The Jasprit Bumrah interception

It does sound hilarious but India in all probability would have failed to defend 253 runs in a World Cup semifinal if Jasprit Bumrah didn't exist. He has bowled on this ground more than anybody from this Indian team having played here for more than 10 years now. Even for someone like him, it was going to be a task to contain batters because India scoring beyond 250 gave England clarity. There was no margin for batsmen to take time to settle. They needed more than 2 runs a ball so in theory, one dot ball called for at least a boundary off the next and even that wouldn't have been enough. England had to try and hit every ball regardless of the bowler if they were to get within distance of chasing it. 

Bumrah came into the attack in the fifth over of the match, brought on particularly to get rid off Harry Brook, England's best batsman and it took him precisely one ball to do the job. Bumrah bowled a delicious slower one which completely deceived the England captain as he was stunningly caught by Axar Patel. Despite of a six hit by Bethell, Bumrah's first over only went for 7 runs. He came back to bowl the 11th over of the match to try and remove Jacob Bethell who was looking threatening. He couldn't and in fact, the over went for 12 runs with a couple of boundaries in it.

Overs between 12-15 went for 54 without fall of any wickets. With Bethell and Jacks still there and hitting the ball cleanly, 69 off 30 balls looked realistic, perhaps even achievable. Surya's ideal plan would have been to bowl Bumrah two of the last four overs. But England's assault on every other bowler forced Bumrah to come into the attack earlier, in the 16th over. He started with a quick full delivery to Sam Curran, inside edged it onto the pads for a single. Second ball to Bethell, another quick delivery, only costing a single. Third ball to Curran, might have been an attempted yorker that drifted slightly on leg stump and was instantly punished for four runs with a clip through square leg. Fourth ball, a brilliantly executed slower yorker which Curran just about managed to keep out for a dot ball. Fifth ball, a slower bouncer this time. Curran was onto the shot too early and hence could only dab it to mid wicket for a single. The last ball of the over, an attempted slower yorker outside the off stump, drove to deep point for another single. 8 runs off Bumrah's third and 16th over of the innings left England with 62 to get off the final four overs. Arshdeep bowled the 17th and got hit for 17 which left Suryakumar Yadav with a decision to make on when to bowl Bumrah. He said now and called his best bowler to bowl the 18th and his final over of the match. For once, his job was not to close out the innings but to build pressure and give the last two bowlers some breathing space. England needed 45 off 18 with 5 wickets in the bank. The game should have felt to be in balance but didn't as 6 out of those 18 balls were going to be bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. England had to get something from this over, at least 10 runs even if they had predetermined to not take any risks off the best bowler in the world. Bumrah stood on his bowling mark with all of India hoping for precision, as always. First ball of the over, almost a pinpoint yorker, hitting Sam Curran's bat viciously, for an invaluable dot. Second ball, a near perfect yorker that could only get hit as far as Rinku Singh at long on. just 1 off the first 2 balls, 44 needed off 16. Bethell had to manufacture something and this is where Bumrah's genius shows up. He goes slower for the next delivery, on the exact spot as the previous two deliveries but 25 kilometers per hour slower. There was an instance in one of previous Bumrah overs when Bethell pushed the ball to mid wicket and ran two. This time though, Bumrah took it upon himself and chased the ball down to where a short mid wicket would have been to keep it down to a single. Fourth ball, an attempted yorker straying down the leg side which Curran failed to put away and could only get two runs. Fifth ball, one more full toss straight at the stumps, only hit down the ground for a single. These two deliveries epitomized the legend of Bumrah and what he does to a batsman's mind. The first three deliveries were so accurate that the batsmen were not at fault for not expecting two full tosses in a row. The last ball of his spell, a quick yorker on leg stump hit for a single to deep mid wicket. Six balls, six attempted yorkers, six balls of predictability and thrilling precision that almost handed the match to India. Just 6 runs of the over and that was Bumrah done for the day. His figures read 4-0-33-1. Bumrah got hit at an economy of 8.25 while the 36 Bumrah-less overs of the match went at 13 runs an over. The peculiar thing about this Bumrah spell is that he wasn't even at his best, rather far from it. He missed his line and lengths for far too many times, unlike his usual self. He hasn't been perfect in this World Cup. He has got hit for sixes more often than he has in the past but when the situation demanded him to show up, he did like the champion that he is. England were looking on track to snatch it from India's hands after being behind the game for the first 35 overs of the match. But then Jasprit Bumrah intercepted and said 'no' to Jacob Bethell and England. 

