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Showing posts with label Praveen Kumar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Praveen Kumar. Show all posts
Ishant, Irfan and that guy called Praveen.
Ishant doesn’t just have to look like a fast bowler to bowl like one. Beyond the flying hair and the Emirate on his chin, for me, it’s the Baba like calm in those eyes that sort him out. What we see when he bats to save the world. But it’s the whole package, and more so the peripherals that endure him to us.*
Possibly, that’s what makes it so hard for us to let go of Ishant – that, and the recurring memory of the spell at Ponting in Perth. The selectors had been locked in that spell for over three and a half years – then Ishant did not make the World Cup squad, and the spell was broken. Before that, Ishant was being served the you-will-fulfill-the-prophecy quota, match after match after match…
Not too long ago, we refused to let go of Irfan Pathan. If for Ishant it was Ponting and Perth, with Irfan it was first Waugh, Gilchrist and Sydney, and then the Karachi hat-trick. Irfan too, like Ishant, was asked often enough by the selectors, “ek aur khelega?” Which kid won’t play when asked to – no fraught cricketer in his right mind would instead go back to school and work on sorting out his action and head.
Both Irfan and Ishant made their debut when they were 18 and some. Uncanny but both have played almost similar number of tests, with similar returns: Irfan bhai’s bowled in 29 tests for his 100 wickets at an average of 32.26, where as Lamboo’s clocked 33 tests for his 106 wickets at 32.6.
Ishant has the calm, Irfan the glint in the eye. If I was a selector, who knows what I may have done – but the question is, when must we cut the cord with the dream, the dream of what-could-have-been?
It’s baffling to me, that only in this second-tier test series has Praveen Kumar made his test debut. In the last few weeks, the world has learnt for the first time that PK can swing the ball, apparently both ways and will be an asset in England. Before this, he was pegged down as an ODI-wallah bowler. Again, PK’s story traces back to Australia – 2 Man of the match spells (in his 2nd ODI and 1st down under, followed by a second in the CB Finals), over 3 years’ back.
In both finals, PK dismissed Gilchrist and Ponting.
While Irfan, until his reappearance with the Delhi Daredevils, was part of some cozy cricket memory, Ishant and PK are relevant today. Now if only the selectors can be as lenient with PK as they were with the I-men.
I suspect, PK will find it tougher to block his test spot. A fully fit Indian pace bowling attack in order of appearance reads as – Zaks, Ishant, Munaf/Sreesanth and then PK. In one-dayers though, his name should be inked after Zaks.
Possibly, that’s what makes it so hard for us to let go of Ishant – that, and the recurring memory of the spell at Ponting in Perth. The selectors had been locked in that spell for over three and a half years – then Ishant did not make the World Cup squad, and the spell was broken. Before that, Ishant was being served the you-will-fulfill-the-prophecy quota, match after match after match…
Not too long ago, we refused to let go of Irfan Pathan. If for Ishant it was Ponting and Perth, with Irfan it was first Waugh, Gilchrist and Sydney, and then the Karachi hat-trick. Irfan too, like Ishant, was asked often enough by the selectors, “ek aur khelega?” Which kid won’t play when asked to – no fraught cricketer in his right mind would instead go back to school and work on sorting out his action and head.
Both Irfan and Ishant made their debut when they were 18 and some. Uncanny but both have played almost similar number of tests, with similar returns: Irfan bhai’s bowled in 29 tests for his 100 wickets at an average of 32.26, where as Lamboo’s clocked 33 tests for his 106 wickets at 32.6.
Ishant has the calm, Irfan the glint in the eye. If I was a selector, who knows what I may have done – but the question is, when must we cut the cord with the dream, the dream of what-could-have-been?
It’s baffling to me, that only in this second-tier test series has Praveen Kumar made his test debut. In the last few weeks, the world has learnt for the first time that PK can swing the ball, apparently both ways and will be an asset in England. Before this, he was pegged down as an ODI-wallah bowler. Again, PK’s story traces back to Australia – 2 Man of the match spells (in his 2nd ODI and 1st down under, followed by a second in the CB Finals), over 3 years’ back.
In both finals, PK dismissed Gilchrist and Ponting.
While Irfan, until his reappearance with the Delhi Daredevils, was part of some cozy cricket memory, Ishant and PK are relevant today. Now if only the selectors can be as lenient with PK as they were with the I-men.
I suspect, PK will find it tougher to block his test spot. A fully fit Indian pace bowling attack in order of appearance reads as – Zaks, Ishant, Munaf/Sreesanth and then PK. In one-dayers though, his name should be inked after Zaks.
