Is Robin Uthappa another Sehwag?

While opening the batting against West Indies in the third ODI, Robin Uthappa made us remember the innings of Virender Sehwag, which was both thrilling and alarming at the same time. Thrilling, because we got to see an aggressive batsman from India after so long; alarming, because Uthapa’s competitor for the opening slot, Virender Sehwag, started out much more promisingly and turned out be a joke of sorts before he was dropped from the national side. In a way, media and the Indian cricket fans were responsible for Sehwag’s debacle as a batsman and as a player.

Unfortunately, the media has started its work on Robin Uthappa too.

Indians are habitual worshippers. We need someone to worship, to idolize and to pin our hopes on. In cricket, we have been desperately trying to cover up the team’s mediocre performances by searching for individual heroics. It’s like a comforting cushion that lessens the pain of insulting defeats. Before the arrival of Sachin Tendulkar, Indians compared every promising batsman to Gavaskar; be it Sanjay Manjrekar, Azarudin or Vinod Kambli. After Sachin raised the bar, we started comparing every new promising player to him. When Sehwag came, because of his similarities to Sachin (which, consequently worked against him) and his penchant to punish the bowlers, the Indian public and the media projected him as the next Sachin. Some even had the audacity of comparing him to Don Bradman! While I am a huge fan of Sehwag, I think such undeserving comparisons only made him more careless.

He is still to understand the difference between being carefree and careless.

Now, when Robin Uthappa has hardly played a couple of ODIs, we are busy comparing him to Sehwag. Why do we need to compare every player to a former or a current great? Why can’t we leave them alone and accept the fact that every player is unique, with his own strengths and weaknesses? While those who make the comparisons might have only the best of intentions for Uthappa, the comparisons will harm him nonetheless. We have already killed too many promising careers with our irresistible urge to compare them with former greats.

Robin Uthappa, is neither another Sachin nor is he Sehwag. He is Robin Uthappa, with his own strengths and weaknesses. He will play well, and he will fail. There’s no need to praise him to the sky when he plays well, there is no need to stone his house when he fails. When our responses to players are dominated by emotion, they respond by playing emotionally (I strongly believe that Sehwag was playing to the gallery in the last couple of seasons). Treat Uthappa professionally and may be he will respond by developing a professional approach towards the game.

That’s what we need from the man!

Shame on you, DD!

DD India is finally showing the current ODI series between India and West Indies live. I don’t get Neo sports in my house, and if I am watching the matches live (yeah, deferred live, if there’s anything like that) that’s because of DD’s efforts to make the matches available to the whole nation. Does that make me proud of ‘our own government owned national network?’

Actually, I never hated DD so much before.

For the uninitiated, the issue here is simple. Having paid heavy royalty rates, Neo sports deserves the right to broadcast the matches exclusively. But DD sneaked in from back door (like always) and demanded that it should be given the rights to the match as an issue of national importance. National importance? Do you call watching an ageing superstar struggling to bat against mediocre bowlers an issue of national importance? There are children being killed in UP, people dying of famine in parts of Karnataka and our DD thinks matches between India and West Indies are of national importance!

Few days ago, our minister Priya Ranjan Das Munshi tried and succeeded in painting Neo Sports as a villain, because it resisted offering telecast rights of the matches on a platter to the lazy officials of the DD. “They are not patriotic” proclaimed the half witted minister. If showing the matches to the millions of cable-less homes was the only concern of DD, then it would have gladly accepted to carry on all the advertisements Neo Sports carried on its own network, as the channel rightly demanded. But “patriotic DD” didn’t want it. It wanted to beg in front of Neo sports for the alms of the match and at the same time, wanted to bleed it to death by telecasting its own advertisements between the overs.

How sick can people get?

DD has been doing this to all cricket broadcasting channels in India. It doesn’t want to go through the troubles of bidding for the telecast rights; it doesn’t want to improve its technology to compete with other competitors. It just sits there like a vulture, waiting for other people to do all the hard work and then closes in using its ‘government’ powers.

Before DD kills quality cricket broadcasting in India with its autocratic behavior, it has to understand that nothing comes free. Yes, cricket matches being telecast in paid channels would deprive millions of cricket lovers in India from watching the match. But it’s the duty of DD to bid for the matches, place the highest bid (with its coverage and ‘government money’ it can outplace any bidder quite easily, if it wants to) improve its dilapidated technologies and then talk about patriotism and ‘national interest’

Otherwise, of all the channels and authorities in the country, DD would be the most unpatriotic because it’s putting every Indian to shame with its shameless behavior.