It was a masterclass of how to bowl on one of the most unforgiving grounds in world cricket. Amidst the chaos and all the moving parts of T20 cricket, Bumrah stands out from others who often rely on batsman's mistakes and sometimes randomness for success. With every delivery that Bumrah bowls, there is a sense of planning and execution with an expectation of a certain outcome. Calmness is a rare and valuable commodity in short format cricket and its the batsmen who generally produce innings that stop panic in the dressing room. After all the carnage caused by batters from both sides, it was Bumrah, the best bowler in the world that brought calmness during the most violent phase of the match. 

 

The demons are in the heads, not in the pitch

They say that the one that goes straight is always the most important delivery on a square turner. Just to put that in perspective, 21 off the 30 wickets fell to the deliveries that didn't spin. When Joe Root won the flip of the coin, we actually thought that this could be a huge advantage even before the first ball was bowled. At 74-2 with Zak Crawley making it look easy, England looked well on course to score beyond 200 which could have been a match winning first innings total on this surface. But England crumbled, collapsed and were knocked over for 112 against Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin in an hour and a half in the 2nd session. Axar attacked the stumps and took 6 for nothing with his natural variations.

After being 99-3 at the start of day 2, it felt as if a session of good indian batting and the match would be virtually over. We know that you can't play catch-up cricket in india but Jack Leach found his length and Joe Root landed some in good areas to take 5-8 in 6 overs. India were bowled out for 145 with a lead of just 33. Very little did we know that those 33 were going to feel like 300. England lost 2 in the first over to Axar Patel, both to the balls that didn't turn. Stokes tried to attack and got a valuable 25 but the English batting line up could only muster 81 runs in the 3rd innings of the test.

So a total of 387 runs across 4 innings and 5 sessions of a test match, is that a good advertisement for test cricket? May be yes, may be not. The pitch played it's part but batsmen from both the sides made it feel a lot more than it actually did. The pitch was designed to suit indian spinners and I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I do feel that the pitch is being criticized because both the teams fared so poorly in the batting department that they made the pitch look much more difficult than it actually was. Majority of the batsmen played for the turn and fell victim to the straighter ones. The great Rahul Dravid once said while playing in England that you always play for the inswinger, the outswinger will automatically leave you. Same is the case on these kind of surfaces. The former greats of subcontinental batting heritage will always advice you to play for the straighter ones, the turning ball will go past the bat but it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't catch the edge. If it does, then good luck to the bowler. 

The fact of the matter is that England were just not good enough on this surface. They had the first choice of the surface and they couldn't apply themselves. Then they had another chance to put things in place in the 2nd innings but it got even worse. The truth is that England just have to get better. Excuses might earn you sympathy but they don't win you test matches in India. As Graeme Swann rightly said that England have to apply themselves and look to score rather than survive because if you look to survive on such surfaces, yoolu are not gonna last for too long. 

No one should expect a pitch any different from the one we had 2 days ago. If anything, expect England to be wise and play another spinner rather than a bloke bowling at 130. The disturbing thing for this England batting line up is that the ball is spinning from the first over of the match, not necessarily on the pitch but in their heads for sure. The demons are there in the minds, not in the pitch. 

Keeping test cricket alive must be the priority!