*for me, it's when Ishant refers to Zaheer as The Zaks.
The Night Before (India's nth do or die match)
Kirsten: Boys, we gotta enjoy this – even if it’s a do or die match
MSD: Obviously, there’s no question about that – the boys want to have a fancy dress competition to keep it light. Obviously the theme will be cricket and help in our preparation for the match tomorrow where we take on New Zeal…
Kirsten: Mahi, easy, easy Mahi, this is not a post-match…
Dinesh Karthik aka BossDK enters dressed as the red cheery
Kirsten: DK, DK, DK, when will you get the format right…you gotta be dressed like a white ball
Next, Sehwag enters dressed in his kurta pajama
Kirsten: Viru, what’s the cricket theme…
Sehwag: Of course there has to be a cricket theme…with me the theme is that I can hit them in my sleep…
Everyone cracks up, Sehwag is as deadpan as ever
Next, Jadeja appears, he walks in, walks out, nobody notices, everyone still talking about Viru
MSD: Garry, what about Jadeja…
Kirsten: What about him?
MSD: Obviously we need to comment on his role
Kirsten looks back quizzically, by then Ishant arrives dressed as a spear but the head is missing
Kirsten: Ishant, I get it, you are saying spearhead, but where’s the head…
Ishant: Praveen…
Praveen Kumar appears with just the head
PK: He gave me head…
Everyone cracks up!
And then Yuvi appears, all flash, in shades, twirling his keychain, with the other cool dudes, Rohit Sharma, Viraat Kohli and BossDK in tow
Yuvi: Are we late for the fashion show, guys?
Next are Raina and MSD, both have on them a Harpic bottle and a toilet brush
MSD + Raina: This is to clean their shit.
Batty about batting.
Bhajji is known to be a trendsetter; and while the tri colour was waved before he became the team’s flag bearer, it is his role as a lower order batsman that is turning Indian cricket upside down.
It is a known fact the bowlers refuse to bowl in the nets, they all want a hit. And when some kids aren’t there to turn their arm over, the batsmen have to bowl to the bowlers; that doesn’t make sense but that’s how it is.
If you’re surprised how part-timers like Raina, Sehwag, Yuvraj are stepping up to fulfill the fifth bowler’s role, don’t be – they get plenty of practise in the nets.
This change is visible beyond team India, in the Ranji sides as well – Agarkar bats at 6, and scores runs like he’s making them of his own bowling. Then there’s forever young Piyush Chawla, he’s up at seven, sometimes six, other times eight.
Looks like a perfect candidate for MSD’s side, where batting positions are as provocative as the Kamasutra. Today you’re on top, tomorrow way down, and sometimes you have to make do, sitting sideways, on the bench.
That’s the case with Praveen Kumar; and even though he opened in some games, chipped in with a few handy knocks for India lower down, he just doesn’t have the hair ‘n’ flair of an Ishant. But PK, being the trier he is, is working on it as we speak.
So too Irfan Pathan, who’s played some killer knocks in the Ranji for Baroda; in fact such has been his focus on batting that he often bowls with his bat.
It’s a worrying sign alright, Chawla, Irfan, Praveen, Agarkar, all batty about batting. Who the hell, will bowl? As always, Bhajji will have some answers, once he gets those gloves off.
MasterBlasterman begins…..
It was a fine summer night in Gothamnagar, an anonymous city ensconced somewhere in the hazy outskirts of Maharashtra. The calm was deceptive, for this was not a city devoid of crime. If anything, it bustled with crooks waiting to make an easy rupee or two. However, standing in their path was the city’s greatest ever superhero, the ‘MasterBlasterman’, a masked vigilante whose mere mention brought criminals to their knees. Although not physically intimidating at five foot four inches with tousled curly hair, he nevertheless carried with him a heavy cricket bat to administer punishment with. People adored and even his critics admitted that he was consistent.
However all was not well with our superhero. For twenty years he’d carried the town’s expectations on his own back, intercepting crime at will and thrashing the thugs without mercy. Now, finally, the age was showing. He even had to start using a lighter bat for it was getting too heavy for him. People, who saw him bash criminals, said he did not look the Blasterman of old. His aggression was waning, others opined.
Finally he had had to take an apprentice, Jatman, a village bumpkin who did not know when to stop swinging his bat and didn’t move his feet enough while at it. He only picked him because many felt they looked similar and now with his sidekick losing hair, even that didn’t hold true. But I digress here. Let’s cut back to the chase.
