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Showing posts with label Feroz Shah Kotla. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feroz Shah Kotla. Show all posts
A piece of Pant.
When Rishabh came home to the Kotla
At some point, during the one-sided DC vs GT match, when you turn towards the balcony of the Hospitality enclosure, you’re stuck – like everyone else. Rishabh Pant is in the house.
And it appears, all eyes are looking up at him. There is awe in these eyes. There is a deep desire in these eyes – to engage, touch, and be one with Pant.
An extension of these eyes are the phones. They share the same desire as the eyes. Mostly these are fully grown men who have shrunk both in age and behaviour. Some are addressing him as Rishabh, some as sir, some as you; they are wishing him well, and asking the same questions, “When will you be back, sir?” “How’re you feeling, Rishabh?” “Come back soon, Rishabh!” “We miss you!” Pant is in a gold tinted Ray Bans, t-shirt and shorts, with a brace on one knee, standing as a King does, or the Pope, on a balcony, addressing his loyal subjects.
I’m walking towards these camera eyes that are flashing at Rishabh Pant. I cannot bring myself to pull my phone out. It seems too commonplace an act. I look at him and feel a deep sadness for the boy. The questions keep coming at him. Pant keeps replying, he even puts a vague timeline for his return in months. His strapped fingers though have no answers and pretty much have that, ‘Upar wallah jane’ gesture.
Alongside Pant is the DC owner, Parth Jindal, beaming. There are others alongside, also beaming. There is a match on but Pant is the catch of the day. And his proud sponsors are the Delhi Capitals.
By now the officials are appearing and by Pant’s side. BCCI VP, Rajiv Shukla pulls Pant’s cheeks. BCCI secretary, Jay Shah is by Pant’s side. Everyone is talking animatedly to Pant.
By the look of it, this makes for more compelling viewing than DC’s humdrum batting. The match producers have honed in on this fact – the telecast seems to cut to Pant on the balcony more often than to the ads in between overs.
While watching from behind the third-man boundary, it isn’t uncommon to see heads pop up in Pant’s direction – as if to make sure, he’s still there. Pant is. He is there for the full duration of the match, a little much to endure while going through an arduous rehab – arduous more so because of the spineless DC display.
But Pant appears to be in fine spirits. He seems to be chirping as much as he does from behind the stumps. When that familiar voice answers familiar questions, it’s as if he never left the sport. And is just doing another post-match.
While this was Pant’s first appearance at a match after his accident, this does beg the question – how much should he be put through? Was this appearance in consultation with the medics? Does this aid or harm his rehab?
As David Miller rips into the DC bowling, and the crowds start to pull away, they are slowed down – that one last look at Rishabh Pant for the night. He was there. As were we.
Somewhere there, every cricket fan present was probably thankful to see him.
Even though the accident occurred a little more than four months back, seeing Pant in the flesh, makes its devastating impact on the boy and his cricket, far more real. Aided by crutches for support, the somersaulting, singing “Spiderman” seems a far cry away.
With Pant, probably even more than with most in cricket, nothing is a given. Not how he will play the first ball he takes a strike to, not how he will reply when asked a question. Yet that evening, Pant was far more predictable. While everyone wanted a piece of Pant, the cricketer himself, seemed to want a piece of everyone.
But then, isn’t that what draws a performer such as Pant? The extrovert had finally come to his home away from home, the Kotla grounds.
First published at cricket.com here
Don’t try to make a shirt out of Pant.
You can tell
when a cricketer is being hunted - be it by his own demons or those belonging
to the system and its hunting dogs.
The system,
what’s that? It’s most of us really. From the chorus of Dhoni! Dhoni! whenever
Pant slips, to Head coach, Ravi Shastri going public with his criticism of
Pant’s approach or lack thereof.
To Sanjay
Manjrekar, who has made no bones of airing his displeasure on commentary while
watching Pant bat – in the first T20, when Pant lifted a slow bouncer over the
keeper’s head for four, Manjrekar fixated on the lack of grace in the shot.
Forget batting, Manjrekar wants Pant to work on his ballet.
But these
are opinions, of common people, of those in team management and of those in air.
And there’s
only one way for Pant to shut them all up, and it’s down to one of his coach’s
favourite clichés – he has to make his bat do the talking.