Be it the buoyant group of Bharat Army on English grounds or the thousands of Aussies trying to superimpose the poms down under or be it the legendary Barmy Army singing and chanting their way to various parts of the cricketing world, each one of them spend their money on cricket in anticipation of something. This is generally associated with high profile players who tend to be the focal point of the match. And when we think of high profile players, is there anyone having a higher profile than Virat Kohli right now? Probably not! Former players like Geoffrey Boycott, Sunil Gavaskar, Shaun Pollock and many broadcasters like Harsha Bhogle and Mark Nicholas have been emphasizing on the need of keeping test cricket alive as it is the purest form of cricket. Many have criticized T20 cricket for the way it is overshadowing test match cricket. Former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding has been very harsh on T20 cricket but at the same time he also says that there are too many test matches being played that mean very little if not nothing! For example, 2 match test series is probably the most irritating thing there is right now. This is because we can't figure out the better team as there is such a small sample size to look at. 5 match series or even a 4 match series generally gives us the idea of which the better team is because you can't win a 5 match series playing in bits and pieces! Yes, T20 cricket is great for the game. It has brought plenty of positive things to the game. One of biggest positive is that it has attracted new audience which is great. The money T20 cricket generates provides assistance and emergence to many young and aspiring cricketers around the world. But if it has any negatives, one of the biggest negative is that it is shifting the focus from test cricket to itself. This is where test cricket and players playing test cricket must play it's part. And this is where we realise that players like Virat Kohli are great for the game, not only because they produce outstanding performances day in and day out but their enthusiasm and presence on the field makes people look at them. There are many players like Kagiso Rabada, Ben Stokes, Dale Steyn, David Warner, Mitchell Starc who like to show their emotions on the field. These kind of players bring a different dimension to the game. They talk about sledging and banters, but I don't mind players giving send offs or having a word or two just to ignite the competitions within the game. We see Virat Kohli charged up every now and then when there is a fall of wicket. Many people think it is childish and he shouldn't be showing so many emotions as he is the captain. But if it brings the best out him, why not? The Ashes is the best example of charged up atmosphere. Over 90000 people turned up at the MCG last year including almost 10000 touring British fans just to see a defleted England play against the favourites Aussies. Earlier this year, Cape Town saw almost a full house at the Newlands during India's tour of South Africa. And just a couple of days back, Edgebaston crowd was in full swing which witnessed probably the best test match of this year. So there is love for test cricket in certain parts of the world especially when India, England and Australia are playing. But England have preserved test cricket the best. They have a very set schedule where they play 7 home tests every summer and one winter tour is almost a certainty. English crowd still love test cricket and the fact that franchise based T20 league isn't there makes it a little easier for the crowd!
A couple of months back, ICC finally announced the format and the approximate period when the test championship will be held. Does it make test cricket interesting? Probably yes probably not. It will mean more meaningful test cricket will be played. It will surely create competitiveness among the top nations who will fight each other to be in the top four to be eligible to play the test championship. But in the hindsight, it will mean that the lower ranked teams won't have anything to play for and it will again create meaningless matches. This is where Michael Holding gets it absolutely spot on when he says that there should be two divisional cricket in which division two teams will be fighting for a promotion and lower ranked teams in division one will be fighting to avoid relegation. This will make surely that there is competitive cricket throughout the year amongst everyone.
ICC also has to take some steps towards keeping test cricket alive. One of the biggest problems is the punishments and the bans that are handed to the players for non convincing reasons. Yes there should be some limitations on sledging and interactions between players on the field but it shouldn't exceed because if players start to fear to 'sledge' on the field, dare I say it will make the game boring.
And the last but not the least point is the day night cricket. Every country except India has accepted day night cricket and I am completely with it. There have been some very good day night matches especially the Ashes test at the Adelaide oval was truly a spectacle. More importantly, if there is one solution to all of this, it is day night cricket because 10am to 5 pm isn't the ideal timing for people who work. Day night cricket allows all the people to come and watch the game. India's point of view suggests that they are worried about the dew factor but that isn't quite relevant because playing conditions are  same for the both teams and such factors become almost ignorable when there is such a big picture to look at!

The script was written for Virat Kohli but nobody could read it..

