Tag Archives: IPL

Of flying peanuts and conflicts of interest…

Posted on 13 May 2010 by | 21 Comments

India is in pain again! Team India lost its way in the ICC WCT20 tournament. India exited the tournament with two wins in the preliminary stage and no wins in the Super-8 stage. If TV news-pundits are to be believed, the whole of India is burning with rage, anger and frustration.

I was not in India when India was crowned the #1 Test team in the world and so did not watch the chest-thumps and euphoria that that event generated. I was here on 1 April, when there was official confirmation from the ICC that India is indeed the #1 Test team in the world. That event went almost unnoticed because the IPL was on at that time. All eye balls were on IPL TRPs at that time! Back when India was re-confirmed as the top Test side in the world, coach Gary Kirsten, captain MS Dhoni and Team India were the toast of the town. Now they are both toast!

Back then, India had finally become world beaters! The media channels could not get enough of India’s stars. Today, “there is anger in India” (according to the media here) after the “humiliation” of the early exit from the ICC WCT20.

The pendulum has swung again. And how quickly!

Back then in April, the IPL frenzy seemed to distract everyone in India — especially the media. Suddenly it pitted Indians against Indians! A fan from Chennai was hailing the efforts of a burly-Australian or a wily-SriLankan or a cheeky-SouthAfrican and propping them as saviors against a strong Mumbai team or a stronger Bangalore team. Cricketers spent more time in the sky than on the ground. And when their feet were on the ground, they were either playing on the cricket field or on the dance floor at an IPL after-match party! Some cricketers even had to endure peanuts being flung at them — a new way of attracting attention from Bollywood hotties at these post-match IPL parties, it seemed!

Since then, all night clubs in Mumbai have had to endure peanut-fling pick-up-routines as a precursor to an actual fling! “Fling a peanut and score a one-night fling” is a new product that has been patented (or peanuted!). There is a scarcity of peanuts in Mumbai. Everyone is hell bent on flinging peanuts at each other as a way of attracting attention!

Jokes apart, these post-match IPL-parties seemed to be completely testosterone-charged and ended up draining the creative (and other) juices of the men who played the game!

Something was awry. But no one seemed to want to do anything about it especially as the coffers were getting filled up faster than the cash could be deposited in various bank accounts. If people did not want to be a part of the action they wanted the action! Almost everyone was conflicted and no one wanted to do anything about it.

Meanwhile, our senses were constantly being brutalized and attacked on TV and Twitter by a visionary Lisp. We also had to endure a colorful Sikh on TV who hated being interrupted and liked answering all questions even if they were not addressed at him! “You know, my friend” he would bellow in a manner that resembled long-distance phone conversations in the 1960s and 1970s when one needed to shout to be heard; one wondered why this man ever needed a microphone! He had certainly read the book on cheesy phrases and mindless one-liners! We had to tolerate scantily-clad noodle-straps and Bollywood stars who constantly attacked our senses on TV either with their juvenile cricket gyaan or a blatant plug for their forthcoming movie.

The cricket was good. Club-Vs-Club cricket was also intense. It was, according to Anil Kumble, so intense that it probably drained players when they reached the West Indies! Despite all the negative attention it has received lately, and despite noodle-straps, colorful Sikhs with no need for a microphone, cheesy one-liners, peanut-parties, lisps and hoopla, IPL-3 was good, in my view.

And then it all went pear shaped.

Lalit Modi was “twattered”. Sashi Tharoor was “done in”. The IPL Governing Council members distanced themselves and ran away as fast and as furiously as they could from the very coffers that they had managed — they only managed the coffers and not the game, in my view! Show cause notices were issued without the issuers having even a basic understanding of the word “show” or without anyone understanding either the “cause” or the “effect”!

Then, the final nail in the coffin was Team India’s disastrous performance in the WCT20 tournament.

Just as Team India was booking its airline tickets for their return home, BCCI announced the team that would represent India at the tri-nations T20 and ODI tournament in Zimbabwe involving Zimbabwe, India and Sri Lanka. The matches commence May 28 and conclude on June 13.

Kris Srikkanth, the BCCI Chairman of selectors has “rested” as many as 9 (yes, nine) Team India ODI players for this tournament. Yes that is correct! MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar are being “rested”. It is likely that Virender Sehwag and Praveen Kumar are carrying injuries. But even so, that is a fair number of players that have been rested in one fell swoop!

I have to pose this question to Kris Srikkanth: As Chennai Super Kings Brand Ambassador, did he ever request MS Dhoni to “rest” and “sit out” 4-5 IPL games with a view to Dhoni playing in the tri-series donning India colors? Or did he have an undeclared, unmanaged and out-of-control conflict of interest there?

Can Kris Srikkanth effectively marry his role as Brand Ambassador of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and National Selector? I do not believe so. Kris Srikkanth is horribly conflicted in my view. The only aspect of this sordid scenario that makes Srikkanth look good is that his boss, Mr N. Srinivasan, the owner of CSK, is even more horribly conflicted than Srikkanth is! As Kris Srikkanth tries to extract every ounce of effort from his CSK team members, exhort them to give off their very best and get them to stretch every sinew in their already weakened bodies to secure a win for CSK, he would have to know that their efforts for CSK would severely compromise their efforts for Team India.

Witness the team that Srikkanth has selected to tour Zimbabwe! It does not have MS Dhoni in it! Why? Could MS Dhoni not have been rested for 4-5 games that CSK played?

How can N. Srinivasan, the owner of CSK not expect the very best from MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and M Vijay on the field and in CSK after-match parties? He is after all the owner of CSK and, as the person that has made a major investment, he would (and he should) expect rich returns for the shareholding in that investment! He should expect his personal wealth to increase as a direct consequence of the risk that he has ventured into. And the only way that can happen is by forcing players — either through contracts or by setting unwritten expectations — that they have to give off their best on the field and in smoke-filled dance floors! It is not wrong to castigate N. Srinivasan or belittle him for attempting to augment his personal wealth. After all, Vijay Mallaya, Priety Zinta and Nita Ambani are doing just that! So why would I be a moral cop and pull Srinivasan up for attempting to augment the size of his wallet?

However, as a Team India fan, I do have a problem with him doing that while donning BCCI colors. That just does not stack up for me. Something has to give. It is not enough to merely declare conflicts. These conflicts have to be actively managed.

Srikkanth’s action of includng MS Dhoni in every CSK game that Dhoni was available for and then “resting” him for the Zimbabwe tour does not seem to me to reflect the actions of a man who is managing a known and declared conflict of interest.

There may be many reasons for Team India’s poor showing at the ICC WCT20 tournament. Judging from the mass-resting of nine Team India players, physical/mental “fatigue” and too many late-night parties in dark rooms — not to mention, trying to dodge peanut flings! — may be one of the reasons! Others may well be the sudden and inexplicable loss of form of players like Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir, the prolonged loss of form of Yuvraj Singh (which even a “goatee” could not reign in), wrong team selection, poor fielding, the team’s inability to cope with chin music in the short form of the game, the absence of Virender Sehwag, etc.

I am not perturbed by the fact that India lost. I have always said that we must learn to celebrate wins and tolerate losses with equanimity and dignity. However, the manner of India’s loss hurts more than the fact that India lost! Witness Gautam Gambhir’s running in the last Super8 game against Sri Lanka! It was the running of a man who was completely fatigued; a man whose focus was not quite on his game.

But my point is that if players are “fatigued” by too much cricket and testosterone-driven peanut activities, why were they not rested during the IPL? I do think post-match IPL-parties have outlived their utility. I am reasonably confident that these parties will be committed to the archives of the BCCI and IPL offices.

However, more importantly, I would like the BCCI to enforce a rule whereby each IPL team can use a “contracted” Team India player in no more than 10 (say) of the 16 games that each team plays (or 11 of the 18 games in IPL-4). In other words, each IPL team must be forced to bring into play a rotation policy that keeps players “fresh” and available for Team India assignments.

Mind you, the team chosen by Kris Srikkanth and his band of merry friends is not really bad although I find it somewhat mysterious that Robin Uthappa and Abhimanyu Mithun cannot find a place in the team. Is Uthappa injured? And if Mithun can be good enough to play for the last ODI series that India played in, what has happened between then and now for him to sit this series out?

That said, the team for the tri-series has a bunch of players that will soon be knocking the doors of Team India. Some of them are already playing in India colors in some form of the game or other.

