Lessons for Indian Cricket from Aussies

Australians have dominated the world cricket for more than a decade in all the formats of the game. It has produced quality players year after year and has nurtured them and then pushed others out cos there was a lot of talent waiting outside to take up the challenge. There have been times when we have felt that even the second or third team of Aussies could beat any other top team in the world; such was their domination in the world of cricket. They kept adding new talent to their squad as and when they felt someone had got old and had to give space to a new talent who has been waiting for years, just cos everyone was in form most of the times. So the old had to make way for the new, as they were assured that even the new ones will do exceedingly well. And as a process their top players retired one after the other at the peak of their forms, Steve Waugh retired in 2004 with an 88 against India, when he in no way looked like he was old or not fit, he just made way for new talent. This process continued in the latter years as well and they kept losing top cricketers due to age and pressure to give a chance to youngsters, which worked quite well for a long time with introduction of players like Darren Lehman, Simon Katich, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey, Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger, Cameron White, Mitchell Johnson and many more such high quality talent.

But today we are in a situation where the Aussies have lost their domination over world cricket; they have been losing, at times miserably and at other times after fighting out hard against different teams. One could never imagine that Aussies could rank as low as 5 in the test rankings, but that’s the fact at the moment, it has slipped down from being the top team to a mediocre one. If one observes keenly most of this has come as a result of the retirement of 5 top players one after the other in a span of 2 years, these 5 are the top players in their own specific role during their time of play – Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Mathew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer. These 5 have been match winners of Australia for more than a decade in some form of the game or other, except for Ricky Ponting who is still playing; these 5 have been the crucial factors of taking the game to Australia’s favor. Be it the dominance of Hayden and Langer in the batting department or the sheer excellence in the mind boggling spells of Glenn McGrath, they have all been the force behind the domination of Australia in world cricket and as a result of their retirement, Australian cricket has seen new lows in their form, that was never imaginable at least for a kid like me who grew up watching cricket in the era of these maestros and every time I watched a match Australia was taking part in, I knew the result more often than not, such was the magic of the team then. But now it seems like history, it’s hard to imagine Australia getting back to where it belonged, no matter it has the talent, but these talented stars lack the magic that the super 5 had along with Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting (at different times).

Indian cricket is having a magical time at the moment, with it being the top test team for quite some time now and it has also shown good form in one day cricket as well as 20-20 in the recent times. Be it due to the Dhoni factor or due to sheer presence of the best batting line up in the world. We’ve always known that India is a major power in world cricket only due to its batting, our bowling has never been impressive for more than a series max at different times and conditions, specially as we play almost different set of pacers in every alternative series, our bowlers either being out of form half of the time or being injured for the rest. The matter that concerns me about Indian cricket at this moment specifically in the context of the Australian downfall is the fact that the pillars of Indian batting line up are all going to retire post the 2011 world cup that might mean the start of downfall of Indian cricket in different forms of the game. Sachin, Rahul, Laxman, Shewag might all retire in the next 2 years for sure, with their retirement Indian batting line up looks gloomy specially as we are talking about the top 5 spots in the batting line up. None of the current youngsters in the Indian squad have shown as much talent and courage to fill the shoes of these maestros.

Gautam Gambhir was in the best form of his life last year but has been a sheer disappointment this year and the less we talk about Yuvraj Singh the better it would be for him, he has just shown attitude and no character on the cricketing field and outside lately and that has led to him being dropped from the test squad already. Suresh Raina is an excellent talent, he might fill in the gap a bit but how far he will be able to do this is still to be seen. Virat Kohli has played well at times and has come to the rescue of the team a few times, but again once in a while knocks are not sufficient to fill the shoes of the fab 4. Dhoni himself has been showing no performance in terms of his batting for quite some time, as a captain he might be doing decently, but if he doesn’t perform as a batsman how far he will be able to remain a motivated captain is a big question. There are a lot of other brilliant names (Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Murali Vijay) that are in and out of the squad at different times, so its not quite reassuring that they would fill the void that would be created as a result of the retirement of the fab 4. So the batting line looks really gloomy, but can the bowling department go a notch up to fill the imbalance in the batting department? Like I said earlier, bowling is always a concern in itself, how can we expect it to compensate for the lackluster batting?! Indian Cricket should take a lesson from Australia’s recent history and do something constructive about it at the earliest else it would just follow the pattern we have observed with the Aussies.

P.S – Let’s not forget Aussies are still the top ODI team, but do you think they’ll be able to hold on to that for long? Lets wait for the outcome of the on going India – Australia series to get some idea. And obviously we have the world cup to look forward to, while teams like Bangladesh and Kenya are doing exceedingly well but teams like Pakistan, West Indies and Newzeland have their own problems in different departments.

