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Showing posts with label Run out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Run out. Show all posts
Still life with Amit Mishra.
This story is inspired by Amit Mishra's run out on 8th May, 2014.
Before Walter Mitty’s secret world and Mungerilal’s dreamscapes, there was Amit Mishra. A stationery object, unmoved by the futility of movement, a master of the Zen of Pause. An inspiration for artists, among others, U2’s Running to stand still.
In a way, Gauti was pleased, his friend was doing well enough to be his companion on tour. Four years after his Test debut, Amit Mishra would make his. Between them, 171 runs and 7 wickets.
Before Walter Mitty’s secret world and Mungerilal’s dreamscapes, there was Amit Mishra. A stationery object, unmoved by the futility of movement, a master of the Zen of Pause. An inspiration for artists, among others, U2’s Running to stand still.
Amit Mishra was not always like this. He was far worse. A
love for sport was discovered at an early age by accident. When he was yawning
at the boundary and a fierce flat-hit lodged itself in his outstretched arms.
Amit Mishra was cranky, the ball had broken his breathing patterns – he had
reluctantly mastered the merits of breathe-in, breathe out, during yoga. His
favourite Asan, the Shavasana (Corpse-asan) where you lie flat on your back, arms outstretched, doing nothing. As per the yoga teacher, Shavasana
was a wind-down after the somewhat more rigorous Surya
Namaskars.
Not for Amit Mishra. He wanted to start class with the Shavasana. The only time he showed any
enthusiasm was when he eyed the mat with a sparkle in his eye; soon to be
doused. 'Flat on the mat' was a rap song, Ma’ Odumbe, his Kenyan friend would
sing for him. Of course, his full name was Maurice Odumbe, but Amit’s love for
minimum-effort drove him to circumcise his name.
When everyone’s idea of a beach holiday was Goa, Amit Mishra’s
was The Dead Sea. Fearing his family would bully him into water sports, Mishra
stuck pictures of Thai beaches on the Jordan brochure. Once there, Amit Mishra even dragged his yoga
mat into The Dead Sea attempting the Shavasana.
He wrote in his diary that day, “Shavasana
& Dead Sea, these are a few of my favourite”
When the family posed for photographs, he
demanded deadpan expressions. This joke was lost on everyone including Amit
Mishra. However, deadpan was one of his favourite expressions – his buddy,
Gauti, had used it whilst ordering pan fried pizzas, saying, you guessed it, “Deadpan
pizza for Amit Mishra”. At first he
sulked, but when Gauti told him it was a joke, he laughed a tad, fast retiring
to his stupor.
There was also a misplaced love for the shot put. What drew
Amit Mishra to the sport first were the confines of the circle – yeah, I can
stay there all day, he muttered. The tough part was lifting the shot and then
hurling it. He asked if he could perch on the shot and be hurled instead? To
his credit, he was the only enlisted-athlete (forgive the expression) who was
never-fouled for leaving the circle. What
endeared him to the shot put even more was the knowledge that it had been part
of the modern Olympics since 1896 – he loved all things old, as in his mind he
equated them to immobility.
His friendship with Gauti meant cricket would soon be thrust
upon him. Gauti loved to bat, but even more than that, he loved to smash
spinners – especially left arm spinners. For a while, he made Amit Mishra bowl
left arm spin. That backfired. The ball would invariably be bowled towards mid on - the
next best thing, Gauti taught him leg spin. Gauti was ambitious, and wanted to
smash other deliveries too, the googly and the full toss were added. And post match interviews.
It took a few dismissals for Gauti to realise he had created
a Mishraenstein. Gauti asked him to concentrate on the full toss. But such was
his friend’s accidental guile, the googly would come out instead.
In a way, Gauti was pleased, his friend was doing well enough to be his companion on tour. Four years after his Test debut, Amit Mishra would make his. Between them, 171 runs and 7 wickets.
Two years’ later on Independence Day, Amit Mishra combined his love for
flying kites, shot put and flighting the ball by doing this:
From 2008-2010, he was chasing Harbhajan Singh. Seeing as it
was becoming increasingly difficult to replace him, he decided to become him.
 |
| Not one to be his own man, the IPL brought him new opportunities, to be someone else's man. |
In spite of himself, Amit Mishra has
represented India, Deccan Chargers, Delhi Daredevils, Haryana, India
Blue, Sunrisers Hyderabad. So much flux and changing of jerseys has scarred
Amit Mishra. He still turns up for SRH matches in DD jerseys. However, he has
stopped turning up for DD matches. The change in jerseys and logo was the last
straw. A traditionalist, Amit Mishra once said, in the long run, it’s
the short run that counts.
