustrious career. Good Bye to India’s greatest match winner.

A greatly underrated cricketer II

When Srinath made his test debut in 1991 Kapil Dev was almost at the end of his career. Watching Srinath in that tour of Australia was a great experiance as he was by far the fastest Indian bowler at that time. The major problem with Srinath was his stamina in the initial part of his career. He could bowl really quick but always looked tired after a short spell. Srinath was also lucky to have started his career when Kapil was still leading India’s pace attack.
Srinath had a good tour of Australia and was in the team which went on a historic tour to South Africa later. Srinath when he made his debut was different from other Indian bowlers of that time. He was a bowler who hit the deck pretty hard and extracted plenty of bounce using his height and a strong action to his advantage. After the tour of SA, he dissapeared for over a year and returned after Kapil had hung up his boots in the 1994/95 season when WI toured India.

In the initial part of his career Srinath was a one dimensional bowler who mostly bowled in dippers to the right handers which made him very effective against the left handers. Brian Lara always had problems facing Srinath. I guess Srinath was one of the reasons why Brian Lara has a pretty modest record against the Indians. Later in his career Srinath developed a good slower delivery and a leg cutter which made him a more all round bowler at the international level.

Srinath was a perfect team man. His career was shortened due to injuries to his shoulder. Srinath’s career ran parallely with Glenn Mcgrath and Allan Donald. The major disadvantage for Javagal was that he never had the back up which both Mcgrath and Donald enjoyed in their respective teams. Most of the time Srinath was the only pace bowler in the dust bowls of India during the early 90’s when India prepared doctored pitches to suit their spinners.

Srinath lacked any support from the other end till Prasad made his debut in 1996. Srinath could have played more test matches and got more wickets if only India had good pace bowlers to support his initial bursts. He was particulary overbowled during the mid nineties under the captaincy of Sachin Tendulkar. He picked up his shoulder problem after the tour of SA in 1996/97 as he along with Prasad were the only bowlers who looked like taking any wickets on that tour. Srinath manfully toiled hard bowling long spells in mid and late nineties while the rest of the Indian bowlers except for Prasad turned up with mediocre perfromances abroad.
Srinath never got his due as a player as the Indian media is all about the batsmen in the team. Srinath retired after the 2003 WC without much fanfare. Srinath is only pacemen after Kapil Dev to have picked up 200 test wickets for India and the only Indian fast bowler to pick up 300 one day wickets. He was always a team man and stood up to be counted whenever his captain needed him. Srinath was always my favorite Indian bowler. India now can boast of a formidable pace attack with great bench strength which was not the case in the 90’s.

Srinath’s name may not figure in many “All time X1’s” but still he was one of the best India has ever had. I salute Srinath for his great contribution to Indian cricket and for being a wonderful team man that he was. I also wish him all the best in his new role as the ICC Match Refree. I am sure that he would perform this new role with the same passion and commitment as his did for team India as a player.