The team is:

M Vijay
Dinesh Karthik / Naman Ojha (wk)
Suresh Raina (capt)
Virat Kohli (vice-capt)
Rohit Sharma
Yusuf Pathan
Ravindra Jadeja
R Ashwin / Amit Mishra / Pragyan Ojha
Umesh Yadav
Vinay Kumar
Ashok Dinda / Pankaj Singh

Meanwhile, the Indian media that chest-thumped India to #1 Test side in the world and #2 ODI side in the world in angry. Yes, the Indian media is very angry and demands answers!

Rahul Kanwal is Editor of Headlines Today a news channel. I watched a segment yesterday in which the young and erudite Kanwal assembled past captains like Kapil Dev, Mohammed Azharuddin, Bishen Singh Bedi, Imran Khan (for a perspective from a foreign hand, no doubt) and Sourav Ganguly to ask them for their views on the Team India WCT20 “debacle”. The Indian fan is angry and demands answers, roared the young Kanwal. He goaded the panel to castigate. He brayed for blood. He wanted names of people whose heads deserved to rest on a block of wood as the guillotine came crashing down. He was passionate and emotional as he roared his way through the program. Did I mention that he was angry too?

Mohammed Azharuddin thundered that no player can be above the game. He said, “For a player, cricket should come first and everything else is secondary!” Really now?

– Mohan

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Now Modi is Twattered too…

Posted on 27 April 2010 by | 8 Comments

The nursery rhyme has been re-written:

Pitter-patter, raindrops, Falling from the sky;
Here is my umbrella, To keep me safe and dry!
When the rain is over, And the sun begins to glow,
Little flowers start to bud, And grow and grow and grow!

After the recent IPL-3 saga — termed IPL-Gate or Modi-Gate here in India — I have started singing:

Twitter Twatter, big men, Falling as they cry;
There may have been a Godfather, To keep them safe and sly!
When the pain is over, And the greed begins to slow,
Little accounts start to bud, As these Twattered men grow and grow and grow!

Twatter should be made an official word in the English dictionary.

Twatter is a disease which afflicts and consumes high-adrenalin, 40-something, adult males who are high on testosterone (some with pronounced lisps) and are going through some strange and incurable form of midlife crisis, who wish to simultaneously fit in to the glitterati jet-set and govern burgeoning complex behemoths through a modern technology called Twitter, but use it so inappropriately and naively that they shoot themselves in the foot while aiming for the stars!

It is a complex disease for which there exists no cure. Moreover, there are few test cases available and hence, few pointers to the origin of this new-age disease.

The synonyms for Twatter are Lal-oor or ShaMod.

IPL-3 ended last night. But the “end of the beginning” was just starting to unravel!

Shashi Tharoor was already Twattered by the time the IPL-3 finals was upon us. A sitting Government that had been slapped around by a young Turk with a pronounced lisp had been so badly humiliated and angered that it galvanized a series of multi-Agency, multi-pronged attacks on the IPL and its parent body, the BCCI. The speed, swiftness, meticulousness, intensity and alacrity of the Governments’ response to the outing and public slapping of its junior minister was awe-inspiring. It was as if India’s pride had been hurt by the young Turk charged with running one of the richest cricket leagues in the world! One wondered what the consequences might have been had such a multi-Agency speedy, swift, meticulous, anger- and humiliation-fueled response had been delivered when 26/11 was on us. But then perhaps the Government wasn’t as embarrassed by 26/11 as it was by the open slap to its face from a Twitter-crazy cricket Czar.

The Government was hell-bent on Twattering The Lisp out of our TV screens.

In a tit for tat operation — now known in rarefied circles as a “twit for twat” operation — both twits were twattered out of our existence, at least temporarily!

As inevitable as night follows day, the twats will twit back into our lives in some altered state. However, for now, the twats will twit no more!

It was all high-octane drama that had modern-India writ all over it.

There was innuendo, suspense, speculation, plots, sub-plots, counter-plots, actors, agents, under-world Dons, money laundering, illegal betting, mysterious ladies that no one had ever heard of, fast-paced action, sleaze, slush, plush, flush and much much more. Whats’ more? All of it was carried out at frenetic pace in full public view, in the media and in Twitter-land in an environment that displayed a total lack of reason, constructive argument and logical debate.

The words, “trial by media” has been used often in the last few days. I personally think this phrase has been abused and badly misused. First, because that would legitimize the existence of “media” in India. The “media” that does exist in India is, in my view, hardly (if ever) read, seen or heard. Second, if this is the way “trials” are conducted, then, God help this land!

Lalit Modi was served with a “show cause notice” by BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla shortly after the IPL-3 Finals on 25 April. Modi was sacked as Chief Commissioner of the IPL and stripped of his role in the BCCI as vice-president. The BCCI Board Secretary, N. Srinivasan sent Modi an email to confirm the “notice”. Ironically, this was just after N. Srinivasan’s team, the Chennai Super Kings, had won the IPL-3 Finals — a game that Srinivasan did not attend.

It was a neat and swift way to stop Modi from attending a meeting of the IPL Governing Council on 26 April, which he initially challenged, saying it was “unofficial and so will not attend”. He then pleaded for “five more days”. He then called the meeting himself and sent an agenda for the meeting too!

Clearly the trusted advisors around Lalit Modi had let him down.

While Shashi Tharoor was Twattered out with some dignity and grace — leaving the door ajar for a later entry — Modi was Twattered out in a somewhat humiliating manner.

The clock had turned full circle. Many years back, Modi had hounded out Jagmohan Dalmiya from the BCCI. More recently, through the formation of the IPL, he had hounded out Subhash Chandra, the creator of rebel ICL. Modi, who helped the BCCI first fight off Jagmohan Dalmiya and next, ward off the threat that Subhash Chandra’s ICL posed — through the creation of the IPL — was now, himself, Twattered out by the very “friends” he had helped.

The BCCI is a cruel place for any person. Modi’s problem was that he started believing in the myths that had been built around him without paying too much attention to the knives that were being sharpened about him.

When Lalit Modi gave his post-finals speech last night, there was an inevitability about him. One detected a sense of despair. The defiance was replaced by justification. The arrogance was replaced by anger. Although rich in self righteousness, I was happy to grant him his last hurrah! The full text of Modi’s speech is here.

Prem Panicker argues:

And the man who built a compelling league from the ground up took the stage as “commissioner under suspension” to deliver an overwrought, self-serving speech, crassly turning the focus on himself [and cloaking himself with assorted mantles ranging from Martin Luther King to Krishna] when the spotlight should have firmly been on the cricket itself.

Modi’s speech was inappropriate, but that he made it was not particularly surprising — it is the BCCI way to put itself ahead of the cricket. Remember the felicitation ceremony at the Wankhede when India returned with the World T20 Cup? The likes of RR Patil and Sharad Pawar turned the occasion into a political rally; on the dais, the front row was occupied by Pawar, Patil, Rajiv Shukla, Niranjan Shah, Modi himself, IS Bindra, PM Runga, Dilip Vengsarkar and others, while the cricketers who had against the odds won the trophy were relegated to the third row.

I was, however, quite happy to grant Modi his place in the sun for one last time. He was a BCCI mercenary who came in, did a job, made a lot of cash and then promptly fell on his own sword. He does claim that he worked tirelessly and for no remuneration. Yes! And if that is right, I am Elvis Presley’s little toe!

Today, there is sleaze money everywhere in cricket. As Prem Panicker writes, every move in Indian cricket is viewed with suspicion and cynicism.

Even Sachin Tendulkar name gets dragged in the muck that represents India’s cricket.

An IPL game was there to be won by Mumbai Indians. Tendulkar retires with cramps for the Mumbai Indians to crumble to a narrow defeat. I got calls saying that that match “must have been fixed”. In yesterdays’ game, Sachin Tendulkar sent Kieron Pollard into bat when all hope was lost. Once again, the reason offered was that the great man “must have been on the take”.

Every move in Indian cricket is viewed with suspicion and cynicism.

The governance structure around the game stinks and a quick clean up is required. The clean up will not be affected (it is just too hard in my view), but it has to be attempted.

As a fan, I just do not trust the people entrusted with the clean up act. Because it involves the BCCI and will be reported on by the “media”. So no. I believe the game and its governance will continue to be what it is.

