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Showing posts with label BCCI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BCCI. Show all posts
The People's Republic of Rishabh Pant.
But skipper, you need to put yourself first for a change
It’s not easy. It’s easy. It’s not easy. It’s easy. It’s not easy...
Is that what it’s like being Rishabh Pant, the captain of Delhi Capitals? To win one match, to lose the next one, to then win one, only to lose the next one. Again, and yet again.
You know how the season started. It wasn’t easy. Most of your gun overseas players were not available. While those who were, didn’t quite turn up.
Yet you started the season with a win against Mumbai Indians. But then you saw, that was the least you could’ve done as a team. If DC’s mega auction saw its strengths of the previous seasons dissipate one by one, MI lost it in style at the table. This seemed far more obvious on the ground.
Yet there have been far more positives for DC, the biggest: Kuldeep Yadav. And your role in backing him has been downright exceptional.
Moving beyond picking him for DC, looking for R Ashwin’s replacement, someone to partner Axar Patel, and regardless of whatever good that happened in the DC backrooms - the bonhomie between Kuldeep and you has been beautiful. The hugs, brotherhood, and love after each wicket, that has reignited the legend of Kulcha.
Beyond the wickets and wins, whether Chahal’s or Kuldeep’s, is the Kulcha love. Indian cricket’s love for these spinning brothers was rolled out in style. Above that, was Chahal’s love and regard for Kuldeep and vice versa. When Kuldeep struck on the field, Chahal struck on Twitter. It was spontaneous. It was stunning. It was a brotherhood of man.
No wonder Kuldeep thanked Chahal, calling him an elder brother, who backed him through his toughest hour. DC often won because of Kuldeep. When he had bite, DC chewed and spat out oppositions.
For most of the tournament, Kuldeep’s wickets were second to only Chahal’s. As his skipper and wicketkeeper, you were masterly. You were all in. Backer. Friend. It was obvious, Kuldeep celebrated each wicket with you, as if it was as much yours as his. This was a great IPL story unfolding right there, and you were its enforcer.
Later, whether you underbowled Kuldeep, whether the wickets dried up, all that paled. You had toasted the season with the emancipation of Kuldeep Yadav. When he said, he didn’t fear being hit, that he wanted Chahal to win the purple cap, that was the spirit of sport. Soaring so high it was breathtaking. That spirit-of-cricket award should just be called Kulcha.
Beyond being Rishabh Pant, you are The People’s Republic of Rishabh Pant.
The camaraderie between Ponting and you. It’s obvious to even the untrained eye, that this is more than coach-captain. Between you and Axar, Warner and you. You and Khaleel. Of course Kuldeep and you. Shaw and you. Shaw and Ponting. These are all extensions of DC’s love mesh. As a captain, this is your greatest achievement.
As I will never tire of saying, how can you not love Rishabh Pant. And I hope you, Rishabh, never lose sight of that, of yourself, of your greatest strength, as a human being.
One of your great gifts is the disarming honesty with which you speak. It may not always be palatable. It may even seem tactless. But this is your core. What makes you-you, to your team, your coach, yourself. And the many roles that you must inhabit.
Prithvi Shaw’s unavailability over the last few games, the repeated Covid-19 outbreaks in the DC camp, being locked up in rooms repeatedly, being unable to train, then turn up and behave like everything is hunky-dory, maybe possible for a less expressive man; not you.
The oft-used phrase for MSD and you is: ‘The master and the apprentice’. Yet when you reacted to a borderline waist-high full toss call, asking your boys to walk off; not too dissimilar to what MS had asked of his players; you were pulled up, fined your entire match fees. Not quite the case with MS, who went scot-free.
***
But what about your season? Where are you with the bat? Has everything off the field gotten to you, or have you performed in spite of it?
After the defeat to CSK, you are not in the top 20 scorers, you are 21st. This is from 10 innings with one not-out. Your batting average and strike-rate may be higher than some above you, but what about your impact? A highest of 44, strike-rate of 152.71, averaging 31.22, a tally of 281 runs, acceptable if you are a finisher – but as a top-order bat?