Poor Chap Chappell

Greg Chappell was slapped by an irate cricket fan in Cuttack. The reason for this unholy act was the omission of the Orissa players from the Indian squad. Actually, that’s irrelevant. What is relevant was that Greg Chappell was slapped (or was he hit on the back?) by an Indian cricket fanatic.

Did Chappell deserve a slap?

Obviously, no person in his right mind will accept anything like this. If you kept hitting coaches and selectors for the non performance of the Indian team, many of the selectors would have been dead by now. Also, Chappell does not select the players, BCCI selected Chappell; so any act of frustration should have been aimed at BCCI and the golden boys of the Indian cricket, not at a poor visionary who is decent enough to show his middle finger when things don’t go his way.

How barbaric!

Still Chappell was hit by an irate cricket fan and nobody protested strongly. Indian players didn’t say a word (they couldn’t. They were already busy being beaten by so many players and teams across the world!), BCCI said something to the effect that it will conduct enquiry into the incident. Nobody bothered to ask when that enquiry would give its report; it was business as usual for the Indian Junta and the team (or may be not, they won in Cuttack and Nagpur!)

Poor chap Chappell, who made so much noise last time around when his team was beaten in SA, lost his vocabulary when he needed it the most. Maybe he is a pure professional, or may be that fan hit him so hard that Chappell was unable to speak for a good two days.

Funnily enough, India has won two ODIs in a row after a long time just after Chappell was slapped. Was it pure co-incidence, or was it a real shot in the arm (or back) our cricketers and coach needed? I am really afraid for Chappell if the latter is proved right! He is old man and he can’t take so many blows.

Pun intended.

Drop Veeru!

Watching Virender Sehwag in South Africa was like watching a mainstream Hindi film. You hope something different happens, you hope there is a twist in the tale after all; but all you get is the mindless, soulless climaxes that leave you more frustrated than the last time. Veeru came, he didn’t see and he was thoroughly conquered! Everything from his booming drives to his breathtaking upper cuts over the gully regions abandoned him when he needed them the most.

Everything with the exception of Rahul Dravid.

It was a pathetic sight to see Virender Sehwag with a bat in hand in South Africa. But the agony didn’t stretch for long as the man returned to the pavilion before anyone blinked an eye. He tried to hit his way out of form and as the failures increased, the audacity in shot making increased with disastrous consequences. It appeared as if Virender Sehwag believed that the only solution for his problem was to play more and more aggressively and prove to this bloody world that he is still the same Veeru that India has grown to love.

As a consequence of this thought process, India literally played with 10 batsmen in every game.

As with any batsman who is out of form, theories are being propounded all over the internet about the lack of his footwork, his habit of playing the ball in the air and his insistence on playing his ‘natural game’ even in the face adversity. We have a short memory. In the face of a series of failures, we forget that these are the same qualities that made Sehwag the batsman he is. These are the same qualities that gave him runs in South Africa (in his debut Test tour) and New Zealand where every other batsman failed.

So then, what’s the reason for his failure?

Being an admirer of Virender Sehwag, (yes, I still admire him!) over the past couple of years, it looks as if he has started playing for the crowds. As fans and media started to project him as the next Tendulkar and his reputation as an attacking batsman grew all over the world, it appeared as if he desperately tried to keep up with his image. If it wasn’t for his unbelievable hand-eye coordination, his attitude would have cost him dearly even on the flat Indian pitches. He attempted outrageous shots and got away with murder because of the state of the pitch and his enormous talent. The moment he stepped in South Africa and had to face a quality bowling attack on seaming pitches, all the hell broke loose.


The solution? Drop him immediately!

Virender Sehwag needs some time off the cricket. He shouldn’t have played as many matches as he did in South Africa and it would be suicidal to pick him when West Indies visits India shortly. As far as his game is concerned, nobody in their right mind would even think of asking Veeru to change his aggressive batting style. But if he stops playing for the gallery and starts playing every ball on merit, he will perform lot more consistently. He needs to understand that even to play aggressive cricket, one has to be professional and reasonable. A time off from the game will certainly help.

Look what it did to Ganguly and Zaheer Khan!

Day 3

At the end of 3rd day, history beckons India. If they play well from here, they can win their first ever test series in SA. If they fall prey to the old demons that have haunted them in the past, they will loose the series. As SA lost wickets and gave India a crucial 40 runs lead, it will be extremely interesting to watch the approach of Indian batting line up on day 4.