'When the going gets tough, the tough gets going' couldn't be more relevant than right now as Virat Kohli dished out another masterclass when the odds were stacked highly against him. He was booed by the British public as he made his way to the middle and was greeted with a standing ovation as he left after scoring a magnificent 149. Virat is too good a player to not score a hundred in England so he was always going to succeed in England at some point and was there ever any doubt? But very few expected him to score a century as early as the 1st innings of the 1st test.  But it wasn't a typical Virat Kohli innings was it? This was probably the toughest of his 22 hundreds so far. Players have made some adjustments in the past to counter a particular weakness. When I think of adjustments, my memory straightaway takes me back to Sydney 2004 when Tendulkar didn't play a single cover drive on his way to a majestic 241 or to Matthew Hayden when he swept everything out his sight in 2001 to counter Harbhajan or to more recent one in 2012 when Kevin Pietersen smashed 180 in Mumbai where he swept, he reverse swept, he danced down the track and embarrassed Ashwin and Ojha. But the adjustment Kohli made was more of mental than technical. He was constantly shuffling across the off stump, he was standing outside the crease, he was taking the off stump guard at times but it was his determination which was the constant in what was an uncharacteristic Kohli century. Anderson's figures give no justice to the way he bowled because I think he was outstanding especially to Virat Kohli. There was so much hype around Anderson versus Kohli that it had to live up to the expectations and it did. Anderson was all over Kohli like a rash in the initial stages. He went past Kohli a number of times. He beat Kohli on the outside and the inside and he troubled Kohli left, right and center. He was even successful in getting Kohli to nick a couple. One of them carried to Dawid Malan at second slip but poor fellow couldn't hold onto a dolly. Kohli was on 21 and Nasser Hussain said on air- ' Now see how much it costs.' That's the kind of aura Virat Kohli has created of himself. That's why when Virat gives you a chance, you have to take it! Just imagine if that catch had been taken, what effect it might have had on Virat as well as what it might have done to boost Anderson's confidence. There was another opportunity when Virat nicked another one off Ben Stokes but was grassed by Dawid Malan again, far difficult than the first one! As there were talks about the heatwave, Thursday morning produced overcast conditions which made things even more difficult for Kohli as he saw things falling apart at the other end. I couldn't believe Kohli got through that spell from Ben Stokes because I thought Stokes was unplayable in that spell where he removed Rahane and Karthik.
Once Ashwin was gone and Kohli was left with numbers 9,10 and 11, he opened himself and flourished with a typical Kohli swagger attached to it. Ishant survived a couple of LBWs via DRS and eventually got out to Adil Rashid when Virat was on 97. Umesh had to play two balls and I couldn't think of a worse situation than Umesh being trapped plumb in front off a wrong'un. But he survived and Kohli reached the 3 figure mark with a hard push through cover point off Ben Stokes. A big 'come on' roar came in satisfaction and a kiss to his wedding ring in shear joy with a big smile. Once Virat had nothing to lose, he played almost every shot in the book which included the trademark cover drive which went burning the carpet splitting the field in half. But the damage had been done, the deficit had come down to 13 when Virat cut one straight into the hands of Stuart Broad at backward point. But the point had been proved, the horrors of 2014 had been put to bed and there was a man with tremendous determination and hunger to succeed wherever he plays. Virat isn't the most gifted cricketer like Sachin Tendulkar or Vivian Richards or Allan Border or Brian Lara but he has made himself what he is right now. 15 years down the line, Virat will look at this innings and giggle at himself thinking about the background and the build up around those 134 runs 4 years ago. Dickie Bird once said that Geoffrey Boycott was probably the best self-made player but there was perception that he played for himself. Nobody can ever say that Virat played for himself because when Virat has a good day, he makes sure his team has a great day! So what are we looking at? We are witnessing a modern master at the peak of his powers dectating the terms and a player who will be regarded as the best self-made player there has been in the history of the game.

Rohit Sharma has come a long way....

