Pakistan Stun the World

22/6/09

By Gulu Ezekiel

Several myths have been demolished and at least one theory set in stone now that Pakistan have stunned the cricket world by lifting the World T-20 trophy at Lord’s on Sunday.
What has been confirmed is that this is the most unpredictable format of the game and there is no such thing as a pre-tournament or even pre-match favourite.
If India were the shock winners of the inaugural tournament two years back, few before the second edition would have backed Pakistan to win.
In the IPL too, Rajasthan Royals were the dark horses in 2008 and went on to become champions while in 2009 last year’s bottom placed team, Deccan Chargers finished on top.
The biggest myth that has been torn to pieces is that playing in the IPL helps to prepare for international matches.
Coach Gary Kirsten has just been given a gag order by the BCCI not to speak out on the IPL. But he certainly let the cat out of the bag when he stated that the standard in the IPL--after all a domestic tournament--is way below international standard.
The proof of the pudding as the saying goes is in the eating. How else can one account for India with all its players coming straight out of the IPL failing to reach the semifinals, while Pakistan who did not have a single representative emerging as champions?
The terrorist attacks on Pakistan soil meant no one was willing to visit that nation for a sporting event.
Shunned by the sporting world and having their hosts rights stripped for the 2011 World Cup, Pakistan’s players have given a stinging rejoinder and silenced their critics with a stunning display.
The mood in Pakistan is understandably buoyant and Sunday’s victory will perhaps act a morale booster for a nation under siege.

Lanka are Favourites

20/6/09
By Gulu Ezekiel

Barring a major surprise, there seems little doubt that Sri Lanka will emerge champions after Sunday’s final of the World Cup T-20 championship.
Pakistan’s road to the final has seen its ups and downs. But the Lankans are the only team to remain unbeaten till now.
They were placed with Australia and the West Indies in Group C, the so-called ‘group of death’ in the first stage and came through on top.
In the Super 8 stage they comfortably beat New Zealand, Ireland and Pakistan. And their victory over the West Indies at the Oval in Friday’s semifinal was a stroll in the park. That makes it six wins on the trot, a tough feat in 20/20 cricket.
The win over Pakistan by 19 runs at Lord’s last week in the second stage will give them tremendous confidence going into Sunday’s final.
In Tillakaratne Dilshan they have the highest run scorer in the tournament by far and a batman capable of the most eye-popping shots. His dazzling innings 96 not out saw him fall just four runs short of becoming only the second batsman to reach a century in T-20 Internationals.
Till now their bowling attack was the most feared in the tournament due to the ‘Three M’s’—Malinga, Murali and Mendis.
Add to that a fourth, Angelo Mathews who sealed the match on Friday with three wickets in the opening over.
Pakistan’s unpredictability is what makes them so daunting and Lanka know they have a fight on their hands on Sunday.
Shahif Afridi is a one-man demolition job, much like Sanath Jayasuriya. What in the world went wrong with the left-hander on Friday though will remain one of cricket’s big mysteries.
Finally, the all-Asia final will resolve once and for all whether the IPL helped or hindered preparations.
Pakistan, remember had no representation at all in South Africa while there were a whole bunch of Lankans taking part.

Kirsten Bells the Cat

16/6/09

By Gulu Ezekiel

The BCCI is acting true to form in attacking coach Gary Kirsten for his frank and unbiased comments on the IPL affecting the Indian team at the T-20 World Cup.
Kirsten is in the best position to know the mental and physical condition of his players and is neither on the payrolls of the IPL nor does he have an axe to grind. His salary after all comes from the BCCI.
If is pretty courageous, some would say foolhardy, of Kirsten therefore to come out with this statement which has blown the lid off the BCCI’s money obsession.
The way the IPL mouthpieces have reacted is predictable as their bread and better depends on the successful running of this domestic corporate-based cricket circus.
The IPL has thus become both a cash cow and a sacred cow as well and any hint of criticism by unbiased observes is immediately pounced upon by officials, ex-players and sadly, many in the media too who are covertly or overtly involved with this money-minting machine.
Hopefully there will be some internal soul searching among the more level-headed officials who would have the common sense to understand that the schedule of the IPL is far too long and taxing for the players.
For some unknown reason, the ICC has scheduled the next World Cup just nine months from now and a similar situation is bound to crop up again.
Kirsten though must be pretty naïve if he thinks that any Indian cricketer will actually ponder the idea of missing the IPL in order to be fit for national duty. Besides, the corporate honchos who pull the strings for their franchises will not tolerate this notion. For them, their company’s image is more important than the nation’s and so after over 130 years of country v. country cricket, we have finally seen a tectonic shift in the loyalties of our players.
It is a sad day but with the BCCI’s priority being simply to line their already stuffed pockets, this scenario was just waiting to happen.