However plausible this might sound, this is a work of
fiction.
Same old Dhoni, but as always, the difference is Tendulkar.
Once upon an IPL (see how MSD waits for that precise moment when Shukla steps past the crease, only then does he instruct his boys to knock the bails off)
Now (Oh well, it's that Bell not-out run-out again, not much of a difference is there?)
If Sachin was in MSD's IPL team, who knows, Shukla too may have returned, to face the last ball of the innings.
Now (Oh well, it's that Bell not-out run-out again, not much of a difference is there?)
If Sachin was in MSD's IPL team, who knows, Shukla too may have returned, to face the last ball of the innings.
Thanks to Leela at Maidenbowling for the MSD-IPL video
Disgraceful England Deserve Censure But The ICC Thanks Them
Ian Bell is a good batsman. Thats all he is. He is not an umpire. He is not a match referee. He is not the sole authority on the cricket field. At some point yesterday he decided he was all of these things. He assumed that the ball was dead. Him and him alone. His batting partner, Eoin Morgan didn't. The bowler didn't. The fielder who had thrown the ball in didn't. And the umpires didn't. Yet in a supreme display of arrogance, Bell trotted over to his batting partner, who looked most uncomfortable about the whole affair since he had just put his bat in the crease after attempting to warn Bell, and knew something unfortunate was about to occur.
Make no mistake, the error was Bell's and Bell's alone, nothing but sheer stupidity. But it gets worse from here. Ignore the indignation from the English, who almost drowned twitter out with calls for Dhoni's head for, well, doing the correct thing. As the umpires asked Dhoni if he wanted to uphold the appeal, they also turned to the English batsmen and asked them to wait on the field until a decision had been made. Bell's arrogance took to the fore again and he marched off, seemingly as oblivious to their request as he seemed to the entire run out fiasco. Note that even at that point the umpires had still not called Tea, it was Bell who took it upon himself to declare the session over. Bell was actually stopped just before he left the ground to his obvious disgust by the fourth umpire, who politely reminded him that the session had not in fact officially ended.
For such blatant disregard to an umpire's authority, a player has already been penalized in this test, too bad he isn't English though, because they are praised for this sort of behavior. Already in this test we've seen Graeme Swann kick the stumps in disgust at his own performance, and despite being his second offence in under three months, escape with a reprimand. "Look here you jolly old fellow, we love your witty banter on twitter, but you can't go around kicking the stumps when you feel like it. Just quickly apologize for it and we'll sweep it under the carpet."
The most petulant and a serial offender in the English side, much like his father before him, and rewarded with T20 captaincy - this is the same bowler who is the only international cricketer to have conceded 6 sixes in an over in a T20 match - Stuart Broad, took it upon himself to step into his father's shoes and check if VVS Laxman had applied Vaseline to his bat. The English seem to think this sort of behavior is amusing, its a bit like throwing jelly beans on the pitch, its all in good fun when you're not at the receiving end. Insinuate that an Englishman might be a cheat and you'll get the response the Pakistani team received after their counter accusations during the spot fixing brouhaha.
Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower chose to approach Dhoni during the Tea interval and ask him to reconsider his appeal. This has been described as "most unorthodox" but the more simple way of describing it is that it was way out of line. You cannot go to the opposition and ask them to play in a manner that suits your players after your very players are solely responsible for an incident because of their stupidity, and especially not after the mob you're leading onto the field has already acted so disgracefully. The trouble is, nobody seems to be telling England that they're behaving terribly. Oh no, quite the opposite.
Here's how Haroon Lorgat, CEO of the ICC, described the incident and the conduct of the players. "Absolute credit must go to Team India, the England team and the match officials - Ranjan Madugalle, Asad Rauf and Marais Erasmus as well as the off-field umpires Billy Bowden and Tim Robinson - for the superb way that they all handled a tricky situation. While the initial appeal and umpire decision may have been acceptable to the letter of the law, the decision by India captain M S Dhoni and his team -as well as the Team India coaching staff - to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity. To see players and officials uphold the Great Spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special. I am indeed grateful for the way that the teams and match officials handled what was clearly a difficult situation and their behaviour reflects well on everyone."