India deserves this mess. India will continue to retain this mess.

Meanwhile, Team India will prosper because of the quality of her players. Team India has always succeeded despite the BCCI and the “media”. The game and its fans are a complete coincidence to this body and its office bearers.

In the fullness of time some other twit will be Twattered.

Until then, let us all lie back, think of the Queen and pretend we are enjoying it.

After all,
When the pain is over, And the greed begins to slow,
Little accounts start to bud, As these Twattered men grow and grow and grow

– Mohan

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Team India for WC T20

Posted on 20 April 2010 by | 4 Comments

As I write this, the very existence of the IPL is under a huge cloud! Shashi Tharoor, a sitting Junior Minister has resigned from his post over his “links” with the IPL Kochi franchise. The Minister’s link with the Kochi franchise was Twittered open by Lalit Modi. In doing so, Modi took on the Government of the day! He had, no doubt, won several battles in his day. But perhaps he had bitten an apple best left alone? Lalit Modi has now been summoned to New Delhi by Sharad Pawar — a Cabinet Minister and President Elect of the ICC. Speculation is rife that Modi may be pressed to submit his resignation as Commissioner of the IPL Governing Council. The sitting Government, embarassed by the hoopla surrounding its Minister, has openly ordered a series of probes on the IPL, saying “all aspects of the IPL’s operations are under scrutiny”. It is obvious to most people that life will be made hard for IPL and BCCI. Despite the immaturity of the Minister involved, few sitting Governments can take an open (and free) slap to its face easily. Perhaps Lalit Modi’s days with the IPL are numbered? Who knows?

All I know is that this was all caused as a result of a lady from the Middle East who may have been seen as a Karbonn Kamaal Catch by a junior Minister. However, the “sweat equity” that she received was siezed upon by a young Turk who exposed it thinking is was a Citi Moment of Success only to learn that when the shoe is on the other foot, the resulting DLF Max can be quite painful. Well perhaps everyone needs a Maxx Mobile Strategic Time Out?

Who says that IPL is not a soap opera?

But then, onto matters more serious!

On the day that IPL-III finished two weeks of existence, Team India’s selectors announced India’s side for the ICC World Championship T20 tournament to be held at West Indies later this year.

There were a few surprise announcements. I held off commenting on these surprises till IPL-3 had drawn to a close — or until the end was nigh. Now, with the league stage of IPL-3 concluded, I thought the time was appropriate to comment on Team India that will participate in ICC’s WCT20 in West Indies.

This article should be read with Srikanth Mangalam’s piece, which was written earlier today.

For me, the surprises were Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Kartik and Rohit Sharma.

I just do not believe there was a need to announce the team 2 weeks before the team needed to be announced. Moreover, the best way to guage a players’ form is through matches. So, given that IPL-3 was still ongoing and had a few more weeks to run, was there a compelling need to rush into team selection? Perhaps not. But then, that is exactly what the selectors did. In their haste, I feel they may have made a few mistakes.

Mind you, I do think that this team is good. With Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh bowling as well as they are and with Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni batting as well as they are, anything is possible if the Gambhir-Sehwag opening combination clicks — which it invariably does when they put on India colours! Throw in Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Ashish Nehra and what you have is a really decent outfit.

The team in possible batting order is:

Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Suresh Raina
Yuvraj Singh
MS Dhoni
Rohit Sharma
Yusuf Pathan / Ravindra Jadeja
Harbhajan Singh / Piyush Chawla
Zaheer Khan
Vinay Kumar / Praveen Kumar
Ashish Nehra

DRINKS: Dinesh Karthik

There are a few problems with this team, in my view:

  • Virender Sehwag has not been in the best of form for Delhi Daredevils. That said, he has to be a part of the team unless he has just one leg, one hand and one strand of hair left on his head! He is a must in any Team India.
  • Yuvraj Singh may well prove me wrong, but I just do not feel he should have been a part of this team. He has had a spate of injuries which he has perhaps not fully recovered from. Moreover, in my view, his performance in IPL-3 was totally sulk-induced as a result of his demotion as captian of KXIP. And for a serious and senior cricketer, this is perhaps not quite professional enough. His non-selection may have sent a much stronger message than his demotion as KXIP captain. I am not suggesting that Yuvraj Singh may have deliberately under-performed. No. I am suggesting, as I did at the very start of IPL-3, that I could see a BYSS (Big Yuvraj Sized Sulk) sulk around the corner. He did!
  • While I have no doubt that Rohit Sharma is an immensely talented cricketer, there have been a few other batsmen in IPL-3 that have perhaps put in much stronger performances in IPL-3. In particular, I think Robin Uthappa and M. Vijay will feel that they had done enough to be on that plane to West Indies.
  • Piyush Chawla is the biggest surprise, in my view. As Srikanth Mangalam said in his piece, spinners like Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and even Shadab Jakati have bowled better that Piyush Chawla! I am not sure where Piyush Chawla picks up his lottery tickets, but if everyone in India picks up their lotto tickets from where Chawla does, the Indian lottery system would be broke before it opened for business! He is not a bad bowler. There are just better guys going around right now!
  • Vinay Kumar was another surprise pick for me. He has looked good, no doubt and has put in a strong IPL-3 performance after a solid domestic season. I have no real qualms with his pick. He is perhaps there as cover for when Praveen Kumar goes “pear shaped”.
  • And finally, I get to my favourite topic of Dinesh Kartik! Apart from ensuring that this article gets at least one response/comment from a certain person from Bangalore in support of Kartik’s inclusion, I really do not know what this man does to get included in every Team India! Is he there as cover for MS Dhoni? Is he there as a batsman cover for Rohit Sharma? If it is the former, then that is quite fine by me. If he is there as a batsman cover for Rohit Sharma, then, surely Robin Uthappa is a better bet? Especially since Uthappa can ‘keep wickets too in case Dhoni gets injured? I just give up where Kartik’s repeated inclusion is concerned. I want to believe that it has more to do than the fact that he is from Tamil Nadu. But then all roads point to that for me!

All in all, I think this is a good team. However, I would have been happier if Robin Uthappa, Murali Vijay and Pragyan Ojha (or Amit Mishra) were included instead of Dinesh Kartik, Yuvraj Singh and Piyush Chawla.

– Mohan

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IPL-III: A few early observations…

Posted on 20 March 2010 by | 14 Comments

IPL-III is 11 matches and 1 week old as I write this piece.

Right at the outset, let me state that I will not be surprised if either Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) or Mumbai Indians (MI) or Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) meet in the finals of IPL-III.

And while I am putting my neck at great risk, let me also stick my neck further out and state that I expect so see Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings Eleven Punjab (KEP) to bring up the bottom two.

This then leves one of Delhi Daredevils (DD), Chennai Super Kings (CSK), and Deccan Chargers (DC) to join RCB, KKR and MI in the semi-finals.

I believe there are a few too many gaps to fill in the Deccan Chargers team when compared with DD and CSK. This then means a toss up between DD and CSK for one other semi-finals spot. I back CSK purely on the basis of leadership excellence and the presence of a fewer “holes”. Moreover, in my view, the presence of two “game changers” in their midst (MS Dhoni and Matthew Hayden) will swing it for CSK.

KKR have Sourav Ganguly at the helm of affairs this year. More importantly, KKR do not have either John Buchanan or his tomes on Sun Tzu or Zen anywhere near their dressing room! I think we will see — and are alredy seeing — KKR play with much pride and slef-confidence. They will want to put their last two (poor) seasons and leadership experiments behind them for IPL-III. KKR has also started the campaign well with wins against last years’ finalists: Deccan Chargers (DC) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). KKR has made a few smart purchaces in the off-season and so has the MI team. While, DD have also commenced their campaign well, I think this year will be about the bouncing back of teams that have had their pride hurt. The teams that have suffered maximal pride-pucture in the last two seasons are KKR and MI.

I also believe that IPL-III will be less about the 4 overseas recruits playing well and more about how well the remaining 7 Indian players will play in the on-field team. One of the reasons for KKR performing poorly in previous seasons was the poor performance of local players. Ajit Agarkar got a few KKR gigs. Enough said! But with the acquisition of Manoj Tiwary in the off-season from DD and with Cheteshwar Pujara available for IPL-III, I think KKR have plugged a few holes in their armoury.