IPL Mouthpieces Cornered

By Gulu Ezekiel

All those paid IPL mouthpieces, both overt and covert, will have a lot to answer for now that defending champions India have been knocked out of the World T-20.
Having been bombarded with propaganda for the last few weeks that India is the best placed team in the tournament as all its players took part in the IPL, one wonders what that bunch will come up with now.
It should be pretty obvious to any impartial observer that the Indian players are carrying and covering injuries as they are playing far too much cricket.
The players had been complaining of burnout pre-IPL as well. But since the first season last year and last month’s edition, the load has increased enormously.
You will never hear a professional cricketer to voice his opinion of overload during the IPL as they are paid well to not only pay but also to keep their mouths shut.
Hardly had the tour of New Zealand finished, when it was time for the IPL this year. And right after that came the World championships.
The sordid saga of Virender Sehwag has already been discussed ad nauseum and Zaheer Khan also said he was lucky to escape with a minor injury after injuring his shoulder in the IPL.
MS Dhoni has been nursing bruised hands for some time now and this showed in England where both his keeping and batting were sub-par.
Since the priority has now switched from international cricket to corporate cricket, we can expect more such injuries and further debacles from the national side.
After all, all the money in the world cannot buy you a successful team as the BCCI has finally discovered.
Coming back to the World Cup, South Africa now appear to be the favourites. If they do lift the cup at Lord’s next week it will be their first major title at the world level since the Wills International Cup tournament at Dhaka in 1998.

Captain Cool Feels the Heat

By Gulu Ezekiel

Two years in the job and the pressures appear to have got to captain MS Dhoni.
It was Sunil Gavaskar who thought up the nickname of ‘Captain Cool’ for Dhoni after watching him guide India to victory in his maiden assignment in the inaugural World Cup 20/20 in South Africa in 2007. And I chose that title for my biography of Dhoni that was released late last year.
But being captain of the Indian cricket team has brought even more stress on the incumbent than ever before with three formats of the game to contend with at the international level.
Added to that are the unique stress levels associated with the IPL where Dhoni captains Chennai Super Kings and one can well understand the burdens he has to carry. Being the wicket-keeper and a leading batsman to boot only makes the task more difficult.
From the time he took charge of the team, Dhoni has always endeared himself to the media with his insouciant airs and tongue in cheek answers.
All that has changed this time around and the way he batted in India’s opening Super 8 match against the West Indies at Lord’s on Friday, it looked like he had taken the cares of the world upon his sturdy shoulders.
Dhoni tried to patch things up with the press and admitted he had changed over the last two years. But the BCCI left the captain holding the baby in the mess over Virender Sehwag’s fitness and it will take a mighty effort now to get his relationship with the media back on an even keel.
This is where the media manager must step in and take some off the heat off the captain. But the Board appears to think that a professional to handle such matters is quite unnecessary. And so it bungles on.
If the defending champions fail to progress from here, Dhoni will cop the blame. That would be a crying shame.

India in Tough Group

By Gulu Ezekiel

Having been placed in the weakest team by rights as defending champions, India now find themselves in the tougher of the two Super 8 groups with their first match against the West Indies on Friday.
The Indians have been clinical without being spectacular in easing past Bangladesh and Ireland in the prelims. But they will face a stern test in taking on the Caribbeans, hosts England and formidable South Africa.
West Indies dealt one of the biggest blow of the tournament when they crushed Australia in their opening match thanks to a spectacular innings by captain Chris Gayle.
Gayle was missing with a leg injury in Wednesday’s lacklustre display against Sri Lanka. But he appears to have recovered and should be fit for Friday’s clash. As one of the most destructive 20/20 batsmen in the world, his side can take on the best if he fires in his opener’s role.
England bounced back in style after their shock defeat at the hands of the Netherlands in the tournament’s opening game. They were in top form while outclassing Pakistan at the Oval and look to be warming up to the challenge in front of their home supporters.
South Africa appeared to be India’s toughest challenge going into the tournament and recorded the biggest win of the tournament in crushing Scotland. It was much closer against New Zealand and the match against India next week could well be the highlight of the tournament.
Both sides had plenty of players in the IPL and going by the form book, could well be facing each other in the final at Lord’s.
Rohit Sharma’s sparkling form as opener means Virender Sehwag’s absence is hardly being felt. Understandably low key in their opening two games, the Indians will now have to step up a gear to make it to the semifinals. On present form that appears to be a given.

Concentrate on Cricket

By Gulu Ezekiel

One hopes Dhoni and his merry men can put the Sehwag brouhaha behind them and concentrate on the battles ahead in the World Cup Super 8 stage which begins on Friday.
Having brushed aside the feeble challenge of both Bangladesh and Ireland in the group stage, the defending champions will certainly have much sterner tests ahead of them. They are grouped with West Indies, England and South Africa all three of whom have looked to be peaking at the right time.
The IPL and its backers have being working overtime to cover up the origins of Sehwag’s injury suffered in the course of the semifinals for Delhi Daredevils against Deccan Chargers.
While Delhi manager TA Sekhar claimed it did not occur during the IPL, Sehwag himself went and spilled the beans when he admitted he had injured his shoulder while fielding in that match.
This was backed up by team coach Gary Kirsten and now that it has come out of the horse’s mouth, any further cover up attempt will be futile.
The captain has been put in the invidious position of trying to justify Sehwag’s inclusion while at the same time fighting off rumours of a rift with his vice-captain.
It is astonishing that a billion dollar outfit like the BCCI is incapable of carrying out routine medical tests on the team before their departure. Surely an MRI would have revealed the tear in Sehwag’s shoulder and all this unnecessary mud-slinging between the players and the media could have been avoided. In the end the captain has been left carrying the can for the Board’s blundering ways.
But then when it comes to Indian cricket it has long been known that loads of money does not translate into professionalism and good sense or for that matter, good taste either.
Just take a look at the vulgarity of the IPL trophy and you will know what I mean!