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2012-09-10T07:49:00.000-07:00

Shaun Tait to act in Bollywood ?

Australian cricketer Shaun Tait has been approached to step into the acting pitch in Bollywood with Abhishek Kapoor's directorial Kai Po Che! He is expected to play a prominent part in the movie. "Kai Po Che!" is the big screen adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's book "The 3 Mistakes of My

Life". It features Sushant Singh Rajput, Amit Sadh and Rajkumar Yadav in key roles.

Since cricket is an integral part of the film, production company UTV Motion Pictures is on the lookout to cast a prominent international cricketer to cast.

It has already roped in Indian bowler Ashish Nehra to coach Sushant for his role of a cricket enthusiast in the film.

"Ashish suggested Shaun's name when the makers were brainstorming on who to cast for the part. But unlike Ashish, Shaun will actually play a prominent role in the film. UTV is in final talks with Shaun, who has shown interest in the film," said a source.

Manish Hariprasad, creative director, studios, Disney-UTV, confirmed the news, saying: "Abhishek Kapoor wanted a well-known international fast bowler for the climax. And Abhishek's good friend Ashish put us in touch with Shaun. We're in discussions with him, and hope to have him on board soon."

However, Tait will only do the film if his shooting schedule doesn't clash with his commitments towards the Australian team.

"Cricket will always come first for him. He liked the script and wants to do the film, but he will only give them a go-ahead if his timings work out," says the source.

UTV is working on the shooting schedule accordingly.

2012-09-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

Why Ajmal deserved the ICC nomination

He has taken more wickets in all the formats.

Saad Shafqat

September 10, 2012

Many of us expected to see Saeed Ajmal on the shortlist for the ICC's Cricketer of the Year. The history of these awards dates back to 2004, and so far the only Pakistani name on the honour roll is that of Mohammad Yousuf, who won Test Cricketer of the Year in 2007. Of the nine Cricketers of the Year so far (the title was shared in 2005), six have been batsmen, and one a batting allrounder. We knew the 2012 list would be dominated by batsmen too, as such lists and awards usually are. But there has always been a bowler in the mix. Who else for 2012 but Ajmal?

The PCB was right to act on the fans' widespread sense of disappointment by lodging an official protest with the ICC. The feeling has been compounded by a misconception still prevailing in some quarters that Ajmal's exclusion was similar to Graeme Swann's in 2010. Swann was included after a public outcry; the fact that Ajmal hasn't been feels like a double insult.

But the two cases are different. Swann hadn't made it onto the longlist, which is picked by a five-member panel of selectors in a consensus exercise, that allows for decisions to be reconsidered. Ajmal has made it onto the longlist but failed to garner enough support at the next level, a private ballot by the 32-member voting academy that whittles the longlist down to a handful of nominees. This is a confidential exercise handled by a major management consulting firm.

In a nutshell, while Swann failed to get selected, Ajmal failed to get elected. The ICC is arguing that selections can be reconsidered but elections cannot be overturned. The voting academy's failure to pick Ajmal can be likened to one of those irksome umpiring decisions where everybody heard the snick except the guy who needed to raise his finger.

There is not much you can do with the resulting frustration, except just soak it up. The PCB is making noises about going one step further, by threatening to boycott the awards. That would be a silly dead-end reaction, leading to nothing productive. Ajmal's exclusion may be a bad umpiring judgement hitting Pakistan like a kick between the eyes, but there is no DRS here. Every now and then you just have to accept an unfair outcome and move on. It happens in cricket all the time.

As for the judgement itself, it remains perplexing why Ajmal would be omitted by members of the voting academy. This rather grandly named body comprises distinguished former players, respected media figures, representatives from the elite panel of referees and umpires, and Clive Lloyd, who chairs the ICC's influential cricket committee. It is charged with vigorous pursuit of the truth, but on Ajmal it has stumbled.



	It all boils down to this: in contrast to Philander, Ajmal took more wickets, was a force in all three formats, was involved in more wins for his side, and defeated the top-ranked side more often

Ajmal himself has shrugged this matter off without much fuss. He is a straight, open, plainspoken man, with a hearty innocence that utterly charms and disarms. There is no posturing about him, no grandstanding, no contrived theatrics. The only thing crooked and mysterious about him is his bowling, which has taken him to a sustained hover around the top of the ICC rankings.