The other difference in IPL-III is the presence of players from the now defunct ICL. Players like Rohan Gavaskar (KKR), Rajagopal Satish (MI), Ambati Rayadu (MI), Sridharan Sriram (RCB), et al, will be seeing IPL action for the first time in their careers. Here again, I think MI has made some good ICL recruitments to strengthen their domestic player content.

That said, let us review each team (in no particualr order):

Royal Challengers Bangalore:

This is a solid team with some dependable competitors like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Jacques Kallis and some young turks like Manish Pandey, Virat Kohli and Robin Uthappa. While Kevin Pietersen was a disappointment in IPL-II, I think he will be a different player in IPL-III. He is coming into form, albeit against a weak Bangladesh! Eoin Morgan has been a good recruit and Steven Smith is, in my view, a poor replacement for the injured Jesse Ryder. However, with a richness of overseas players, I am not sure if Steven Smith will get a game! Sridaran Sriram could add some ICL-lustre. I expect the team to be:

Jacques Kallis
Manish Pandey / Sridharan Sriram /Shreevats Goswami
Virat Kohli
Robin Uthappa
Rahul Dravid
Kevin Pietersen / Eoin Morgan / Ross Taylor
Roelof van der Merwe / Dillon Du Preez / Cameron White
Mark Boucher
Anil Kumble / K. P. Appanna
Praveen Kumar / A Mithun / B Kumar / B Akhil / Vinay Kumar
Dale Steyn / Steven Smith

This is a reasonably well-balanced team, and under Anil Kumble, it has resillience, steel and a stomach for a fight. The key to this teams’ balance is Jacques Kallis. He gives the team tremendous options in both batting as well as bowling. He is, in my view, the most under-rated performer of the last decade in International cricket. Given that Kallis has commenced IPL-III in style, I think RCB will go far.

In IPL-II RCB experimented with Robin Uthappa behind the sticks. This did not quite work. It appears that for IPL-III, the team has dumped that experiment and commited to place its faith in Mark Boucher and Shreevats Goswami. After performing very well in the U-19 championships a few years ago, Goswami cannot even get a game for his State team, in which Wriddhiman Saha ‘keeps wickets!

For RCB to do well though, the “locals” have to do well: Goswami, Kohli, Uthappa, Pandey, Dravid, Kumble, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Mithun, et al. This is not really a bad list of “locals” — Praveen Kumar has already taken IPL-III’s first hattrick!

If RCB’s “young turks” — Kohli, Pandey and Uthappa — do well, RCB can go places. In the past, Kohli and Uthappa have flattered to deceive in the IPL. If they fire, I think RCB should reach the semi finals.

Delhi Daredevils (DD):

This is a really strong team in my view. I expected them to win IPL-II. Barring one bad game when it really mattered, they almost made it to the top of the tree. I expect DD to do really well and perhaps even lift the cup. I expect the team to be:

Gautam Gambhir
Virender Sehwag
Tilekaratne Dilshan / David Warner
A. B. de Villiers / Brett Geeves
Dinesh Karthik
Mithun Manhas / Rajat Bhatia / Kedar Jadhav
Fervez Maharoof / Moises Henriques / Andrew McDonald / Wayne Parnell
Amit Mishra / Sarandeep Singh / Joginder Singh / Shashi Ranjan
Ashish Nehra / Sarabjit Ladda / Aavishkar Salvi
Pradeep Sangwan / Umesh Yadav / Yogesh Nagar / Yo Mahesh
Dirk Nannes

The problem with this team is that the reserve ‘local’ players are not that strong. For example, I do not expect Sarandeep Singh, Joginder Singh and Shashi Ranjan to get a game. Sarabjit Ladda has played a few games already in the first week, mainly because of Ashish Nehra’s side strain. So apart from having a few extra “net bowlers” I do not quite know what these players are doing in the final list! If the team wants to play David Warner, Dilshan and de Villiers, it would be possible if Umesh Yadav or Aavishkar Salvi play instead of Dirk Nannes. However, that would weaken the bowling considerably. So, I do believe that although the overseas recruits are quite strong in this team, the one or two “local” bit-player strength in this team is not that strong. Of course, if Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir fire, given the strong middle order and the decent bowling attack, I do expect DD to do extremely well in IPL-III. It is interesting to note that Daniel Vettori and Glen McGrath have not been named in the initial DD team list.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR):

This is a team on the rebound. Watch out when Sourav Ganguly’s pride is hurt and watch out when he is mean and hungry. And after the antics of John Buchanan in IPL-II, Ganguly is mean and hungry. He has been given longer rope by his owners as well as his new — more grounded and less publicity hungry — coach, Dav Whatmore. KKR have quietly made some good recruitments in the off-season — particularly Manoj Tiwary from DD. In terms of overseas recruits, the purchase of Shane Bond was a good move from this team. KKR has also acquired Vignesh and Rohan Gavaskar (from the ICL) — the team looks balanced and set for glory in IPL-III. Moreover, with Cheteshwar Pujara available for the whole season, I expect a last-4 (if not a finals) finish from this new-look team. I expect the team to be:

Brad Hodge / Chris Gayle
Manoj Tiwary / G. Vignesh
Sourav Ganguly
Cheteshwar Pujara / Chirag Pathak
Owais Shah / Brendon McCullum / David Hussey / Mushrafe Murtaza
Angelo Mathews
Laxmi Ratan Shukla / Harshad Khadiwale / Rohan Gavaskar / Eklak Ahmid
Wriddhiman Saha
Murali Kartik / Iqbal Abdulla
Charl Langeveldt / Ajantha Mendis / Shane Bond
Ishant Sharma / Ashok Dinda / Ajit Agarkar / Varun Aaron

The attack looks solid IF Ishanta Sharma bowls well in tandem with Shane Bond — but even there, there is some backup for an off-day Ishant Sharma, with Ashok Dinda ready to rock up. MUrali Kartik is an underrated left-arm spinner. He is, in my view, much better than his CV suggests. The overseas recruits are also quite solid. I think this team has been largely lifted by the presence of Angelo Mathews. I expect KKR to do really well.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK):

I rate CSK as a semi-final chance mainly because of performance consistency, leadership excellence and team balance. CSK made the semi finals of the last two IPL editions and made the finals of the first edition. A real could be the non-availability of Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram (both out through injuries). The team has picked Hemang Badani from the ICL — not the most inspired of picks as, in my view, Vignesh (KKR) or R. Satish (MI) may have been better options to go for. Especially given the no-show of Andrew Flintoff and Jacob Oram, Justin Kemp was an inspired auction-pick by CSK. I expect the team to be:

Matthew Hayden / George Bailey
M. Vijay / Arun Karthik / Parthiv Patel
Suresh Raina
S. Badrinath / C. Ganapathy / Hemang Badani
Justin Kemp / Michael Hussey / Jacob Oram / George Bailey
M. S. Dhoni
Albie Morkel / Thisara Perera / Thilan Tushara
R. Ashwin / Shadab Jakati
Muthiah Muralitharan / Makhaya Ntini
L. Balaji
Sudeep Tyagi / Manpreet Gony / Joginder Sharma

For me, the real concern for this team is the seam options. While Sudeep Tyagi has been good in spurts, I do not see him as a natural first-up bowler. His consistency — especially under pressure — will remain a big question mark over this team. Ditto L. Balaji. This team needs a “local” fast bowling option to cover for when Balaji and Tyagi (or Gony) go pear-shaped — and they repeatedly do!. Unless CSK plug this gap, I believe the team will consistently under-deliver after reaching the last-4. Other than that, this is a well balanced batting-dominated team, especially if the openers and Suresh Raina fire. To add to the batting depth is M. Vijay’s recent strong and consistent showing. So, while I expect CSK to do well, I still feel they are one player short of a great team and for them to go the extra mile, a lot will depend on M. S. Dhoni…

Mumbai Indians (MI):

After a few seasons of tinkering, this team — the most expensive IPL team thus far — has started to hit the right notes in my view. Some astute off-season purchases of ICL players including Rajagopal Satish, Ambati Rayudu, IShan Malhotra and Ali Murtaza as well as a smart auction-pick like Kieron Pollard have also helped. After finishing 7th in IPL-II, expect this badly hurt team to do much better in IPL-III. As I indicated at the start, I will not be surprised if MI meets KKR in the finals. I expect the team to be:

Sachin Tendulkar
Sanath Jayasuriya / JP Duminy
Aditya Tare / Chandan Madan
Ambati Rayudu / Shikar Dhawan
Saurabh Tiwary
R. Satish / Abhishek Nayar
Harbhajan Singh
Dwayne Bravo / Graham Napier / Dilhara Fernando / Ryan McLaren
Zaheer Khan / Dhawal Kulkarni / Syed Sahabuddin
Lasith Malinga / Kieron Pollard
Murtaza Ali / Rahul Shukla / Ishan Malhotra

The real problem are with this team is, in my view, the untested middle order and the ‘keeping. Most of the other teams have good, if not excellent wicket-keeping batsmen — Adam Gilchrist, M. S. Dhoni, Kumar Sangakkara, Dinesh Karthik, Wriddhiman Saha and Mark Boucher / Sreevats Goswami spring to mind. Aditya Tare has shown in the first few games that he has got what it takes at this level. But it is fair to say that the batting qualities of Aditya Tare perhaps have not been tested severely at this level. But time will tell whether he is as good a ‘keeping-allrounder as some of the other ‘keepers in the IPL. The middle order depends on two out of the troika of Rayudu, Tiwary and Shikar Dhawan firing. If these gaps are plugged, MI could well be a finals team.

