Punter's Last Bow

He wasn’t the best or most successful batsman of his generation....Sachin Tendulkar would win this vote with a comfortable majority.

He wasn’t the most talented or visually exhilarating batsman on view...the genius of Brian Lara would top this chart.

He wasn’t the most destructive batsman of his era....Adam Gilchrist, Virender Sehwag and Kevin Pietersen would vie for top honours here.

He wasn’t the best captain Australia produced in their recent years of glory –Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh have more deserving claims.

He wasn’t the best fielder we have witnessed (whatever Ian Chappell might say about his hitting the stumps)...there never was and will be another Jonty Rhodes.

However, the very fact that he contents heavily for all these honours, makes Ricky Ponting the undisputable legend that he is.

Batsman Extraordinaire, Most successful captain ever of the most successful team in the history of international cricket, fielder par excellence....and what came as a surprise to many, in his later years he came across as an erudite and sincere thinker about the game.

I remember well 2 Aussie debutants – both sporting goatees, in Perth against Sri Lanka. A frail looking Ricky Ponting was given out LBW for 96 while Stuart Law got an unbeaten 60 odd. While the former went on to be the 2^nd highest test run scorer (at least at the time of his retirement), Law never played another test again.

Those early days of Ponting were marked by a youngster brimming over with talent, yet seemingly bent upon defeating himself – were we witnessing the cricketing equivalent of Paul Gascoigne, many would have wondered. Thankfully for cricket fans around the world, he emerged from those early days of turbulence and steam-lined himself into a batsman befitting legendary status. In his best years (and these were long and glorious), there was none more assured at the crease or with a wider array of strokes. Though he  patented that front foot pull/hook shot of seamers of any pace, there was no dearth of shots of either foot to fast or slow bowlers.

While his detractors readily point to his relative failure to master sub-continent wickets, it may be argued that Ricky really only had that one horror series in 2001, where Harbhajan repeatedly snaffled him up as soon as he had taken guard. He missed the majority of Australia’s victorious 2004 series, but that apart he returned reasonably acceptable returns from his trips to both India and Sri Lanka.

There are plenty of Ponting knocks which spring to mind, but 2 are especially memorable : the unbeaten 140 in the World Cup final of 2003 at the Wanderers and the 156 in the thrilling draw at Old Trafford in the 2005 Ashes. At Johannesburg, not only did he take the entire Indian bowling to the cleaners , but his systematic assault on Harbhajan Singh, so often his tormentor in the past, must have been extremely personally satisfying. The Old Trafford innings was special. While the entire Aussie batting caved in to the swinging wiles of Freddie Flintoff and co, Ricky stood unshakeable at the other end on the fifth day forging late, game saving partnerships with Shane Warne and Brett Lee. Though he was dismissed ere the end, Lee and McGrath saw the game out to a draw – yet another classic finish to that legendary series.

Today as he retires, Ponting is pretty much universally acclaimed as the 2^nd best Aussie batsman of all time.....and that is saying a lot....to be acclaimed as the best among the likes of Trumper, McCabe, Harvey, Chappell, Border, Waugh, Gilchrist is no mean feat. To an Aussie cricketer, there is no higher superlative than to be placed 2^nd best in any cricketing pantheon, almost always certain to be headed by the incomparable Don. Ricky at least managed 8more runs  than Bradman did in his final inning (though its anyone's guess how Robin Peterson matches up with Eric Hollies in the who's who of test spinners).

One wonders how much of a toll captaincy took on his batting in the later years of his career. The ignonimity of 3 Ashes defeats is perhaps enough to explain the clearly perceptible drop in his batting performances in those final years. Unlike Sachin Tendulkar, who came back from a similar slump, less flamboyant but no less effective, Ricky never could quite reinvent himself (the 2011 home series against India apart). Yet his fans and detractors alike, would do better than to remember himself by these final few years.

Remember him for those mountains of run, scored far more often with exhilarating flair and panache than with dogged resistance.

Remember him as the captain of 2, not only victorious,  but unbeaten world cup teams.

And Finally , remember him , for that one Century , which is his and his alone – that neither Bradman nor Tendulkar, neither Warne nor Murali has achieved....a century that is perhaps the pinnacle of all other statistical centuries in the game....a century that has no challenger in the horizon today or in the foreseeable future....a century of test wins.

Test Cricket to the Fore

Celebration of a Spectacular Month's Action

The months of August to October seemed particularly arduous and bleak for a cricket purist. Right from the culmination of the Eng-SA test series, the game was swamped in a needless deluge of slam-bang T-20 tournaments, where cricketers who would never be considered for test matches were suddenly touted as match winners. The world cup is an acceptable format but the biannual format is a bit too much – to give it real credibility, the powers that be should make it a 4 yearly event. What really got my goat was the ridiculous Champions League. A needless,  hare-brained concept, designed only to fill coffers of the richer boards in the ICC. With a packed international test schedule coming up for pretty much all countries , I was particularly bemused to find many so-called esteemed pundits of the game standing on one leg, trying desperately to diplomatically defend the tournament. You needn’t have been Einstein to see that even they didn’t really believe in a jot of anything they themselves said, but as long as their pockets were being suitable lined, the greater good of the game could go to hell for all they cared. So, you have it then, at the very start of the season, Australia and South Africa are missing key personnel, while a lot of India’s T-20 stalwarts are looking battle-worn and jaded.

That notwithstanding – what an outstanding advert the month of November has been for the original and (if I may say so) true format of the game. While the series between SL and NZ and the WI and Bangladesh has seen some exceptional performances (even as I type this out, the Kiwis have eked out a historic test victory in SL), the real eye catching stuff has been happening down under in Oz and in the dust bowls of India.

2 Tests down in each series...and boy, have we seen some riveting cricket and performances for the ages. I can hardly remember any single test batsman in better ball striking form than Michael Clarke is at this point. Neither Tendulkar, nor Ponting , nor even Lara at his sublime best has looked as invincible at the crease at Pup does presently. The duration of this purple patch might last for another year or for another test, but the sheer pleasure of watching the Aussie skipper stride to the crease with his team three down for not a lot against the fiery duo of  Steyn and Morkel is beyond description. If Clarke’s performances are the epitome of batsmanship at its absolute zenith, similar superlatives must be applied to the South African duo of Faf Du Plessis and the seemingly evergreen ‘Man for All Seasons’ Jaques Kallis. Du Plessis’ astonishing rearguard action at Adelaide in his debut test begs to be reckoned among the best fighting, back to the wall knocks in recent years. True, the Aussie attack was a man down and perhaps lacked the necessary punch, yet the concentration and discipline displayed by the youngster would surely have earned the approval from the likes of Cowdrey , Boycott and Gavaskar.  As for Kallis, what can one say.....hobbling on one leg to come up with 2 half centuries of supreme class. Bards of yore would be making ballads of this performance in their days.

