Once heralded as the next big brown hopes of spin, Danish Kaneria and Harbhajan Singh now find themselves losing the magic that made them great

Osman Samiuddin14-Dec-2007

That uncertain feeling: is Kaneria a stock or shock bowler? © AFP
Shane Warne has gone, Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan will go soon: cherishthem while you can, for a greater trio of spinners, twirling together in one age,you will not see, perhaps ever.Cherish them especially because beyond them, though good spinners exist, great onesaren’t obvious. Stuart MacGill’s future has become bleak, as quickly as it becametangible, Daniel Vettori has captaincy to tackle, and Monty Panesar much to learn.And there are Danish Kaneria and Harbhajan Singh, a pair from whom were once expected great things, not least spin leadership post-Warne, Murali and Kumble.They fit the profile. Both are still young, Harbhajan about six months older at 27. Theyare experienced enough. Kaneria made his debut over two and a half years afterHarbhajan, in December 2000, but with 51 Tests is only nine behind him. Betweenthem, they also have 468 Test wickets, shared almost equally. Yet, currently theyseem likelier to lead their art into numbing oblivion.Part of the reason the India-Pakistan series was fizz-less was that Kaneria andHarbhajan were so poor through it. Apart from a spell apiece, both carried the stingof butterflies, devoid of threat, mystery or guile, and never more so than on the lastdays in Delhi and Kolkata, days on which a spinner earns his bread. Quality spinhas never been – and never should be – as robotic, as automated and witless as thesetwo made it.Sadly, it has been this way a while. Wickets are not the problem: Harbhajan took 10and Kaneria 12 in the series, enough to maintain career averages comfortably. But increasingly, the wickets are taken at such expense, at such intervals, and mostly when it matters so little, that they are as useful as the appendix. All spinners buy wickets, but the best make sure they don’t without a fair haggle.It wasn’t this way. In 2000-01, Harbhajan was the kingpin,Kumble out of the picture. And after devouring lambs early, over 2004-05 Kanerialooked set to carry on the mischief of Abdul Qadir. But since then, odd spells andperiods apart, there has been broad decay, a disrobing of their mystiques.Fittingly, their career figures are similar and so too the complexities fuellingtheir fall.Watching Harbhajan now is like watching the final, dark years of Saqlain Mushtaq,after he had OD’ed on ODIs. The flight is gone, the is the (first), and the whole process more rushed, more unthinking. It has served a purposeover one day, not so much over five.Doubts over his action haven’t helped. Though he maintains a cool unconcern, havingthe essence of your professional existence questioned can’t be helpful. And neitherwas the era of Greg Chappell, when there was less confidence – justifiably? – placedin him than under Sourav Ganguly.What role, too, did Harbhajan’s finger injury at a crucial time in 2003 play, allowing Kumble to become India’s main spinner again, and subsequently fogging up Harbhajan’s role: once he was the spearhead, what exactly is he now? Kumble’s sidekick or leadingspinner in his own right?This uncertainty of roles has stunted Kaneria too. It’s difficult to tell whether heis a shock or stock bowler. Ideally, he should be able to switch, but much of thework he has done over the last 18 months has been as part of an attack so light, it wouldstruggle to rid the crease of a feather.

Harbhajan found himself out of favour in Greg Chappell’s regime – perhaps with justification © AFP
Warne was great, but having Glenn McGrath with him made him greater still. Kaneriapropping up Mohammad Sami, Shahid Nazir and the obligatory crocked fast bowler isone thing; Kaneria complementing Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul and Shoaib Akhtar another entirely.Some say he experiments too much. It was once said of his googly, by Richie Benaud,that it was the best-disguised he had seen. But he uses it so often now that the Pakistan Post delivers it a day early to batsmen. And even South Africans picked itwithout alarm recently, a death knell to the credibility of any wrong’un. Otherssay he doesn’t experiment enough. Very belatedly, he unveiled a promising, zippyflipper in Delhi, only to barely use it again in the series.He is, commendably and distressingly, self-sufficient, rightly proud to be where heis, what he is, through his own making. But he also isn’t keen on learning fromothers, petulantly thinking it an admission, somehow, of weakness. Right now, maybe alittle advice, some mentoring would help. There is no shortage of his kind to callupon.Horrendous pitches have helped neither. It’s not, as Kaneria says, that they don’tspin in the subcontinent; it is that they don’t bounce, and though Harbhajan and he are different kinds, both thrive on bounce. Perhaps there are other, more complex factors,altogether. Spinners, after all, are rarely uncomplicated cricketers. But spinnersalso age well, so there is hope yet that they will emerge. India and Pakistan needthem to do so, but cricket needs them to do so even more.

