Another one bites the dust

And Lasith Malinga will no longer be seen in tests. The formula is emerging: overbowl you best strike bowlers by making them play an impossibly crowded calendar, don't pay them enough for tests, then sit back and watch them retire from the longer version while they opt for better paychecks and more salubrious working conditions.

Farewell, Lasith. This summer won't be as much fun without you in whites, showing off your highlights.

La Copa Mundial and cricket

My last post on this blog was almost four weeks ago. The reason for that was simple: I'd been traveling in South America (more precisely, Ecuador and Peru). These are not places that make one think a great deal about cricket. Instead, I was swamped by futbol todos tiempos. Indeed, had Ecuador and Peru qualified the swamping would have been even more comprehensive. In these past few weeks then, thanks to a combination of traveling, timezones, lack of net access, my location and the Copa Mundial, I had very little exposure to cricket. Still, thinking about the World Cup does prompt thoughts about the modern game, its embrace of nationalism, and the contrasting fortunes of the World Cups in the games of cricket and football. Given the trajectories of cricket in recent times these comparisons are increasingly interesting.

The Copa Mundial has become bloated, sure, but it manages to dispense with the bloating very quickly, eliminating fifty percent of the field after the first round, and quickly moving on to a knockout. I still remember 16-team Cups, followed by the 24-team version, and while this 32-team version is more extensive, it still feels like things are moving along (and there aren't too many hopeless minnows around - even accounting for North Korea). Football's World Cup remains the supreme sporting event on the planet. Despite tweakings, the cricket World cup continues to slip in the assessments of fans. It needs a rescheduling, a rearrangement, a dicing-n-slicing if it is to retain its relevance and importance.

Each football World Cup sees the inevitable complaints made in the analysis of failures of ostensible favorites: the best performances are saved for the clubs, players have injuries left over from the club season etc. We've seen glimmerings of this analysis in the wake of India's crashing out of the T20 WC; I expect variants of it for different teams will appear (as it already has) down the line.

And of course, nationalism. Every four years, I pay attention to football. That is because I remain hopelessly stuck in country v. country contests. And that is why I'm still not an IPL follower (despite brave attempts to drum up interests). For the next couple of weeks, its all flag-waving, all the time. (And it will be same in cricket as the English season kicks off).

Time to be a jingoist. Sort of.

BrawlGate and the Golden Mean

A new post on BrawlGate and the search for the golden mean is up at Different Strokes.

PS: I'm not sure I've said anything new in this post, but I still feel like I had to get it off my chest post-T20 WC.

Pakistan lose to Australia - how predictable

It isn't entirely clear to me why Pakistan is described as an unpredictable team. For when it comes to Australia, one thing is entirely predictable: Pakistan will lose. Badly or well, it doesn't matter. Pakistan will lose. They might start well, or end badly, but they will contrive to lose. There might be five-wicket maidens or three sixes in the last over, but they will end up with a L and the Aussies with the W. Whether its the fifth day or the twentieth over, if its Pakistan v. Australia, it's the Pakistani players that are muttering the quiet "well-played"s at the end of the game.

In terms of losing streaks, this is turning into an epic. It includes test matches, one-day internationals and T20s. It includes blowouts, last-over thrillers, fourth-day collapses, weak-kneed implosions, flaccid surrenders, team revolts, captaincy dramas, managerial abuse, board intervention.

But at the end of the day, the Kangaroo and the Emu continue to stare down the Crescent and keep on making it wane. For when it comes to bat and ball, if there is one thing predictable about a Pakistan-Australia contest it is that Down Under is on Top.

Rohit, get yer checkbook ready

Rohit Sharma is going to have insult added to injury pretty soon. You get given out, and you ask the umpire for a replay? (While pointing at your forearm?) I'm sorry lad, but there is no UDRS around. What were you thinking?

A familiar script?