From those frustrating 40s and 50s to scoring daddy hundreds, Rohit Sharma has come a long way in white ball cricket especially the 50 over format. When you think of Rohit Sharma, you actually have to go a long way back in 2007 when he started. I remember two of his innings in early years very clearly. One of them was against South Africa in the 2007 World T20 in a must win game when he got a fifty and bailed India out of trouble to get to a respectable total. The other one was in a one day international at the SCG when he scored 60 odd runs in a partnership with Sachin Tendulkar while chasing a good total. Sachin actually went on to get a hundred and India won the first of the three finals comfortably. Rohit's first two hundreds were actually in losing courses in 2010 in a tri series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, a series which India would dearly like to forget.
     But when you think of Rohit Sharma's rise as an opener, your mind straightaway goes back in 2013 Champions Trophy when MS Dhoni made him open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan. Though he didn't score any hundred, he got a decent amount of runs and was consistently giving India good starts. But the breakthrough series was about to start a couple of months later. He got nearly 500 runs in 5 matches against the mighty Aussies which included that famous 141 when chasing 350 and the first of his three double centuries! Since he hasn't looked back, scoring runs consistently against every opponent in all the conditions he has become a reliable opener for Virat Kohli.
     He probably is the most destructive batsman when in the mood. The average size of his hundred is over 140 which is not an ordinary number. But three double centuries in One Day international is a joke, it really is! One can understand a man scoring three centuries in T20 internationals but trust me, three 200s is a very cruel joke on bowlers! I don't think cricket had ever seen a man scoring tons of runs with such a lazy elegance. Rohit has always had that extra bit of a second than most of the others. I always think if ever there is anyone in this generation who can pull or hook the great West Indian fast bowlers without the helmet on, it's Rohit Sharma. He is arguably the most pleasing batsman on the eye when he gets things right. There is no better sight than watching Rohit Sharma bat, dare I say not even Virat Kohli can match his elegance! As Harsha Bhogle says- If Rohit Sharma makes a 100 runs, you remember every bit of it. If he makes 10 runs, you remember those two shots!
    Rohit gets criticized for not being as consistent as a player of his calibre should be and I wouldn't blame the critics because I am one of them! The reason behind this is the amount of talent that the guy posseses. If you take Virat Kohli out of this team, Rohit Sharma is easily the best Indian limited overs batsman and if there was no AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli, he would have been the best limited overs batsman in the world! He is 30 right now, clearly in the prime years of his career and we can expect a lot more from Rohit Sharma but that is where the disappointment hits us, doesn't it? Rohit Sharma is a rhythm player so let's hope he stays in good touch and has a great World Cup next year.

THE RISING PROWESS AND COMING OF AGE OF ‘VIRAT KOHLI THE CAPTAIN’

THE RISING PROWESS AND COMING OF AGE OF ‘VIRAT KOHLI THE CAPTAIN’

“It might be a different year, but it’s the same result. King Kohli reigns supreme in a run chase” lauded Nasser Hussain from the commentary box after Kohli’s masterclass hundred in Pune.We are used to listening to exciting commentary stints when Virat Kohli is at the crease. But his evolution as the captain has been very pleasing for many Indians who, a couple of years ago, thought-‘What after MS retires?’

      World saw the nature of Kohli’s captaincy in his first match itself when he chose to chase down 360 instead of playing for a draw at the Adelaide Oval. Though India lost the match by 40 runs, everyone had known by then that he is a type of captain who is prepared to lose while pushing for a victory.MS handed over the test captaincy to Virat at Sydney 2015.After a dull rain affected draw in Bangladesh, India tasted the first series win under Virat Kohli in Sri Lanka.India managed to come back from 0-1 down to win it 2-1.Later that year it was South Africa who toured India and returned with an embarrassing 3-0 series defeat. A bit of credit was taken away from Indian team as many experts blamed the ‘Doctored pitches’ but nobody could see the inability of South Africans to cope with the spin. Next assignment for Indian team was in July 2016 in the West Indies. India thoroughly dominated and won the series 2-0.

      Now what lied ahead was a big home season with New  Zealand,England,Bangladesh and Australia scheduled to tour India for test matches.First was New Zealand for a three match series. This time the pitches were better than the ones against South Africa. But the formula for all the victories was the same. Win the toss, put on a big first innings score and then bring the spinners into play. The good thing was that the flip of the coin favored Virat Kohli on all three occasions. Came the series against England, and the only question raised about Kohli’s captaincy was whether he can win after losing the toss and fielding first. The question was answered immediately as India managed to win the series 4-0 after losing 4 tosses. But Kohli wasn’t really there to be called as tactical genius as he often chose to go for defensive fields when pressure was on England. But no one could blame him as he was winning every single series.

