Ruminations of a Cricket Stalker

Two great batsmen

2011-12-30T16:28:00.000+05:30

Here are the career records of two great batsmen -- arguably, among the all-time greats. These records compare favourably with the likes of Gordon Greenidge, Clive Lloyd, even Greg Chappell and Wally Hammond. Player 1: M Inn NO Runs HS Avg 100 50 95 152 15 7877 217 57.49 29 31 Player 2: M Inn NO Runs HS Avg 100 50 90 153 17 7411 248* 54.49 22

The New Definition of Talent

2011-06-17T09:54:00.003+05:30

Harsha Bhogle has initiated a debate on talent and how to define it, in his article today in the Indian Express (also available on CricInfo and possibly other media outlets). He not only redefines talent, he has even given a formula for it! Or at least, the headline writers at IE have... And it is:"real talent" = ability x hard work + consistencyTo me at least, this is a new term he's inventing

The Allure, and the Pitfalls, of All-time XIs

2010-10-28T16:02:00.002+05:30

It seems like the season for "All-time XIs" has returned with a vengeance, thanks in no small part to CricInfo's series of country-specific XIs, followed up with a World XI. This is really the armchair cricketer's ultimate delight. What better way to indulge your fantasies than to cook up a couple of all-time XIs and imagine (or even better, simulate, perhaps with book cricket!) a game between

Cricket Australia on a roll

2010-06-10T10:44:00.002+05:30

Australian cricket is arguably in decline -- after all, how long could they be expected to dominate as thoroughly as they did? But meanwhile, Cricket Australia seems to be on a roll. At least, they appear to floating some interesting trial balloons!Separate Test and T20 teamsThe first one came a few days ago when James Sutherland, the CEO of Cricket Australia, suggested that Australia could

The Business of IPL

2010-05-27T13:41:00.002+05:30

Another guest post by Satya Prabhakar, the author of that last one I'd posted, dating back to 1994. This one's much more contemporary though, talking about the IPL business model and Lalit Modi.Here's Satya:--------------------------------------------------------------------The success of a business depends on the following, in the order of decreasing importance: opportunity, competition,

A blast from the past

2010-05-16T20:53:00.003+05:30

My last post was an article I had written way back in 1994, in a university student magazine. That very same magazine had another, altogether more remarkable article -- a piece of fiction that, in hindsight, is remarkably close to today's reality! It talks about a city-based cricket league, and the business around it -- thus anticipating the IPL about 12-13 years before it started! It was

The End of an Era?

2010-04-15T18:39:00.003+05:30

No, forgive me, this has nothing to do with the current shenanigans in the cricketing / political world, although currently we might be on the verge of ending an era as well, of innocence, of cricket as a sport, a fine art.As I indicated way back when, this blog is about cricketing ruminations and reminiscences. What follows is an article I wrote when Kapil Dev retired, 16 years ago! It

Book review: "SMG" -- a biography of, well, SMG

2010-03-16T11:14:00.003+05:30

A new biography on my childhood hero -- I just simply had to own it, of course! I'm something of a collector of books on Sunil Gavaskar, so "SMG" was a natural addition to my collection. It's quite possibly the most comprehensive, deeply researched biography on Gavaskar yet."SMG" is written by Devendra Prabhudesai, a PR manager with the BCCI. Turns out that Devendra is from the same school in

Memories from School Cricket

2010-01-20T09:33:00.004+05:30

While I was a "cricket-stalker" from an early age, I wasn't much of a player -- of the organized game, at least! Gully cricket, rubber-ball cricket, all that was fine. But I never even appeared for trials for the school cricket team, something I regret to this day.A classmate of mine however didn't just appear for the trials, he played at various levels of Mumbai cricket -- eventually making it

IPL works, CL doesn't?

2009-10-13T20:16:00.002+05:30

It may be just a trifle early to pass judgment on the Champions League -- the 20-20 tournament between top domestic teams from various cricket-playing countries. But I'll do it anyway. #FAIL! #FLOP! #BORE!Are you watching it? Is anyone? Frankly, I watch it only in passing, if I happen to be channel surfing and there's a game on. Every time there's an ad break (and we all know how often

20-20-20-20?

2009-09-19T17:51:00.002+05:30

Recently, Sachin Tendulkar suggested that 50-over ODIs needed a refresh, and proposed a two-innings contest with 25 overs per innings. Of course the idea is not new, but it has caught some attention because it came from Tendulkar, and because the T20 game has thrown doubt on the future of 50-over ODIs.One thing is clear, the day-long, 50-overs ODI game is dying, and that's a good thing. It's

Book review: Sachin is God!

2009-09-01T22:40:00.002+05:30

Just finished reading an interesting, different sort of cricket book, with the somewhat unwieldy title of "If Cricket is a Religion, Sachin is God".At one level, it's just a biography of Sachin Tendulkar written by a couple of fans, and one might be tempted to dismiss it as a hagiography -- but it's not. It may read somewhat like a statistical analysis of his career, and those of his

Twoodies and One-tup catches

2009-08-13T18:49:00.003+05:30

A lot has been written about local cricket in India, and especially Mumbai. Some good books include:A Maidan View -- The Magic of Indian Cricket, by Mihir BoseGuts & Glory -- the Bombay Cricket Story, by Sandeep BamzaiWickets in the East, by Ramchandra GuhaThese books however tend to focus on the (loosely) organized cricket on the maidans, the storied cricketing grounds like Shivaji Park in

A Munaf and a Kamran...