Cook and KP : Keystones of the English Arch

What a perfect setting ,then, for Perth.....2 teams , reeling like boxers in the 12^th round , waiting to land that final knockout punch. The Proteas having played their “get Out of Jail” card twice in the first 2 tests will be looking to time that decisive right hook to perfection. Oh! Yes....and its Ricky Ponting’s swansong.....last innings heroics or failure, team rising up for the legend or distracted by the enormity of  the occasion...limitless possibilities ! Enjoy!!!

On now to the intriguing India-England series, tied at 1 apiece after the Mumbai turnaround. I wonder what odds one would have got for the widely derided English team to pull off a ten wicket victory after the Ahmedabad debacle. To be honest , the signs were there in the 2^nd innings. Cook has mastered these tracks and is playing as serenely and confidently as any opposition batsman that I can remember. The Indian batting , bar Pujara, hasn’t really seemed up to scratch (if you discount the Sehwag cameo ....the kind of innings he can seemingly pull off in the middle of a snowstorm) and England were always in with a shot with Swann and Panesar in the house , if they could get their batting sorted.  Cometh, then , the hour and cometh the man !!!

KP !! Could it get any more romantic.....weeks after the sceptical ‘regintegration’ and days after the horror show in Motera , which had Poms worldwide calling for his sacking, Pietersen came up with an inning of rare counterattacking prowess and control, the like likes of which I can only remember twice in India. Tendulkar’s 160 odd on a Chennai turner where he repeatedly slog swept Warne’s ‘around the wicket’ fizzers to, and over the boundary and Adam Gilchrist’s whirlwind century at Mumbai that single handedly swept the first test the Aussie way in 2001. True, the quality of bowling KP faced was probably a tad inferior to that before either Sachin or Gilly, but that should not it any way detract from the sheer brazen skill and bravado on display. More than once I was reminded of Matthew Hayden’s words in his autobiography about VVS Laxman’s strokeplay in the Kolkata miracle of 2001 – “Kids , do not try this at home”.

India may still have that little bit extra to edge out the series but they had better be warned....back in the 2005 Ashes (no matter that they were held in England), the Poms came back after a drubbing at Lords just with a relentless intensity that caught the Aussies of guard......back before the beginning of the series, 5-0 predictions had been made...sound familiar ???

Not much more to write then...but to be thankful to the glorious test matches cricket for having restored the faith....and to sit back and enjoy Perth and Kolkata and Nagpur....if the start is any indication, there is plenty of lip smacking fare on offer. 

The King Abdicates : Lock up the Throne Room

Tribute to Michael Schumacher

There have been sporting heroes and plenty of them.....Some supremely successful, some not to the same extent......from Shane Warne to Alessandro del Piero, from Roger Federer to Ernie Els, from Kobe Bryant to Lance Armstrong (well, at least in those glorious days of innocence)....but there has never been one who has captivated my imagination as much as Michael Schumacher.

In those early days of the nineties, where cable TV introduced me to the joys  of unfettered  sports viewing (up until then restricted to Indian cricket, the world cup football and the latter rounds of Wimbledon) , I still remember the first TV ads of Formula 1 on Star Sports –

“Watch Schumacher and Hill....go Wheel to Wheel....in a nail biting mayhem”

....and then on a fateful Sunday afternoon, I found myself staring at the starting grid of the Hungarian GP. Michael retired from the race after an engine blow-up, while Damon Hill led from start to finish but a connection had been made. I still do not know what it was in that first race that made me a lifelong Schumi faithful....perhaps the fact that he was reigning world champion, or perhaps that the sky blue Benetton car looked so much cooler than the old Williams.....or maybe even to an untrained eye, there was something about the Schumi style. The deal was sealed in 2 exceedingly memorable races later in the season  - at Spa (Belgium) , where he won after starting from 16^th position on the grid and at Nurburgring (in probably the best individual drive I’ve witnessed in nearly 2 decades of F1 viewing) in a crazy wet-dry race, Schumi came out of nowhere to pass leader Jean Alesi, then fell behind after his routine pit stop, covered the entire time gap in 15 odd laps and passed the Frenchman again in the final few laps to seal his victory.

Michael Schumacher’s place my personal hall of fame was sealed......all that remained was for him to cement his name as the greatest in the sport. That for a few years looked exceedingly unlikely in those initial years after the famous move to Ferrari....the multitudes of technical glitches in the first year (still that huge victory in the downpour in Barcelona reaffirmed his genius), the infamous clash with Villenueve , the near miss to Hakkinen and finally the accident at Silverstone which prematurely cut his season short. Leading into the next season, it was almost like now or never for Schumi and boy did he deliver....and thereafter swept all and sundry in a performance of such exhalted dominance by himself and his team, which I am certain will never be matched – so much so , that the rules of the sport had to be drastically altered to bring Michael and Ferrari back into the pack.

Those Sunday evenings in the college TV room were unforgettable....seats were booked in advance almost as if this was India in a major one day international cricket final....there were 2 distinct groups...the ardent Schumi lovers and the Schumi haters....the latter did not seem to mind who won as long as it wasn’t Michael. From Montoya to Coulthard to Kimi to little brother Ralph , they would root for anyone who could be perceived as denying him that inimitable leap on the top of the podium. That single fact alone bears testimony to his greatness.

From what I see and hear today....there are ardent Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton fans...probably some Kimi and Button ones as well.....but back in those heady days of the first part of the noughties.....there were only 2 outcomes to a race...either Schumi won or he didn’t (people, by the beginning of the next race, would forget who’d won the previous one).  For us, his faithful followers, the tone for the coming fortnight was set by his performance on raceday. The standard line on those rare bleak Sunday evenings, over the 9-30 cup of coffee at midway would be “Haar gaye.....ab agle do hafte kharaab niklenge.” It was never “Schumi haar gaya”...always “hum haar gaye”

7 titles (5 in a row with Ferrari), 91 race wins , 60 odd poles and the almost certainly never to be eclipsed record of 13 wins in a year (out of 18 races) – aye Schumi , had done me justice for the faithful support during those shaky initial Ferrari years. Yet, for all those years of unbridled joy, Schumi has done, at least me, and surely a host of other supporters a grave injustice. He spoilt the sport for me to the extent that after his inital retirement – there was almost unease at trying to sit through a race that didn’t have the German on the grid. There were great moments in the sport, but the adrenaline never shot up the way it did in the Schumi years – and almost certainly will never do so again. Vettel is young and may yet get to 7 or more, but he will never consistently blow the field away season after season like the senior German. What’s more , there will scarcely be another singular personality who monopolized the frenzy of all and sundry in a single sport. Roger Federer has a Nadal , Michael Jordan has a Magic, Messi has a Ronaldo....but Schumi at his scintillating best , had only himself for comparison, the rest very too busy trying to unlap themselves.