I'm not sure what Lorgat is smoking, but he did get a few things right, so it might not be the best stuff out there on the market. The umpires and the Indian Team deserve praise. Don't discount the role of the umpires here, they could have chosen to act as heavy handed as Daryl Hair did at the Oval during Inzimam's protest and taken the incident to a whole different level. Madugalle's lenient reprimand to Swann and his overlooking Broad's distasteful accusation, doesn't deserve credit. And England's conduct definitely does not either. The "Great Spirit of Cricket" shouldn't win any accolades today, it was in fact insulted because it asks players to play fair, within the rules and to respect umpires. But more so because it promotes equality and equal treatment to players, and by all indications from the ICC's statement, equality seems to be used rather judiciously, and certainly selectively.
Make no mistake, the error was Bell's and Bell's alone, nothing but sheer stupidity. But it gets worse from here. Ignore the indignation from the English, who almost drowned twitter out with calls for Dhoni's head for, well, doing the correct thing. As the umpires asked Dhoni if he wanted to uphold the appeal, they also turned to the English batsmen and asked them to wait on the field until a decision had been made. Bell's arrogance took to the fore again and he marched off, seemingly as oblivious to their request as he seemed to the entire run out fiasco. Note that even at that point the umpires had still not called Tea, it was Bell who took it upon himself to declare the session over. Bell was actually stopped just before he left the ground to his obvious disgust by the fourth umpire, who politely reminded him that the session had not in fact officially ended.
For such blatant disregard to an umpire's authority, a player has already been penalized in this test, too bad he isn't English though, because they are praised for this sort of behavior. Already in this test we've seen Graeme Swann kick the stumps in disgust at his own performance, and despite being his second offence in under three months, escape with a reprimand. "Look here you jolly old fellow, we love your witty banter on twitter, but you can't go around kicking the stumps when you feel like it. Just quickly apologize for it and we'll sweep it under the carpet."
The most petulant and a serial offender in the English side, much like his father before him, and rewarded with T20 captaincy - this is the same bowler who is the only international cricketer to have conceded 6 sixes in an over in a T20 match - Stuart Broad, took it upon himself to step into his father's shoes and check if VVS Laxman had applied Vaseline to his bat. The English seem to think this sort of behavior is amusing, its a bit like throwing jelly beans on the pitch, its all in good fun when you're not at the receiving end. Insinuate that an Englishman might be a cheat and you'll get the response the Pakistani team received after their counter accusations during the spot fixing brouhaha.
Andrew Strauss and Andy Flower chose to approach Dhoni during the Tea interval and ask him to reconsider his appeal. This has been described as "most unorthodox" but the more simple way of describing it is that it was way out of line. You cannot go to the opposition and ask them to play in a manner that suits your players after your very players are solely responsible for an incident because of their stupidity, and especially not after the mob you're leading onto the field has already acted so disgracefully. The trouble is, nobody seems to be telling England that they're behaving terribly. Oh no, quite the opposite.
Here's how Haroon Lorgat, CEO of the ICC, described the incident and the conduct of the players. "Absolute credit must go to Team India, the England team and the match officials - Ranjan Madugalle, Asad Rauf and Marais Erasmus as well as the off-field umpires Billy Bowden and Tim Robinson - for the superb way that they all handled a tricky situation. While the initial appeal and umpire decision may have been acceptable to the letter of the law, the decision by India captain M S Dhoni and his team -as well as the Team India coaching staff - to withdraw the appeal shows great maturity. To see players and officials uphold the Great Spirit of cricket, which has underpinned the game for more than a century, is very special. I am indeed grateful for the way that the teams and match officials handled what was clearly a difficult situation and their behaviour reflects well on everyone."
I'm not sure what Lorgat is smoking, but he did get a few things right, so it might not be the best stuff out there on the market. The umpires and the Indian Team deserve praise. Don't discount the role of the umpires here, they could have chosen to act as heavy handed as Daryl Hair did at the Oval during Inzimam's protest and taken the incident to a whole different level. Madugalle's lenient reprimand to Swann and his overlooking Broad's distasteful accusation, doesn't deserve credit. And England's conduct definitely does not either. The "Great Spirit of Cricket" shouldn't win any accolades today, it was in fact insulted because it asks players to play fair, within the rules and to respect umpires. But more so because it promotes equality and equal treatment to players, and by all indications from the ICC's statement, equality seems to be used rather judiciously, and certainly selectively.
If that Ian Bell runout was bad, take a look at this video
The Star Cricket videos have been ripped off youtube, all you have is this.