Today’s Favorite Line – If being apathetic is wrong, then I don’t care

Today’s Favorite Song – Waka Waka (Shakira)

Kalmadi – The Unsung Hero

Oops!! Is the title right? May be, We’ll find out soon. India so far has conducted a Cricket world cup and a few other sporting events of some scale now and then, nothing great or bigger apart from that. We aren’t surprised on India’s ability to conduct a cricket world cup, but could you have ever imagined or can you still imagine that India could host a mega event as huge as the ‘CWG’? Do we have the expertise, the experience, the support of all the stakeholders? (Now you would say yes, but what would have been your answer before the games started?) No matter what your answer to this question is, we required courage, leadership and faith to be able to even dream of something of this scale and size. And since we showed all of that in some sense or the other, in some people or the other, we pulled it off, don’t you think so?

Every cat, dog and mouse (tom, dick and harry is old) have been abusing and accusing the chair of the OC, the guy who got the CWG to India (agreed, it’s not his individual effort but his role was quite substantial as I understand), who fought the bureaucracy, the system and most importantly the mindset, by making us believe that we can do a mega event like CWG and that will take the sporting arena in the country to a new level by providing our sportspersons excellent infrastructure and world class atmosphere within their home to be able to compete with top sportspersons from across the world at par. If it wasn’t for his courage to take the responsibility and the risk of doing the unthinkable in India that too as a public project (unlike cricket world cup, which is a private entity in more senses than one) to me is commendable!

Talking about the accusations of corruption and delay, give me one concrete proof or example of the same, all the accusations that our beloved media has so far made are nothing but assumptions and hidden camera operations to try and unearth something to make a story! Do we have a single charge of corruption against him that is direct and accurate? Don’t give me stuff like ‘contracts were given to relatives’, ‘the people working in the team are all his aides’ and so on, how does it matter as far as the work is done? Give me one politician in the country who has people in his team that he hasn’t known for decades, why talk so broadly, take the example of how our country is being run, since independence our country has more or less been run by a single family generation after generation, isn’t that true? Then why point this as an issue against this chap? (Now don’t tell me that, the people of India wanted this family to. Crap!) I agree mostly on the accusations on him in terms of the delay as that led to a lot of last minute issues and fears, but is it totally fair to accuse him for this so seriously? Are we not the country where the court of law takes decades together to give a verdict on simple disputes? Are we not the country where Pizza gets delivered before an ambulance? Are we not the country where police always reaches after the criminals have done all they wanted to? Then why suddenly are we trying to act as if we were the second’s hand of a clock? Lets face it, we have never been able to complete projects on time, that’s not an excuse for Kalmadi but does that not remind you of the fact that the whole CWG organizing required  coordination between various bureaucratic ego’s and stakeholders, Do I need say more?

I hate the fact that people keep blaming ‘him’ for India having spent 17000 crores (or whatever the exact figure is) without even spending a single minute thinking about where and how that money was spent. Most of the money was spent on the city of Delhi and not on the sporting related things, and that’s not just for the games, the money spent on infrastructure of Delhi was much required keeping in mind the growing population of the city and the kinds of problems people face in commuting in Delhi. Is CWG responsible for the money spent on such endeavors? It’s the scapegoat cos because of it the projects were taken up much earlier than they ever would have been! Delhi otherwise wouldn’t have had a metro may be for another decade or so. If the money spent on the infrastructure of the games village and other stadiums is a waste of money then we should stop expecting our sports persons to perform and win! If Kalmadi has been a cause of overrun of cost then who does each household hold responsible for the increase in their monthly expenses than budgeted early in the year? Is there no inflation or change in costs/plans when we talk about the CWG related contracts and materials. Can something that was decided years or months ago remain as it was put down on paper? I heard sometime back from someone that a flyover or a road leading to the new airport in Bengaluru was proposed to be made for 67 crores rupees by a panel that included Mr. Narayana Murthy, later that committee was dissolved due to some political intervention and the state PWD went ahead to do it and completed the project for close to 300 crores. So if that is possible with just a road, is it not possible with a games village? Use some mind if not heart!

Everyone is talking about corruption and hanging of Kalmadi, as if he has pocketed the entire 17000 crores, come on, lets stop being silly, may be there are discrepancies here and there, may be he is corrupt, may be he gave all the contracts to his aides, name me one party or politician in the country that hasn’t done any of the above at least a dozen times. I am not trying to support Kalmadi, nor am I trying to say that it’s good that Indian politicians are corrupt or we should leave Kalmadi even if he is guilty cos everyone does this. I am just trying to bring some rationale to the madness that the media has inserted into our head; our accusations seem to be statements made in a hurry. What if the audit committee finds him to be honest and find no wrong doing? I know this is too much optimism but have we not already shown too much distrust on him already! Just take a moment and find answers for these people before you defame or ill treat Kalmadi any more. The names that I am listing down are just a small sample of people who have various criminal cases or so against them, but they still continue to enjoy complete freedom and power in various sectors even though their wrong doing might have been established or proved in ways and times more than one – Lalu Prasad Yadav, Shibhu Soren, A Raja, Madhu Koda, Mayawati and many more!! Now compare these people with Kalmadi if he is really guilty and see the difference in what he has created and what these power houses have! I rest his case here. Hang him if he is guilty, beat him to death by the law, but don’t beat him to death just by defaming him before finding out the facts. And for once, just for once, acknowledge the fact that he has played a gigantic role in the hosting and success of the CWG, no matter he might be corrupt or what so ever that might be proved, but until then respect the courage and the commitment! Stop treating him like Kasab at least, phew! May Kalmadi get what he deserves, post the probe that is!