Kings XI Punjab (KEP):

In the off-season KEP quietly changed their captain. We do not know whether Yuvraj Singh was nudged or pushed or whether he stepped down. The fact is, however, that Kumar Sangakkara is at the helm for IPL-III. And that is a good thing for this under-rated team. Yuvraj Singh now has a free license to thrill. Perhaps captaincy wasn’t quite right for him. With that burden lifted, we might see a very different Yuvraj Singh in IPL-III provided he has taken it well and provided he has not launched into a sulk. I think Mohammed Kaif was a smart off-season grab from Rajasthan Royals while Manvinder Bisla’s move will make him a better fit in his (more comfortable) hometown team. Reetinder Singh Sodhi and Salabh Srivastava are good grabs from the ICL list. I expect the team to be:

Karan Goel / Manvinder Bisla / Tanmay Srivastava
Ravi Bopara / Shaun Marsh
Kumar Sangakkara
Yuvraj Singh
M Jayawardene / Adrian Barath
Mohammed Kaif / Reetinder Sodhi / Salabh Srivastava
Irfan Pathan / Amanpreet Singh / Vikramjeet Malik
Piyush Chawla
Bipul Sharma / Ramesh Powar
Brett Lee / James Hopes / Yusuf Abdulla / Juan Theron
S. Sreesanth / Love Ablish

The real problem for KEP is Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth. Like Andrew Symonds, Herschelle Gibbs and Harbhajan Singh how well Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth play on any given day depends on which side of the bed they got up from. Their inconsistency could hurt the team badly. My suggestion to KEP would be to get Irfan Pathan and Sreesanth to share a bed and get up on different sides of it. That way, the chances of at least one of them playing well on a given day becomes considerably higher! Another concern for me for KEP is the mental attitude of Yuvraj Singh, whose MTBEPOS (mean time between extended periods of sulk) is quite short when the chips are down. He is nursing an injured wrist, a dodgy knee, excess weight and hurt pride/ego — all of which might be a bit too much excess baggage for this talented T20 and ODI cricketer. We can expect the dressing room atmosphere to be quite glum, thick and divided. While Priety Zinta will, no doubt, try and uplift damaged spirits, I think IPL-III success may be a bridge too far for KEP. I will be quite shocked if this team does well.

Deccan Chargers (DC):

There are high expectations of Deccan Chargers (DC), after a wonderful IPL-II. However, despite that favourable result and impressive showing, I do think that there are a few gaps that this team has that are unplugged. In Adam Gilchrist, the team has an excellent and inspirational leader. In Andrew Symonds and Herschelle Gibbs, the team has two explosive players in the middle order. And like Jacques Kallis, Andrew Symonds brings much more to the team than his chewing gum and zinc cream! Moreover, in Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh, the team has reliable, if not excellent Indian talent. The real problem for this team lies with VVS Laxman — who in my view is just not suited for this form of the game — and the bits-and-pieces local players (Jaskaran Singh, Anirudh Singh, Tirumalasetti Suman, et al). None of these are likely to set the world alight. Therefore, the pressure to perform consistently might be a bit too much on players like Gilchrist, Symonds, Rohit Sharma, RP Singh, Gibbs and Ojha. In the off-season, Kemar Roach and Mitchell Marsh were a good buys. However, I believe the team erred significantly by letting ICL-escapee Ambati Rayudu go to the Mumbai Indians. They, instead, got players like Monish Mishra. I expect the team to be:

Adam Gilchrist
VVS Laxman / Ravi Teja / Azhar Bilakhia
Herschelle Gibbs / Mitchell Marsh
Andrew Symonds
Rohit Sharma
Anirudh Singh / Bodapati Sumanth / Monish Mishra
Tirumalasetti Suman / Venugopal Rao / Arjun Yadav
Chamindaa Vaas / Ryan Harris / Dwayne Smith
Jaskaran Singh / Harmeet Singh / Ashish Reddy
RP Singh
Pragyan Ojha / Rahul Sharma

There are way too many gaps in this team for me to believe that they will make the last four. Laxman, Suman and Anirudh Singh are, for me, the major gaps. Their “replacements” (Ravi Teja, Sumanth, Monish Mishra, Venugopal Rao and Arjun Yadav) do not inspire me with too much confidence either! And to think that Greg Chappell thought of Venugopal Rao as India captain material — the man could have brought on untold damage to Indian cricket! Anyway, there are way too many gaps in this team for me to readily accept that this team will travel further than a 5th or 6th place finish in IPL-III.

Rajasthan Royals (RR):

The RR IPL-III season was in disarray before it commenced and it got worse within a few games! The suspension of Ravindra Jadeja was a major blow to the teams’ chances. However, what was to follow in the first week of the tournament — the injuries to Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarenhas — made the Jadeja suspension look like an ant-bite in comparison! The RR team has started IPL-III badly and despite the pyrotechnics of Yusuf Pathan and the leadership of Shane Warne, I expect the rest of the RR season make the team yearn for the “glory days” of the first week of IPL-III! This team needs a good hard look at itself and this might happen at the end of IPL-III. The off-season purchases of Michael Lumb and Damien Martyn were not the most inspired picks while the pickup of Amit Unyal and Abhishek Jhunjhunwala from the ICL were good, in my view. I expect the team to be:

Swapnil Asnodkar / Faiz Fazal
Graeme Smith / Michael Lumb / Damien Martyn
Naman Ojha
Yusuf Pathan
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala
Paras Dogra / Amit Paunikar
Dimitri Mascaranhas / Johan Botha
Amit Unyal / Sumit Narwal / Srikanth Wagh / Abhishek Raut / Syed Qadri
Shane Warne
Shaun Tait / Morne Morkel
Munaf Patel / Siddharth Trivedi / Kamran Khan / Amit Singh

So there, you have it. As I said at the start, I expect the semi-final lineup to be MI, KKR, CSK and RCB. While, in my view, MI has the best team, the others are there despite a few gaps which can be, I believe, be plugged through a combination of inspirational leadership and the presence of a few game-changers.

– Mohan

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IPL Season-3 Preview: A few heartbeats away

Posted on 10 March 2010 by | 14 Comments

Season-3 of the IPL is on us.

We know it the moment we see Lalit Modi’s face and hear his lisp everywhere. The papers, TV Channels and Twitterdom are full of sound bytes from the man who seems to be perpetually in a hurry. He represents the New Age India: an angry, brash, self-confident person, eager to take on the world. The fact that he has managed to take some of Old India along with him on this mysterious journey is a credit to his passion as well as self-belief. If Jagmohan Dalmiya commenced the process of establishment-nose-thumbing, Lalit Modi, more than anyone else, has transformed the face of Indian cricket and the manner in which it is viewed — not only by the cricket world, but also by the world of business and entertainment.

No wonder Sports Illustrated India recently placed Lalit Modi at #2 on the list of “50 Most Powerful People in Indian Sport”, just behind Sachin Tendulkar.

In a short period of time, he has risen to the top of the tree and has left even hitherto powerful sports stars (Sania Mirza is at #50), franchise owners (Shah Rukh Khan is at #28) and cricket administrators in his wake.