Three of the four names picked for the 2012 Cricketer of the Year shortlist are batsmen, which means that Ajmal's competition for this spot had really only been with Vernon Philander, the talented South African bowler. Given their relative contributions and influence, the preference for Philander over Ajmal sends out a worrisome message. At best, it suggests that the academy members need a refresher in some of the basics. At worst, it affirms the existence of an unspoken caste system in world cricket, well into the 21st century.

During the review period for these awards, Philander played nine Tests to pick up 56 wickets at an average of 16.57 and a strike rate of 33.1 (he also played a solitary ODI, in which he took 1 for 39). Ajmal did far more. His figures over the same stretch include 12 Tests, 23 ODIs, and nine T20Is, for a collective haul of 120 wickets. Although his overall average and strike rate are higher than Philander's, if you pick out Ajmal's best nine Tests, his tally in this parity comparison turns out to be five wickets higher, at an average (20.11) and strike rate (47.98) that are fantastic by spinners' standards.

In terms of opposition quality and impact, Philander picked up three Man-of-the-Match and one Man-of-the-Series awards, while Ajmal collected two match awards and two series awards. Philander's nine Tests included five wins for his side; Ajmal's best nine included six wins. Philander had two victories against the top-ranked Test side; Ajmal had three. It all boils down to this: in contrast to Philander, Ajmal took more wickets, was a force in all three formats, was involved in more wins for his side, and defeated the top-ranked side more often. Ajmal easily holds his own against Philander in Tests; and he did so much more heft besides.

This episode may be an affront to Ajmal and his huge fan support, but its greater significance lies in the opportunity it provides to the ICC. One would be surprised if it doesn't trigger some sort of reform within the voting academy - either a review of its composition, or of the voting mechanism, or a stringent set of fresh guidelines impressed on each member. "Academy" is a hallowed and lofty term, evoking sanctity, precision, and intellectual depth. A few more gaffes like this one and it will begin to sound like a caricature.

2012-09-10T04:55:00.001-07:00

Retiring at a high.

Players who ended their international careers in style

Steven Lynch

September 10, 2012

Seymour Nurse
Nurse, the big Barbadian, had announced his retirement before the final Test in New Zealand early in 1969. He'd warmed up for his Christchurch curtain call with 168 in the first Test, and now powered to 258, his highest Test score. Wisden observed: "In very poor light, he punished the New Zealand pace bowlers with superb drives off the back foot... it was a magnificent display of aggressive but responsible batting." Despite blandishments from his captain, Garry Sobers, Nurse stuck to his retirement plans.

Imran Khan
It's not a bad way to bow out: holding the World Cup aloft as captain of the winning side. That's the way Imran rounded off his stellar career, in Melbourne in 1992, after top-scoring and then taking the final wicket in Pakistan's defeat of England. The only others whose last international appearance came as part of the winning side in a World Cup final were Rohan Kanhai of West Indies in 1975, and the Australian pair of Paul Reiffel (1999) and Glenn McGrath (2007).

Bill Ponsford
The tall-scoring Victorian opener Ponsford retired from international cricket after the 1934 Ashes tour of England. He scored 181 in the fourth Test, then, in the final match at The Oval, added the little matter of 266, most of it during a partnership of 451 with Don Bradman, who made 244. This helped set up a crushing 562-run victory, one that reclaimed the Ashes, lost by Australia during the Bodyline series 18 months previously.

Barry Richards
As South Africa completed their 4-0 whitewash of Australia in Port Elizabeth in 1969-70, the peerless opener Richards made 81 and 126. After that, objections to South Africa's apartheid government meant they played no more official international cricket for 22 years, by which time Richards had retired. "If I'd known that was my last Test," he once said, "they'd never have got me out..."