Today’s Favorite Line – There are a lot of lies going around and half of them are true (Winston Churchill)

Today’s Favorite Song – The Gambler (Kenny Rogers)

P.S – I don’t mind if I sound like a desperate attention seeker by taking a view completely opposite to the rest of the world as if I was trying to support the deeds of Kalmadi, just trying to see things from the other side as well. Let’s not forget, we live in India and this was a public project, not a private one!

Robot Who? Rajni?? Huh!!

(Just an attempt to stay in senses while the rest of the world has gone mad behind the hype; thoughts on why I haven’t really bothered to watch the movie in the near future, at least till I see/hear a few dozen people having suffered from over expecting. So if you are an ardent Rajni fan (like I was in the past) you might not like reading this one)

Why so much hype for a film, that has a 60 year old in the lead opposite a female of his daughters age, where the 60 year old is playing a younger individual that too as a Robot?, you wouldn’t imagine such stuff even with Hollywood.

I have been a big Rajni fan all my life, but for the last 5 years or so, I’ve lost the respect and love I had for his acting (except for Chandramukhi, though I don’t think it was cos of him that the movie was a hit!) as its been quite a while that he has acted himself, the roles that he has been donning lately are all over the sky ones where he isn’t much of an importance either in terms of acting or in terms of his genuine style that we always loved about him, as the character he plays are much larger than life, beyond the reach of a sane humans understanding. It’s just his name which is bringing people to the theatres and later getting back disappointed, be it Sivaji or be it Baba, both were flops! And I don’t think bringing up his appearance in Kuselan helps his case any more, the movie was promoted as if it was a Rajni movie but ended up as a guest appearance which wasn’t worth it also! To sum things up, he’s been quiet a disappointment to me in the last few years and I am no more excited about his films specially when they are over hyped with zillions spent on the movie with less of his acting and more of sci fi stuff, where’s ‘The Rajni’ factor? Where’s his style like in Basha? Padayappa? Arunachalam? I Miss them!!

Even if the Robot was decent enough the credit I think would go to Shankar for the overall work in the movie, how much does it depend on Rajni that there’s so much hype around for it being his movie? The Rajni days are gone, let’s accept it! He is no Kamal Hassan kind of persona who picks and chooses his work and executes it in such a way that the movie speaks for itself than he being the promoter of his movie. Do we remember Dasavatharam? Agreed that it was hyped as a Kamal starrer with Kamal playing ten roles and all those talks on world record, but after watching the movie you really feel the kind of work Kamal has done in the movie, each of the character’s he played in the movie spoke for itself, at times one wouldn’t even realize if one of those characters was Kamal at all, if you previously dint know that Kamal was playing ten roles.

And more or less I guess Shankar having seen Kamal play a scientist in Dasavatharam, would have envisioned even Rajni playing one and being a smash hit, but I guess with  Rajni in the lead everything else takes a back seat, no matter Rajni has something special to offer in it or not, what matters to the producer is his pay back, which is a sure thing with Rajni playing the lead, all the money invested would be back in no time, dint we see that with flops like Baba, Kuselan et al. Why does Rajni have to copy Kamal and be a scientist? Are his artificial stunts (& make up, the white hair.. Grrr!) not already enough for the audience to be able to digest? At the end of the day though everyone makes their own money, right from theatre owners, producers, the entire unit involved in the film making, the audience lose! They pay whatever it takes for them to take a first look at the over hyped stuff with an actor who has just passed an age where he could do something commendable (except for Amitabh & Kamal for their respective ages and charm) and keeps selling just cos of his past and his fans don’t want to disappoint him so they watch the same flop movie n number of times to become visible to their favorite star, how Stupid!

Talking about the ratings so far of the movie, TOI has given it a 3.5 (TOI’s ratings are always exaggerated, think of it, it rated Anjaana Anjaani 3, which a lot of other sources have rated 1 on average!, we all know about TOI’s ratings, don’t we?), a couple of other sources that I checked had given it a 3, just a ‘3’ for so much of artificial hype and money? That too I am sure was given cos they don’t have the courage to rate it down keeping in mind the mass madness for Rajni, fans wouldn’t be able to digest a low rating and if that’s not a valid point, then lets just say, the direction and the screen play of the movie would have worked in its favor. The only question I want to ask is, has Rajni been of any significance in the success of the movie per say?! Leave alone the name and his past! Talk about his performance/ presence in this movie alone. Did his acting add any value to the rating or the entertainment part of the movie? Be Honest!! Then why so much HYPE?!!!

Today’s Favorite Line – Here’s one from the Robot himself – “Buddy if I beat you, even Google wont be able to find you” (huh.. I wonder why I called it a favorite line :x)

Today’s Favorite Song – Waiting on the world to change