It was a fine summer night. The city’s most feted superhero was looking at his Bat-Light, which was basically a bat with two neon lights on it, one red and one green.
‘How does that work?’ asked Jatman, much to the Master Blaster’s annoyance. He replied tersely, ‘If it glows red, it means we’re out and we have to go. We wait until then’
‘Why do you call yourself ‘MasterBlasterman’?’ asked the ever inquisitive Jatman. ‘Well, ideally I would have liked to call myself Batman’ he said swishing his bat about, making the ‘Adidas’ logo glimmer in the dark. ‘But that didn’t work out because there was already a superhero of that name.’
‘Aila!!’ exclaimed Jatman, only to be given a hard stare by our superhero.
‘How many times have I told you not to mimic me? Remember that time you stole the paint thinner for my Bat-suit, assuming it to be ‘branded shampoo’? Look where that got you…’
Jatman rubbed his bald pate self consciously with a rueful look on his face.
Suddenly the red light went off on the radar. ‘A crime is taking place somewhere and we must stop it! To the Batmobile!’ exclaimed the superhero. Jatman whipped out his cell phone and started calling his mother.
‘Not that mobile, you dodo! The Batmobile!’ he said pointing to a black coloured Ferrari 360.
‘Ohh, Sorry, Rim to Rim free, what to do?’ explained Jatman apologetically much to our hero’s consternation who muttered some choice Marathi invective under his breath.
Nevertheless, they reached the scene of crime without any further misadventure. As Blaster-man parked the Ferrari next to the kerb, they could make out two shadowy figures in front of the local SBI branch. ‘Hmm, as I suspected. Local criminals. That’s RP and PK robbing the bank!’ explained the Master to Jatman. ‘They’re not half the size of the criminals you see abroad…’ ‘Not half as quick either’ he added as an afterthought. ‘Let’s get them early before they settle!’ announced our hero.
As the duo surreptitiously sneaked up to the robbers, a third conspirator ran up from behind and nicked the Blaster-man’s bat from his hands and promptly started doing a break dance in celebration.
‘Freesanth!’ exclaimed the Master. ‘When did this guy get back? It was a setup!!’ RP and PK were grinning maliciously as well. ‘No problem’ said Jatman and proceeded to bash the daylights out of the trio, leaving Freesanth in tears.
‘How did you do that?’ asked our superhero. ‘Oh. It was a flat deck and these guys weren’t doing much. Plus a clear sky is always good news’ offered Jatman, spouting gibberish.
‘Not important! You saved the day! The good people of Gothamnagar will probably give you one of those giant garish cheques as a token of appreciation! I have like a hundred of those but love getting them anyway…’ reminisced the superhero.
‘On that note, could we change the costumes next time? These skin tight outfits don’t flatter me’ said Jatman, pointing to his paunch.
But our superhero was busy readying himself for the camera crews. He was rehearsing under his breath, ‘We did well as a team…..’
Why Doesn’t India Produce a Fast Bowler?
I’ve been cricket crazy for as long as I can remember. The earliest memory that I have is of the dull ache I felt as we slowly but surely committed Hara-kiri at Eden Gardens in WC ’96. In the last 13 years, the more Indian cricket has changed, the more it remains the same. True, we have improved in all departments and are contenders for the best team in the world. However, I couldn’t help suppressing a déjà-vu in the last two ODI’s. At Hyderabad, Sachin went solo as everyone else gave him his deserved limelight by doing as little as possible collectively circa ‘96.
At Guwahati we proved that we are still not beyond catching hold of our own jugular with a vengeance and asphyxiating ourselves, much to the delight of the bemused Australians. That got me thinking about what else hadn’t changed in the last 13 years… The answer: We didn’t have a fast bowler then, we don’t now. In fact, we’ve never had one.
When I say Fast Bowler, I mean a bowler capable of bowling a spell, if not an over at an average speed of 90+mph. The fact that Ashish Nehra bowled ONE delivery at 149.7kph in WC ’03 does not make him a fast bowler. A candidate for Ripley’s, yes, a fast bowler, no. No, Ishant Sharma, contrary to what he thinks, isn’t one either.