      As the series came to an end, Kohli was handed another responsibility of leading India in limited overs as well when MS Dhoni came up with another surprise decision. It was England again on the receiving end when he dished out another masterclass while chasing. This was an innings which saw him leading from the front and inspiring his team to win from any given situation. India won the series 2-1 but it was closely contested and definitely more competitive than the test series.Again, there was improvement in Virat Kohli the captain. Whether it be bringing Jadeja on for Jason Roy or trusting his spinners to give them attacking fields or to have the confidence in Yuvraj Singh.

     Next up, was the T20 series which was supposed to be exciting and it was. Kohli decided to open the innings in order to give stability at the top of the order and have MS at no 4.India lost the first match but Yuzavendra Chahal bowled with a lot of courage and took 2 wickets. In the second match, Kohli had no hesitation in playing another leg spinner Amit Mishra.It didn’t quite pay off in the second match but it definitely did in the decider as two leg spinners had combined figures of 8-0-48-7 with Chahal picking up six of them. We could see ‘The captain’ Kohli in the third T20 when he showed tremendous trust in Chahal bowling in the power play or when he pushed MS up the order to bat at no 4 or when he brought on Jasprit Bumrah as soon as he saw Jos Buttler at the crease only to get him out in a couple of balls. He may have taken some advice from MS but we could see the coming of age of Virat Kohli as the captain.

     India did beat Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand but any tactical deficiencies that Kohli had in his captaincy were just taken out of the equation by high quality players such as Ashwin, Jadeja, Pujara, Rahane and off course himself. His litmus test was against England which he passed not without some difficulties. Now we will be able to see more aggressive and genius captain when India takes the field against Bangladesh and Asutralia.Exciting times are ahead in Indian Cricket!

WE ARE IN FOR A TREAT ON DAY 2...

The first day of 2nd test at Vishakhapatanam went according to script for India.The only pity was the failure of KL Rahul.Virat Kohli flicked the coin and Alastair Cook called it wrong this time.Kohli had no hesitation in choosing to bat first on a typical indian pitch that was supposed to turn after lunch on Day 2 according to the curator.KL Rahul made duck on his comeback after scoring a fifty and a hundred against Rajasthan just a couple of days back.He hung his bat out way outside the off stump only to edge the ball straight to Ben Stokes at 3rd slip.After playing some exquisite drives,Murli Vijay got a surprise bouncer from James Anderson,who was also making his comeback after 3 months,ending up brushing his gloves and a simple catch to Ben Stokes.Then walked in Virat Kohli to join Cheteshwar Pujara and they were involved in a wonderful fluent partnership of 226 runs.We could see absolutely every shot in the book.Pujara in particular provided a masterclass of how to play spin with stepping down the track every now and then and just pushing the ball in the gap to collect boundries.Kohli was aggressive as well as watchful at the same time.Anderson and Broad tried to get him driving outside the off stump,the line which landed him in trouble in 2014,but Kohli wasn't going to edge one of those this time.Both of them were on counterattacking mode in the last one hour of the second session as they scored as many as 60-70 runs in that period.Both Kohli and Pujara reached their centuries without any difficulties in the 3rd session.After his fluent knock of 117,Pujara finally fell to a good length ball from James Anderson caught behind the wicket by Jonny Bairstow.Ajinkya Rahane was at no 5.He tried to play some shots early in his innings but he wasn't timing the ball well so he opted to play defensively.It didn't help him either.He fell victim to James Anderson at the stroke of stumps.
        The thing which struck me though was that the ease with which the Indians played out the English spinner who looked unplayable in the 2nd innings at Rajkot.The key to their success was I think the change in the surface.English spinners got the ball to turn it mile and turn it quickly with some extra bit of bounce in Rajkot,in contrast in Vizag,the pitch provided very slow turn due to which batsmen were able to adjust according to the length of the ball and play accordingly.
       With that late breakthrough,England have given themselves an opportunity to try and force their way back into the match.But with Kohli batting on 151,India will fancy a huge total if they can play out the first one hour of the 1st session on Day 2............