Stats highlights from the second day of the Sydney Test between Australia and India

S Rajesh and HR Gopalakrishna03-Jan-2008

After the memorable Ashes win, the tour rolls into New Zealand for five ODIs

Charlotte Edwards28-Feb-2008

Jenny Gunn gets a special England cap from Charlotte Edwards to mark her 50th ODI © ECB
We had our first warm-up game in New Zealand on Friday. It was really important after our Ashes celebrations that we knuckled down and continued with the good form that we had shown against Australia.We batted first and got 183. Jenny Gunn, back from injury and performing well, hit 47. After lunch we bowled them all out for 86, so all in all a good day and excellent practise to get us used to the conditions in New Zealand.England men were training at Lincoln University while we were playing there and a couple of the guys came over to watch us and congratulate us on our Ashes victory, which was really nice.We had an early start the next day for a morning training session and then in the afternoon we watched the men’s ODI against New Zealand. We had some great seats, just above the tunnel, and it was nice to sing along with the Barmy Army. Come the interval I had some work to do in the form of a couple of interviews – first with Sky Sports and then . It was great to have a long chat with David Gower and then Jonathan Agnew. I was a bit disappointed there was no cake in the TMS box, though!Unfortunately we couldn’t stay until the end of the game because we had our first one-dayer the next morning. We’re a half-hour drive away from the ground, the Bert Sutcliffe Oval, also in Lincoln, so it was an early start for us.I won my first ODI toss of the tour and fielded first. The Kiwis, or the White Ferns, posted 261 for 9 and in reply we were 138 all out. It was a really disappointing batting performance from us on a good track. We knew we were capable of chasing the total down, but too many soft dismissals cost us the game.The next day we were back, raring to go for the second one-dayer. I lost the toss and the Kiwis batted first. They made 242 and this time our reply was fantastic: we hit the required runs in 44.4 overs and lost just one wicket. I’ve never not batted for England in an ODI I’ve played in, and I had to get some E45 cream for my serious pad rash, but I’m not complaining. It was a great partnership between Caroline (Atkins) and Tails (Sarah Taylor) and a great ton for Tails. It was also the first time we had beaten New Zealand in New Zealand since 1982, so it’s a fantastic achievement. Another great milestone was that the second ODI was actually Jenny Gunn’s 50th one-day international. A huge accomplishment, given that she’s still only 21.Playing back-to-back games is quite tough – they’re a great test of character. We have to prepare ourselves well and ice baths and early nights are a necessity.I was really pleased with the girls’ response in the second game, bouncing back after having gone 0-1 down. It was always going to be difficult, but I’m so proud that we did it and so well too. Personally, I don’t think back-to-back games are the way forward, but we understand the reasons behind it and the scheduling on this tour.

How the other half lives: Nicki Shaw, Sarah Taylor and Katherine Brunt © ECB
It’s great having Nunny (Katherine Brunt) back and playing again. She’s worked so hard over the last 15 months to get herself fit. No one’s more pleased than I am to see her wearing an England shirt again and playing well. Another addition to our squad in New Zealand is Charlie Russell, who has been playing out here all winter. It’s great to have another spinner on board since Holly Colvin has had to go back to school. It’ll be a great experience for Charlie as it’s her first international overseas tour.There’s been plenty of speculation back home about central contracts, but we’re focusing ourselves on our cricket over here. We’ve got a big week ahead with three one-day internationals to play and we’re all looking at what we need to achieve to make this the most successful winter tour ever for England women. We’re already halfway there.It’s really exciting that some players may be getting central contracts, but from April some players will be taking up an opportunity to work for Chance to Shine, the initiative to bring cricket to schools, in a coaching capacity. It’s an exciting time for women’s cricket in England and Wales – it feels like the game is heading into a new era.For now, though, we’ve got a series to win here first and that’s what we intend to do over the coming week.