Jason Gillespie
High-stepping, hair-flowing fast bowler Gillespie was an automatic choice for Australia for around six years, but he lost his place after struggling for penetration in the 2005 Ashes series, in which he took three wickets at an average of 100. Gillespie got his place back for the tour of Bangladesh early the following year, and did well enough with the ball... but it was with the bat that he surprised everyone. In the second Test, in Chittagong, "Dizzy" went in as nightwatchman late on the first day, after the early departure of Matthew Hayden. He was still there at the end of the (rain-affected) second day, and at the end of the third, by which time the man whose previous-highest score in first-class cricket was 58 had completed a maiden century. On the fourth day he accelerated, and eventually - after nine and a half hours at the crease - reached 201, at which point Australia declared, and went on to win by an innings. The sting in the tail was that this turned out to be Gillespie's final Test appearance.

Andy Caddick
The tall Somerset fast bowler Caddick bowled England to a satisfying victory in Sydney in the New Year Test of 2003 with ten wickets, including a decisive 7 for 94 in the second innings as Australia made it only halfway to a target of 452. The bad news for England was that this only reduced the series deficit to 4-1, as the Aussies had won the first four Tests. And the bad news for Caddick was that, mainly because of a foot injury which kept him out of the following English season, he never played for England again.

Anthony Stuart

Andy Sandham
What happens when you score Test cricket's first triple-century? Well, you don't play for your country again. That was the fate of the Surrey opener Sandham, who made 325 for England against West Indies in Kingston in 1929-30. Sandham's later non-selection isn't quite as bizarre as it might now appear: he was nearly 40, and the team in the Caribbean did not include many England regulars - especially the first-choice opening pair of Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe - who returned for the Ashes series at home in the summer of 1930.

Bill O'Reilly
The combative Australian legspinner O'Reilly was a major handful in the 1930s - and he showed, in the first postwar Test in 1945-46, that he was still a force to be reckoned with, taking 5 for 14 and 3 for 19 as New Zealand were humbled for 42 and 54 in Wellington. But O'Reilly, who was 40 and had been having knee trouble, knew it was time to go: "Returning to our dressing room... I removed my cricket boots and threw them through the window as a gesture of complete surrender."

Anthony Stuart
The lanky New South Wales fast bowler Stuart was naturally delighted to make his debut for Australia in a one-day international in January 1997 - and even more delighted less than a fortnight later when, in only his third match, he claimed a high-class hat-trick to reduce Pakistan to 29 for 5 at the MCG. But that was Stuart's last hurrah - he lost form and, not much more than a year later, couldn't even get into the NSW side.

Hugh Trumble
The tall Victorian offspinner Trumble came closer than anyone else to bowing out of Test cricket with a hat-trick: in the final Ashes Test of 1903-04, he took 7 for 28 to seal a 218-run triumph, and there was only one wicket left after he dismissed Bernard Bosanquet, the touring captain Plum Warner and Dick Lilley with successive deliveries. The last pair added 40 before Trumble finished things off with his last ball in Test (and first-class) cricket. He "bowled in his finest form, and was practically unplayable", according to Wisden.

Dennis Amiss
The last act of Amiss' distinguished international career was to hit the winning boundary in an Ashes Test - at Old Trafford in July 1977. That was Amiss' 50th Test - and his last, as after this the prodigal son, Geoff Boycott, returned to the fold and took his place. The previous month Amiss had played what turned out to be his last one-day international... and made 108 at The Oval.

2012-09-09T07:50:00.002-07:00

The joy of Sachin

For what Sachin Tendulkar has given me over the years, I remain deeply, profoundly, grateful. Those calling for his retirement should be too

Ramachandra Guha

September 8, 2012

Bangalore 2010: vintage Tendulkar © Getty Images

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'I never found cricket very easy'

Warwickshire director of cricket Ashley Giles talks about his eventful journey with the club, during which they went from rock bottom to county champions, and his England aspirations

Ashley Giles.