I winced when Michael announced a return to the sport....perhaps a premonition to what lay ahead – yet faith in his genius and the joy of the caged fan appeased all other anxiety....maybe not a championship but surely race wins would come, maybe even that magic 100 number might be achieved.  With great anticipation I tuned in yet again for his return season. Alas! My hopes were misplaced. In a relatively underperforming machine, Michael struggled to keep up with the pack. The biggest disappointment was his being consistently 2^nd best to teammate Nico Rosberg. Here was the greatest of them all, fighting for mid-table positions against drivers he would have lapped twice in one race in his heyday. Perhaps age had caught up and the reflexes did not allow him to execute what his mind thought was possible- a fair explanation for the myriad of pile ups in his last 2 seasons.

Yet now that he has fittingly called it a day, these final seasons will soon seem like a minor blimp compared to the days of his glory. Michael Jordan’s return with the Washington Wizards does not lower his standing in baseball. In a similar vein, Michael Schumacher’s legacy is set in adamant, at the very top of the sport. He will be remembered for that bicycle ride in Spa before his Jordan debut,  for the maverick early seasons with Benetton and of course for the all consuming domination of his Ferrari- a domination that which brooks little comparison , in this sport or another.

Farewell Michael....thanks for the years of unfettered joy.

An Obituary to a Great Career

Michael Ballack Retires from Professional Football

Michael Ballack’s retirement from professional football has gone down without a lot of fanfare. Rather unfair this, as here was a man who bridged across 2 eras of German football and at times held it up solely on his muscular shoulders when the European powerhouses threatened to slip into a chasm of mediocrity. Make no mistake – German football was in a crisis in the early noughties. The era of Klinsman, Mattheus and Bierhoff was over. Bayern Munich lynchpin Effenberg was at odds with the national team. To make matters worse, there was that night of terror in Munich when Michael Owen ripped apart the old enemy in a 5-1 thrashing. At this time, we in India read about a young man from Bayer Leverkusen named Ballack who was scoring an extra-ordinary number of goals from his midfield position. A naturally gifted shooter off both feet , strong in the air and a penchant for the odd tasty challenge in defence, Ballack was to remain the engine room for the German national team for the entire decade. 

2002 was his Annus Mirabilis. His Leverkusen team defied all odds to reach the Uefa Champions league final where they were taking the fight to the aristocrats of European Football, Real Madrid. That is till Zinedine Zidane decided to take matters into his own hands and unleash that left footed volley from the edge of the box. However, the performance of his team had catapulted Ballack to superstar status, and he lived up to his billing in the ensuing world cup. His crowning moment came in the semi-finals against South Korea where he scored the winner however the game would prove bittersweet as just before his goal a yellow card for a tactical foul had ensured that he would miss the final. There is still speculation on how the final would have panned out had his enforcing midfield presence been there – as it happened Brazil cantered home thanks to a Ronaldo brace but German football had found its newest superstar, and essentially the first since the Klinsman-Mattheus days.

A rather injury curtailed latter half of the decade, first with Bayern Munich and then with Chelsea probably denied him from fulfilling all of that early promise of 2002. However, a national team return of 42 goals from 98 international appearances is an outstanding result for a midfielder. Much more acclaimed strikers have poorer strike rates. Add to it a World Cup runners up and a third place finish along with league titles in Germany and England and the baby-faced German easily slots in as one of the classiest players of the previous decade.

The national team of today , with the likes of Schwienstieger, Muller,  Goetze and Ozil have been predicted to accomplish great deeds – however this team might never have been realised had they not emerged through that evolutionary bottleneck of the early noughties, where at times the national team seemed synonymous with the name Ballack. Hats off to a great career!

The Cup of Dreams

Memories of a Legendary Ryder Cup

The 2012 winning European Team

Pretty much everything that could conceivably be written has been done before , during and after that incredible Ryder Cup at Medinah. Adding my humble words would just like adding a dollop of sugar over the perfectly iced cake. However, I cannot - not write at least something before the emotions wear down. So here goes – my memoires of not just the greatest Ryder cups yet –but one of the more compelling sporting occasions I have ever witnessed.

From the opening tee on Friday till Tiger’s (eventually immaterial) missed four footer in the shadows of Sunday ,  a encyclopaedia could possibly be compiled on the variety of facial expressions. Ian Poulter, of course, would hog a good few chapters in this. I don’t know if it was Arsenal’s defeat against Chelsea that inspired this ardent Gunners fan, or the Sevie spirit ‘in the sky’ message or just the genes that he’s been born with. One of the early comments I heard on Friday was the the Europeans have 4 world number ones in their squad – Rory McIlroy who’s the current No. 1 , Luke Donald and Lee Westwood , the past number ones and Ian Poulter , who always feels that he should be number one. On the evidence of his Saturday and Sunday play , who would disagree? It’s a bit too much to attempt to decipher his single greatest contribution to the event was, but I’ll settle on that remarkable serial birdie finish on the Saturday fourballs – a spectacle which gave his teammates hope and planted that seed of doubt in the till then dominant and supremely confident Americans’ minds. Westwood summed it up perfectly – “For 2014 , the European qualifying for the Ryder Cup will be different – 9 automatic spots , 2 captain’s picks and Poults.” I've never seen Sevie play this event - even his genius and passion could not have been too far ahead of the fiery Englishman.

Poulter: The Look that Killed

The precocious McIlroy wasn’t in the best of form over the first  days , but perhaps all he needed was a miscalculation of his tee time – arrive 8 minutes before – hit a few practice putts , munch a roll –and a few hours later pocket a point for Europe ....easy as you please. Justin Rose- that putt on the 17^th deserves a place in golfing immortality....Martin Kaymer – where have you been for the past 2 years lad ? Paul Lawrie , making mincemeat out of the hottest player on the circuit , Fed Ex Champ, Snedekar – who writes these scripts ??

Oh you poor Americans....what were you thinking on Saturday...actually , Mr Love....what were you thinking Saturday afternoon by benching the ‘jalapeno’ partnership of Phil-Bradley. Sure – Bubba was a great choice for one of the early matches...but surely even an inconsistent Tiger Woods should have been one of the early tee-offs. The aura of Tiger is not yet lost ....and he is still a fearsome beast in one-on-one golf. The best putter in America (Stricker) faltered horribly...while Mr “Nice Guy” Furyk maintained his unblemished record of choking over the home-stretch in events in 2012.

The Iconic Message in the Sky

Sport ,in most cases, follows the expected script – occasionally , the unexpected makes for great viewing – and once in every few years , the seemingly unthinkable and all but mathematically impossible happens : Boston 2004 – Headingly 1981 – Kolkata 2001 – Istanbul 2005 – Miracle on Ice “Lake Placid” . The 2012 Ryder Cup belongs right up there – an absolute privilege to have witnessed a rare iconic moment in sport written in front of you. Is there anything left to view this year in sport that would match this emotion – well – the baseball post season is starting , and the St Louis Cardinals and David Freese look like they might be able to secure another backdoor birth...hmm.

P.S. : In the midst of this historic weekend - I heard that India had beaten Pakistan in a T-20 match somewhere. 