A tall, well built(see why Ishant doesn’t qualify? :-)!) pacer who can intimidate the batsman and force him into errors by using sheer pace and bounce has never made his way into the blues. The fact is, EVERY top cricket playing nation on the planet has had at least one fast bowler. Every one of them. Most of them have one in their current roster. Pak, SA & Aus are pretty obvious. NZ with a population of 4.5 million has discovered a Shane Bond. WI have had a number of them from Jermaine Lawson to Fidel Edwards. Their second string XI had a Roach, for god’s sake! Eng have Harmison, Flintoff and even Broad! Sri Lanka have Fernando and Malinga among the prominent ones. In comparison, India’s attack of Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel and Praveen Kumar are rated as LMF, RMF and RM by cricinfo (RM!! Would you believe it! The same as Ganguly!) An aussie attack of Lee, Johnson and Siddle were rated as RF, LF and RFM. Herein lies the difference. Why are we the only nation without a single fast bowler? Many theories have been given, all of which can be discredited with minimal effort.
We are too nice: The most ridiculous hypothesis, given by none other than the batting great Geoffrey Boycott. He actually said that most Indians were nice and lacked the aggression to be fast bowlers, due to their Hindu upbringing and innate hospitality. Anyone who knows a little about the casteist, sexist, puritanical Indian knows that he is not a nice person. If people have been nice to you Mr. Boycott, it is because you are an affluent Caucasian. No offence intended. It is an innate, irksome subservience that makes them nice and not the fact that they are Hindus.
We don’t have supportive pitches: I don’t think the pitches are any different in Pakistan, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh. If anything, we have comparatively better pitches.
We don’t eat meat: I think it is sufficient to say that a lot of us do eat meat these days. At the very least, a sufficient number eat meat to produce a minimum of one fast bowler. This quibble is refined to include only red meat. To be more particular, beef. This is used to conveniently differentiate India from its neighbours. I must admit that beef consumption is on the lower side in India. However, people forget that Indians have many minority communities who do consume beef. We have 100 million Muslims, 20 million Christians and 5 million Zoroastrians and East Indians. Have any of these communities produced a first rate fast bowler?
We have genetic and physical shortcomings: This seems unlikely as not all fast bowlers have superior physiques. Aamer, for example, looks every bit a 17 year old kid except for when he hurls the cherry at 150kph. And even if a majority of Indians are genetically crippled, that still leaves a huge number of people taking into account our 1 billion+ population.
What else can it be? Flawed selection which gives stress to line and length? Not really, as we had a fast bowling competition in India for amateurs which was won by an effort of 135kph! What else? The truth is, I don’t know. I didn’t in 1996, I don’t today….
I rest my case.
By Rohit Pillai
If someone else had made 175
Jatman: Reaches 175 in 27.2 overs, after which India collapses in 5.4 overs and loses by 107 runs. His 175 is criticized after Jatman holds out in an attempt to smash part timer Voges into the Bay of Bengal.
Gambhir: Reaches 175 after long chats, pats, fondles from Jatman. Also, the game is played one year ago when GG was in the form of his life.
Yuvraj: After much abuse from all the Aussies including the 12th man, Yuvi hits the next 4.5 overs for 6s. The 175th run happens by accident – in an attempt to hit his 30th consecutive six, Yuvi is dropped on the boundary. He celebrates abusing everyone including the 12th man, and the 40,000 spectators.
Raina: Dropped no less than half a dozen times doesn’t deter Raina from smashing every ball to midwicket. By the time he reaches 175, no less than 10 fielders (including the keeper) patrol the midwicket boundary.
MSD: Comes in at No. 3 after a bustling start. During the innings his hair grows, mojo returns, and the team resembles his T20 youth brigade. His 175 runs break a record number of bats, ad hoardings, and is declared ‘an ugly yet compelling innings’ by pundits.
Jadeja: Survives the most run-out attempts and third umpire referrals by any batsman in the annals of one-day cricket. The bulk of his 175 runs are made in a partnership with soulmate, Praveen Kumar.
Bhajji: After a rotten day with the ball, Bhaj stakes his claim as a batsman, keeping the allrounder tag intact. Makes a spirited 175 after the bowlers bowl a record number of full tosses wide outside off. Also appears that Watson bowled 100% of his bowling quota to Bhaj.
Praveen Kumar: Comes in when India have nothing to lose except three wickets. Partners Bhajji, Jadeja to a memorable innings during which his eyes grow bigger and bigger.