September 8, 2012

Ashley Giles: "Sometimes you find that the best coaches are the ones who have had to work a bit harder on their game, too." © Getty Images

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Low expectations made Sri Lanka Premium league a success

The first season of the Sri Lanka Premier League ticked a fair few boxes - mainly because few expected it would

Andrew Fernando

September 9, 2012

Angelo Mathews during what he later called his best T20 innings, in the SLPL final © Ron Gaunt/SPORTZPICS/SLPL

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Pick of the league

The innings
Angelo Mathews' unbeaten 73 from 27 balls in the final transformed a stagnating Nagenahira Nagas innings and propelled them to a challenging total.
The spell
Jacob Oram's 3 for 16 from four overs in the first semi-final gutted the Wayamba United middle order and laid the foundation for the biggest upset of the tournament.
The match
Following Oram's burst, and two wickets apiece for Umar Gul and Sachithra Senanayake, Wayamba were reduced to 27 for 7 in pursuit of 172. But a world record 120-run partnership for the eighth wicket between Azhar Mahmood and Isuru Udana breathed unexpected life into the chase, and made for an entertaining finish.
Biggest disappointment
Organisers insist no reserve day could have been named, but the semi-final washout that denied Kandurata Warriors a chance to contest for a place in the final was a poor lead-in to the tournament's climax.
Most notable absentee
Chris Gayle was to be the marquee overseas player for the tournament, until he sustained a groin injury during New Zealand's tour to the West Indies. His team still won the title without him.
Cheerleaders causing distress
The dancing girls at the SLPL were well-covered to suit Sri Lankan sensibilities, but while they were still too racy for many, those who generally enjoyed cheerleaders asked, "If they are not going to show any skin, why have them at all?"
The surprise
Thilan Samaraweera has a reputation for being one of the most obdurate batsmen in the world, but he stuck it to the doubters with a stroke-filled 71 from 45 balls in Pallekele - an innings that included two over-the-shoulder scoops to the boundary.

The few games that did enjoy good support, though, were notable for their lively atmosphere. "It was like an international match, maybe even better," Arnold said, echoing a sentiment several players had already expressed. The music, dancing and horsing around associated with cricket in Sri Lanka were all on show even before the stadiums began to fill, but when the number of partakers grew, so did the party.

"In the later on stages of the tournament, the atmosphere really rocked," says Salim Shaikh, co-owner of the Uva Next franchise. On the night his team upset Wayamba United to go through to the final, the contrasting emotions you would expect at any high-level knockout match were on display at the Premadasa. The Wayamba fans who had been brought in from their province in 15 packed buses were stunned to see their side reduced to 27 for 7. The Uva supporters in the upper tier screamed themselves hoarse. "The crowds didn't shoot up as much as we thought during the tournament, but when they came, you could see that it was very enjoyable for everyone," Shaikh says.

The local TV station that broadcast the SLPL reported that viewership never matched that for an international game, but that it was good enough for advertisers to remain interested and for the broadcast to be profitable. The channel in Bangladesh that aired the tournament could hardly speak more highly of it. They had jumped to second in the ratings from seventh, and they credited the SLPL for providing much of that boost. Interest was good in Pakistan too, given the heavy involvement of Pakistan players in the league, though in India, where organisers had advertised, the SLPL only barely registered. An official YouTube channel showing half a million hits perhaps sums up the tournament viewership: the numbers were not extraordinary, but they were not pathetic either.

In terms of the cricket played, the SLPL provided a platform for local players to perform, and featured several thrilling spells and ravishing innings, but the exciting finishes often seen in other T20 leagues were in short supply. Of the 22 completed matches, only one came down to the last delivery, and perhaps two more were decided in the final over. In preparing sporting pitches conducive to seam movement with the new ball, the tournament missed out on the high-octane innings and tense endings synonymous with the format. One good burst from an opening bowler could burn through the top order and make it difficult to compete. With even the older ball moving around at times, the late-order blitzers were often blunted.

"The standard of cricket has been good, but I won't say great," Uva Next coach Robin Singh said. "The understanding of the format is lacking. When I speak to many of these young players, they have played little of T20 cricket, so they have not understood the game. It's not just slam bang - you need lots of skill as well to play this format. That's why you have seen lots of panic and batsmen getting out."

The weather was show spoiler.

