The Great WhiteWash

2011 has been by far the most eventful year in the history of Indian Cricket.We were crowned the World Champions in front of a jam packed crowd at Wankhede stadium. Who can ever forget the picture of

World Champion-India

Dhoni swivelling his bat after completing the game by a towering six over long off. This was a nice tribute or a gift to the Little Master(for he has given 21 years to Indian Cricket, truly remarkable!!). From the highs of the World Cup win, Indian moved on to England with their confidence sky high, where another test awaited them. This was the place where the real cricket was to be played thats "Test Cricket". Moreover, it was far from home and in a completely hostile conditions. They were facing one of the best Test Cricket team though ranked lower than India(for we were the No. 1 test team), still they were a team to beat on their home soil. It was the fight for the No.1 spot in Test cricket. English were fresh from their Ashes triumph in Australia. They even had beaten the Srilankans, though not convincingly but enough to warm them up for the upcoming assignment.

What was our preparation?

We were still basking in the glory of having conqured the world by winning the most coveted cup. Rather, then playing tests, players were rushed to appear in the all important IPL. IPL, no doubt never helped them in getting  match fit for the test matches ahead(it never could) but yes it aggravated the niggles that our players had picked up during the World Cup. As a result, couple of our senior pros could not make it the WI. WI series was important for it provided the best match practice ahead of the Pataudi tropy. Even if that were not enough, BCCI did not ask for more than one practice matches owing to busy schedule.We had a lone practice match to acclimatize to the foreign conditions of English summer and to decide our playing eleven.

This series was projected as the series that was meant for Tendkular to complete his 100th century. I had really hoped that Tendulkar did score the 100th ton in the very 1st match test itelf for then he would not had the pressure or nerves in the matches ahead. This would have helped him to unleash himself against the English attack. This never happened, as a result Tenkulkar was not at his best, bogged down by expectations. We had already lost Viru(thanks to IPL), Gambhir was short of match practice and to make matter worse, Zaheer lasted only a couple of overs.

How we fared?

The dejected look on the faces of Indian players after the
series loss

How we fared??..It would be too modest to say that how we fared when we were thrashed completely. Losing each and every test more comprehensibly. As Boycott pointed out .."Indians played like Bangladesh". Indians can present an alibi stating that they never had the full strength team at their disposal but so did the English. They lost their "run machine", Trott and then their strike bowler, Tremlet. The only difference was that, they had the bench strength and we did not have any. We had a makeshift opener in Mukund who showed some spirit but could not last long. Gambhir never did get going. Tendulkar seemed too impatient for his 100th ton. Very,Very Special Laxman could not do any thing special this time as he found new ways to get out. Short ball came gain to haunt Raina. Dhoni was never comfortable against the moving ball. Coming to the balling department, except for PK none of the bowlers were effective or penetrative against the English.

The Silver Lining

"The Wall" stood tall

Though the team as a whole failed miserably against the disciplined English. There were a couple of players who performed extraordinarily. The first one was no doubt, the Man of Series, Dravid. He scored 3 centuries and kept the English attack at bay for major part of his innings. Unfortunately, no other player could replicate that. The next one was Praveen Kumar(aka PK). He bowled his heart out and troubled almost all the English batsmen. Sadly, he had no support at the other end. Though he  had to bowl a large quantum of overs, it did not dampen his spirits. When he came on to bat, he thwarted the English attack in his own style.There were a couple of good innings played by Dhoni and Tendulkar as well.

PK..really 'Made it Large'

After this drubbing, India has lost its numero uno status and slipped to 3rd spot. Hopefully, we take cue from this debacle and donot repeat this in the coming tours. 

This series was rightly labelled "the Great White Wash" for India lost 0-4.

Dravid to Mahi(Part 2)

Speaking about Dhoni,I am reminded of a guy from a small town of Ranchi who, as in words of a famous commercial "Has Truly Made it Large".

From working in Indian Railways as a ticket checker in Kharagpur(known only for its IIT) to leading the Indian Cricket team to the World cup crown after 27 years, Dhoni has come a long way. Mahi (as Dhoni is fondly called by his friends) is from the tinsel town of Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand. He completed his schooling from the famous DAV, Shymali. Initially, he started as a goalkeeper for his school team but soon switched to cricket on advice of his football coach. Dhoni, first came into reckoning when he performed superbly for India A team on the tour of Kenya way back in 2004. His consistent performance in Ranji and for India A finally earned him a call to play for India. The rest as we say is history. Still I strongly believe, if he were from cricketing states like Mumbai or Gujrat(which rule the roost in BCCI selection), he would have made his debut much before 2004.