2009-06-17T20:23:00.002+05:30

What is it with Indian pace bowlers? They seem to start off fast, but dwindle to fast-medium and then medium-fast in no time at all...Take the case of Munaf Patel, who has just been dropped from the Indian ODI team. When he came on to the scene a few years ago, he was touted as the fastest bowler in the country. And he really was sharp - even after making it to the Indian team and playing a

Is Federer the greatest ever?

2009-06-09T13:38:00.002+05:30

I know, I know, this is a cricket blog -- so who's Federer, you ask... But bear with me, this is indeed a cricketing article.Roger Federer's French Open win has ignited this debate on whether he's the best ever tennis player. Even though the question admits to only two answers, there are many shades of opinion! There are those who insist that players cannot be compared across eras, and the

The IPL -- a traditionalist's view

2009-04-18T11:49:00.003+05:30

Are you a traditionalist? Are you one of those (like me), who cringe when they see a crude slog across the line being applauded merrily by the crowd, just because it went for six? You may be wondering what to make of the second edition of the Indian Premier League, which is starting today...Twenty20 has become popular because it found the magic balance between cricket and entertainment. It

The Madness of Sehwag

2009-04-07T09:26:00.004+05:30

"Let him play his natural game", they say about Virender Sehwag... "That's the only way he can play", etc. Is there such a thing as a natural game? Well yes of course, there is. Some batsmen are naturally attacking, some are naturally defensive, and others' games lie somewhere in between.Rahul Dravid for example, sets out to defend his wicket at any cost, and score runs only when a clear

Notes on the New Zealand series

2009-03-27T07:41:00.006+05:30

India's New Zealand tour has gone to plan, so far, for the visitors. If you ignore the T20 result, which is mostly a lottery in these early days of that form of cricket, India have done better than could've been reasonably expected. A comfortable win in the ODI series, and a comprehensive win in the first Test, have demonstrated that this Indian team is easily better at touring than its

When Mumbai's batting ran amuck...

2009-03-05T13:59:00.002+05:30

Given the long and storied history of Mumbai/Bombay cricket, and especially its batting prowess over the years, the title of this post might not immediately suggest a particular game! But I'm referring to one particularly awesome display of Mumbai's batting might -- a Ranji trophy semifinal against Hyderabad during the 1990-91 season.The match was played at the Wankhede stadium at the fag end of

New Zealand, The Final (?) Frontier

2009-02-14T14:54:00.004+05:30

India embarks upon a rare tour of New Zealand this month, and the team has just been announced. In the old days, whenever India toured Australia, they would also tour New Zealand. Of course travel was much tougher, so if you'd already travelled all the way to Australia, might as well hop over to New Zealand and play a few games there. These days, the cricket calendar is so crazy, and driven by

India's batting -- who's next?

2009-01-18T16:35:00.002+05:30

My previous post speculated that we have seen the Golden Era of Indian batting, with the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly. This era is clearly ending, so it's natural to wonder -- and worry -- what next? Or more properly, who's next?An inevitable side-effect of a successful team with several greats is that a whole generation (in cricketing terms) finds itself shut out of

A Golden Era for India's batting?

2009-01-16T18:19:00.007+05:30

India is currently enjoying a rare period of all-round strength in the batting order -- a Golden Era, perhaps? The openers, Sehwag and Gambhir are performing consistently, and the middle-order is dependable. The retirement of Saurav Ganguly has not been keenly felt, because there was a ready replacement (especially for home Tests) in Yuvraj Singh. Nor has the poor form of Rahul Dravid hurt

Is cricket a team sport?

2009-01-01T09:55:00.004+05:30

There appears to be a serious dichotomy in modern-day cricket. Over the past few decades, top-level cricket has become a serious, professional team sport. The origins of this professionalization can probably be traced to the Kerry Packer led World Series Cricket, in the 1970s. Before that, in most cricket-playing countries barring England, the game was not a lucrative career alternative, even

Two cricketing books

2008-12-02T15:41:00.002+05:30

I recently read two cricketing books:Captain Cool - The M.S. Dhoni Story, by Gulu EzekielThe Men Within - A Cricketing Tale, by Harimohan ParuvuCaptain Cool is a very new book - published probably in the second half of this year. It might have the distinction of being the first biography of M.S. Dhoni in a full book form, but that's about the only distinction it can claim. Given that Dhoni's

What's a 'talented' cricketer?

2008-10-27T16:29:00.003+05:30

A while back, I posted this article about batting class, and asked whether it matters any more in this age of slam-bang cricket. A similar but somehow different issue is that of cricketing talent. What constitutes a talent for cricket, and how do coaches and selectors / spotters go about identifying talented cricketers?Make no mistake, talent is (or should be) the primary criterion for