The poor fielding also left a sour taste. Boundaries were waved through widespread legs, sixes were palmed over the ropes, catches were spilled regularly, and the half-chances rarely came off. Inone match in Pallekele, the Nagenahira Nagas dropped four straightforward catches in eight balls to reprieve Mahela Jayawardene, who went on to make the tournament's highest score.

"There is a gap between the IPL and SLPL," Singh said. "The IPL is in its fifth year. The Indian local players have been exposed to a lot more cricket. Even the international pool is bigger in the IPL. The quality is different. You have good international players in the SLPL, but not the best players, for various reasons - board clearance, injuries and so on."

The tournament will take steps towards closing that gap if it proves itself a reliable paymaster, which the star players the first edition lacked will count in the SLPL's favour when deciding whether it is worth their time in future years. Only one franchise fell behind the payment schedule, but this was sorted out before it affected the cricket - though players' organisations say the funds were only transferred after players had threatened withdrawal. A week after the tournament finished, it appears that all players have been paid, though again players' associations are yet to receive confirmation of this.

For now, though, the players and the SLC are the only ones making money from the SLPL, with the board putting its profit at around US$1.6 million. The franchises have collected hefty losses, having paid the tournament organisers and their players, as well as having incurred numerous other operational costs. But despite the lack of returns, they seem largely content. Wayamba United CEO Gaurav Modwel said he saw "potential for growth" in the inaugural SLPL. "The end product was better than what we expected, and we're in it for the long-term, so we're happy with how it went." The same went for Shaikh, who said his franchise would look at transporting even more fans from their province to matches next year. "I think the SLC has to take more of an initiative in the provinces and really make the people aware of the SLPL there," Shaikh said. "But other than that, I think it will be a tournament that will take off in the next few years."

Crucial questions still remain about the SLPL's future. The first season threw up plenty of awkward hurdles, though amongst the myriad problems there was also some good cricket. The league is yet to prove itself profitable, even if investors are willing to stick around in the hope of eventually breaking even. The audience also has not yet given its wholehearted approval, particularly at home, and also in cricket's biggest marketplace, across the strait. The SLPL survived its first foray thanks partly to low expectations, but if it is to make good on its global ambitions and command the IPL-like demand it aspires to, it must attract bigger stars and bigger crowds despite its limited resources. When it returns next year, it will still be a tournament on trial.

2012-09-07T22:22:00.001-07:00

Pakistan take series after Super Over

Pakistan 151 for 4 (Hafeez 45, Jamshed 45) beat Australia 151 for 8 (Bailey 42, Ajmal 2-20) through Super Over

Seldom has the fickleness of Twenty20 been more vident. Pakistan claimed the series against Australia, but did so in circumstances as far removed from the hiding dealt out in the first match as could be imagined. Mohammad Hafeez's team celebrated their victory in the minutes after midnight in Dubai, yet George Bailey's Australians could also take solace from a much-improved display.

Two days after being routed for 89 on the way to a seven-wicket hiding, Australia scrapped to an enthralling tie. They owed much to the captain George Bailey, who on his 30th birthday compiled the most critical and substantial innings of his T20 career to date, proving his worth as a batsman as well as a captain in the process.

But it would be Pakistan's players who were to be jubilant after the extra deliveries were completed. Umar Gul conceded only one boundary in his Super Over while claiming David Warner's wicket, and the 11 runs Pat Cummins had to defend were to prove too few, the teenager delivering a motley collection of short balls that betrayed the draining effect of the contest and offered meat and drink to Umar Akmal and Abdul Razzaq. It was unfair that Cummins be left the loser, for it was he who struck a mighty six to tie the match up.

Warner and Shane Watson had earlier given Australia a suitably quick start before the top order experienced their now familiar difficulties with the high-class spin bowling of Saeed Ajmal. After three overs he had the figures of 2-10, but Ajmal's last ball was to be crashed over the boundary by Bailey to ease the pressure on Australia's chase. Ten were required off the final over, bowled by Razzaq, and Pakistan were expectant when Bailey fell. Cummins conjured a stunning six from the penultimate ball to level the scores, before miscuing the final delivery for a simple catch to force the use of the Super Over.

