It amused me that, as a more-than-casual follower of cricket, even I was fooled by the hype surrounding Ishant’s spell that I totally forgot that he only took 3 wickets in a match that India won. Gaurav commented how odd it is that people remember him for a spell; typically, we remember bowlers for a Test or a series where they took a bunch of wickets and won matches. On my side, how it is that four years later, we remember a bowler for one spell he did four years ago. And how is he still in a national cricket team with a career bowling average of 37.87 with only 133 wickets after 45 Tests with only decent averages against West Indies, Bangladesh and New Zealand?

The only explanation is that he has some powerful Godfather protecting him. Conspiracy theory alert! But how else could you explain an article like this in Cricinfo, which suggests:

• Ishant is more unlucky than untalented.
• In a series where he has been the most expensive (other than Yadav), a cross-section of 20 overs where he only gave away 52 runs proves something. (Remove those overs and he gives away close to 4 runs an over)
• Although he has been criticized for not bowling wicket-taking balls, those criticisms do not matter because Mike Hussey has a great opinion about him. Also Ricky Ponting. (Has it occurred to people that even Australians may not like kicking people in the family jewels when they are down and totally useless?)
• Yadav owes his wickets to Ishant, who could be getting those Yadav wickets if only he was bowling differently such as bowling “the ball that got Ricky Ponting’s edge when it held its line four years ago” (that spell again!)

And today with Daniel Brettig with the amazing line, “Ishant Sharma has been a man more sinned against than sinning almost all tour“. Sinned against? By whom? Australia not willing to gift their wickets? Indian fielders not at the positions where the ball is being hit? The umpires not willing to say okay to his appeals? God not answering Ishant’s prayers?

It is time for Ishant to go. He is only 23. If he has talent, he has more than enough time to make a comeback. If not, better for India and some other aspiring fast bowler.

1. Of the 6 defeats, India could have legitimately won two (the second Test against England and the first against Australia) and perhaps drawn the third ( the first Test against England). So, instead of 0-6, we could have had a 2-3 record which would not have been so bad.
2. Playing abroad is always tough. Australia has been the graveyard for most teams, and although they were beaten badly by England, they are on the resurgence with a series win in Sri Lanka and coming back to square the series in South Africa. And England were, of course, going to be tough opponents after their success in Australia.
3. Since India had played (and won) many Tests at home, including against Australia (4 tests out of 6), our expectations were raised higher than usual. Added to this was winning the ODI World Cup, which has nothing to do with the Test team.
4. India really performed well against Australia only in 2003. The 2008 series could have been worse, but the umpiring and Australia’s behavior in the Sydney Test motivated India to come back strongly. And as people have pointed out, Australia’s bowling did not have Warne or McGrath.

I am not sure if this sounds like excuse making and a whitewash should have been expected. To the contrary, I think what it shows is that a whitewash is not an accurate indication of what this team could have achieved and what the gap between India and her opponents are. But at the same time, it is also remarkable that after a good competitive start, the team has gone into full-blooded surrender mode instead of trying to make a strong comeback (such as the West Indies). The best example of this is Sehwag’s swish that landed him a pair in the 3rd Test against England, but you can find quite a few other examples.

An aside: I see that Mike Hussey still remembers Ishant’s spell to Ponting from all those years back.

It was probably the birth of Ishant Sharma, who bowled unbelievably well in that Test match. I remember a spell to Ricky Ponting, which was just phenomenal bowling.

What is amazing is that apart from the West Indies tour, Ishant has nothing to show for himself after all this time and he is still in the team. A 40+ average in every country other than India, West Indies and Bangladesh does not sound very good for a fast bowler.

Amy contracted Guillain-Barre syndrome when she was 15 and was confined to a hospital for several months (more than a year). She started posting while she was in hospital, and being a minor, decided to use “Amy S” as her name and give people the impression that she was 20+. But the disease being what is, she had bouts of depression and during one of those, she decided to kill the blog.

The email is much longer and has many details that demonstrate that it is from the actual person. But I have no way of verifying whether the story itself is genuine, considering that the original “death post” was a very elaborately constructed lie, complete with a borrowed photo. And so the email needs to jump over a much higher hurdle of disbelief.

Ultimately, the who, what and why doesn’t really matter much. All you need to know is that the Amy S was a fiction, both alive and dead.

When Sammy dropped my chance, I knew God was with me. I am tired, yes, I am an old man now.

Sehwag was serious, but I found the choice of words in the second sentence rather hilarious. Explaining it would spoil the fun.

Now take a look at this.

The file names of the pictures are identical, but the names of the persons are not.

India’s World Cup Win

Teams have up and down years, but whatever happened during the rest of the year, winning the World Cup is forever. After more than a generation, India lifted the World Cup again! Sweet memories for those who had seen the 1983 win and a first-time glorious moment for those who had not. It was a fitting tribute to Sachin Tendulkar in his last World Cup. For those who doubted India could do it (that includes me), Dhoni’s India peaked at the right time after wobbles against England and South Africa. After India’s campaign, the best memories of the World Cup were Ireland’s incredible win against England and the guaranteed (but maybe won’t happen this time) South African choke.

England as No. 1 Test Team

England have always been underrated as a cricket team because of their abysmal ODI form, but I never imagined that they would reach the No. 1 Test ranking after beating both Australia (3-1) and India (4-0) to a pulp. I am now amazed that Sri Lanka only lost 0-1 in a 3-Test series and that after a freak third innings collapse.