Till
recently, in the build-up to this season’s IPL, Rishabh Pant was to the manor
born. He was the face of choice, the daredevil who took on Kohli and Dhoni in
somewhat audacious ads. It obviously did give him some entitlement – you have
to be inhuman to not feel elevated taking on Kohli and Dhoni, albeit in ads.
But that was
that. And starting with those cheeky ads, things started to go downhill. Pant
had had a spectacular 2018 season – 2019 paled in comparison. More so, as the
expectations were far more, and he was now a key player in the mix, perhaps his
franchise’s most vital batsman.
While Pant
was still striking at 162, he was down from 173 in 2018 - 488 runs in 16 matches, down from 684 in 14.
Averaging 37.5, down from 52.6.
***
It didn’t
take much to hurl a comparison with Dhoni at Pant. Pant wasn’t competing with
himself, he was up against Dhoni lore.
In one over,
man of the match, Mushfiqur Rahim was LBW twice – it’s just that India failed
to review. But where does the mind travel to – Dhoni of course. Dhoni the
champion, tactical reviewer – the man who Kohli turns to, the man who makes the
final call with the slightest of pokerfaced nods.
Instead,
here was India, with Pant. So what if captain, Rohit Sharma was at first slip,
and Yuzvendra Chahal was bowling.
Rohit, 32,
with 99 T20Is. Chahal, 29, with 32 T20Is. Pant? Pant, 22 last month, 21 T20Is.
Add to that,
an uncertain Pant, when asked by his captain about an edge, answered in the
affirmative – review lost.
But before
all this was Pant the batsman – and before that were two batsmen, Shikhar
Dhawan and KL Rahul striking below 100.
But somehow
both Manjrekar and Gavaskar decided to be highly vocal in blaming Pant for
Dhawan’s run out.
That very
Dhawan who had earlier in the innings blindly sauntered for a non-existent
single, only to jog back like a senior citizen. That very Dhawan who had hijacked
the innings till the 15th over, for a mind-numbing 41(42). That very
Dhawan who continues to rake in T20s because of his ODI reputation. That very
Dhawan who last scored a half century 12 T20I innings back.
But also
that very Dhawan who notched five 50s in IPL ’19 – and can be a one-man army in
winning tournaments.
Meanwhile,
best not to forget, that this was still the Feroz Shah Kotla pitch. You can
call the stadium what you want, but this pitch was Kotla all the way.
Misread the
pace, think it’s an imposter and you’ll be fooling yourself.
In the end,
Rishabh Pant batted with the knowledge that a headmaster’s ruler isn’t far from
his fingertips. He also batted with the same knowledge as KL Rahul and Shikhar
Dhawan did before him – this is the Kotla. Far too many teams, Delhi Daredevils
especially, have been knocked over for sub 100 scores here. To aim for 120-130,
and then go all out in the last few with wickets in hand is possibly the best
way forward.
Shreyas Iyer
did what he often does at the Kotla – go at the spinners. But even he fell to a
spinner.
Finally,
Pant finished with three 4s, the most by an Indian batsman, his strike rate was
just a shade over 100.
Even VVS
Laxman who rarely if ever criticizes any Indian batsman felt Pant needs to work
on his singles early on.
It may not
be wrong to say, here at least, he learns from the best in the business –
Dhoni, who else.
Or is
everyone too blind-sighted to see the dot-ball collective at the start of a
Dhoni innings?
But no, when
Dhoni does it, it’s with the knowledge that he will accelerate later on. When
Pant does it, even if it’s the Kotla, it’s just a free for all for meme wallahs.
***
Players like
KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya could well be easy targets for the
media. But each one still has the wherewithal to be a once in a generation limited
overs’ player. More so, T20 masters.
India sadly
lacks such players – over the years, they have embraced ODI batsmanship far
more readily, possibly because the very format is an ode to the Dhoni and Kohli
schools of cricket.
T20 however,
much as it can be programmed, also demands something far more impulsive, almost
manic. Surely not in all 6-7 batsmen, but having the oddball Mad Max is where
you toast the very format.
And Ravi
boss, you can’t throw caution to the winds without factoring in failure.