Mohammad Hafeez and Nasir Jamshed provided the spine of Pakistan's innings with a stand of 76, broken only by a superlative catch by Dan Christian, before Umar and Kamran Akmal hit out freely at the finish in a union of 46. Mitchell Starc bowled with swing, speed and economy on his T20I debut to follow up some fine 50-over efforts in Sharjah, but Brad Hogg endured a more difficult outing and was attacked with some relish by Pakistan's batsmen.

Warner has struggled for batting momentum at times on this trip, but he made a swift start to the chase, punching Hafeez's first ball for six and prospering against the pacemen in the company of Shane Watson. However he was to prove no closer to extricating himself from Ajmal's web, bowled in the off spinner's first over having tried unsuccessfully to switch-hit his first ball.

The wicket brought an immediate halt to Australia's momentum, the rate slipping from almost 10 to less than seven in a handful of balls. Michael Hussey and Watson rallied briefly, before Ajmal's reintroduction had the vice-captain sweeping fatally. When Cameron White was thrown out from backward point the next over, Pakistan sensed a series win.

However Bailey, on his birthday, summoned some telling blows off both spinners and pacemen, overcoming a nervy start to make his most meaningful batting contribution since he was named Australia's T20 captain at the start of the year. Michael and David Hussey both perished, but Bailey kept the equation within sight when he pulled Ajmal's final delivery for a towering six.

Bailey brought the equation down to 12 to win from nine balls with consecutive boundaries off Gul, before Matthew Wade was run out to keep Pakistan breathing. Their pulse strengthened with Bailey's exit, but Cummins forced the contest into extra balls.

Having lost the toss, Australia's opening bowlers found some new ball movement. Hafeez snicked and stroked 12 from the first over of the match, while also surviving a desperately tight LBW appeal to a sharp in-swinger. Starc showed the swing and speed that had made him man of the ODI series, swerving one through Imran Nazir second ball.

Hafeez and Jamshed then combined for a noteworthy partnership, which alternated between the considered and the cantankerous in terms of strokeplay. Jamshed was the beneficiary of an uncharacteristic dropped catch by Michael Hussey from the bowling of his brother David, and capitalised by taking to Hogg in his first overseas international since 2007.

Jamshed's stay was ended by a stupendous diving snare from Dan Christian, sprinting with the flight of the ball and sticking out a despairing hand, then finding with great delight after he landed that the ball had stuck. Watson turfed a less difficult chance from Hafeez off Starc, though he atoned for the error by having Pakistan's captain caught in the deep the following over.

The run-rate had hovered around seven, and helped by a steady diet of full tosses the brothers Akmal took it past 7.5 in the closing overs. Umar would be called on for an encore, as Pakistan enjoyed the right side of the nearest run thing many of them will have seen.

2012-09-07T00:29:00.000-07:00

Wait for Yuvraj

" Will he make a strong comeback "

- Harsha Bhogle

	Yuvraj with Pune IPL Team.

Ostensibly Saturday's match in Visakhapatnam will be between India and New Zealand. I suspect though that 21 of the 22 players on the field will find themselves largely irrelevant as everyone gets engulfed by the hugely emotional return of Yuvraj Singh to a cricket ground.

Though sport is normally played hard, by people unwilling to concede an inch, you can never divorce it from emotion. And I'm sure it will be that way when Yuvraj takes the field, for his sheer presence, a tribute to what modern medicine and the human spirit can combine to achieve, will stir the feelings like few events in cricket have in recent times. It will tug at the heart. New Zealand will seek to get him out first ball but they will be moved too.

It was an unusual selection, though, for Yuvraj hasn't played a game since chemotherapy ate at his strength but, by all accounts, left his resolve untouched. Ordinarily you would have thought that he needed a couple of games to show if the strength had returned and if he was hitting a ball well enough to keep another player out. It was clearly an emotional selection but also one of solidarity with someone who had played outstandingly for India. I don't think either Australia or, in the present dispensation, England would have picked him as quickly but Indians are an emotional people and you will hardly find anyone contesting his selection.