With their 300-run stand, Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly moved India from a precarious 61 for 4 to a position of strength

George Binoy at the Chinnaswamy Stadium08-Dec-2007

A weak batting performance in the final Test of a series has often left India on the wrong side of the rubber during the last two years. In February 2006, they batted poorly twice to lose the deciding Test against Pakistan in Karachi, collapsed in Mumbai on the final day against England in March, and failed to build on a lead in Cape Town in January 2007. A potentially similar situation presented itself in Bangalore when Pakistan had India, who lead the series 1-0, at 61 for 4.The tendency in such a predicament has been for batsmen to dig trenches and consolidate. That approach has its merits on difficult pitches – like Rahul Dravid’s performance in Kingston in 2006 – but it has also proved detrimental in situations such as Cape Town where Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar stagnated against Paul Harris. On Saturday, Yuvraj Singh and Sourav Ganguly did the exact opposite – they attacked and punched India out of a corner. They scored at 4.59 runs per over during their 300-run partnership and helped India end the day on 365 for 5, the highest-ever first day score in Tests in India.The stats make for impressive reading – a fifth-wicket record stand for India against Pakistan and the highest for India in Bangalore – but the comprehensive domination by Yuvraj and Ganguly had shaky beginnings. Yuvraj was playing his first Test since July 2006 and admitted to nerves despite being in supreme form in the five ODIs against Pakistan.”I’ve never been a confident starter in Test cricket because I’ve not played much of it,” he said. “I’ve never been so nervous in a one-day game but Test cricket does give me shivers.”He joined Sourav Ganguly, batting on 12, and faced a short but testing period before lunch. Yuvraj played out 11 dot balls before walking across his stumps to flick Yasir Arafat to the square-leg boundary, the moment, he said, when he felt settled.Pressure can mount if it’s left to one batsman to score but that did not arise because both Ganguly and Yuvraj went for their shots. Without Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistan lacked firepower and their helplessness showed as several part-timers lined up to bowl. Yuvraj and Ganguly exuded confidence as the innings progressed: Yuvraj more robust compared to Ganguly’s calm composure. Yuvraj gave Pakistan one chance, when he edged Danish Kaneria to first slip but Younis Khan couldn’t hold on.

Ganguly’s naturally attacking game, said Yuvraj, helped him ease into a groove and the immediate goal was to forge a fifty partnership. Fifty quickly grew into hundred and more, Yuvraj eclipsing Ganguly with breathtaking drives and flicks as the stand grew. They scored 127 runs between lunch and tea and 173 runs in the last session, Yuvraj accounting for 102.Yuvraj moved into the nineties with a streaky edge but the shot that brought him his century was a majestic cover drive off Yasir Arafat. The celebration was understandably exuberant: he jumped and punched the air, took off his helmet and roared before saluting his team-mates and the crowd.Ganguly also got to his century with a cover drive though once the ball pierced the infield, he merely stopped in his tracks and raised his arms in quiet triumph. The celebrations mirrored their innings: Yuvraj pumped up to prove he fits, Ganguly the calm, knowing, steady hand.The second new-ball made little impact, as Yuvraj whipped Arafat to square leg and drove to the long-off boundary off successive deliveries and with such ease it prompted Ganguly to quip that “he had springs in his bat.”However, even with India in such a strong position, Yuvraj said the “game was still on” if Pakistan restricted them to 400. The responsibility of leading India towards 500 lies with Ganguly. His significant contribution was overshadowed by Yuvraj but his role on Sunday will be vital.

The second Test at Mohali was a rare happening as the Australians were toyed around and thoroughly dominated by India