Your IPL numbers are not too unlike Sanju Samson’s. Like you, he’s a wicketkeeper captain. He’s batted one more innings, scored 321 runs, averaging 32.1, striking 155.82. He is top-order too. He has two 50s though, a highest of 55. Neither of you have kicked on though.
Then there is MS Dhoni, sometimes player, sometimes captain. A floater in the batting order, though more a lower order finisher now: 10 innings, 5 not outs, 163 runs, averaging 32.60, striking at 139.31. And one 50 not out to boot.
Wriddhiman Saha joined the IPL race a tad late but in 6 innings, opening, he has 209 runs, averaging 34.83, striking at 130.
Two spaces below you is the toast of the IPL – Dinesh Karthik. No longer captain, new franchise, wicketkeeper, finisher. 274 runs, 8 not-outs from 12 innings, a highest of 66* (higher than both you and Samson’s top score), a batting average of 68.5 compounded by the not-outs, and a strike rate of 200.
The race for wicketkeeper-batters for the World Cup is on, it’s between Samson, Karthik and you, at best, two will make the squad. But before that, who knows, all there could get a shot in the pre-World Cup matches.
In the previous two seasons, you had taken on damage control mode with Shreyas Iyer, batting deep with a conservative strike rate. This season started similarly, yet somewhere something clicked. You started to play with freedom.
DC’s continuous search for openers has broken whatever momentum Warner-Shaw built together. You have a minimum of three matches left this season. With Shaw’s unavailability, Warner and you are DC’s only top-order bats with striking form.
It’s up to you, what impact you want to bring in the powerplay. Coming in after two early wickets, and going full throttle with a thin middle order, is not letting you break free for long.
The only way you can make a cameo into something substantial is by either opening or moving up to three. And breaking the game in the powerplay with Warner. Anything else is more out of hope and restraint.
And that isn’t quite you.
Go Rishabh, fly away on top. Add to that solitary IPL century from four years ago.
First published here
When the immortals are embraced by mortality.
When the coping skills of Kohli and Indian cricket were severely tested.
Many years back, when Virat Kohli was no less than a cricketing immortal, and India captain, across all three formats, he used to sidestep, almost ironically, and dwell on life and form, how it could all go away, that it wasn’t for keeps.
Even as Virat’s hand held the mike he spoke these words into, he had traversed into the future, into his mortal form.
It was weird. Here we were in a cricket post-match, listening to a man at the peak of his powers, and he was delving into a time and place, where he was at basecamp. Probably looking away at the peak and the climb, and saying he was done, thank you, so long and thank you for the fish.
It’s another thing, Virat stopped eating fish a long time ago, but he never did stop fishing outside that dreaded off stump. That corridor of uncertainty, that labyrinth of loss, that pull of desire that doomed many a batsman on the wane.
As he strutted between cricketing immortality and mortality, often in a single innings, those cover drives, pulled many a believer back into the throes of his romance, only to be duped, when he was felled outside off. Again. And sometimes not even that.
In a series where many other wickets fell, his was inevitably, the one that roped in emotions of promise, romance, a life unfulfilled, culled in its prime.
In Virat’s wicket, both the believers and those that don’t, saw a betrayal. Perhaps we all did, and continue to. As we engulfed in the almost satirical drama of a present day Virat innings, nothing he accomplishes can satiate us.
Nothing. Till he smears us with that 71st ton.
And if and when he does, we will watch in longing. In dreaded longing. In almost an acceptance of doom. Of the times we live in, where the one silver lining, is that Virat innings.
And if not that Virat innings, that unadulterated Virat emotion.
But then, much like that erstwhile Virat innings, the emotion too has been castrated. As also, castigated.
Virat is now that character, in that Virat speech, which even he probably, at his highest high didn’t see himself as.
And as Virat went slip, sliding away, those that could, threw in a few banana peels. To make that slide even more dramatic. Amongst them, Virat too, unknowingly or otherwise, threw a peel too.