That’s 8 batsmen who scored 175. Take Sachin and you have 9. Next time, when the Indians take a five for. For what, you ask – for kicks, what else.
some straight points on the one day series...
the first match demonstrated very aptly that this series will be a close one... and as i said earlier the result of the match and eventually series will depend on which team shows more discipline on the field...
india ran very close to an unexpected victory... and while some may say india flattered themselves by the margin of defeat... i wonder what would have happened had the scenario been just the opposite...
one reaction would have been to hail australia for their never say die spirit and they would have gone on to say that this is why australia are a champion side coz even their no. 8 & 9 batsmen can come and contribute to the team cause...
but the more obvious reactions would have been to loathe our bowlers to allow no. 8 & 9 batsmen to score the way bhajji and praveen kumar scored against them... so much for in the name of 'in-depth analysis'...
having said that i think some minor tweaking will do us no harm... i would always prefer sehwag or for that matter gambhir over specialist slipper in sachin with his heavily bandaged forefinger... his natural reaction seems to protect that finger first and thats why his reactions are slow to the catches coming in... and this is also the reason he is not placing his body behind the ball in case the catch comes on the bounce...
any captain who allows nehra to field at long off or long on should seriously think about the man management on the field... and praveen should be told to curb his itch to experiment if he lands couple of balls in the good cordon... and for god sake no short ball... the guy just doesn't have the pace to surprise batsmen... and more over when you can swing both ways by bowling up why ruin the over with a mandatory itch to 'experiment' with length in the name of variations...?
the win has come at a cost to australia... while we will be near full strength tomorrow ozies will be missing lee and mitchell... but somewhere a fan in me wants australia to be beaten with full strength so there is no scope of ifs and buts left in anybodies mind...
Better to have batted and lost than to never have batted at all.
On 7th Sept. during the Corporate Trophy, SP wrote about Praveen Kumar’s batting potential here. Now look what he's gone and done.
On 9th Oct. during the Challenger series, SP wrote about Bhajji as a bowling all-rounder here. Now look what he's gone and done.
On 11th Nov. SP will write about Nehra as India’s next big late order batsman. Don't look.
Happy Bored Day Mad Fast Bowler
The fitness isn’t looking good, he’s off again, and threatens to be for a while. Isn’t that always the case with India’s fast bowlers – sure is with Right Arm Fast. Not Ishant or Praveen but Prafs, Bored Member Prafs. Take a deep breath, live a little, blog a lot. Happy, happy, joy, joy!
Prafs shares his day with Allan Donald, mad or what?
Paging Praveen Kumar
PK is a thinking medium-pacer; that in itself is a crime. To his credit, he is a rough boy, the kind that ZZ TOP immortalise in their songs.
Two back to back man-of-the-matches in Australia weren’t enough – the Indians wanted him to win the 2007 World Cup, didn’t matter if he played in it or not.
PK swings the new ball, bowls the length, just doesn’t have the right length of hair. He also has the presence of mind to alter his length – he has in his repertoire, the bouncer. When bowled, it targets the eyeballs, not the balls. He can also bowl yorkers at the death.
In the 2 ODIs in Lanka, RP Singh was selected ahead of PK – RP has 63 wickets in 55 games @33, economy 5.38. PK has 30 wickets in 24 games @31, economy 4.97.
Both are in their early 20s, both from U.P., both it appears, are on MSD’s radar. Both can slog, just PK opened the batting in the recent Corporate Trophy ahead of Gambhir – he has seven first class 50s, RP has none.
Pick PK for the finals. He may not have the pace, but then neither did Mathews.
Earlier at Bored: From Pathan to Praveen, the Indian allrounder
make praveen kumar don irfan pathan's role as an allrounder...
two interesting things happened in the corporate trophy recently...
praveen kumar opened the innings while his ongc captain, gautam gambhir came down at no. 3...
...and irfan pathan was not deemed fit to play even in the domestic games now...he didn't get a single game for air india red captained by his ipl skipper yuvraj singh... i googled but there was nothing which indicated that he didn't play coz of injury etc... so we can safely assume he didn't play for cricketing reasons...
this got me thinking if praveen has the experience to open in domestic circles... why can't india use him as the all rounder they have been looking for since irfan's demise...?
he bats very late in the order which leaves him with no option but to slog his way thru... i am sure if given responsibility and nurtured by a watchful coach... he has the talent to turn into a good all rounder... much better than other pathan, yusuf pathan... who i still wonder... how has he managed to keep himself floating in the team by doing virtually nothing of note in the odis...
at least this way we can play two front line spinners in harbhajan and mishra with kumar sharing the pace bowling burden with either zaheer (when fit) and ishant or ashish nehra and ishant as of now... making the over all balance of team india look good for all conditions...
Random Praveen Kumar Thoughts
One day at the IPL, while facing Morne Morkel
Fast... Steep Bounce... Must get off strike... Make room and cut... Now... missed... ok lets try again... Now!... yes! contact... run like crazy... Wait, where's the ball... WTF... How did he get it... No don't... B***ch**... Ow... Toe hurts...
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