The Fergie Factor

The English Premiership has had me hooked from the time they started broadcasting it in these parts of the world in the early nineties. Even in those embryonic days of regular club football viewing, the name Alex Ferguson (the ‘Sir’ came after the treble in ’99) stood like a colossus, a larger than life figure, a bigger name than all the big name players in his first team at Manchester United. His words carried greater weight in the footballing world (referees, media, administrators) than those of the Ayatollah in Iran.  Since those days, till last night’s daylight robbery for United over Liverpool, I have watched the Premiership intently, as an Arsenal supporter, but otherwise essentially a neutral student of action on and off the pitch.

They say in football, decisions even themselves out for a team over a season. Somehow, for Fergie’s team, they never seem to do. Over the past few seasons, I have seriously given thought of maintaining a stat sheet over the entire season counting the number of incorrect potentially game changing refereeing decisions that go for and against Man U over the course of the entire season. I have never managed to do so, but a random look at this season and the count stands at 2 incorrect penalties awarded and an incorrect red card (still waiting for a decision to go against them).  Wenger, Mourinho, Ancelotti and Mancini  (the other premiership winning managers that I have seen) have all made claims to their side being short changed, but for their teams the whole ‘decisions even themselves out’ factor probably holds true – if anything Mancini has probably been at short end of the stick more often than others.

What then ticks for Fergie and United- I will not go as far to claim that officials are bought off. That would be puerile. However, the undeniable fact remains that the intimidation factor of Sir Alex far weighs heavily in the mind of an official while having to make a split second, game changing call. Imagine the position of the referee while having to officiate on the Welbeck or Valencia ‘dives’ this season.  Even he is wavering towards the side of a non-call, his sub-conscious probably starts weighing up the implications of a post game Fergie rant vs a Brendan Rogers rant, and within the fraction of decision making time, the damage is done. If I had a dime for every time I’ve seen Paul Scholes go unpunished for the type of challenge Shelvey was sent off, I’d have been a far richer man.  

The other thing to factor in this is that over in the European Competitions, this Fergie intimidation factor is lost and you find a lot less managers bemoaning the refereeing advantage to United in Europe.

Sir Alex has even famously targeted referees before a game making statements in his pre-match interviews about how the gentleman had cost his team points in a previous game -  a gambit that has played havoc in the official’s mind before the starting whistle. Would the man then dare brandish an early card for a cynical foul in the opening few minutes of the game?

These issues are greatly downplayed by the media and the English refereeing association is a bad joke and I fathom ,till the great man stays in the job United will get the rub of refereeing green just that wee bit more often than his rivals. What I’d be really interested in seeing is the first Man U season after Sir Alex hangs his boots. While I’m convinced the decisions will be far more even, there’s even a chance that United may suffer from a few awry ones fuelled, by the sub-conscious relief of officials finally free of the yoke of the Fergie factor.  

Previewing a Marquee Weekend

This is the first real marquee weekend of a still embryonic English football season – at least in England where Arsenal travel to Man City and Manchester United play at Anfield against Liverpool.

Matchday of the Season thus Far

Things appear to have somewhat changed , early though the season is, as compared to May for both the Gunners and City.

Back then, Arsenal were dealing with the impending departure of talisman Robin van Persie and desperately looking around for replacements that would enable them to compete and yet meet their business model at the club. The season began with 2 goalless draws and it portended to be another long and weary season for Arsene Wenger. However, the clinical win at Liverpool, the thrashing of Southampton and the crucial (albeit lucky) win at Montpellier has seen a new wave of Optimism sweep through the Emirates. Lucas Podolski and Santi Carzola have settled into the physical nature of the league like ducks to water – the Spaniard has apparently created an astonishing 18 goal scoring chances in the 4 games thus far. While Podolski’s finishing has been far more clinical than what I expected, even more impressive about the German has been his willingness and not altogether negligible skill in dropping back to defend – a crucial factor considering left back Kieran Gibbs has a tendency to go missing at times. The defence has never looked this solid in years and key players like Wilshere , Sagna and Rosicky are on the verge of a first team return.  There are still many questions to be answered ! Will Giroud turn out to be another Chamakh ? The goalkeeping scenario also appears a bit iffy with Szczesny throwing in that howler last week and then injuring himself. While Manone has been safe , he still has a long way to go before proving himself consistently dependable. All in all, the most promising start to the season for Arsenal in years but Sunday will provide the first real acid test of their title credentials.

City, on the other hand, were conspicuous by their relative inactivity in the transfer window. Javi Garcia, Jack Rodwell and Matija Nastasic were not exactly the first names on the big managers’ shopping lists. Though still unbeaten in the league, City got out of jail against Southampton and have looked indifferent at times through a relatively easy opening 4 games (well, perhaps with the Exception of Stoke away). The crippling blow was provided in the mid-week when Real Madrid came back virtually from the dead to snatch that late win at the Bernabeu. If City are to be counted among the European elite, these are the kind of fixtures they must hit back in. They still have the best squad of players in the league and the game against an upbeat Arsenal should be a real treat for the purists with both continental managers likely to put out attacking sides.

Manchester United have bounced back in typical style after the opening day loss at Goodison Park. The RVP solo show against the desperately unlucky Saints followed by the rather more convincing win against Wigan has got the crowd at Trafford (and millions outside) quite enthused. The Man U midfield and defence still look doubtful at times but the brilliance of their wingers (especially if Nani comes to the party) and the best forward line in the Premiership should , on paper, not have too hard a time at Anfield against a winless Liverpool looking desperately short of squad depth.

But then again – this is Man U against Liverpool – and I do not quite know how, but over the past 2 or 3 seasons , the Reds somehow always manage to turn up for these fixtures (the results notwithstanding). I do not expect anything different this time around. With the backdrop of the recent Hillsborough revelations, there never will be a time for a thin quad to punch above their weight. Another classic in store, though, I hope, there are no more of those dreadful Evra-Suarez – will they-wont they-handshake fiascos.

There is a lot of action on hand this weekend apart from the marquee premiership clashes, with the Singapore GP and the Bayern Munich –Schalke clash being other lip smacking offerings. However , keep an eye on the  PGA Tour championship, which  is already halfway through. All eyes will be on a precocious Northern Irishman to see if he can make an unprecedented hat-trick of Fed-Ex cup playoff tournaments. Also, if the 10-inning game I was any indication, the remainder of the Yankees-Athletics series at the Bronx should be a riveting affair, with both teams still harbouring very realistic playoff ambitions.

Happy Viewing !!!

A September Russian Roulette

Analyzing a Lip Smacking MLB Regular Season Finish

As if last season’s September run in wasn’t enough , the 2012 Major League Baseball season is headed towards another roller coaster home stretch with no team still assured of their place in the playoffs and a whole host still interested , especially with 2^nd wild card spot up for grabs this season. So in essence this is how the playoff spots are decided.