He aided his fall, just as he grasped his own rise and spurred it.
Virat, always dramatic. If you get his drama, you probably get him somewhat. A drama that appeared even bigger than the stage he stood on.
***
The soft dismissals. Virat Kohli sweeping, holding out to short-midwicket, really? Virat Kohli scooping one to short-cover? Virat Kohli out for a golden duck. Another Virat Kohli fifty. Another Virat Kohli innings unfulfilled. Another innings, where we the viewers were unfulfilled.
While the dismissals appeared soft on television, is it so? What makes a dismissal soft, appearance? What makes it unlucky? Do these tags serve as a discredit to both the bowler and the batsman?
Yet in Virat’s case, these tags, considered the overall construct and approach of his innings, over the years. How he rarely played in the air, early on. How he eliminated risk to such an extent, most of his one-day centuries could’ve been set to a maestro’s soundtrack – with a slow and steady buildup, those singles, twos, the steady running between the wickets, leading to the occasional tweak, a boundary, only to settle into the reassurance of the humdrum, catapulting into a frenzied buildup, of a sustained explosion of the orchestra, his brutal boundary hitting, once he had secured the piece. The piece was the chase.
The reassurance was both a mathematical and cricketing masterclass of running hard between wickets like few modern day greats could, or had the patience for.
Beyond cricket, Virat Kohli was playing patience, and he was better than most at it.
Yet over the years, this game of patience has been something largely credited to his predecessor.
Had it not been for his mastery of patience, India would have won a fraction of its white ball games.
Before Rohit Sharma started to boss all formats, it was largely Kohli’s prerogative.
***
Virat Kohli has gone away. Incognito.
“Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath your wisdom like a stone”
The judgement on Virat, what he should do, where he’s gone wrong, how he can make amends, as a cricketer, as an individual, as a celebrity, his obligation to us, to society. It doesn’t stop. Virat doesn’t owe us or society anything. What his thoughts and deeds are, his political leanings, are his. But they will continue to be put under the microscope. The idea of Virat sells like little else in India.
His altered state, lack of runs may not always be palatable but then what state of his, ever was? Virat was rarely meant to be palatable.
That he decided to give it to the BCCI masters like some unruly Aussie crowd is another thing. Cricket administration in India has mostly worked in the shadows. Unspoken, political, Machiavellian, platitudes.
For years, in its various tussles with reorganization, the Board was deemed weak. It was when Virat Kohli ruled India’s cricketing realms. That reign only added to Virat’s aura of immortality. It made him forget an old adage in Indian cricket. Something that Virender Sehwag supposedly said to Shoaib Akhtar: “Baap baap hota hai, beta beta”*
The sooner both the Board and Virat accept they’re playing in the same team, the better it will be for Indian cricket. The only loser here is the sport.
Let’s see who’s the bigger man, amongst these titans. Forgive and forget could be the way to go. And may already have happened.
*Who’s your Daddy?
Should Sanjay Manjrekar be given a farewell match as commentator?
Once Sanjay Manjrekar was omitted from the BCCI’s panel of commentators, there was no cricket left to commentate on. While Manjrekar took his omission far more gracefully than Ravindra Jadeja took his criticism as a “bits and pieces cricketer”, there’s no saying how this will end.
Manjrekar has been outspoken in his comment; often something that hasn’t gone down too well with watchers of the game – be it his take on Jadeja or Cheteshwar Pujara, he has minced no words.
But when it comes to his relentless praise of Rohit Sharma through the years, he’s spared no garnish.
Now the preoccupation with Rohit’s talent and unfulfilled promise has not been Manjrekar’s alone – commentators, many of them former cricketers, have spent so much time Rohiting away, it’s surprising Star Sports failed to start a channel for this sole purpose. What would they call it – Star Talent of course.
This could have led to Talent scouts, Talent hunts and a remake of the Hollywood film, The Talented Mr Ripley (rechristened as The Talented Mr Rohit).