The Rise and Fall of Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Around the mid-point of this year, Dhoni was on top of the world. Under him, India had won the T20 World Cup, the ODI World Cup (with Dhoni hitting the winning six) and the #1 Test Team ranking. He captained his IPL team Chennai Super Kings to two IPL championships and the Champions League Trophy. Then hiccups as India failed to win two Test matches in West Indies that they could have and should have won. And a full-blown disaster as India got wiped out in England, failing to win a single match and losing their Test top spot. Then CSK crashed out early in the 2011 Champions League. After gaining back some ground with a trashing of England in home ODIs and an almost whitewash of the West Indies, things seem to have slid back with a defeat to Australia in the final Test of the year. Dhoni seems human, after all.

Pakistan’s Incredible Year

Q at WellPitched can explain this much better than I do.

Bangladesh’s Terrible Year

Name the only team (including Zimbabwe) to have not won a single Test this year. There is no excuse for Bangladesh having Test status when teams like Ireland are out. All bravado and no result, despite having a few talented players.

Zimbabwe’s Return

Won their first Test on return. Made New Zealand sweat for a win. Zimbabwe is a country with a deep cricket tradition. And these are good signs for the long-term.

South Africa Throwing Series Leads

South Africa continues to throw away series leads after owning the opposition (India, Australia and Sri Lanka). Seriously, how do you look at yourself in the mirror after losing to the opposition one Test after bowling them out for 47 or winning by an innings? South Africa reminds me of the navigator in the boat race asking his team members to slow down because he never thought they would be in front and so hadn’t studied the map.

Miscellaneous

Yes, please don’t say Test cricket is still alive. We get it: You love Test cricket like cats love fish or something like that. On the other hand, I cannot remember many ODIs (other than those in the World Cup) or T20s. Some of the Test matches were suspiciously good. And by that, I mean only three players went to jail.

Happy New Year! And hope you don’t have a long wait to see Tendulkar’s 100th century.

This is technically right and people who are complaining about the “one second pause” are crazy. There is no way Ashwin could have made it back for the second run even without that slight pause. But it is also not right to say that he couldn’t have done something different.

From the video, it looked like Ashwin was way back in his crease and played the shot off his back foot. Perhaps that was the only way to play the shot, but it also meant that he didn’t have much momentum going into the run. By the time he had pushed himself off to take the run, Varun Aaron was already halfway to the striker’s end. If Ashwin had been jumping out of his crease, taking a few strides and hit the ball somewhere to the side of some fielder, it could have opened up the possibility of a tight second run and because of that, put more pressure on the fielder and maybe a useful misfield.

Of course, everything is easy for viewers to say. I suppose Ashwin may have been trying to smash his way to the boundary instead of trying a tactical 2 runs. But the stroke turned out not be fast enough to beat the fielder, not slow enough to delay him obtaining and returning the ball.

From India’s viewpoint, they could have won the match easily if only they had put a better show in the first innings. A lead of 150+ and 70 overs to bowl on the last day should have ended the West Indies resistance and ensured a 3-0 whitewash. I find it amazing that despite India’s strong show at home, we still haven’t beaten anyone like that since Sri Lanka back in the early 90s.

Now, whenever people look back on a surprising event in a game or a surprising result or whenever in the future there are surprising events or results, followers of the game who have paid good money to watch it live or to watch it on TV, in the shape of licence money or TV subscriptions, will be led to wonder whether there has been a fix and whether what they have been watching is a genuine contest between bat and ball. What ought to be honest sporting competition may not be such at all.

I wondered the same thing when they had all those close matches at the Champions League, including the Miandad-like six off the last ball. There will always be surprises and upsets in a cricket match, but when you have match-fixing happening, it is difficult to believe that it is for real.

A national team is not just made up of talented players. Yes, you can have enormously talented players like Tendulkar and Warne, but a team is more than that. It is the sum of all the cricketing effort put together by the entire nation. Every player in the team is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cricketing talent in that country. And that is determined by the sheer quantity of people playing and how much quality effort they are putting in. And how the leadership at different levels are doing and what institutions are being put into place.

When you consider that, it is no surprise that Pakistan and Zimbabwe are still performing. Despite their exile from Test cricket, Zimbabwe still had a decent cricket base. Cricket is essentially a national sport in Pakistan. And there are potentially hundreds of fast bowlers who will replace the ones who fall off the team.

Countries like England and Australia already have the advantages of developed nations, where they have good institutions for cricketers to develop their skills over years. With central contracts, there is also less financial worry so that the players do not try some act that spoils their long-term skills and future. Cricket is a tough sport, and these advantages will continue to ensure a big divide between the top nations and the rest of the field.

Which would have been great for India if the ODI series had been coupled with a Test series. Unfortunately, it is going to be another year before England tour India, and much of this would have been forgotten. England, on its part, are going to have tough times before then, playing Pakistan and Sri Lanka. And most likely would have lost their No. 1 ranking by then. India, also, have a tough tour of Australia coming up. Therefore, the next Test series may not be the battle at the top that we saw with the India tour of England.

Anyway, be that may, it is a welcome turnaround of fortunes for MS Dhoni. After the miserable England tour, Dhoni had another terrible tournament, the Champions League, where his team, Chennai Super Kings, ended up at the bottom of the league. And people have been talking about the end of his Midas Touch. That would not be a good thing for India, but hopefully that is not the case, and the last few months have been just a deviation from the norm.