Cricinfo staff21-Oct-2008
Fittingly the defeat in the second Test has been inflicted by India, who have stood up to Australia, competed against them more consistently than any other team in the past decade © Getty Images
Trucks in the Punjab are famous for the one-line messages they carry. One of the typically earthy ones is, “Vekhi ja, par chedi na [Keep watching my truck, but don’t fiddle around].” For four days and a bit in Mohali, India were the runaway truck that Australia could only watch and do nothing about.It is a rare happening: When was the last time a team toyed around with Australia? When was the last time Australia were so dominated? One has to go back more than 10 years, to the same opposition and country, to Eden Gardens 1997-98. So long ago that only five players, on both sides, from that Test played in this match. Between Eden Gardens and Mohali, Australia played 117 matches, losing 15, without being so completely outplayed even once.What would be more satisfactory for India, though, is that this win didn’t come on a crumbling dustbowl; home advantage counted for nought this time. It was a good batting track, looking like any Australian pitch, with a little less bounce, on the first day. Contrast this with Eden Gardens 1998, when India played with three spinners, and Sourav Ganguly opened the bowling. Over the last five days, though, and on the same pitch, the ball would lose all potency the moment it was handled by Australian bowlers.To be fair to the Australians, this isn’t the same team that dominated the world over the last decade. Some of the best players in that side – Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Justin Langer – have gone. Also, they embarked on this tour – possibly their toughest assignment of recent times – without Andrew Symonds; discipline problem or not, it’s a mistake they may yet come to regret. Even so, it would take a special effort to put the boot in, simply because of their winning habit and the belief that they can pull themselves out of any kind of strife.”Especially at one time in the first innings, they [Australia] were 22 from 13 overs. I said to Rahul [Dravid], ‘Look at the board, we won’t see that again'”Mahendra Singh DhoniIt’s perhaps fitting that this defeat has been inflicted by India, who have stood up to Australia, competed against them more consistently than any other team in the past decade. And India are the only team who constantly threaten to outskill them: once it was their mysterious spin bowling and imperious batting, here the biggest difference between the teams was the quality of the pace bowling.While Australia struggled for any disconcerting movement, the Indian bowlers got prodigious swing, both conventional and reverse. A TV split-screen visual of the six-over-old ball being used by both the teams told a story. While the one Australia used was scuffed up all over, the one India used had two markedly different sides, shiny and rough. That meant the ball started reversing as early as in the ninth over at times, a sensational phenomenon. And since it’s still hard and new that early, as MS Dhoni suggested, it was all the more difficult to face. “The ball [from Ishant Sharma] that got me would get me 95 times out of 100,” Ricky Ponting confessed.The batsmen and the spinners did their job too. Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag gave India two fiery starts, putting Australia on the back foot right away. The middle order revived them after a brief blip. Amit Mishra’s debut was phenomenal, a throwback to the old days of classical legspin bowling. And Harbhajan Singh fast-tracked Australia to their demise in the second innings.Right from the toss, India did little wrong. The one potentially distracting period was when Tendulkar moved towards his record but India regrouped well. They were aggressive throughout, and there wasn’t a single player in the side they needed to hide. You could say they had nine potential Man-of-the-Match winners, something we rarely see with the Indian team. Perth, earlier this year, was a team performance, but not nearly as destructive.
Once it was India’s mysterious spin bowling and imperious batting that undid opponents, here the biggest difference between the teams was the quality of the pace bowling © Getty Images
It can be argued the destruction started even before the toss. Perhaps Zaheer Khan had sensed in Bangalore that this Australian team could do with some dominating. The debate over who won the moral victory in Bangalore can continue but it’s clear who gained more from that result.Two moments summed up the match for India and Australia. One of them came early on the second day. India had contrived to keep Australia in the game on day one, even though the latter chased leather throughout the day. At 326 for 6, India were still capable of being bundled out for a below-par total. In walked Dhoni, and he got a bouncer first-up. He hooked that for four, then hit another for a six, and “the most defensive side in a long time” was being taken to the cleaners.Then, on the fourth morning, India played Australia at their own game, applying ruthlessness and urgency – and clarity of thought – in their approach to setting the target, and giving themselves close to 130 overs to bowl out a side low on confidence. And when Matthew Hayden tried to intimidate the bowlers, they didn’t take a step back. The inevitable soon happened and, as it usually happens in India, it happened too fast once it started.Naturally Dhoni was pleased with his team’s effort. “I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “Especially at one time in the first innings, they were 22 from 13 overs. I said to Rahul [Dravid], ‘Look at the board, we won’t see that again.'”The way this Indian team is playing, don’t bet on it.

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan11-Mar-2008The second round of IPL auctions are done with and it’s time once again to
look at how the franchises have built their teams for the 44-day tournament.

Tuesday’s show wasn’t as high-profile but was as important for a few franchises. Some, like Hyderabad, had already settled their squads while others like Jaipur had plenty of money left to spend. Others still, like Kolkata and Jaipur, may have ended up with too many overseas signings while Bangalore and Mumbai used the second opportunity to plug the gaps.Like we did after the first auction, we run the
rule over the eight sides.

Bangalore

Bangalore have a far more balanced look after the second auction. Just when the batting order appeared too conventional for Twenty20, they poached Misbah-ul-Haq, someone who will add
the X-factor. Shreevats Goswami, the Under-19 player acquired on Tuesday, will be the second-choice wicketkeeper. With a bowling attack that’s one of the best in the tournament, Bangalore look a far more flexible unit.Probable XI: 1 Bharat Chipli, 2 J Arunkumar, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Jacques
Kallis/Misbah-ul-Haq 5 Virat Kohli, 6 Cameron White, 7 Mark Boucher (wk), 8
Zaheer Khan, 9 Anil Kumble, 10 Nathan Bracken, 11 Dale Steyn/Vinay Kumar.