Once upon a time, I was a huge fan of Sanjay Manjrekar’s – there I said it. Yes, I even said so on air. On NDTV, on a show titled The evolution of cricket commentary – from close to six years back but yes, I said it. After 30 minutes into the show when asked about our favourite commentator, I mention how commentators work in pairs and how Manjrekar-Chappell were one such pair, with an almost father-son rapport.
Today, when cricket and all sport appeared to have been given a farewell, we must ask ourselves, doesn’t Sanjay deserve a farewell match? Hell, even Ashish Nehra got one. Sachin got two.
Or would the BCCI rather have him go into exile and spawn another ICL and draw Ambati Rayudu back into it again?
There’s much time for thought. I suggest a white ball game where Rohit Sharma will captain, open the batting and speak to Sanjay after the match. It is all he would have dreamed of.
Another thing, Ian Chappell should be invited as well. And if it’s TRPs that Star is after, maybe they seat Sourav, Sachin and Greg Chappell together as well.
After all, they pulled off Bhajji and Hayden, didn’t they? And there will be so much lost time to make up for – who knows, maybe they cage Manjrekar through his stints, promoting the match as Sanjay WildKar. Pujara can make an ODI comeback, what more could Manjrekar ask for? An elephant in the room perhaps.
Next: Should I be given a welcome match on Manjrekar's farewell match?
Sorry to have kept you waiting, Hardik
Welcome
back, Hardik.
Even if
you weren’t 1/10th of the cricketer, even if you could just catch and field and
were a bits and pieces all-rounder, it would be good to see you back.
But you
are more than that. You flew in, and then you flew - what a catch that was.
There is something about you, who knows, maybe even you don’t know yet what it
is, but there are those that do.
Which is
why, after Kohli, Rohit, MS, Bumrah, your name was inked in indelible marker to
make that formidable India XI for the World Cup.
Yet your
name went missing. Just as every voice that could have made a difference went
missing.
It took
Rahul Dravid to speak up for you, in an equal measure of sanity and
understanding.
And with
that, somehow, things appear to have been sorted for now at least.
Perhaps a
lesson for all cricketers: do not expect much from the administration. It’s
beyond them. It reflects in the way the BCCI has been run, and far worse, how
it fails to be run - with the added discomfort of a prop called the Committee
of Administrators (CoA).
Were
things better in Srini’s time?
So, you’re
back, Hardik. How does it feel? Like you got out of jail?
No, you
don’t have to answer that. You don’t have to answer anything.
You are not
answerable.
That’s
what they wanted, and that’s what they should get.
Hardik
Pandya has gone missing. In finding Hardik Pandya, again, India has lost him.
How hard
we try and alter people. To make them suit our definition of what they should
be like.
Great,
Hardik Pandya is palatable now. You will see him as we have seen him for a
while, pokerfaced, answering questions, so deadpan, when it’s only Manjrekar in
the post-match.
Somehow,
Manjrekar has drilled Pandya far more than Karan Johar ever did - in each
interview, he has probed, skilfully, trying to eek something out, something
about the other Hardik Pandya.
But that
was cricket. Hardik Pandya was on his guard. His eyes still, almost lifeless,
his demeanour almost solemn, as if Manjrekar was singing a dirge.
That dirge
which Karn Johar sang, camouflaged with a sexual surge.
Johar was
his friend, buddy, this was Bollywood, not cricket; Hardik Pandya wasn’t a
cricketer, he was so much more, Black Elvis had just entered the building.
Part 2
A while
back, Hardik Pandya posted a video on twitter of his homecoming from an
overseas’ tour - he surprised his father in the middle of the night, waking him
up. A stunned father hugs his son, frantically.
It’s a
dramatic video. Hardik Pandya was dramatic. His father seemed dramatic too.
There are
bits and pieces that people have seen of the Karan Johar interview. There seems
to be plenty of hearsay too. I did watch the video, a few days after it went on
air.
If
anything, it was largely tactless of the two cricketers. Even naïve. Such a
rarity on air, these days. Everyone is tutored enough to be the next Sushmita
Sen.