The top teams each from the Eastern, Central and Western divisions of the American and the National leagues gain automatic entry with the next two teams with the best overall records facing off in a one game shootout for the fourth playoff spot. Not only does the Russian roulette of the one game playoff , make it imperative for the teams to top their respective divisions but it gives a number of teams added incentive in September to clinch that 2^nd playoff spot.

American League:

July in long gone, when the New York Yankees (East) and the Texas Rangers (West) were being comfortably tipped to top their respective divisions. The Yankees have managed to lose a 10 game lead and are now willing every weary sinew to try and stay atop the Baltimore Orioles (one of the 2 surprise teams of the season) and the “always dangerous in September” Tampa Bay Rays. The Yanks have had their share of injuries with the core pitching staff of CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and Andy Petitte all spending more than enough time on the disabled list. Add to that an inconsistent offence, which has at times been carried on his shoulders by their 38 year old captain, the incomparable Derek Jeter. It’s a miracle that they are still one game atop the AL East and will need the other big bats like Alex Rodriquez and Robinson Cano to step up to win the pennant. Both the Orioles and the Rays have been punching above their weight on the back of some outstanding starting and relief pitching; however over the home stretch you have to believe the Yankee offence would have that little bit extra to scrape through.

Derek Jeter : Captain Fantastic

The AL Central is a neck and neck 2 horse race. The Chicago White Sox have led for the most of the season but the Detroit Tigers are only one game behind. Detroit probably have the best pitcher in the majors in Justin Verlander and the best hitter in Miguel Cabrera and you wonder if it is this quality which might just see them make the grade. It is also imperative for the Central division teams to win their division as both Chicago and Detroit are unlikely to gain the wild card spots if they finish second.

After the start the 2011 World Series Runners Up, the Texas Rangers had , it is startling that the Rangers are only 2 games ahead of the inspired Oakland Athletics – for the uninitiated in India – the same Oakland portrayed in “Moneyball” with the same GM Billy Beane. However, the A’s success this time around hasn’t been due to Moneyball tactics but some outstanding rookie pitching and clean power hitting. If the Playoffs were to begin today , the A’s and Orioles would battle it out for the wild card spot to join the Yanks, Sox and Rangers – however a lot may change since then.

Miggy : Key to the Tigers Challenge

Over in the National League , things are much clearer with the Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds and 2010 World Series Champs, San Francisco Giants having established comfortable leads in their respective divisions. The Atlanta Braves appear to have the first wild card spot all sewn up, and though no one in the Braves camp will have forgotten last season’s September meltdown, surely lightening will not strike twice in successive years for them to squander yet another comfortable lead.

The real battle in the NL is shaping up for the 2^nd wild card spots with likely to be captured by either defending champions the St Louis Cardinals or the star studded LA Dodgers. With veteran ace Chris Carpenter making a long awaited return for the Cards next week and the Dodgers Ace, Clayton Kershaw set for a possible DL stint with a hip injury – pitching might just well be the area which clinches it for the champs ; after all they are no stranger to late September heroics:  Will David Freese please step up !

Two Contrasting Champions

Serena Williams and Andy Murray winning the US Open singles titles were perhaps not altogether the most unexpected occurrences in sport in recent weeks.  Both had clinched the Olympic singles gold for their respective countries and though Andy had faltered somewhat in the hardcourt leadup tournaments , you somehow felt this tournament was destined to be his , especially after Federer was sent packing in the quarters.

An affirmed Legend and another in the making

Serena now surely deserves her place among the absolute top legends of the women’s game – the likes of Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova and Margaret Court. With 15 grand slams, Olympic gold medals, a fair share of doubles crowns, she has easily been the most consistently dominant player over the past decade and a bit.  It was not always thus – at the outset, her sister Venus burst onto the circuit earlier and more successfully and for a while it seemed that Serena would play bridesmaid to her. However while Venus has had her unquestioned moments in the sun, Serena’s career has comfortably outmatched hers.  The 2 sisters span 2 different generations of ladies tennis – right from their initial rivalries with Graf and Lindsay Davenport following to the battles with the Belgian duo of Justine Henin Hardenne and Kim Clijsters and on through to the modern day , where they (Especially Serena) have maintained their hold over the bumper crop of eastern European talent.

Serena’s game never had the panache of a Navratilova at the net, or the gazelle-like court coverage and powerful yet artistic groundstrokes of Steffi. Yet she used and still does to this day the asset she has been amply been blessed with, a cartload of power, which when accurately unleashed makes her nigh unstoppable. Both her playing style and the number of on and off court controversies she has courted, have ensured that she is hardly the most loved player on earth, especially for a generation like ours, for whom the ladies game effectively came to a halt with the retirement of Graf. Yet to not give the American her due would be a great disservice to a true champion of the game.

Andy Murray has been the tearful runner up in more tournaments than he would wish to remember, like his coach Ivan Lendl, losing his first 4 slam finals. For a long time, especially in the light of Djokovic’s awe-inspiring 2011 deeds, Andy seemed destined to remain a distant fourth in the quartet of modern powers, the other 2 being the incomparable Federer and Nadal. The London Olympics proved the perfect catalyst to spark the flame in the emotive Scotsman which has culminated in one of the oldest clichés in British sport finally being laid to rest at Flushing Meadows – the first British winner in a Grand Slam since Fred Perry. The future looks especially rosy for Murray if he can maintain fitness and consistency.  Still only 25 years of age, Andy has just stepped into what should be his most productive 3-4 years of professional tennis.  His rise in form comes at a time when his main rivals have all been dragged back towards the peloton, making Murray, if not the best player on the circuit , a definite favourite every time he enters a tournament. Federer has had a renaissance year but that aura of invincibility has long gone. There are now a number of players (none of them called Nadal) who believe they can beat the great man. Rafa himself has yet to step onto the court after his shock Wimbledon exit, and as the long term recuperation from injury continues , one wonders just what kind of toll his unforgiving style of play has taken on his body.  He may yet come back at the highest level and is still sure to dominate on clay for still some years but we might never the Nadal of late last decade ever again. Djokovic has struggled to reattain the Olympian heights of last season where he was the best , 2^nd best and 3^rd best player on the Tour. The Serb is still a potent force and his rivalry with Murray could well be the defining match-up for this decade , just like the Federer-Nadal showdown in the one.

All in all , Andy Murray has the world at his feet and having overcome that initial Slam hurdle, more  are likely to be just that trifle easier. The big question now on all minds is that having won the Olympic Gold in the hallowed turf of SW19, can Andy make that one step up and win Big W. He for once will be desperately hoping that this is one area where doesn’t end up emulating his coach Lendl. 

A Romance in Oranje

Chronicle of an everlasting love affair with Dutch football

International football for me, pretty much for the entire duration of my life has been a romance in orange – a tragic romance, but an overwhelmingly faithful one nevertheless.