Chennai

It was a quiet day for Chennai, having bought most of their players in the
first auction. It’s a squad with a fine balance of local and foreign
talent and plenty of options in both batting and bowling. It’s a side with
quality fast bowlers, handy medium-pacers, fine spinners, big hitters, and
accumulators. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain, couldn’t have asked for
more.Probable XI 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Stephen Fleming/ Abhinav Mukund, 3
Suresh Raina, 4 Jacob Oram, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Michael
Hussey/S Badrinath, 7 Albie Morkel/Parthiv Patel, 8 Joginder Sharma, 9
Napoleon Einstein, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan/ Makhaya Ntini, 11 Sudeep
Tyagi/R Ashwin.

Delhi

A balanced side with an outstanding fielding unit, it also has enough
local talent to give it good shape. The pace department is
impressive but Delhi may still be pondering about spin.
Daniel Vettori continues to be the lone specialist spin option, with
Virender Sehwag backing up. Overall a side that looks like serious
contenders.Probable XI 1 Virender Sehwag (capt), 2 Gautam Gambhir, 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4
AB de Villiers/Shoaib Malik/Tillakaratne Dilshan, 5 Rajat Bhatia, 6 Manoj
Tiwary, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Farveez Maharoof/Yo
Mahesh, 10 Mohammad Asif, 11 Glenn McGrath.

Hyderabad

No need for the second auction here. The franchise spent most of their money the first time and quickly went about signing others from the catchment areas. It’s a power-packed side with a fine mix of local and foreign players. Hyderabad are making the least noise among all the franchises but don’t be surprised if you see them on top of the podium.Probable XI: 1 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 2 DB Ravi Teja, 3 VVS Laxman (capt), 4 Arjun Yadav, 5 Andrew Symonds/Herschelle Gibbs, 6 Venugopal Rao/ Rohit Sharma, 7 Scott Styris/Shahid Afridi/Chamara Silva, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Chaminda Vaas/Nuwan Zoysa, 10 RP Singh, 11 D Kalyankrishna.

Jaipur

They’ve no doubt gained the most from the second auction but are still too reliant on foreign talent. Shane Warne has plenty of options in the squad but he’s allowed only four foreign players – a fact which will restrict the selection of the side. DImitri Mascarenhas, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir are wonderful additions but all might struggle to get picked regularly.Probable XI: 1 Taruwar Kohli, 2 Graeme Smith, 3 Yusuf Pathan,
4 Mohammad Kaif, 5 Anup Revendkar, 6 Kamran Akmal (wk), 7 Shane Watson, 8
Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Shane Warne (capt) 10 Pankaj Singh, 11 Munaf Patel.

Kolkata

Sourav Ganguly is the only high-profile Indian in the batting line-up. With only four foreign players allowed in the playing XI, it leaves them with a brittle middle order. Their only purchases on Tuesday were Iqbal Abdulla and Siddharth Kaul, both bowlers. It means the likes of Laxmi Ratan Shukla and other local players would need to fill the void in the middle.Probable XI 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Brendon McCullum (wk),
4 Ricky Ponting, 5 Laxmi Ratan Shukla, 6 Ajit Agarkar, 7 Murali Kartik, 8
Iqbal Abdulla/Saurasish Lahiri, 9 Shoaib Akhtar/Umar Gul, 10 Ishant
Sharma, 11 Siddharth Kaul.

Mohali

A good second auction but the batting still looks thin on paper.
Most of the options are foreign recruits and Yuvraj Singh might struggle to put a
balanced XI in place. Ajitesh Argal and Tanmay Srivatsava, though, could
be fine picks in the long run, with both players touted as future
international stars. The bowling line-up has a fine mix – well represented
in both pace and spin.Probable XI 1 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 2 Irfan Pathan, 3 Tanmay
Srivastava, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Mahela Jayawardene/ Ramnaresh Sarwan/ Simon
Katich, 6 James Hopes, 7 Piyush Chawla, 8 Ramesh Powar, 9 Brett Lee, 10
Ajitesh Argal, 11 Sreesanth.

Mumbai

Mumbai have a more settled unit now with Manish Pandey and Saurabh Tiwary
beefing up the batting order. The only team without a foreign wicketkeeper
[Delhi have AB de Villiers as a back-up option to Dinesh Karthik], Mumbai
will rely on Pinal Shah from Baroda and Maharashtra’s Yogesh Takawale. Expect fireworks from the top order:
Ajinkya Rahane and Robin Uthappa following the two masters, Sachin
Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya.Probable XI: 1 Sachin Tendulkar (capt), 2 Sanath Jayasuriya, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Robin
Uthappa, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 Sourabh Tiwary, 7 Shaun Pollock, 8 Pinal Shah
(wk), 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10, Lasith Malinga, 11 Dilhara Fernando.