What’s more? He has taken a few others along with him in his joy ride. Ravi Krishnan, the President of IMG India kicks in at #27 on this list, just ahead of Shah Rukh Khan! While Ravi Krishnan has been in the India sports scene since IMG’s Chennai Tennis Open days, his appearance on this Power List at #27 (one ahead of Shah Rukh Khan and about 5 ahead of Harsha Bhogle) is in no small measure due to his savvy skills in bringing IMG back to the table as the event management company in charge of the IPL.

No one seems to know — or indeed seems to care — where the IPL will end up 3-4 years from now. For now, everyone seems happy: the franchise owners, players, administrators, broadcasters, advertisers and (most importantly) the fans. The IPL is a happy marriage of cricket, TV, Bollywood, entertainment and advertising.

The IPL fits well with the New India: A in-your-face and in-a-hurry, short, sweet sexy package that is peppy, racy and based on reality drama. Everyone wants it and clamours for it. Oh! And by the way, while talent is a pre-requisite, if you can compensate lack of talent with bling and biff, then bring it on!

The IPL has its cyincs and doubters. Gideon Haigh recently said, “Twenty20 is a TV property masquerading as cricket property,” in a CricInfo conversation with Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar. It is true that Haigh has been a T20-IPL-Modi doubter for a long time. It is true that Haigh does not like the T20 format. He may have also developed a distaste for the IPL. He probably breaks into an allergic rash everytime he hears the name Modi. But in my view, his is not the voice of a doomsday-scenario painter, although it is easy for one to think of him in those terms. In my view, in these times of extreme hype and huge profits, his voice brings balance to the marketing cacophony that surrounds this form of the game.

The point is that T20 has been hugely popular in every market that it has been played in. The IPL has packaged it in an excellent manner as a made-for-TV and a made-for-corporate-India drama. The BCCI has unleashed, through Lalit Modi, a product that has delivered the game some excitement and more respect than it probably deserves. And everyone is happy.

But there are significant challenges with the IPL.

It seems to me to be a journey whose destination is yet unknown.

There is far too much “policy on the fly” and “process refinement through band-aids” at the moment. The 7.5-minute “strategy break” after over #10 — which itself was announced/pronounced/decreed a few days prior to the start of IPL-2 — has been replaced in IPL-3 with two 2.5-minute strategy breaks; one which the bowling team can take between overs 6 and 8 and the other, which the batting team can take between overs 11 and 16.

Is this a “policy on the fly” or is it a “let us suck it and see” approach? Take your pick. Personally, I am not really that fussed with tinkering of this sort that makes the game more interesting and engaging.

What is a bit more worrying is the bullish manner (not to mention “band-aid” and “seat of pants” manner) in which matters like security, safety and the efficacy of the tendering process are handled.

Witness the arbitrary and unexplained delays in the tendering process for IPL franchises 9 and 10 that are set to commence from IPL-Season-4. The arbitrary nature of the process postponement (and the subsequent relaxation of some of the bidding rules) left the bidders that had already submitted valid bids extremely angry and bitter. Fair enough. I would be extremely upset too if I had submitted a valid bid!

The reason for the tender postponement, according to BCCI Secretary, Niranjan Shan, that supreme exemplar and embodiment of professional and ethical communications was, “The [BCCI] president felt a few clauses were too stiff and he wanted some modifications. Since the president’s approval is necessary for going ahead with the process and naming the winning bids, the entire process was cancelled and we asked for fresh tenders, which will now be opened on March 21.”

Surely, the BCCI president knew of the bidding rules and ought to have signed-off on the bidding rules and the process before the tender documents were released and not post-facto?

In my view, “policy on the fly” and “flying by the seat of ones pants” is ok for an organisation in its inception — especially one that is in a tearing hurry to make its mark in the world. Moreover, I think that this “policy on the fly” fits in quite comfortably with India, Inc, where adaptability and nimbleness is the modern matra for success. However, I would like to think that the organisation would need to acquire stability — much more solidity — if it aspires for a global footprint and global respect. A “we are like this only” attitude just will not cut it. That will do when operating in a market that is dominated by scarcity. But global respect requires much more by way of solidity, professionalism, accountability and transparency.

And therein lies a major challenge for the IPL.

Another challenge, in my view is the boredom that is likely to emanate from the “sameness” that this format can bring with it.

Despite these blips, the fact is that the IPL is a force to reckon with.

Fast Company — a company that has its eye on innovation trends and digital media — put the IPL as the 22nd most innovative company in the world — ahead of established blue-chips and brands like Frito-Lay, Samsung, Twitter and Microsoft! The IPL was also labelled the 2nd most innovative sports company in the world! It made 4th place on the Forbes List of the world’s hottest sporting properties.

More power to the IPL and more power to Lalit Modi.

In the meanwhile though, sit back and enjoy the ride for the next 50 days or so and get used to terms like “DLF Max” (and for the uninitiated, that’s the new term for “a six”).

– Mohan

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IPL2 :: Semi-Finals Stage now…

Posted on 22 May 2009 by | 12 Comments

IPL2 has now reached the semi-final stage.

Bollywood has been kicked out as Priety Zinta (Punjab), Shah Rukh Khan (KKR) and Shilpa Shetty (Rajasthan) head home along with the land of Bollywood itself (Mumbai)!

What’s left behind is real cricket sans the glitz and packaged entertainment from Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi; three teams from the South of India and one from the capital city! Make of all of that what you will.

A few weeks back in my IPL-2 Preview, I had predicted a Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai finals. We almost got that! Mumbai has been my major disappointment of the season. Bangalore was almost fading away until Kumble came on the scene. He transformed the team into winners and showed — as he has done all through his career — that Shane Warne is not the only magician in town! Except that Kumble has always chosen to perform his magic without the glitz!

Rajasthan just did not have the team to make the semis this year. Without Sohail Tanvir and Watson and with a struggling Graeme Smith, they were always going to struggle. They did. As Shane Warne said, in his characteristic flourish, “Mate, the only positive thing to emerge for me at this year’s IPL might be my blood test!” They have a lot of work to do in the off-season.

KKR have issues aplenty. The coach and his entourage has to go in my view. Their season was derailed by Buchanan from the start of the campaign and it did not recover from there on in. We had a fake-IPL player reveal itself as a shadow yesterday! The revelation compelled Shah Rukh Khan to launch into an explanation in elementary physics! He said, “Shadows … being merely negative projections that are created due to a light source being blocked by an opaque object, have no … qualms!” Phew! I also think that their captaincy was in the wrong hands. But I tell you what? Having one lousy captain was a darned sight better than having 5 lousy captains on the field, each trying to outdo the others’ mistakes! On completion, KKR skipper, Brendn McCullum (in reference to the “shadow” fake-IPL player) said, “I suppose this is the first time that a shadow has thrown light on something. Heh heh!” KKR have a heck of a lot of work to do in the off-season too. And one of them would be to ask if Ganguly’s time is completely up!

Punjab have issues too! They need a right-handed batsman in the team! And the captain has anger-management problems! He said, “Well, actually it is getting the worst out of me. I am getting very angry on the field, I don’t know why.” They have a lot of work to do if they want to challenge consistently good teams like Delhi and Chennai.

Mumbai was the biggest disappointment for me. With Jayasuriya, Tendulkar, Duminy, Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Dwayne Bravo in the team, they were an early pencil for me for the last-4 berth! That list above was a set of 7 constants in every team that took the park! That is a fantastic starting card for any team to have in its armoury! All they needed to do was to fire up a wicketkeeper (and they had Pinal Shah and Takawale to chose from) and three local boys — and in Abhishek Nayar, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni and Rohan Raje, they had all that they needed! But they blew chance after good chance through a mix of bad captaincy, bad decisions and poor play. I do think Sachin Tendulkar needs to sit down with Mukesh Ambani and re-think his captaincy role! Chief Mentor Shaun Pollock said at the end, in what I think is a brutally frank assessment, “We’ll look at the positives. Our captaincy was positively puzzling, and our batting was positively ridiculous.”

So that leads us to the semi-finals. I would be very surprised if it is not Delhi Vs Chennai. But I’d also be quite happy to be surprised!

– Mohan

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T20’s challenge to Tests

Posted on 15 May 2009 by | 5 Comments

Chris Gayle has announced that he would rather play T20 cricket over Test matches. This may have come as a shock to many, but I am quite surprised that people didn’t see this coming. Expect to see more of this in the future.