The Netherlands ‘so-so-near-yet-so-far’ loss at the 2010 world cup final....and not just a loss...a loss in the 115^th minute , after Arjen Robben had missed a gilt edged one-on-one with the goalkeeper chance which he normally buries nonchalantly with both his feet tied together and his eyes blindfolded...so continued my seemingly everlasting wait for the Oranje to win at a major international competition since Euro ’88, when Van Basten’s outrageous volley converted me to a dutch football fan for life.

International football from that moment on (culminating in WC 2010) has comprised fleeting moments of pure joy interspersed by the rather more plentifully incessant agony. If Dennis Bergkamp’s three touch bamboozlement of Roberto Ayala in 98 remains the favourite footballing moment in my life, it is mired somewhat like hope in pandora’s box amidst Branco’s incredible free kick , the penalty defeats to Brazil in 98 and Italy in Euro 2000 , Arshavin’s wizardry in Euro 2008 and 2 outrageous goals (in Euro 2004 and WC 2006) from an otherwise average Portugese midfielder bearing the Indianised name of Maniche. Truly, when the Dutch undid the Brazil jinx at last in 2010, coming back from a real pasting in the first half , I believed that the time was nigh when my footballing hopes would be realised akin to those in other sports (Aussie cricket, Lakers in the NBA, Schumi in F1 etc). Andreas Iniesta ensured otherwise deep into injury time and my wait to celebrate dutch footballing glory continued.

Marco van Basten : The Volley of Genius

The one thing football has taught me is that no matter how earth shattering the result, there is always the next game around the corner....and so I waited.... for Euro 2012...knowing full well that Spain were still the strongest team in Europe and Germany, the most promising team on the horizon and well what followed, threatened my support for the Oranje to fatal proportions. The signs were there during Van Marwijk’s entire reign- the fluidity and delight of the Dutch game were replaced by a pragmatic , hard tackling no nonsense football. The team was built around midfield enforcers like Van Bommel and De Jong at the expense of that extra creative player. At the front Robin van Persie has long proved that even when fit, he is not half as good a player in international colours as that in those of his club. Even for battle hardened Holland supporters, it will take time to regain faith in the team after the debacle at the Euros. The Dutch need that one inspirational player to capture the imagination but it is difficult to see who that might be. The core group of RVP , Huntelaar, Schneider, Van de Vaart just lack that little something. Arjen Robben, on talent is probably still the best player in orange but fitness, form and confidence have been all too transient in the enigmatic winger. Dutch football is in crisis and under the dictatorial leadership of Louis Van Gaal, the crisis may either be resolved or deepen along the lines of the French in recent years.

Cutting over to the club football scene - once cable TV featured prominently in our lives in the mid-nineties and the European Leagues became an unavoidable weekly commitment favourites developed in this arena as well. Not unsurprisingly all the teams I have grown to support have or have had strong dutch connections....Arsenal of course , as the home of my favourite footballer through the nineties, the incomparable Bergkamp ; Ajax Amsterdam....well simply because they are dutch and in the mid-nineties were the epitome of footballing artistry (not too dissimilar from the modern day Barcelona) and Barcelona, for in the late nineties-early nougthies they fielded teams with more Dutchmen than Spaniards (counting randomly : Kluivert ,Overmars ,de Boer brothers , Riezeger , van Bronckhorst, Cocu)....while my footballing admiration for Messi’s  team is as great as any that I’ve seen play, their recent holier than thou attitude has somewhat cooled my support for them. Merely the name AC Milan excites the pleasure centres in the brain in fond remembrance of the days of the trio of Van Basten , Gullit and Rijkard. Those days are long gone – Inter Milan and Manchester United have more Dutch players than AC or Arsenal but the early associations have strengthened pretty much into eternal support.

Methinks I shall remain a footballing martyr for life – destined to hope , be disappointed and hope again , but as Ernie recently proved in the Open Championship, maybe once, just that once the never-ending hope of seeing the Oranje win international gold will bear fruit.  

Let the words "Dennis Bergkamp" suffice

Cracks in the Wall

Analyzing India's home series win over the Kiwis

In the end it was a rather facile 2-0 victory for India against a side that have really hit rock bottom in international cricket. Anything other than this result would have been a shock to the Indian system, desperately seeking to regroup after 2 high profile retirements and the horror show in Australia and England.

However to any discerning observer, there are noticeable cracks in the system, which if anything have accentuated over the long sabbatical from the long format. At the face of it, the 2 youngsters in the middle order , Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara were the best Indian batsmen. There are still visible flaws in their technique. Kohli at times plays carelessly around his pads, which might make him a leg before candidate on more helpful pitches and against faster seamers. Pujara has yet to be truly tested against the short and moving wall. However the initial signs are encouraging that though the departure of Dravid and Laxman will still be missed, the Indian middle order might not leave as big a void in the middle as the current Australian lineup shows (especially once Hussey hangs up his boots). For me, Sachin has too often been doubted (by all including me) and proven doubters wrong, to get thinking about three consecutive bowled out dismissals. If anyone can and has sorted out technical issues repeatedly, it is him and I do not doubt that he will overcome this as well. True Dravid started getting bowled repeatedly in the Australia series but I don’t think the Sachin issue is the same. The real challenge for Sachin is to decide when he wants to quit and inform the team well in advance so that the shock may be slowly absorbed. Can you imagine an Indian Test Batting lineup without him, however his recent form might be. Opposition captains from the toss would have a smile on their faces.

The real issue with the Indian batsman is the opening slot. Gambhir is in a totally wrong test mindset. I’ve actually lost track of the number of times he’s played that silly dab into the hands of the keeper or slip over the past year. Not perhaps time for him to be dropped yet, but the Delhi man will be looking over his shoulder with every failed inning. Sehwag has struggled too and though he might come out and score a hundred in a session in any game, I think it would be more prudent to move him down the order and give the prolific Ajinkya Rahane his shot at the top. Rahane has been the most consistent domestic batsman and deserves his chance. Sehwag should take Suresh Raina’s spot in the middle order as the southpaw has frankly never looked like he could make the grade in test cricket.

Sehwag : Time to shift down the order ??

Equally interesting is the slot of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. His impressive counterattacking scores on home pitches can never completely overshadow the fact that his has an abysmal overseas record. Thinking about Dhoni’s spot in the team is likely to generate as much controversy as debating Sachin’s spot, but I feel in the long run, India should look for a different test keeper (especially in overseas conditions).

For a side that restricted its opponents to under 300 in 3 of the 4 innings it bowled, India’s bowling has papered over the cracks in its surfaces. There were glimpses in the 2^nd test even when small partnerships were on that both spinners went on the defence quicker than would be expected. England and Australia will post sterner tests for them and while neither team has the batting mettle that really boasts it can handle spin, the performances of the spinners is likely to be more indicative of what they might produce in overseas conditions – the real test of character for an Indian spinner. The fast bowlers were hardly called upon and hence their performance or form cannot aptly be judged, though Umesh Yadav’s 2^nd test spell was exciting. This boy really is an interesting prospect.