India failed to stay switched on and allowed Australia’s batsmen, who batted resolutely, to save the game

Cricinfo staff01-Nov-2008
India’s bowling and fielding effort was shoddy, until Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag wrapped up the Australian innings © AFP
For seven days during this series there was a sense of the baton being passed. The champions had weakened and their inconsistent challengers were raising their performance. Australia were outplayed on all five days in Mohali in every aspect of the game and the same plot seemed to be unfolding on the first two days in Delhi. Until the Australian batsmen, fighting for a grip on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, changed the script. They were resolute and prevailed in a situation that separates the great Test teams from the merely very good.Great sides hang on in such situations. They stay switched on, they keep coming at their opponents relentlessly, they create opportunities and they take half-chances. For one day, the third, India tried to be that team. Although their bowlers were ineffective on a flat and slow pitch they continued to persevere. Their bowling attack was depleted by an injury to Harbhajan Singh before the match, and one to Anil Kumble on the third day, but Virender Sehwag stepped up and, thanks to his canny offspin, Australia still had work to do on the fourth day to ensure safety.India, too, had work to do and needed more of the same perseverance to bowl Australia out in a session and a half. However, they lacked the urgency in their pursuit of greatness. The reward for yesterday’s efforts and this morning’s tight start came in the form of a regulation catch at mid-off but Ishant Sharma parried the offering towards the long-off boundary. Michael Clarke was 21 at the time of his first let off – he would get two more in the 90s – and Australia were still behind by 263. Amit Mishra, the bowler who lost out on the wicket, bowled many loose balls later on in his spell.Gary Kirsten, the India coach, admitted India’s intensity dropped a few notches. “You have to create a lot of opportunities and I don’t think we bowled well enough today to create those opportunities,” Kirsten said. “We didn’t build pressure for long enough, there were a lot of four-balls at crucial times. And when you rely on one opportunity, without creating more opportunities, guys are going to make mistakes on the field.”The situation was brought under control by Kumble, who contained despite his left-hand being heavily bandaged, and Virender Sehwag, who finally reached his maiden five-wicket haul by bowling Cameron White after being denied twice by dropped catches.India’s mindset was further revealed during the 13-over passage before stumps. They’d barely added to their first-innings lead of 36 before losing Sehwag, at which point they sent in a nightwatchman. Ishant Sharma was duly dispatched by an accurate bouncer from Stuart Clark.The double-blow late in the day and an injured Kumble in the tail gave Australia bragging rights, which Michael Clarke was quick to exercise. “I think we can bowl them out tomorrow,” Clarke said. “India won’t set us a target, they showed that by sending out a nightwatchman tonight. We know only one team will be trying to push for a result tomorrow.”Kirsten, however, defended the decision to send in Ishant. “Certainly, in all the cricket I have played in my time, and it’s no different here, we always ask the No. 3 or 4 batsman if they want a nightwatchman. And it was requested that a nightwatchman be used. This is what happens every single time, in every situation, and there are very few batsmen who don’t want a nightwatchman.” But in following the norm India had put two men who had bowled 65 overs between them at No. 2 and 3.Clarke was correct in assessing that, the final result notwithstanding, there was only one team harbouring thoughts of winning going into the final day. “We are 79 ahead. We’ve to go and bat for a session and a bit tomorrow to get ourselves into a strong position and see what happens,” Kirsten said. “But the wicket hasn’t done too much, and it’s been good to bat on. So we are running a little bit short on time.”Over the last two years, India have had important triumphs away from home. They have also been the only team to consistently challenge Australia. They now have a bowling attack with depth and variety: they can even think of playing only one spinner in India and still be effective. This team should be striving to be No. 1 before all their great batsmen retire. Idiosyncratic brilliance has often been India’s strength but, on a day like today, they needed regimental discipline to stay switched on and fulfill their aspirations.