Accepting the latter will help you tap into the best of your players. Unless
you want all your batsmen to bat like each other.
***
India and
Delhi Capitals will be best served not to try and make a shirt out of Pant. Isn’t
it obvious, he was not meant to be top half material. As they say, the fun
starts when Pant comes down.
Open Letter to Gautam Gambhir
Dear Gautam,
Let me take this opportunity to wish you and the rest of the Daredevils the best of luck for the remainder of the IPL season. I am not wishing you luck because I'm a Daredevils supporter. I am doing so because you and your mobile sharing buddy have taken it upon yourselves to put the team in a mess game after game. What's more, both of you have chosen the same mode of self-destruction.
I have never gone beyond club cricket so you may not care about my opinion. But it didn't stop the black-haired blondes of Bollywood to unfairly criticise you so I reckon I can say a word or two.
I understand Twenty20 is a fast-paced format. I also know it's a format where the presence of bowlers is considered to be an inconvenience. You and your peers have turned into spoilt brats who piss themselves if the ball does anything off the pitch. Your teammates who endure injuries to their ankles, knees, back, shoulders, elbows while you and your fellow batsmen make the most of flat tracks, shortening boundaries, bigger bats, knight-like protection and biased rules.
It must be hard as a batsman to bat on a pitch which makes you look like a bunch of buffoons. I hope some of your bowling teammates knock some sense into your thick head after yesterday's shitshow. Sure the bounce was low. Sure the ball didn't come on to the bat the way your lot wants it it. But it's not like you were in any physical danger. Half your players have played in these conditions for years. You even had the advantage of winning the toss. So stop bitching about the pitch and get on with it. The pitch didn't run you out, did it? Neither did it fool your buddy into playing an atrocious shot first ball. You had strong words for those Royals after you pummeled them in similar conditions, maybe you need to use those words on you and your batsmen after they frittered away the advantage against the worst team in the league.
If you would rather play away games make sure you play for some other team from next season because I would hate of see my side being led by a pussy who cringes at the prospect of a challenge from the bowlers.
Sincerely,
Mahek
Hockey with Sachin, match fixing and what not
I made it to the National Stadium for the India-Spain game, with a Spanish friend, and then another Spanish friend. So it wasn’t just in the middle that we was outnumbered. It’s so easy to love hockey, even the fulltime scoreboard Aus 12 SAF 0 made me gleeful. Was I having another of those euphoric sports’ moments, or had Sehwag and Sachin pulled on my heartstrings too?
Then the Pak England game. It was clear the crowd was behind Pak, and that puzzled Tito more than me. Part of me still thinks the crowd surprised themselves, but this is Delhi – and the Punjabiness of the city will always lay claim to a bizarre sense of bonhomie, one that often defies logic.
What did it for me though was, one when Pak scored, and we all went nuts – almost like India had scored against Pak. And secondly, when the Poms went crazy scoring, the chants of, “match fixing, match fixing!” There was this point when an Englishman went down, and there was a repeated call for an “undertaker”.
Next, the India-Spain game. I was happy to be there, right up in the people’s pavilion, in the 100 buck stand – what atmosphere, who needs hooch, we was high on ball possession. And that’s the tricky bit, first fifteen minutes were it for India – sweeping interceptions, dazzling stick work, almost too much, too early.
I expected, if we don’t score now, we’ve had it. The backing vocals were in good voice, “Sachin! Sachin! Sachin!” Only in India. There was even a mention of Saed Anwar. Clearly some guys were having a damn good time.
Before the game I was thinking, our hockey needs to take a leaf out of the cricket. Maybe even smoke it. But they will be well served if Indian hockey lays claim on some home advantage too – abandon the Astroturf. Get the good old grass back. Better still, move the games to the Kotla. Then we’ll see who are World Champions. You'll be lucky if the game goes on till half time.
Sangakkara: Abandon this match
Not quite the Kotla but the Shere Bangla National stadium has been equally bad for Sangakkara. Both games Thiranga knocked over for nothing; 0-1, where do you go from there – the second wicket, Dilshan again. When it was 42/2, Sanga saw that Kotla score flash before his eyes.