Ponting in treatment
Sunil Gavaskar has suggested that Ricky Ponting getting away with no punishment after smashing the LCD TV in the players' dressing room has everything to do with the color of his skin.
A nervous Cricket Australia, fearing more such outbursts against Ponting, have decided to take handle this issue on a more proactive basis. Yesterday they announced that Ponting will be prescribed counselling sessions designed to help him cope with the mental strain of handling run-outs.
Sanjay Manjrekar and Inzamam Ul-Haq, recognized the world over for never having smashed a TV in the face of countless run-outs they have endured, will provide the necessary counselling to Punter.
Johnty Rhodes will be available on hand if the counsellors choose to stage role play sessions as they help Punter come to terms with accepting "run-outs" as a part of cricketing life.
Reaction from players to this incident has been diverse
Virender Sehwag said that a batsman always has the option of not responding to calls for quick singles.
Harbhajan Singh said he never likes to get Ponting run-out. Why bother when you can use his wicket to add to your tally of wickets.
Kapil Dev, who was never run-out in more than 100 Tests said he will now reassess his own assessment of Ponting as an all-time great. He said he himself has no respect for people who can't run fast between wickets.
Sachin Tendulkar said Ponting should treat a "run-out" as just another way of getting out. As long as the team wins, Ponting should not worry about his own failures.
Courtney Walsh was most compassionate about Ricky Ponting's state of mind. He said, he believes batsmen should be given a warning before the fielding side can run-out a batsman.
By Golandaaz
You can read Gol's opinions at his blog, Opinions On Cricket and on twitter, http://twitter.com/oponcr
A nervous Cricket Australia, fearing more such outbursts against Ponting, have decided to take handle this issue on a more proactive basis. Yesterday they announced that Ponting will be prescribed counselling sessions designed to help him cope with the mental strain of handling run-outs.
Sanjay Manjrekar and Inzamam Ul-Haq, recognized the world over for never having smashed a TV in the face of countless run-outs they have endured, will provide the necessary counselling to Punter.
Johnty Rhodes will be available on hand if the counsellors choose to stage role play sessions as they help Punter come to terms with accepting "run-outs" as a part of cricketing life.
Reaction from players to this incident has been diverse
Virender Sehwag said that a batsman always has the option of not responding to calls for quick singles.
Harbhajan Singh said he never likes to get Ponting run-out. Why bother when you can use his wicket to add to your tally of wickets.
Kapil Dev, who was never run-out in more than 100 Tests said he will now reassess his own assessment of Ponting as an all-time great. He said he himself has no respect for people who can't run fast between wickets.
Sachin Tendulkar said Ponting should treat a "run-out" as just another way of getting out. As long as the team wins, Ponting should not worry about his own failures.
Courtney Walsh was most compassionate about Ricky Ponting's state of mind. He said, he believes batsmen should be given a warning before the fielding side can run-out a batsman.
By Golandaaz
You can read Gol's opinions at his blog, Opinions On Cricket and on twitter, http://twitter.com/oponcr
RDX: Run outs can be funny
Before my run-out we had not run many singles. At first it felt good to get the circulation in the legs going. Even though a single to mid off can be tricky, Malinga was quite deep. After the single, we ran off a miss-field. It was a senseless run, and I have taken many such senseless runs in my career. But it is always disappointing. I really felt like hurling my bat, but somehow better sense prevailed. Later in the dressing room, Yuvi and Bhajji started to refer to me as Inzi. Gambhir begged to differ, laying claim to being the Inzi in the Indian team. We were still laughing when Sachin walked back. Evidently he wasn’t amused. After stumps, Viru congratulated me on getting run out again.
The Kamran Akmal Interrogation - An Exclusive
Kamran Akmal is being wired up by the polygraph test guys. His mouth appears even more swollen than usual. The Q & A session starts
Questioner 1: Did you intentionally drop those catches??
Kamran Akmal: Shahid Bhai! Shahid Bhai!
Questioner 1: Answer our question…did you…??
Questioner 2: Wait, the machine says that’s an honest answer
Questioner 1: Did you intentionally miss those stumpings??
Kamran Akmal: Shahid Bhai! Shahid Bhai!
Questioner 2: Bhai Wah! the machine says that’s also an honest answer
Questioner 1: Let’s see if you can dodge this one…
Kamran looks on nervously, his lips swell up some more…
Questioner 1: Did you intentionally miss the Michael Hussey run out in the Sydney test?