They may not have a Test win in New Zealand since 1976 but India are focused on winning the series instead of worrying about past performances

Sidharth Monga in Hamilton17-Mar-2009

The ODI series win will have changed a few notions inside the Indian camp. Some of the players who hadn’t been here before, including the captain, will be wondering what the fuss about New Zealand was about. Twenty-seven days into this tour, the previous tour already sounds like fiction.Others who have been here before have only the freakish conditions in 2002-03 as explanation for not having won a Test. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, has played eight Tests in New Zealand and hasn’t been on the winning side even once. He will know, given the team’s form and the conditions this time around, that this series represents his best chance – and most likely his last. So too for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.Then there’s the middle group, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, whose only experience of Tests in New Zealand are those losses in 2002-03. But all three are strong characters, capable of putting past failures well behind them. Sehwag has made a living out of forgetting the previous ball he has faced.However, history is against India. The facts are startling: India last won a series here more than forty years ago and even their last Test victory here came back in 1976.A lot will depend on how successfully India ignore history. Of late, this team has made a mockery of history and reputation. They were supposed to be the worst of the big teams at the World Twenty20, they were supposed to lose easily in the ODIs in Australia, they were not supposed to win a Test there.Ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni if past record matters to this team and he says: “We hadn’t won a one-day series [in New Zealand] either.” This time they cruised through the series, just missing out on a clean sweep.”I am not bothered about whether we have won here or not,” Dhoni said. “I am just bothered about the things we need to do over here as a team. We are not thinking about what happened in the past. I am not great when it comes to stats, so that really helps.”Fast forward to the present, and what India need to do here as a team. They have almost everything sorted out going into the first Test. They couldn’t have asked for a better team, with 10 players picking themselves. All they would have hoped for is a third pace bowler who they can repose their faith in. Munaf Patel is not that bowler as of now. L Balaji, on his comeback, is too untested to be that man.Dhoni made clear that Munaf’s poor outings in the ODIs would not be held against him. “You know he is a much better bowler than what he did in the one-dayers,” Dhoni said. In two ODIs Munaf bowled 9.3 overs for 93 runs for no wickets. “Often he bowled as one-change seamer, and wickets were quite placid. We had big scores, and most of the times New Zealand got off to a good start, which meant basically the batsmen targeted the third seamer. It’s always tough to judge on the basis of one-day especially.”We will see who the best bowler is and who is bowling better right now, and accordingly we will pick the third seamer.” Munaf, though, has bowled fewer overs than Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and L Balaji in the nets over the last couple of days.India will fix that quandary on Wednesday morning. Another historical blip they need to fix is the first-Test blues while touring. Even on their two most recent tours, first Test losses to Australia and Sri Lanka set the tone for series defeats. India cannot afford a slow start here. If they suffer one here, that coupled with their past record in New Zealand, could weigh heavily on the rest of the series.That said, India have the right mix, the conditions are good and this is not the toughest New Zealand side they have faced. They have players to whom history means nothing, players who have suffered and have lessons to share, and they have players who are very good at putting the past behind them. From tomorrow, they will look to set right what they believe is an aberration.

Today, Sachin Tendulkar tried to make a laboratory experiment of his constant advice: Under pressure you have more time than you think you have. Delay the charge It was a high-risk approach that was enthralling to watch