I am part of the minority that loves Test cricket the way it is – spread over 5 days, each team playing 2 innings and the game sometimes changing direction from session to session when evenly matched teams play. I believe that Test cricket also separates the players from the pretenders – You have to be sufficiently skilled to survive in this genre of the game compared to the 20 over version. And you have to be sufficiently crazy to enjoy watching test cricket over five days, too.

I know I am.

Most cricket fans around the world these days would rather watch T20. The proof is in the dwindling crowds even in places like India which traditionally attracted large crowds for Test matches.

In a Test match, you pretty much know what the result between Australia and Bangladesh is going to be. T20 on the other hand, makes for a level playing field – you could even have a team like Bangladesh beat South Africa or KKR beat DDD. Okay, KKR winning a match is a bad example :) – but you do get the picture, right? And fans love that.

So, if the fans themselves would rather watch T20 cricket, why should the players feel any different? It makes perfect sense, actually – you spend less time on the field, get paid more and don’t have to be as skilled as a test player. And add other things like less chances of getting injured (due to less cricket), and you have a strong case for playing just T20 cricket.

This is also one of the main reasons that even young players decided to go against their Cricket boards and sign up for ICL in hordes, even if it meant they would be giving up their chance to play cricket for their domestic side and country.

So, if players don’t play for their state and country – how do they get into the T20 teams, you ask. We could be looking at a whole different model. Take Kamran Khan of the Rajasthan Royals, for instance. Forget the fact that he has a "suspect" bowling action, he was pretty much pulled out from obscurity and made into a star of sorts – watch out for more such things happening in the future, when IPL scouts scour the country looking for raw talent.

It is also the consumers that drive the product. With consumers hungry for more T20 games, the people who run the game will oblige. We may also end up having more domestic T20 tournaments for upcoming players to showcase what they’ve got.

Chris Gayle may eventually soften his stand by saying that he was misquoted or whatever, but the fact remains that more and more players would start thinking along similar lines. T20 cricket is going to thrive at the expense of both Test and ODI cricket. I am not actually writing the obituary for Test cricket. Not yet, anyway – but unless Test cricket reinvents itself, it is going to struggle to justify its existence. It may not happen tomorrow or next year,  but it is eventually going to happen.

As much as I love watching T20 cricket, for someone who also loves Test cricket, it is a frightening prospect.

-Mahesh-

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Indian Sports Minister fumes at 6UP

Posted on 11 May 2009 by | 1 Comment

There are several good things that the IPL is doing for cricket. And there are several things that it is doing that are plainly irritating. For example, we do not have sixes anymore! These are now known as DLFers or “DLF maximums”. We do not have a brilliant fielding that affects a run out or a brilliant catch anymore. We have a “Citi moment of success”!

While it is irritating to see a sixer being referred to as a DLFer, what the IPL is certainly doing, is associating the sponsors brand much more closely and intimately with the product itself! Sponsors like DLF, Vodofone, Citi, Fly Kingfisher, Hero Honda and Sony SetMax appear to be reaping the benefits of their association with cricket through the IPL.

A more recent entrant to the field is one that has raised the ire of the Indian sports ministry!

The Indian sports minister MS Gill has rapped the IPL on the knuckles for its official sanction of an SMS text-messaging product during IPL games. This product is also promoted actively by the same commentators that promote the DLFers and “Citi moment of success” through their commentary! The competition, called 6UP is one in which users can win by predicting either the run-sequence in an over or the number of runs per over. The sports minister has taken offense to this — as this is akin to betting and gambling which are banned in India — and has requested the BCCI to ban this competition.

6UP is an SMS mobile game. Fans can send their predictions as to how many runs will be scored on each ball of an over, before the start of every over at Rs 5 per SMS. The company that runs offers 6UP is “IPLAYUP Interactive Entertainment”, a UK-based mobile business generation company. They have tied up with Vodafone to offer the product. George Tomeski, co-founder and managing partner of IPLAYUP Interactive Entertainment, has indicated that every day a few fans can make a few lakhs of rupees.

The business model is simple: Out of every Rs 5 SMS sent during a live game, a minimum of 50 per cent of the total pool (number of people who send the SMS multiplied by Rs 5) goes to the person who sends the message, while the remaining part goes to telecom company (Vodafone), governmental tax and Australian ex-captain Steve Waugh’s charity – Steve Waugh Foundation. So there is a charity angle to it too!

Cute!

There are some loosely justifiable claims, perhaps, for this to be classified as “gambling” or “betting”! However, while he is at it, is the Honourable Sports Minister also going to make efforts to ban illegal betting and gambling on cricket? Or perhaps he can allow the IPL to legalise gambling and betting in cricket in India and actually earn the Government money that can be used to either line pockets or be pumped into other sports that are worse off in India?

Furthermore, these proclamations from the Sports Minister would actually hold water if the ministry demonstrated tangible evidence of adding value to sports in the country!

If the Sports Minister had concentrated on the real issues — betting and the potential for ‘match fixing’ — and stopped there, that may have won him his day in court. However, instead of doing there, he went on to take a swipe at cricket and spilled all his sour grapes, thereby, bringing to question his real motives!

He went on to say, “I see the commercial use of cricket for business gains that is going on. I am concerned at knowledgeable comments from serious followers of cricket about the latest venture of encouraging viewers to make ball-by-ball predictions of runs scored for economic gain in the shape of cash prizes. This is viewed as ‘openly encouraging gambling and betting’, which official bodies do not resort to, even in countries where betting is legal; all this ‘to make money and enlarge their TV viewership base’”.

Let us de-construct this comment.

There is really nothing inherently wrong with the commercialisation of cricket. Nor is there anything wrong with either making money or enlarging TV viewership! Indeed, that is one sure way for hockey to become popular again in India! What is of relevance is (a) the actual act of “betting” and (b) match fixing.

Perhaps the sports minister was better off focusing his attention just on (a) and (b) above rather than spill his sour grapes!

Although betting and gambling is considered illegal in India, there is a horse racing and gaming industry in India. This is officially sanctioned! Moreover, we do have state sanctioned lotteries. Millions of rupees are routinely lost, mainly by India’s poor, who wish to invest in these statistically remote make-it-rich-quick lottery schemes in these state run lotteries. The sports minister did not comment on these officially sanctioned gambling mechanisms in India. While it is not necessary for him to have done so, the argument can be mounted that, given the existence of these schemes, could the country not allow another scheme — especially if the Government can use the funds thus generated to improve the plight of sports funding in other neglected sports?

Fundamentally however, what needs to be investigated here is whether the course of a match can be altered through this product. Possible questions that need to be asked are

(a) Can a single user, as a result of an investment of 5 Rupees (roughly 10 cents American) alter the course of a game through her bet?

I would have thought that that would be close to impossible.

(b) Can this lead to “match fixing”?

Theoretically this is possible. It is possible for an “investor” to pay off two powerful hitting batsmen to take 3 singles each in an over to deliver a sequence of “111111″ or, say, deliver a sequence “000000″ in an over. The “investor” can then place a bet on that specific sequence and hope that (a) no one else has bet on that specific sequence so that the “rigged investment” pays off, (b) a large number of bettors have placed bets on an alternative sequence — so that the “rigged investment” is worth it.

These, and other similar questions, are more pertinent rather than the commercialisation of cricket in India. The sport is banking on its popularity and is finding new ways of delivering value to the brands that support it. Nothing wrong with those principles. What is important is an assessment of whether the game itself is letting itself open to be manipulated by means and instruments other than sporting skill.

– Mohan

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Has the IPL helped nurture local talent?

Posted on 20 April 2009 by | 7 Comments

At a lunch that I went to Sunday afternoon, I was hauled up by a frequent visitor to i3j3Cricket and was asked to comment on why the IPL could not be thrown wide open to have teams full of international players (if need be)!

To have a lower bound on the number of local players in each squad (or an upper bound on the number of international players in each team) was seen by this gentleman as either a “needless constriction” or “protectionism” or yet another example of India wanting to have it both ways — ‘while India is happy to be the “Back Office to the World” she can’t yet throw her doors wide open to and embrace capitalism’ was the theory that was expounded.

Or at least, that was how I understood the theory that was being postulated.

Each squad in the IPL has to have at least four under-19 players and a (playing) team can’t have more than 4 international players.