Kamran waits, doesn’t answer it…
Questioner 1: Did you…
Kamran Akmal: Well bowled Danish!
Questioner 2: Bhai wah! Once again that is the honest answer!
Kamran’s toothy grin becomes even toothier and the swelling subsides somewhat….
Selfish Partners.
Yeeru and Hauti were building a huge partnership. Then it happened. A misunderstanding whereby both of them were competing for the same crease. Neither wanted to go and it took the third umpire to decide Hauti had to go. Hauti went cursing and eventually, though they made up, the selfishness of Indian Cricketers was exposed.
Eminencies reacted thus:
Steve Pough: Anyone wearing the baggy green implicitly puts the team first. If this had happened to Australia, both batsmen would have been competing to sacrifice their wicket rather than bickering to stay
Pricky Ranting: It is not about scoring centuries. You must play for the team. I would have taken one on the chin for the team and not stayed bickering there, exposing the lack of unity in team. Of course, you can't expect that from Sub-continentals.
(exit stage, murmuring, "Sach scored another century, with even that pesky DK being smart enough not to hit the winning runs. Wish I played for India - I could actually have centuries instead of mouthing platitudes on team spirit)
Ian Slipper: This is what happens when you place personal records above the team. It was bound to happen in India, of course. This will never happen in Australia
Greg Slipper: I told you, Indian culture sucks!
Michael Chalker: Aw! Look mate, we Ozzies will never be so selfish to fight publicly for staying on.
And so on...
All characters and incidents in the story are imaginary. Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental!
by Raj
Pot Kettle Black
Scene 1: Sri Lanka v/s England at Johannesburg
Angelo Mathews is run out attempting a second run. He would have probably not made his ground even if the bowler hadn't accidentally impeded his line of running. Mathews throws a major tantrum. Andrew Strauss, the opposing captain withdraws the appeal and Mathews stays at the crease
Scene 2: India v/s Sri Lanka at Nagpur
Gautam Gambhir pushes the ball to mid on and takes off for a single. Chanaka Welegedera takes a brief look at the batsman and tries to get back to the stumps. Well, only if the stumps are five yards away from where they usually are. Mathews takes aim and throws down the stumps while Gambhir bangs into the bowler and is well short of the crease. The batsman throws his bat in disgust while the Sri Lankans celebrate. The commentators decide to ignore Welegedera's actions and call it an unfortunate run out.
Scene 3: Australia v/s India at Brisbane
Gautam Gambhir drives Michael Clarke to mid-off, the bowler moves across and takes out Tendulkar with a tackle, pulling him down. Tendulkar isn't bothered but Ravi Shastri goes ballistic in the commentary box and you can hear him ask someone in the background to put up the replay. He is clearly unhappy about Clarke's behaviour and makes sure everyone knows about it.
There are two issues to consider here. The first one is that the player who was called back when he felt he was obstructed was more than happy to celebrate effecting a similar dismissal. His captain seemed to have no problem with that either. This is the same captain who felt his team lost out on atleast 500 runs because of umpiring mistakes.
The second, and the more important issue is that of how people perceive similar situations completely differently based on their prejudices. We keep talking about how cricketers and officials from white countries use different yardsticks to judge people of different races when we are no different. One wonders how Gavaskar would have reacted if the last name of the bowler who impeded Gambhir was Johnson instead of Welegedera. It's no use calling out the Athertons and Healys for their biased attitude when our so-called greats do the same from the comfort of their commentary box. The cricketing world has been split down the middle and neither side is willing to give an inch. I hope it changes. If it doesn't, I know what sport I won't be encouraging my kid to take up.
the after effects of robbing singh...
is it only me or have you also noticed that since robbing singh was sacked from the job... team india has started fielding well...
fielders are attacking the ball... curbing the singles in inner circle... hitting stumps too with regularity as jadeja showed with the dismissal of ponting...
i would attribute all this to the 'after effects' of robbing singh...
Run out, not run out, run out, not run out, run out...
8.3
Jakati to Smith, 1 run, a mental match becomes crazier still, there were at least four chances to run out Smith there, Smith hit it to deep point, the bowler doesn't collect the return, Badrinath backing up, throws it back to the bowler who doesn't collect the throw again but breaks the stumps, Smith and Suman were almost at the same end at this time, Jakati picks the ball and tries to hand it to Badrinath who is at the stumps now but flicks it wide of him, before Smith finally gets home
A Big thanks to Prafs for the many good links to the many bad missfields' video
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