So on the whole, a comfortable series win but for discerning minds , there are cracks to see. The powers that be would do well to take note and sort them out or India’s 8-0 away record is likely to reach double digit figures. 

European Footballing Weekend Summary

If Robin van Persie stays fit and plays over 35 games in the premiership, Manchester United will coast to the title. If the Dutchman could carry a lurching Arsenal to 3^rd place on his shoulders alone, surely this Man U team has that extra bit of pedigree. The defence remains United’s big and surprising worry. However they need to wrap RVP in cotton wool and cross all possible fingers and toes every time he goes away on international duty (and they will come thick and fast given that it is world cup qualifying season).

Arsenal were the English team of the week. A composed defence and a sparkling midfield performance ensured that they took thoroughly deserved honours at Anfield.  The things the Gunners need is to keep that defence fit and to get Olivier Giroud to start scoring. Thus far in the season he’s only managed to look a more refined version of Marouanne Chamakh. If the Frenchman doesn’t heat up soon, Wenger will be enforced to play Lucas Podolski up front instead of the left side, where he’s made such a promising start to his Arsenal career.

In other results of note, City gained a mundane win over QPR while Spurs conceded yet another late equalizer to draw Norwich.

In Spain Real Madrid gained their first la Liga victory of the season while Barcelona maintained their home stranglehold over Valencia thanks to a ripper of a goal from Adriano. The real talking points over the week in Spain were the alleged tears of Christiano Ronaldo after their win. Ronaldo later apparently admitted that there is cause for professional dissatisfaction for his at Madrid. Watch this space - I can already sense Man City and Chelsea reaching for their chequebooks.

European Performance of the Week : Bayern Munich , who after conceding midway through the first half produced at 6 goal blitz in 20 minutes either side of half-time – truly scintillating to watch. 

Chronicling 2 High Profile Retirements

With Kim Clijsters and Andy Roddick announcing that the US Open will be their swansong (the Belgian already out of the tournament), there is a certain inevitability about further retirements of higher profile names in their generation in the not too distant future – notably the likes of Roger Federer and the Williams sisters. Clijsters and Roddick were never the best players of their generation but were both enormous crowd pullers.

Kim and daughter Jada : One of the more enduring tennis images of  recent years

I remember well the days of the late nineties – Steffi Graf was on her way out, the power of the Williams duo was destined to rule the game for the next decade. In the midst of this you heard names of 2 teenagers who were pipped to really take on the battle against the Americans – Martina Hingis and Clijsters. Their careers could not have been more different. Hingis blossomed early , won a slew of grand slams in her teens, reached number one and just when it seemed that the world was at her feet, injuries and loss of form struck from which she never recovered. Klijsters on the other hand looked like the early promise may have been overdone. There were a number of good performances and the odd slam final but the crown somehow always eluded her. Add to it the high profile engagement and subsequent breakup with Lleyton Hewitt and her premature retirement due to injuries, and it seemed that the single US open title would be the only one in her repertoire. However, in one of the more stunning comebacks in sporting history, she returned as a Mum and displayed a level of excellence that fetched her three further slams. Her game was never as artistic as that of her compatriot Justine Henin or as powerful as that of Serena and Venus , but she covered the court with amazing dexterity (all the more commendable as she hardly was the smallest player on the tour). The fact that she was one of the most likeable ladies didn’t hurt her cause. Always smiling, gracious in victory or defeat and without a trace of controversy ever dogging her, Kim became the darling of tennis crowds worldwide (especially in Australia and the US , the scenes of her grand slam triumphs). She leaves a unique legacy in that a post retirement comeback of such success is scarcely likely to be replicated, in the men’s or the women’s game.

Andy Roddick : Good Player in an Era of Legends

I have actually felt sorry for Andy Roddick many a time over his professional career. Pretty much the sole heir to the golden era of American Men’s Tennis, it was always going to be an improbable task to emulate Sampras, Agassi and Courier.  The booming serve was his forte, the powerful forehand a great asset but both his backhand and net skills left a bit to be desired as he was to eventually come up against some of the greatest ever in the game. He won his first (and only) slam in Flushing Meadows before Roger Federer had his first and got tennis writers all over predicting a rivalry for the ages over the years. The rivalry bit was true but the name Roddick didn’t feature in it. He was ever the Ivanisevic to the Sampras of Federer (all those Wimbledon final losses) – and unlike Goran, he will not now get an unlikely name on the trophy. True, he nearly denied Roger his destiny in that 16-14 fifth set final, but that game apart, A-Rod was consistently second best to the Swiss maestro over a host of meetings on all kinds of surfaces.  The emergence of the Nadal and Djokovic pretty much made it impossible for Roddick to sneak in that 2^nd slam. It was inconceivable that all three would play below par in a single tournament and hence , for a player to go the whole way, he would have to produce 2 weeks of scintillating tennis, to outmatch these masters similar to the likes of Krajicek , Safin and Del Potro over the years. It didn’t need rocket science to note that Andy didn’t really have the game for that. Andy was and still remains an immensely likeable fellow with a penchant for the humorous at his press conferences. He leaves the game, probably to his legion of supporters (mostly Americans wondering what happened to their dominance in the men’s game) having underachieved. However to the more pragmatic, Andy will probably be the guy who was overburdened by expectations that perhaps never should have been his lot in the first place. 

Cricket at the Crossroads : Part II - Test Bowling

The test bowling scenario looks to be in better health than its more crowd pleasing counterpart – at any rate there are more exciting young fast bowlers around in test cricket than at any time over the past decade. While marquee names like Steyn, Anderson and Zaheer continue to perform at an exalted level (though you wonder at least if the Indian is not running on borrowed time), names like Pattinson, Cummins, Philander, Roach, Starc, Finn, Yadav and co make fast bowling an extremely enjoyable sight to watch for the connoisseur. Even a few names that have been around for some seasons, have found fresh wind over the last year or so – the likes of Hilfenhaus ,Siddle, Morkel, Broad. The problem that the cricket boards and coaches face with this young and exciting crop, is to battle harden them and keep them free of injuries. Young Cummins, after one of the more spectacular debuts in recent memories (man of the match performance with bat and ball in a test in South Africa) has failed to play another test match, while Pattinson (who ideally along with Starc and Cummins should ideally form a long and potent pace attack for the Aussies) has also had his share of injuries. Though maybe not wrapped in cotton wool, the challenge is for these bowlers to be used wisely, especially in limited overs cricket and the lucrative but potentially career threatening professional leagues. It will be a travesty if any of these young guns go the way of a Simon Jones (though his demise can hardly be attributed to limited overs cricket).