Day 2

As India started its second day on a batting paradise, it hoped for many things. First, it desperately needed a solid partnership from Sachin and Laxman. That didn’t come as Laxman fell cheaply. Next Indian fans hoped for some good batting display by Sachin Tendulkar. That nearly happened as Sachin compiled a masterful 64 before he fell to Harris. Even though Sachin was batting on a near dead track, he showed signs of getting back his vintage form.

Day 2 was the day, when every Indian batsman showed promise, but got out before they actually delivered! Sehwag, who was kept in the team as a spinner (not my thought, the Indian management actually said it!) was sent in at number 7 like a tail-ender. But Sehwag is an enigma. He is one of the very few batsmen in the world cricket today who have the guts (or shall we call it audacity?) to go after the bowling even after a series of failures. Sehwag particularly attacked Harris who had got two Indian wickets, including that of the Sachin Tendulkar. He used his feet beautifully against the rookie spinner and hit the only six of the match against him!

And then, like other Indian batsmen, Sehwag fell just when he was looking promising.

Although Sehwag was hitting some breathtaking strokes, he was also living dangerously. In the end, circumstances got the better of him and he gave his wicket away to Harris.

Third wicket for an ordinary spinner!

On the other side, Ganguly was fighting a lone battle with a knock that can be called the best knock of the day. He struggled early on, especially against a barrage of short pitched stuff from the South African quicks. He fought his way back and played some majestic drives on the off side (where else?). He was the last one to go as tail didn’t wag this time as it did on the previous occasions. Kumble and Sri Santh fell quickly and Ganguly had no option but to go for his shots. He hit couple of beautiful boundaries and a gigantic six of Harris which injured a lady from the medical staff. But then, trying to slog a blower of Shaun Pollock’s caliber can be dangerous. Ganguly tried that and found out the hard way as he mistimed one to Amla in mid off.

Indian innings was over a 414; a formidable total!

South Africa gave lots of hopes to India when Smith top edged one in the very first delivery which unfortunately went to six over the third man. Soon after that De Villiers got out to Sri Shanth and India started fancying their chances. But it was not to be. Although Smith started shakily, he played some good strokes later on and led from the front for his team. His partner Amla gave him good company and made a composed 50.

If Indians do not improve their bowling tomorrow, we can all see where this match will be going.

SA Vs. India, 3rd test, Day 1

In test cricket, forward short leg is a position nobody wants to field. The fielder here needs to be on constant alert and there is the danger of getting hurt. So, the job is thrust upon the youngest and the most inexperienced member of the team. They stand there, take the blows and if they are lucky, they make their mark.

In Indian cricket, the opening batsman’s position is similar to the forward short leg position as no one wants to bat in that position. After Sehwag’s series of failures that threatened to take epic proportions, India had to change its opening pair, which it did. But it seems no one was willing to take the gamble, no senior player wanted to risk his position and the job was given to Dinesh Karthik, who of course was in no position to negotiate.

And batting the way he did, he didn’t need to negotiate!

In absence of its swashbuckling opening batsman Virender Sehwag (he used to hit the ball, once upon a time!) India started cautiously. The motive was to survive. Dinesh karthik batted his heart out on a pitch that probably made him remember the pitches back home. It didn’t have the kind of bounce and swing witnessed in the earlier matches. The opening pair of Wasim Jaffer and Karthik batted with guts, courage and common sense.

And the history beckoned!

The opening pair put up the first ever 100 run partnership by an Indian opening pair in SA against SA. Wasim Jaffer played some silken strokes as he grew in confidence and Karthik was courage personified. As the SA bowlers painfully realized that they might have to work harder on this pitch to get wicket, India had crossed 100 and Jaffer had got to his fifty. As the frustrations of the fielding side grew, Karthik too got his well deserved fifty and was poised for a hundred when he was out on a dubious decision.

In came captain Rahul Dravid and he started off with a flurry of boundaries, quite unlike the Dravid we know. He seemed to be full of energy, looking to keep the momentum going. But scoring fast is not an area Rahul is familiar with. He fell to Pollock’s agonizingly accurate bowling, nicking one to the wicket keeper.

As India closed at 254/3, with Saurav and Sehwag still to come, things look bright. There is a rough spot outside the leg stump which can be exploited by the likes of Anil Kumble and even Sachin Tendulkar if India can post a big total. SA are not good players of spin.

Am I taking it too far?