If Yuvraj is indeed fit and on his way to being the player he was, he changes the balance of the Indian team completely. He did that at the World Cup, when he became the allrounder India were looking for. By doing that he gave India an extra slow-bowling option and allowed a batsman to play at No. 7. In T20 cricket he only needs to bowl four overs, or even three or two.

I will also be watching to see how MS Dhoni handles him. Will he straightaway slot him in at No. 4, which is where he belonged in T20 cricket? Will he slot him in as the fifth bowler straightaway? Or will he let him ease his way in? Knowing Dhoni, I won't be surprised if Yuvraj bowls the first over!

That said, I will be very interested in seeing how he approaches playing for India again. He could get caught up in the moment, play the dramatic hero back from the brink, try too hard to make a statement - indeed, try too hard to prove that he is back to being the player he was. It's a tough one but I hope he doesn't, because then his head could be full of a million thoughts swirling uncontrollably, the mind jumping from one objective to the other and fatally letting the present disappear. Nobody will let him forget the significance of the moment but, peculiarly, he will need to if he has to make the best of it.

I remember talking to Nasser Hussain a couple of years ago about handling pressure, and he spoke of how the very best realise they need to do something special and yet are able to treat the moment like any other. I'm sure surgeons have to do that as they approach a life-saving procedure, engulfed by an overwhelming need to be perfect and yet not letting the pressure come in the way of achieving perfection: of knowing it is important and yet pretending it isn't. Lawyers probably need to feel that way on big days, and I know television anchors need to.

Alternatively, Yuvraj can be the kid on the park, just enjoying chasing a ball and hitting it and looking at every moment as another chance. He can play with freedom, look pressure in the eye and say to it, "Go some other place. I am only playing cricket." Keith Miller said famously after the war that pressure was a Messerschmitt up your backside, that playing cricket was just a celebration.

I hope Yuvraj looks at the rest of his playing career as a celebration, as a lifeline thrown his way. I don't know if he will ever be as good as he was, if he can get your heart racing again by the majesty of his strokeplay. But if he can play like he belongs, that's all he needs - he will tell the world a great story.

I will expect nothing from him, just will him on.

2012-09-06T23:37:00.002-07:00

Speed a worry for Sachin.

" Sachin Tendulkar can't escape the fact that his body is naturally slowing down, and his feet will find it increasingly hard to move quickly enough into position against the quick men "

-Martin Crowe

In Bangalore, we may well have seen for the first time Sachin Tendulkar's anger.

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Sachin Tendulkar's instant angry reaction to being bowled by Tim Southee in the second innings in Bangalore was revealing. His raising of his bat as if to strike out at something appeared to be a show of anger at committing one more mistake: missing another straight delivery. Not only has he never before committed mistakes one after another to such an extent, he has also never shown such emotion upon dismissal. It was indeed a striking moment.

For the first time we may well have seen his nerve show signs of twitching. What has been his greatest strength for well over two decades - his mental toughness and calm under pressure - has finally been exposed ever so slightly, leaving him questioning something deep within.

However, it's only the first sign and means his nerve, theoretically, should hold up for a lot longer yet. The problem is, like with many fine players before him, once it starts, it can all come crashing down in a hurry if awareness is not first embraced. As Sanjay Manjreker rightly pointed out, Tendulkar should work his way out of this hole he is in. That's on the mental level, but what about on the physical level?

Let me explain this hole I refer to. As we all know, Tendulkar is in his 40th year, having endured 23 years of constant grind, scoring the ultimate achievement: 100 international centuries. It's remarkable, really, that he has even lasted this long, just as it was that Richard Hadlee did amazing things in his 40th year too.

That Tendulkar has lasted is due to his astonishing, insatiable love for the game. The hunger to continue to score runs for India, the desire to train just as hard as he used to, the mental toughness to put the unprecedented expectations aside - they are all phenomenal attributes.

His other incredible attribute is his eyesight. For those who might say it is failing him, I will challenge that right here and now with a bit of personal scientific fact. Last year when I visited my optometrist to get proper reading glasses, I expressed disappointment that my eyes were failing. He disagreed and asked me if I would undergo the exact same hand-eye reaction test he put me through 20 years ago in Christchurch. I agreed and five minutes later he pulled out the result sheet from 1992 and compared it to the one from the 2011 test. Staggeringly to me, the results clearly showed that I was 25% faster in 2011, at age 49, than I was at 30. Simply put, the eyes had got better, despite my need to have a lens to see the page a foot in front of me.