A depressing template seems to have been established for India's games against the Australians and the West Indians. I've already mentioned the win-toss-bowl aspect. Then there is the business of the short stuff. Everyone seems to know the script. The bowlers and the batsmen. Gambhir has followed Vijay (third tame dismissal in a row) back to the pavilion. It isn't entirely clear who is going to throw the playbook out the window.

Smell that leather!

Even though it's an Indian (and Delhi) batsman on the receiving end, those two bouncers by Jerome Taylor (1.3 and 1.4 in the Indian innings) were a treat to watch.

Win the toss, bowl, repeat

Rather mysteriously, MS Dhoni has elected again, to send the opposition in to bat (after the failure of that strategy against Australia). And on the evidence thus far, it looks as good a decision.

Poor Jadeja; he must really wish there weren't any T20 World Cups. Ever.

Hello, is this radar gun working?

Or is someone smoking crack?

6.6 Kleinveldt to Raina, no run, 101.0 mph, moves away from short of length outside off, Raina tries to punch it on the up but the ball flies through the bat and pad gap

6.5 Kleinveldt to Yuvraj Singh, 1 run, 100.7 mph, on the off stump line, pushed towards mid-off

6.4 Kleinveldt to Yuvraj Singh, 2 runs, 100.0 mph, angling away from Yuvraj who pokes it at with an open face of the bat and the ball runs down to third man

6.3 Kleinveldt to Yuvraj Singh, no run, 100.2 mph, on the off and middle line, defended towards the non striker

6.2 Kleinveldt to Yuvraj Singh, no run, 100.5 mph

6.1 Kleinveldt to Yuvraj Singh, no run, 98.6 mph, short in length on the middle stump line, tapped to the on side

Sense and nonsense to kick things off

India versus South Africa gets underway in the World Cup T20:

Two little nuggets of wisdom from the captains in the usual pre-match cliche-fest. In response to Shastri's inane "what would you be comfortable chasing", Smith says "as little as possible." And MS Dhoni points out that one of the benefits of playing yesterday was that he got a chance to work on his field placings (in a larger field).

And Murali Vijay has just gone ahead and ruined the start by hanging his bat out to dry on the very first delivery that comes his way. I've now seen him get out a few times in ways that make him look absolutely clueless against the quicks. Too early to tell, but I hope he gets his head sorted out.

Karthik, meanwhile, looks sadly clueless. What has happened to this young man, who started off so promising but seems to have lost his way a bit.

India-Afghanistan early thoughts

Early days in the Afghanistan-India game (well,perhaps not, because Afghanistan are already batting into their 14th over). Noor Ali is an impressive bat; he strokes the ball well, and has some good power and timing. Asghar Stanikzai and him have put on 51 runs in some eight overs; very good going indeed. Whatever happens from here on in, Afghanistan have not disgraced themselves at all. And they still have a chance to cause a few flutters by taking some early Indian wickets.

The contrast between this World Cup game and the IPL couldn't be greater. Everything is much quieter, the PA music system is relatively muted, and of course, the commentators aren't yelling as much (to be fair, commentators can work themselves into a frenzy when the crowd sound is loud and that is not the case here). And this is a day-game, in contrast to IPL games, most of which were at night. Lastly, its nice to see sixes and catches called as that.

I look forward to seeing Afghanistan in a 50-over game.

Some World Cup thoughts

Given my unlikely-to-change preference for international cricket over that featuring franchises, I'm anticipating the T20 World Cup quite eagerly (it also helps that the timezones work for me). There are, I think, several other reasons to do so. Firstly, I'm hoping the World Cup makes conversations about cricket to be just about the game (much as I like talking about cricket in context, sometimes I like just thinking about bat and ball). Secondly, I'm keen to see whether there are perceptible differences caused by IPL participation - will IPL players be fatigued, or burned out, or just more match-ready and savvy? (In this regard, I'm especially curious to see how India do, given the less-than-ideal team selection). Lastly, the pitches in the Caribbean are likely to be slow and low and possibly less conducive to big hitting. This could mean an increased role for spinners, or less appetizingly, for slow-medium trundlers. Let's hope it's the former.

