mere funde

Category: Cricket

  • Review: India vs WI (2nd Test)

    For second time in as many test matches India has faced the situation of being “so near, yet so far.”

    India did dominate the second test right from the word go and if it had not been for the rain gods the series would now have had been 1-0 instead of 0-0. Even so, I would like to point out a few crucial errors that India made during the course of the match.

    First of all, for the umpteenth time now it has been established that Kaif is not a good fielder in close catching positions and yet Dravid would have him field there. He has missed crucial chances there, and that is because of his natural instincts being a cover fielder, which has cost India dearly.

    Second, the Indian field placing was pretty tame on the last day considering that India had nothing to lose and there was no way that India could have lost the match. Also defying logic was the placing of fielders at certain positions they are not suited for. Dravid himself was fielding at second slip, a departure from his usual first slip position for no apparent reason. Even Sehwag, a pretty good slip fielder, was missing from the slip cordon. Dravid grassing a catch (imagine Ganguly in the same position) in the closing stages did not help matters either.

    Third, and most importantly, India failed to think out of the box. As Prem Panicker suggests (here), India could have replaced Laxman (why is he in the team again??) with Suresh Raina and could have thought of more unconventional field placings. Also Yuvraj could have been made to bowl a couple of his ultra slow ones just as a change. But then such things come with experience, and I sure hope Dravid is learning fast.

    The rain, the lbw decisions (first Australia and now here, they do have something against us these damned lbws’) and at times the limited experimentation by Indian think tank have let the Carribeans pull off a Houdini yet again.

    As Gaurav Sabnis puts it (here) in the words of the inimitable Crime Master Gogo “haath ko aaya, moonh na lagaaya.” Lets hope that the next one would be more like another of his famous quips “Aaya hoon, kuch toh leke jaoonga.”

  • Foot in Mouth Disease

    Mr. Dave Richardson (see post below), ICC's General Manager, has now been diagnosed  to have been suffering from the foot in mouth disease. Renowned experts came to the conclusion after analysing Mr. Richardson's latest effort to justify Mr. Brian Lara's on field behaviour (here).

    "Lara is a renowned player, a famed cricketer. He got frustrated (after) the umpire forced the players to make a decision. He did get a little frustrated, snatching the ball from the umpire, but he certainly did not show dissent," he told NDTV.

    Also, a symptom was his pathetic attempt to justify the fine imposed on Virender Sehwag.

    "The Sehwag incident was unfortunate. ICC wants to cut down on excessive appealing. We want to prevent players, tell them not to put too much pressure on umpires. In Sehwag's incident, it was a case of not appealing. He slipped up (on that account)."

    So here you have it. Snatching the ball from the umpire, not dissent. Celebrating for a wicket you claimed = bad behaviour.

    Update: Pedro Collins was "reprimanded" for being guilty of guilty of "the practice of celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given," by Jeff Crowe. Did some one say double standards??

  • A Tale of Two Gentlemen

    The following post has been cross posted on the Pavilion Seat blog with minor changes.

    What do you think was the most significant umpiring error made during the first WI-India test match??

    1. Declaring Chris Gayle not out?
    2. Declaring Shivnarine Chanderpaul out caught?
    3. The Dhoni out/not out fiasco?
    4. The Bradshaw decision?

    Me. None of the above. I think it was

    5. Fining Sehwag for over appealing and “celebrating a dismissal before the decision has been given”.

    Imagine a scenario, wherein Lara gets off without even a reprimand for a behaviour which our “mann” Holding termed “insolent“, and in the same Sehwag gets fined for over-appealing. You got to be kidding me. Was Jeff Crowe (match referee) drunk when Lara unfolded what I think has been the worst example of on-field behaviour in recent times?? It is like letting a murderer go away and punishing someone for walking on a lawn!!!

    It is a common notion that Asians are not given a fair deal when such rules are interpreted. And this is not the first time that this has happened to an Indian. Remember the Mike Denness fiasco, when almost half the Indian side (including Sehwag, Bhajji, Ganguly) was hauled up for over-appealing, while the South Africans got away with worse (Andre Nel clearly abusing Ganguly). I think it was Ganguly (supported by a Dalmiya ruled BCCI) who stood up and complained. The order of world cricket was on the brink of a split when ICC and BCCI backed off and tensions were eased. Alas, such an action may not be repeated anymore.

  • Random Post

    What am I doing posting on a Friday night (did I add this one is from the office!!)?? I have no answer. I am waiting for a friend to finish his work before heading home. Also I will be in office tomorrow šŸ™ interviewing people to work with.

    Neways, some random pieces to talk about.

    Sensex crashed almost 10% in the past two days and we are feeling the heat. But we did not care much when we did make obscene amounts of money when it went up like crazy. Did we??

    Schumi came in second at the Spanish Grand Prix. Big deal. He still remains, to me, the biggest threat to Alonso’s (who, by the way, is a very sore loser) title defence.

    The Da Vinci Code was delayed and not released in India because the government and the Christian organisations want a disclaimer. Bull shit!! I mean the book has been around for a lot more time and then the clergy was sleeping on their asses. They wake up now and want the movie banned (along with the Muslims!!).

    India won (well almost) the first ODI against the WI. 17 sucessful chases in a row. And Dravid as a opener. Must say despite my hate for Chappel, he should get credit for creative thinking.

    I have been working my ass off for quite a few days now and don’t expect respite for some more. But there are a lot of things to get done. Shit man!! So much to do and so less time šŸ™

    End with a quote from “A Beautiful Mind“.

    Conviction, it turns out, is a luxury of those on the sidelines, Mr. Nash.

  • Challenging the Umpire

    The following post has been cross posted on the Pavilion Seat blog.

    An ICC committee has passed a resolution (well only just, 6 votes for and 5 against) to try out a system under which captains and players would be allowed to question three decisions made by the on-field umpires in an ODI. Those will then be referred to the third umpire for reconsideration. Also, the LBW decision would not be up for reconsideration by use of Hawkeye, but the use of the LBW mat will be permitted. The proposed changes will be tried in the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy, and, if successful, in the World Cup next year. A successful appeal will not be counted (as one of the three) while an invalid one will.

    However, these suggestions raise a few questions in my mind:

    1. Won’t it undermine the authority of and respect for the on-field umpire? The ICC itself is sceptical “about the implications such a process would have on the Spirit of Cricket, the fabric of the game and the authority of the on-field umpires”.

    2. What if the third umpire makes an incorrect decision? The events of Sachin being declared run out against Pakistan in Eden in 1999, and that of MS Dhoni’s run out against England in Mumbai in 2006 come to mind, where the third umpire made an error in judgment according to many. I mean that technology is only as good as the person using it. Also, what happens if a team is unhappy with the decision made by the third umpire?

    3. What is the impact of a wrong decision on the outcome of the game? The game between Venus Williams and Sprem serves as an example, where, due to a scoring error, Venus lost an important point and her place in the tournament!! However, “I don’t think one call makes a match,” was what Ms. Williams said after the match.

    4. Why test it out in premier events like the Champions Trophy and the World Cup? (This one left me totally baffled!)

    “You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to work out that if we use it, it has to be along the lines of American football, where the players and the coach get to challenge a decision using replays,” says Dave Richardson, ICC general manager. With due respect to Mr. Richardson, I hate the idea of the 22 yards being turned into an American football field.

    I would probably agree with Ms. Williams that one or a couple of bad decisions do not make a match. More importantly, even if they do, they form a part of the ā€˜glorious uncertaintiesā€™ of the ā€˜gentlemanā€™s gameā€™. Some of them should not be done away with, I think. What say you?