60/3, 61/4 – similar scores again, heck, where am I? Is this the Kotla again? Sanga wanted to call his men off, but there was one minor glitch – he was batting. He had to get out to call them off; or could he take a toilet break and call his partner, it seemed absurd.
66/5 – where had he seen that score, the Kotla again. Has to be that son of a pitch again! Sanga after the Kotla experience had taken to vulgar substitutions, with grammar too.
Damn, and that 5th wicket, a run out again. Creepy, he said to himself. Then he walked up to the umpires, they didn’t seem familiar – where are Erasmus and Tarapore? And where is my good man, Alan Hurst. But the inept match referee was nowhere to be seen.
Sanga flashed that sly joker smile; aaah this is not the Kotla.
The match went on and on, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 went down. Sanga thought he was playing in Mirpur, how delusional can you be?
What's the size after XXX? UV obviously
One heard some unconfirmed dressing room whispers about Yuvraj Singh on Chindhia TV today. Some may find them in poor taste but not unfit for public consumption; essentially the same argument that went in the making of the Kotla pitch. Daljit paaji was fired by that BCCI for his shoddy job. One has another BCC! to answer to as well.
It is learnt that Yuvi's earlier nickname was BosSUV. Basically Boss UV because he looked like a SUV (a Tata SUMO to be precise) and he drove like a SUV. Some also tried to assign family car values to him but such outrageous suggestions were promptly nipped in the bud. But once BossDK happened the team were resigned to call him UV.
It seems Team India has asked for a full time geologist from the BCCI to be on their security team. He will go and inspect the venue of the future matches and will have to report on the fitness of the outfield. A poor bumpy outfield with patches of grass won't be deemed unfit. But any signs of fault lines along the tectonic plates of the earth on which the venue is situated will be seriously dealt with. A red flag from the geologist will result in UV being declared unfit for that match. Rumors abound that UV didn't play at Kotla for the same reason.
A deeper probe revealed that UV's body mass thudding on the ground could cause severe earthquakes and hence would constitute a breach of Team India's security. The Sri Lankans called off the Kotla match because they were ragged by the Indians chattering that UV was sitting in the dressing room. They just went ahead and blamed the 'poor' pitch. (Note the operative word being used is poor and not unfit)
Our sources further reveal that UV throws a fit (he is unfit to throw a ball anyway) when anybody discusses the rising prices of potatoes in the dressing room. That was after he thought he had heard Bajji whispering 'Junior Inzi' in his sleep.
A senior member in the team who was called Grandpa by UV has started the rumor that UV was the inventor of the Velcro that made the tying of shoe laces activity defunct.
Another story doing rounds is that UV went to the team physio and complained of his entire body aching. UV touched his cheek with his hand and winced. UV touched his stomach with his hand and both of them winced. UV touched his head with his hand and almost cried out in pain. The physio said - "I think you have hurt your finger. We need to put a plaster on it."
More on UV later
7 villains of the Kotla fiasco
1. Daljit Singh: For saying it’s a common sense that a pitch is never at its best in the first 6-12 months and also revealing that the entire square at Kotla, which houses seven pitches, was relaid in April;
2. Vijay Bahadur Mishra: A scam, a hoax. He is a DDCA Sports Committee member who doubles up as curator! He is basically a kit-seller. Talk to any of the kids and they would tell you it’s mandatory for them to buy his stuff only;
3. Chetan Chauhan: For saying Sangakkara & Co chickened out. They should have waited till someone got decapitated, he perhaps meant. He said he played on worse tracks. But then we too stayed in caves at some point of time;
4. Arun Jaitley: The holy cow at DDCA who needs the goons for those proxy votes but still claims that moral high ground;
5. Sports Committee: An assortment of petty criminals, shady thugs and middlemen who can’t tell a mid-on from a midwicket but have completely hijacked DDCA with Jaitley’s quiet patronage;
6. BCCI Tour and Fixture Committee: For their association-appeasing rotation policy, which they often conveniently bend whenever it suits them. Lalit Modi & Co don’t consider weather/ground conditions/schedule when doling out matches. They knew Delhi is unfit to host any match at least till April next year but still they scheduled it here;
And finally
7. Kotla crowd: For their sheer lethargy that allowed the DDCA officials to return unscathed from the ground.
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