Now coming to my point of considering him as my favourite cricketer after Dravid. No doubt, he is no match to Dravid's class but he has a class of his own. His totally unorthodox shots have earned him the reputation . His favourite shot "the helicopter shot" is truly effective aginst the yorker length ball. Even sachin is has used it again and again in  the IPL matches. If Dravid provides calmness in the dressingroom when he come out to bat in the middle, Dhoni, when at his destructive best can destroy any attack in the world. He can clear grounds at will, even against the likes of Steyn and Akthar. Dravid provides solidarity to the middle order and anchors the innings while holding on to one end, Dhoni can accelerate the run-rate at will. This was one of the foremost reason I never liked the decision of dropping Dravid from the ODI format as we always had Dhoni down the order to explode. Hence, we required someone at the top to anchor and build the innings. Having said that, fortunately India has never missed Dravid and remained in the top 3 for the last couple years in the ODI format.

Though Dravid and Dhoni might differ in their approach when it comes to batting but both are super cool customers and rarely vent out their emotions in public.The last time I saw Dhoni  scream with joy was during the IPL2, when he single handedly won the match for CSK against Punjab. When it comes to Dravid, how can one forget that scene of Dravid  jumping like a kid after scoring his century at Lords. Both of them are great cricketers and really humble human beings. When it comes to leadership skills, definately Mahi scores above Dravid. Even the great Sachin has publicly accepted that he is one of the best captains that he has ever played under, which is really a great compliment. Dhoni, as a captain has simply been a class apart. He has several titles against his name i.e couple of IPL crowns,Champions league and the biggest of them all the World Cup.



Dhoni playing a blinder in one of the IPL matches



He has led the Indian team to No.1 spot in all the three formats which truly speaks of his quality and commitment. I am really disappointed when people/critics around bestow his success to plain luck or he is lucky to have great team with him. I am a strong believer in the philosoply "luck favours the brave" and as Dhoni, throughout his career has braved the storm, he deserves all the sucesss. Moreover, you can be lucky once or twice and not every time. I truly admire the commitment he has shown on the cricket field. He has often been critisized for curbing his attacking stincts. People love and admire the old Dhoni who would come down and jst go for his shots. I am happy that he has curbed his attacking stincts for the good, for after the departure of Dravid from the ODIs, we hardly had anyone in the middleorder to anchor or build the innings. This has been provided by Captain Cool. He doesn't have the solid technique that u attribute to the likes of Dravid or Sachin but still he is far more than effective. As he has already stated out quite blatantly that you dnt play for the crowds but play to win. He has always backed his team and even chips were down, he has never lost his cool.

If you blame the captain for the losses , you got to give him credit for the sucess too.

Dhoni simply Rockzz...:):):)

Dravid to Mahi(part 1)

Cricket has been my passion since childhood. It didnt bother whether  India was playing or not ..if it was cricket I had to watch it. This was the foremost reason, I never had cable in my house till I completed 12th. Though I hardly remember when I saw the first match, I would safely assume I started watching cricket on TV from 1989. Honestly,way back then leave aside the cricket word ,I did not know anything about cricket. Like why wld people chase the cricket balls.When India were playing Australia and the bulky David Boon would hit the Indian bowlers to every corner of the ground , I would wonder why were Indians made to run to boundaries every other ball like they had got some punishment. I was really thrilled when Pakistan won the World Cup 92 as it had come back to Asia after 83(when india had won it under Kapil Dev). I believe I became a supreme follower of cricket from 1992 onwards.

Thinking about Indian players or legends as u may call them, Dravid and Kumble always rank top in my list. When you talk of favourites there are a few Md Azhar, Tendulkar,Rick Ponting and Mathew Hayden 

As I have already stated ,for me Dravid and Kumble have always been a class apart. Speaking about Kumble , how can one forget his daredevil act against WI when he came out to bowl even with a broken jaw and took the prized wicket of magnificent Lara. He, truly was Commitment personified

Dravid celebrating his century in Lord's..

Coming to Dravid who is  my favourite cricketer which now lately been replaced by Dhoni(Mahi). He always has been the cornerstone of the Indian Cricket team. Right from making his debut against England wayback in the summers of 1997 till even recently when Indians were thrashed down and square on English soil , Dravid has stamped his authority and declared that he indeed is a legend. He was unfortunate enough to be born in an era where cricket fans were far too obessed with the Master Blaster. Having said that , this doesnt take away his contribution to Indian Cricket. When you search the records , you will find more often than not Dravid has performed exceptionally well overseas, a record which even Tendulkar cant boost off. His tenacity,dedication,concentration and hardwork has truly earned him the enviable tag of "Mr Dependable" Or "The Wall" for he is rock solid in defence . A complete batsman with almost every shot that one could find in the cricket manual. Whenever he comes upon the crease, he brings a certain sense of calmness. Owing to his solid technique, he is  comfortable against a swinging ball or the spinning one.A complete gentlemen, who would rarely show his emotions. I feel it was really a sad day for indian cricket when he gave up the captaincy in all forms of the game. It will still be a puzzle for what made him make such a big decision. Even more appalling was to drop him from the ODI squad owing to fitness issues as Dhoni and selectors wanted a young team. For I never have seen a cricketer more fitter than Dravid. A true team man who even donned the role of a wicketkeeper batsman when the team required him to do so.

Dravid truly has been one of the greatest batsmen that India has ever produced.

Will now move to Mahi(Dhoni) ....continued