I pointed out to the gentleman that this IPL rule was recently lauded by Lawrence Booth in an article in CricInfo.

There is nothing inherently wrong with letting market forces completely dictate the composition of a squad or indeed, a team that takes the park. If that indeed does happen, it would be a first in the world, leave alone India! And maybe that experiment is not too far off.

After all, to the credit of the IPL, the IPL has almost seen more experiments trialled out in the last two years than cricket has seen in the last few decades! Some of these — like (a) the establishment of a transfer market, (b) auctioning of players, (c) establishment of franchises, (d) having a salary cap, etc — have, in my view, been good, while some — like the mid-innings “strategy break” — have been poorly thought through.

However, I must say that I am not a fan of the ‘throw the doors wide open and let market forces dictate squad/team composition’ strategy, even if there is a ‘salary cap’.

Firstly, ‘protectionism’ and ‘capitalism’ have conveniently co-existed even in America, a land that has embraced ‘capitalism’ more willingly than any other. When there are compelling reasons for these two ways of life to co-exist, they do! So, there is no reason for a call for an “either have it all-black or all-white policy or it is a nonsense” judgement when it comes the the IPL. Not everything in life needs to be distinctly and strictly binary for it to be granted legitimacy! Shades of grey have always existed.

Second, I said to this gentleman that, with a strong focus on identifying, nurturing and grooming local talent, the IPL has actually managed to unearth and identify (in some cases) and nurture or resurrect (in others) local talent.

I was challenged to name names of talent that IPL-1 had unearthed. I could cite the names of Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh, but then they wouldn’t be ‘local’.

So here are some names of players whose careers, in my view, IPL-1 assisted through the local-talent-lower-bound principle:

Amit Mishra: His was a career that was going no where. He was always a good bowler. But he had been shunned even by Delhi, his local team. He continued playing in the Ranji Trophy. But his real big break came through IPL-1. The moment he took a hat-trick in IPL-1 was when the selectors sat up and took notice. He was immediately drafted into the India-A side to play Australia. He performed well and was immediately picked for India. He may have made it to the India team. But I have no doubt that IPL-1 and its focus on having local talent helped his career immensely.

Yusuf Pathan: He was always seen as a player who had heaps of talent. Indeed, he played in the T20 World Championship finals too. If I remember right that was the only game he played in the T20 World Championship. However, it was in IPL-1 that he really shone bright. He played many a breathtaking innings for Rajasthan Royals in IPL-1 and this catapulted him into national team selection. Again, I have no doubt that the opportunity he got to rub shoulders with players in the big league was what prompted his growth as a player.

Ravindra Jadeja: Shane Warne called him the “Rock Star” in IPL-1. He may have been a little-known and perhaps even ‘forgotten’ player in the domestic circuit. After all, there are many players like him in the past that died slow and painful deaths in the local circuit. Noel David and Vihay Bharadwaj are two names that spring to mind immediately! They are Ravindra-Jadeja-type players who toiled in the domestic circuit without getting enough opportunities to either promote their talent or shine or polish their talent on a big stage. Although I agree that Jadeja was starting off a much better base, he was helped by the IPL-1 opportunities he had and as an under-19 player, he just had to be included. No doubt he was helped by the huge raps he received from Shane Warne. He displayed his wares and got into the India team.

L. Balaji: I think that the local-inclusion-lower-bound rule definitely helped L. Balaji’s career. To his credit, he used his inclusion in the Chennai team to show that he still had it in him, despite the fact that his pace had slowed down several notches post his injury-scares. He put in a good showing in the IPL and that contributed to his resurrection to the India Test side. He is also in the list of probables for the India T20 team.

Dhawal Kulkarni: He was another bowler that benefited immensely from the local-talent rule. He played many a game for Mumbai in IPL-1 and impressed one and all with his pace and abilities. Soon thereafter, he was selected to tour NZ with Team India. He did not get a game in NZ, but one has to assume that the tour helped him hone his skills.

Manpreet Gony: Another Chennai player who was catapulted to national reckoning was Manpreet Gony. If I am not mistaken, he was even discarded by his local state, but Chennai picked him up and gave him opportunities to shine. He did and, as a result, was thrown into national reckoning. He was in several ODI teams subsequent to IPL-1.

Other players that benefited from the local-player-lower-bound rule in IPL-1 are possibly Siddharth Trivedi, Ashok Dinda, Karan Goel, Venugopal Rao, Yo Mahesh, Pradeep Sangwan, Yogesh Takawale, Pinal Shah and Naman Ojha.

Please feel free to add to this list of players whose careers the IPL-1 had assisted/helped/accelerated.

Several of the above players are good and it is possible that several of them would have made it off their own bat over time. It is also possible that the local-talent-lower-bound would not have been necessary for several of these players to gain recognition and eventual selection in the India team.

They could have made it after ‘slogging it out on the domestic circuit’ and had time taken her natural course. However, I have little doubt that IPL-1 catapulted them into national reckoning and national consciousness faster and in a much more compelling manner.

I am, therefore, an unabashed fan of the local-talent-lower-bound principle.

Sometimes it is not totally wrong to mix a doze of ‘protectionism’ with brazen ‘capitalism’. Morever, in my view, having a few protectionist measures in the IPL is not totally at odds with India’s aspirations and desires.

Finally, what was the first thing that the major pillars of capitalism did when the current global financial crisis hit? They put their bowls out for a protectionist hand out! But that’s another essay for another day!

– Mohan

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Selection criteria for IPL

Posted on 16 April 2009 by | 94 Comments

So the second edition of the IPL is set to begin soon and the final team make up of each and every team member is slowly falling into place. We at i3j3cricket carried out a thorough review of each team’s chances in IPL-2. So, if you are in charge of picking the players for your team, who would you pick (leaving the $ side of things aside)? To rephrase the question, what criteria would you apply?

Here is a bunch of things, that I would consider.

Prefer availability over ability

For the team to perform consistently, you need the same players to be around for the entire tournament – even if you are rotated out/rested from the team. It allows the players to settle down into a role lot more easily and the team to play around them. Teams like Chennai started with a bang and started to struggle once Hussey and Hayden left. It took them a while to get back the rhythm, where as teams like Rajasthan which had Warne and Watson play through the whole tournament had a lot more consistency. There are a few people (from England, Australia and West Indies) playing in the IPL this year too, who will partially be away on national duty and this will affect the teams a fair bit, I think.

Prefer strike rate over average

Unlike other forms of the game where consistency and high average would rank very high as a selection criteria, I would be looking for people with a good strike rate who can come in and score 30-40 runs if required. Obviously, people who can score hundreds would be terrific. If you score a hundred in a 20 over game, you probably have a high strike rate too – but I am being realistic here. A quickfire 30-40 is good enough in this game and that  is the reasons I rate Sehwag very highly in this form of the game – he had a strike rate of around 185 in the last edition of IPL and still managed to score over 400 runs (in 14 games). So, what would be a good strike rate? I reckon anything above 150 is phenomenal if you have an average of over 20. Obviously, average is important too – if you have a strike rate of 300, but average just 6 runs every game (first ball six, second ball out), that is not very good. If you average 40+, then any strike rate of over 100 is good.

Prefer economy rate over wicket taking

I put economy rate ahead of wicket taking mainly because a good economy rate usually leads to wickets themselves. There are people who take wickets in every game, but end up leaking a lot of runs – they are not really well suited for this form of the game. So, what is a good economy rate? If you bowl 4 overs every match and concede less than 6.5 runs every over, I consider that as very good. If you take 2 wickets per match in addition, I would have you play every game :) – Only Sohail Tanwir was able to achieve the feat of conceding just 6.46 runs/over and averaging 2 wickets a match in last year’s IPL – I think this may be a bit hard to beat. On a realistic note, any bowler who concedes under 7.5 runs would be a good pick, particularly if he can complete his entire spell every match.

Right mix of specialists and bits & pieces players

Every team needs a couple of players who can swing the bat a bit, bowl a couple of overs and field really well. These players do not have to be genuine all rounders (like Flintoff or Watson, although I’d take them too), but people who can be thrown in the deep end and be expected to play any role that is given to them – like the Pathan brothers (although I wouldn’t call their fielding electric). At the same time, you need a mix of genuine specialists in your team – like a Gambhir with the bat or a Murali with the ball – who are good just in one role.

So, what would you consider?

-Mahesh-

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