Sriram Veera in Durban14-May-2009You ask any modern Indian cricketer or even foreign players in the Mumbai Indians team, they all point to one constant piece of advice given by Sachin Tendulkar: Under pressure you have more time than you think you have. Delay the charge. Today, Tendulkar tried to make a laboratory experiment of it. It was a high-risk approach that was simply enthralling to watch. When is he going to go for it? Surely, he has left it for too late? Tendulkar had squeezed himself and Sanath Jayasuriya in the middle-order as Mumbai had been choking whenever the duo failed at the top.The plan didn’t start off well with Mumbai wobbling at 23 for 3 when Tendulkar entered in the sixth over. If the top three had added more runs, then it would have been understandable but they seemed caught in no man’s land. Tendulkar and Jayasuriya however, stuck to the plan. No shot in rage, nothing flashy, just keep batting and delay the assault. It threatened to cause an implosion. Shane Warne tried his best to shake them off their focus, throwing little temptations their way. The mini-battle between Warne, Tendulkar and Jayasuriya was rivetting. It wasn’t action packed but the gameplans of each of the masters were fascinating to watch. On the one hand you had the sages – Tendulkar and Jayasuriya – and on the other, Warne, the wizard.Warne flighted the leg breaks to Tendulkar who at best looked for singles. Ditto for Jayasuriya. Warne brought the men from the deep and increased the trajectory but there was no change in the batsmen’s mindset. Warne knew one wicket could turn the game in his way. But he wouldn’t have been too displeased with the run rate either. Johan Botha too bowled two tight overs. The pressure was mounting and the two batsmen would have to really need to turn it on consistently for a period of time. The risk might have been too much. And this approach couldn’t be a blueprint for a successful chase for other batsmen. It needed the calibre of Tendulkar and Jayasuriya to pull it off. Would they?At the end of ten overs, Mumbai required 92 from 60 balls. At the strategic timeout the two batsmen remained on the pitch. Jayasuriya stretched himself on the ground while Tendulkar stood. Both were involved in a chat with Shaun Pollock and Praveen Amre. Upon resumption, Jayasuriya tried to slog-sweep Warne but fell. Tendulkar had to do it now. The mind couldn’t but go back to their previous encounters. Tendulkar charging Warne has to be the sight of the 90s for many Indians and one image has frozen into the mind’s eye – Sharjah. The Tendulkar charge. And Warne waving his hand in front of his face almost in disbelief. Would it happen again?Two balls after Jayasuriya fell, Tendulkar jumped out at the flighted legbreak to lift it over inside-out over extra cover. Warne ripped another one even higher but with more work on the ball. Tendulkar came out but ended up miscuing the lofted hit but it fell safely. Tendulkar cranked up the heat. He dispatched Yusuf Pathan over long-on and hit three consecutive fours to the straight boundary off Ravindra Jadeja and the equation came down to 48 from 30. The man seemed to have pulled off his incredibly risky plan.But Warne wasn’t done yet. He squeezed one past Tendulkar’s attempted sweep to claim his man. Game over? Abhishek Nayar didn’t think so and played a fine whirlwind innings till he had a Tendulkar moment of his own. With just six runs needed from nine balls, he dug out a yorker to the leg side and ran, unaware that the ball was with the wicketkeeper. Just like Tendulkar in the 1996 World Cup against Sri Lanka with Romesh Kaluwitharana, the keeper, stumping him. India collapsed then, Mumbai choked now. The Tendulkar shadow refuses to leave Mumbai.

A book of stunning photographs of England’s cricket grounds, accompanied by concise histories and anecdotes by players

Martin Williamson03-Oct-2009Whereas football is gradually selling its soul with clubs leaving their famous old homes and moving into purpose-built, well-appointed and usually utterly sterile new stadiums, many cricket grounds in England have, like the game itself, largely retained their slightly tatty look and feel.Anyone who regularly attends first-class matches will know no two venues are remotely similar. They range from the state-of-the-art, such as Lord’s, to the run-down charm of Hove. Pavilions, the heart of most venues, can be gloriously Victorian, but equally there are the appallingly functional. Seating can be a plastic bucket, a deckchair or even a grass bank. And even the areas outside can vary hugely, from open fields to housing estates.It is because of the variety that this book works. At the heart are the photographs, taken by former police helicopter pilot Ian Hay, which are quite stunning. I found it fascinating to see grounds from an entirely unfamiliar perspective – it’s remarkable what a wide variety of shapes and sizes the outfields are. I had always assumed them to be fairly round, but they turned out to be anything but.The authors have wisely not limited their scope to the main county homes but have included some of the lesser-used outgrounds – a reminder that the roots of the first-class game are very much in club cricket, even if the number of out-matches is a fraction of what it once was.Even the newly built venues, such as Riverside and the Rose Bowl, have their own charm. Possibly the exception to the rule is the redeveloped Sophia Gardens (or the Swalec Stadium as the marketing men would have you believe), which has all the appeal of a League-Two football ground.There are well-written, concise histories of each venue, and each county has a short famous-profiles section. But what really makes the book are the anecdotes from the players, ranging from 98-year-old Cyril Perkins to the current England captain Andrew Strauss. Angus Fraser, now director of cricket at Middlesex, admits to being smuggled into the pavilion at Lord’s on his first visit as a child, while Alec Bedser recalls the first match at The Oval after the war, in which the teams agreed not to appeal for lbws.Geoffrey Boycott’s excellent introduction concentrates on a ground that is no more – Sheffield’s Bramall Lane – and for those who believe he is not that sentimental, he admits that when they closed the ground in 1973 he bought some of the turf and planted it in his mother’s garden.Progress, higher expectations from the public, and the need to cram in more corporate facilities means if this project is repeated in a generation’s time then the major venues will undoubtedly have lost more chunks of their soul. You only have to see what the ICC did in the Caribbean ahead of the 2007 World Cup to realise how easily history can be jettisoned for profit. But for now, savour what is on offer.Cricket Grounds From The Air
by Zaki Cooper and Daniel Lightman
Myraid, 2009
£20