The T20 World Cup is a good model for a major cricket tournament in today's cricket world: it is short, sweet and competitive after a slightly low-key start (and in the case of India, even that is not the case, given the off-the-field significance of their game against Afghanistan). Like many other folks, I would not mind a cricket world in which the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy alternated every year (i.e., a major limited-overs tournament involving all nations every year). It enables talk of bragging rights amongst the major nations on a regular basis in this arena and would greatly increase the significance of the other limited-over games played (hopefully as part of bilateral series) the rest of the year.

Viru and the World Cup

The news that Viru Sehwag has a busted shoulder has provoked some expected teeth gnashing - both over his absence and his replacement. Now, I love the thought of watching Sehwag bat, but I have to confess that when it came to the T20 WC I had not managed to generate the kinds of great expectations which would experience this news as harbinger of an apocalypse. Part of this display of sangfroid on my part finds its grounding in the knowledge that Sehwag does not do very well in one-day internationals or T20s (I'm hard pressed to think of a single significant innings), and yet another part in the related awareness that I don't associate him with a winning campaign in a tournament. (In this arena, at least, I would consider Dhoni's absence a far more significant blow).

I've slowly become convinced over the years that the problem with Sehwag in the limited versions of the game is that he prefers to be the one with the initiative, the one that imparts a jolt to the proceedings, and then, having pushed the opposition on to the pyschological defensive, is able to take over and dominate. It is a strategy that works in test cricket. It does not in limited-overs cricket, for there, bowlers and captains alike expect punishment and do not get fazed (or perhaps not as much as Viru would like them to). I have to admit though, that given the genius of this man, there is something slightly unsatisfactory about this explanation. Why is he unable to change, to adjust, to reconfigure, when he can do so in test cricket? Be that as it may, I cannot remember a single ODI or T20 innings by him, and indeed, cannot even a remember a moment from an ODI or a T20 which features Viru in his glory.

As for India's campaign in the T20 WC, more on that later. But I'm afraid the IPL does create the expectation that India should win. This isn't entirely a fair expectation given the brevity of the game but it is out there nonetheless. But the incumbents of the T20 team, in their appearances in the IPL, haven't exactly managed to bowl us over. (At least a few like Yusuf Pathan and Ishant Sharma have looked like duds). Heartbreak might still be around the corner.

If there is, we should be glad it will be over quickly. The T20 WC is compact and concise. It should serve as a model for the "other" World Cup.

Singing the national anthem

A new post on the desirability of singing the national anthem before international cricketing encounters is up at Different Strokes.

Anyone able to translate Sangakkara's speech?

Anyone out there that can offer up a translation of Kumar Sangakkara's little speech in Sinhalese (after the ICC T20 final presentation ceremony yesterday)?

Dedicated to the Army?

Did Wasim Akram really say on Sky yesterday, after Pakistan's ICC T20 win, "This win is dedicated to the brave Army of Pakistan"?

Congratulations Pakistan!

Congratulations Pakistan on a ballsy, skillful, confident win in the ICC T20 World Cup Final!

Not so good, but not so easy either

Pakistan have knocked the stuffing out of the Sri Lankan batting in this final, but I do not think their chase will be an easy one. It especially will not be an easy one if Sri Lanka reckon their best chances of winning lie in taking Pakistani wickets and not in containment. (Its coming up the last over of the SL innings, and at 121-7 they are some 30-40 runs off where they would have wanted to have been).

Slow down SL

Interesting; I would have picked the side defending a target to win this final, but so far Sri Lanka seems to be doing whatever they can (by losing two early wickets) to knock that prediction on its head.

The Mighty Diaspora Strikes Again

Fine, so India couldn't stay in the ICC T20 World Cup and entertain us a little longer. And to make things worse, they lost to England. But at least I've had the satisfaction of watching two guys named Ramnaresh and Shivnarine knock England out of the World Cup. Thanks lads. We hope you love us too.

Rally Round the West Indies! (Just like the old days, when cheering for the Windies was the smartest option for an Indian fan).