Hand-eye reaction is not Tendulkar's problem; he probably is better and faster with his hands than he was in 1992. But the one thing that he can't escape from is that the body is naturally slowing down. Firstly, the back and hamstrings are probably 10% less flexible, and his agility and speed down about that much too. Therefore, while the eyes see the ball and the instinctive mind makes the right decision upon seeing it, Tendulkar will naturally find that he is not as quick as before. In particular, it is against fast bowling that his feet and body will find it increasingly hard to move quickly enough into position.



	Turning back the clock physically will call fro a major sacrifice, one that would need total dedication to get there and then maintain it. Question is, will Tendulkar be prepared to do that at this late stage of his career?

Against spin he is absolutely fine and as good as anyone in the world. But despite batting brilliantlyagainst Australia's fast men at the start of the year, a pattern began to emerge in his dismissals: playing on, lbw, clean-bowled. Now, nine months on, every team's analyst will tell every fast-bowling attack that, as New Zealand showed in recent weeks, anything over 135kph pitched up full and his feet and body won't respond quickly or for long enough anymore.

Since Melbourne, where he batted like a dream, like a 29-year-old Tendulkar, it feels now as if the secret is out, and the angry moment from him in Bangalore was a small indicator that he instinctively knows something isn't right. With that moment revealed, everyone bowling to him from here on now knows.

Technically his back foot, and in particular his right heel, is planted in the ground. It is not moving with his front foot; it is arriving too late. His front foot moves and hovers forward as the ball is released, therefore both his feet point to the off side, not straight to the ball, and then inadvertently he starts playing around his front foot and either misses it or gets lbw.

But he can fix it. He can get up onto his toes more and he can start to move his back foot fractionally up and down to get it activated. This will help him to start to move both feet when the ball is closing in.

There is, though, no getting away from the probability that his days of playing fast bowling successfully for any decent length of time are coming to a close. Unless he finds some extra agility and speed, his feet and body will simply not get quicker, or be quick enough. Turning back the clock physically will call fro a major sacrifice, one that would need total dedication to get there and then maintain it. Question is, will he be prepared do that at this late stage of his career?

He isn't a chaser of records, so that can't be a reason to stay on. He isn't the captain, with his team in dire straits, needing him, so that can't be a reason to stay on. He doesn't need anything, really, as he simply has it all, so that can't be it either. So what is it that will keep him going?

Only deep down will Tendulkar know, and playing South Africa next year, the No. 1 Test team, with the best fast attack in the world, will not make whatever that reason is any easier to deal with.

The god, I sadly suspect, is in the twilight of his career. But maybe Manjrekar is right and Tendulkar will be fine. Maybe, it just takes him a little bit more time to hit his stride these days. And if Tendulkar needs a bit more time to get the body striding forward again, we all have the time to wait and watch in awe, even if it's only for one more magic century moment.

Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

2012-09-06T23:27:00.001-07:00

Full name Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar

Born April 24, 1973, Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra

Current age 39 years 136 days

Major teams India, Asia XI, Mumbai, Mumbai Indians,Yorkshire

Nickname Tendlya, Little Master

Playing role Top-order batsman

Batting style Right-hand bat

Bowling style Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak googly

Height 5 ft 5 in

Education Sharadashram Vidyamandir School

In a nutshell Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshipped cricketer in the world, Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game, including those for most runs and hundreds in Tests and ODIs, and most international runs.



	The Indian cricket fan is notoriously fickle. No doubt the middle-aged men in the pavilion of the Chinnaswamy Stadium calling for Tendulkar's retirement earlier this week had been the most vigorous advocates of his being awarded India's highest civilian honour a year ago



	The only way you gain instant success is by buying it and that's not sustainable over a long period. I don't just want to buy ready-made cricketers. I want to take cricketers who are not the finished article and take them on a bit of a journey.