Cummins and Pattinson : The great Aussie hopes

The spin bowling scenario is much more grim and the cupboard looks particularly threadbare, with the possible exception of Pakistan who have couple of decent spinners headed by the controversial but effective Ajmal. Elsewhere, the cricketing world still looks hopefully for heirs to the likes of Warne, Kumble and Murali. Swann is a good bowler but his performance has tailed off over the last  year (India will be the acid test for him). The Aussies have tried all sorts of combinations from Beer to Kreja to Lyon but still have that one spot to fill in an attack which is otherwise world class (so much the pity in that their batting look so fragile). Nowhere is the absence of quality spinners being felt than in their real background – India. Pragyan Ojha is probably the only spinner who looks likely to inherit the no 1 tag with his willingness to attack on any surface. Ashwin’s stellar start to his test career is a bit misleading; all his wicket taking performances have come against the likes of West Indies or New Zealand on turning pitches. He was found woefully exposed in Australia. If he is to cement the number one spinner’s tag, especially in overseas conditions, he has to attack more and show production on wickets offering less assistance. India’s lamentable spin bowling situation is expressed nowhere better than in the fact that Piush Chawla is apparently the 3^rd choice spinner – oh, how the mighty have fallen. Harbhajan Singh has done nothing of note during his fully justified exile from test cricket to warrant a return to the side. Though I have a sneaking suspicion that he may get back into the side for the test against Australia with at least one of our wise men citing how he ran through the Aussies in 2001 (let’s hope this fear and cynicism is grossly misplaced). 

Cricket at the Crossroads : Part I - Test Batting

Cricket is at a crossroads like never before – a bigger paradigm shift than bodyline or the World Series Cricket. This shift has been brought about by not merely a change in attitude of the administrators and the sponsors but by a major attitude change of the fans and the players themselves. This is part of a series of articles in an attempt to dissect the position of each and every format of the game and the likely direction in which they are headed. The following are my observations on the standards of test batting.

The powers that be, media personnel and players (current and past) would have you believe that Test cricket is in the pink of health and there is virtually no encroachment by the shorter forms of the game on the traditional one. I would bet an arm and a bit that all such persons have more than a little divested interest in speaking the way they do. Anyone who has followed test cricket for any length of time will admit that the format is getting increasingly hypoxic. There are obvious and the not so obvious pointers to this.

Hashim Amla : The Best Test Batsman to have emerged in the past 5 years

At the very outset – there has been a drastic drop of crowds at test match venues (even at the most traditional venues. Add to it the progressively increasing refusal of the so-called fans at home to sit and watch test cricket. An increased pace of daily life, overburden of social and professional commitments and the new found method of reading online commentary / scores on the move have no little bearing on this. You would be hard pressed to find even a handful of people who can claim to have watched all 90 overs over the entire duration of a test match. The more convenient evening schedule and an instant result (especially in T-20) make it obviously favourable for viewership in hordes. Furthermore, there is an entire generation of cricket fans which has been brought up idolising the limited overs version and in another decade there will be another generation in place who will consider the IPL as the premier form of the game.  Only England and Australia seem to draw relatively packed houses on all 5 days of a test match. The heart-breaking sights are empty stadia in the Caribbean and at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on the opening session of a test match.

It is the proverbial chicken-egg roundabout to attempt to decipher if crowds are responsible for the declining quality of test cricket or the quality has left the arena empty. But there can be no doubt about the fact that the quality on the pitch in the longer format has probably never seen worse days.

In terms of batting – attempt a quick finger count on the world class batsmen who made their debuts in the first 6 years since 2006 and the ones that have emerged since even discounting the pre 2000 stalwarts (Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis , Dravid, Jayawardene and co).

Of the ones making their international debuts before 2006 , the names who claim a more than decent test record at first thought are the likes of Sehwag, Cook, Pietersen , De Villers, Clarke, Strauss, Bell, Smith, Hussey and maybe a couple of others. On the other hand the only names since then that can probably claim some sort of similar status are Hashim Amla and JonathanTrott ( Even Amla made his debut in 2004 but I'm placing him in the latter as his career really kicked off from 2007) .  The likes of Gambhir , Duminy and Watson have had good seasons followed by prolonged indifferent spells, while promising youngsters like Kohli have a long way to go to prove their test mettle. Not a single opening batsman to have debuted after 2006 can honestly claim to be one of the best in the world. Even that great Aussie assembly line of batsmen appears to have dried up – remember the nineties and early nougthies when the likes of Lehmann, Eliott, Love and Hodge could have walked into any other test side but managed only a handful of tests between them thanks to the sustained brilliance of the likes of the Waughs , Ponting, Hayden, Langer, Martyn, Gilchrist, Clarke and Hussey. India has still to provide a consistent test batsman since Sehwag and Sri Lanka one after the duo of Sangakkara and Jayawardene.

Equally abysmal is the increasingly predominant ‘Tigers at Home- Bunnies away” phenomenon.  True, teams were always strong at home, but you remember great overseas performances like India in Australia, Pakistan in England and South Africa in India. Australia of course won series’ in every country during their world dominance. Over the last couple of years, home dominance has been all the more magnified. England demolish India 4-0 at home and then are promptly whitewashed by Pakistan (with an Indian whitewash in the offing later this year if they don’t sort their act out soon. Non sub-continent bastmen are consistently clueless on turning tracks while those from the sub-continent are whipped decisively by seam and bounce (look at India’s combined 8-0 drubbing last season).

Progressively more batsmen are being inducted into test cricket from the shorter version of the game rather than vice-versa. Stories like David Warner will soon be the norm rather than the exception, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but you hardly expect the likes of Warner and those that follow in his ilk to eke out test careers similar to the likes of a Dravid or a Kallis. Even among the handful of stalwarts of test cricket that exist, there are characters like Chris Gayle and Kevin Pietersen who have compromised their test careers – a number of reasons behind them , but not least being the lure of more lucrative limited overs leagues.

The saddest outcome from this whole scenario has been the increasing absence of top test players from domestic competitions – be it in Australia’a Shield cricket or India’s Ranji Trophy. Some of the great cricketing stores have emerged from teammates taking each other on in domestic competitions. Duels between Marshall and Richards are still talked about in English pubs by the gaffers – how many Indians can remember similar stories between Tendulkar and Kumble. There is a dual rot caused to the system by this malady is: upcoming batsmen miss out on an early opportunity to play with seasoned and more skilful veterans resulting in an increasing gulf between domestic first class cricket and Test. Bowlers similarly miss the opportunity to hone their skills against the ream masters and as a result enter the test scenario undercooked (especially compared to their counterparts from the previous decades) – more on bowlers in the next article.

In recent years I have watched with great anticipation the debuts of touted young batsmen in test cricket – from Cheteshwar Pujara to Usman Khawaja to Johnny Bairstow. Most youngsters have flattered to deceive in recent years. There are occasional bright spots , none brighter than Pujara, but the careers have to be watched and honed carefully especially in the initial years. I fear that if recent history is any guide , the test batting arena is increasingly likely to be littered with an over-smattering of average players with the odd decent one. My greatest fear is a test match in a few years time minus the likes of Tendulkar, Ponting, Kallis, Smith, Pietersen and Jayawardne. For whom would one, even an avowed test enthusiast like me, tune in to watch bat?