These two,
they would’ve made it beyond the swimsuit round. But not much further.
Part 3
On January
28, 2019, on his return, Hardik Pandya bowled his full quota of ten overs. In
42 innings so far, this was the 11th occasion that he had bowled all
10 overs. Two caught keeper dismissals, Pandya was pitching it up.
That not
even player of the match, Mohammed Shami bowled his full quota, was a sign from
the captain – we are behind you, Pandya.
Part 4
It’s way
too early to look at Pandya’s numbers and make sense of him as a cricketer. But
in him, is India’s genuine search for a cricketing all-rounder. That’s how
serious Indian cricket is of Hardik Pandya.
That Kapil
Dev’s name continues to be thrown in tandem with his name, is not an accident.
In 11
Tests so far, Hardik Pandya already has a Test century and a five-for. He
scored a Test 50 on debut, a Test century in his third Test. His 112 off 96
balls earned him Man of the match.
His
match-turning spell of 5/28 at Nottingham was sealed with a run a ball 50. But
those are just numbers. And with Pandya, they will, for a while, continue to be
only a small part of the story.
Just as,
India invested long term in Rohit Sharma, and is now served tons for fun, there
is a deep squinting far-away look at the horizon for this 25 year old’s India
future.
After
Hardik Pandya sat on that Coffee Show, much of that promise was being ripped
into – it may have been politically incorrect, even foolish, but none of that
was, arguably, to do with cricket.
That he
was on the show as a cricketer was not by accident either. He was not there as
the painter who reds the town. But Johar’s batteries were all charged for ‘Gimme
Red’.
What else
do you expect on a Johar show? It’s not by accident either that a Bollywood
icon claims to be a virgin on his show.
Anything
goes. It’s just that these two cricketers, didn’t know better. It’s not as if
either Pandya or KL Rahul will become saints after this incident; but don’t be
surprised if they
sound like
car nerds in their next interview-shoot. Maybe they will do an entire interview
where car will be a metaphor for something else. With Queen’s ‘I’m in love with
my car’ playing alongside.
Part 5
Here are
two hugely successful guys in their mid-20s, with 10-12 years best of making
the most of their gifts and talents.
Let’s back
them. Let’s be their strength. If you love the game, know what it is that makes
you love it – it is players like Hardik and Rahul that make those repeated
curtain calls to the clamouring of crowds, after those mighty sixes – they are
to the manor born, they are to the IPL born.
Whichever
team they go to, and by the looks of it, Pandya won’t go far from the Mumbai
Indians, will be enrichened by their funky town cricket.
They are,
by virtue of their skills, flair, approach to the game, a toast to the game.
Not just
the IPL, but who knows, to all formats. Which is why, in spite of Rahul’s
repeated and often baffling failures, one Test series after the other, there is
that glimmer of hope that he will come good. He too is a long term investment.
Part 6
But if
this is how BCCI treats their long term investments, why grudge the bulls and
the bears? In the aftermath of the Johar episode, the BCCI had pulled out of
the Pandya-Rahul investment. It is a matter of both shame and regret. Which is
where the Supreme Court and the CoA come in. The Pandya-Rahul affair is a
pointer to a stinkier mess. It didn’t work well before the changes. But it’s
far worse now. By tying the BCCI arms and legs, it’s Indian cricket that’s
being kicked in the gut.
Part 7
Hardik Pandya
was born on October, 11. Under the same sign as Sehwag and Gambhir. With a
strange balance, comes an even stranger outspoken word and world way.
Try to
curtail him at your own peril. And if you do, don’t be surprised that you may
do more harm than help. Nurture him. He could win you more than the odd cup.
More than the world?
Part 8
This
should have been written much earlier. But it did seem almost premature to
write it before Hardik Pandya’s return to the Indian side. Personally, I did feel
bad for him, almost anxious for his career. In a way, the thought that we may
not see Pandya play again for India, made me value him more than I ever had
before.
Let’s
lighten up now. Here’s to Pandya going red in the head for the fourth ODI.
First published here
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