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news preview cover story interview triviaEDITOR SPEAKS 04 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

fter much delay and drama,

the second most imperative

tourney of the cricket world is

about to launch its pad in less

then a months time on the

horizon of African nation. Champions

Trophy is finally back to lure cricket

fanatics with its magic. Top eight nations

would go head to head to implicate their

dominance on each other, in return get-

ting their hands on the beautiful trophy

of the much awaited tournament. We

bring you all the valuable inputs required

about the notable teams keeping in mind

their weaknesses, strengths and most

importantly their chances of increasing

the cabinet of trophies. Champions

Trophy would be a stern test for the

host nations as they won't let another

chance go begging to get rid of their

chokers tag. South Africa is known for

its slip ups on the crucial stages so this

time around we expect much responsible

effort from them.

Though on one end cricket globalization

with such tournaments (Champions

Trophy& IPL) has made the game richer

with every passing day but on the

reverse end it has brought the gentle-

men's game on the verge of serious

problem. Scale of premature retirements

from Test cricket could go up in the near

future with the amount of money get-

ting in at the shorter formats. Andrew

Flintoff is the first major casualty of this

cash rich cricket; however he is adamant

that his call for retirement is because of

his injury prone career.

Indian cricket board is going through

trouble some days. BCCI is finding hard

to negotiate the doping clause of WADA,

with every one jumping upon their head

about instructing the cricket players to

sign the anti doping policy.

In this edition we also pay tribute to one

of the longest serving servant of Sri

Lankan cricket Chaminda Vaas, who has

hanged his boots from Test cricket. With

Vaas' sun setting off, few of the new

stars of cricket are rising high in Pakistani

cricket. Young lads like Umer Akmal,

Mohammad Aamer and Fawad Alam are

doing world of good for Pakistani cricket

with their noteworthy performances in

recent past. Exclusive interviews of Amit

Mishra, Rahul Dewan and Dajit Singh will

defiantly keep your interest going in the

current issue of Cricket Today.

For lovers of other sports, there is much

to read about. Special coverage on the

top three football leagues will take your

curiosity to highest level. Last but not

the least, our regular columns like Greats

of the Game and Willowy Words will keep

alive, the heroes of cricketing world

from the past.

Stage set for the Carnival of Cricket

a

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20

26 46 50c

on

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ts

Current Australian

Skipper Ricky Ponting

would defiantly get

commanding position

if team is chosen out

of current world

players. But this

Aussie great couldn’t

make it to the play-

ing XI of all-time

Australian team.

Ricky Ponting was

deemed well enough

only for the 12th

man’s slot. Though,

Shane Warne, Adam

Gilchrist and Glenn

McGrath made it to a

leading website’s all-

time Australian

XI.Don Bradman,

Shane Warne and

Dennis Lillee was the

unanimous choice.

AAuussttrraalliiaann XXII :: Victor

Trumper, Arthur

Morris, Don Bradman,

Greg Chappell, Allan

Border, Keith Miller,

Adam Gilchrist, Shane

Warne, Bill O‘Reilly,

Dennis Lillee and

Glenn McGrath. 12th

man: Ricky Ponting.

Aussie Skippergets 12th Grade

RECK

ON

ING

FO

R G

AU

TI

Indian opening batsman

Gautam Gambhir is one of

the 15 sportspersons select-

ed to receive the prestigious

Arjuna Award for the year

2009.Gambhir, who has

enjoyed a purple patch with

the bat in all three forms of

the game since India’s World

T20 World Cup win in 2007,

has been chosen for the

honor along with badminton

sensation Saina Nehwal, dou-

ble trap shooter Ronjan

Sodhi and hockey player

Ignace Tirkey.Gambhir was

recently elevated to the No.

1 spot in the ICC Test rank-

ings, before Kumar

Sangakkara overtook him.

WhiteLightningbacks balltampering

SportsRound Up

I Thought ofGiving Up AtTime: Amit Mishra

Former South Africa

speedster Allan Donald

feels the International

Cricket Council (ICC) should

legalize ball tampering to

prevent the growing hege-

mony of batsmen in world

cricket. “The ICC would

shoot me for saying it but,

with the wickets that we

play on and the dying

breed fast bowlers are

becoming on these flatter

wickets, I would say we do

need some sort of defense

mechanism, something to

fall back on to say ‘Right,

we can do this. We can

now prepare this ball to

go’,” said Donald. However,

the 42-year-old, currently

the coach of Warwickshire

where he had served with

distinction as a player, is

aware his plea would have

very little effect.

TheContenders

WADA- ICC- BCCI: Tied inGridlock

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:32 PM Page 2

Former Pakistan Test opener Aamer

has step down as Pakistan Cricket

Board’s Director-Game Development,

creating more problems for the embat-

tled board. If reports to be believed

Aamer Sohail was not getting along

with senior Board officials including

chairman Ejaz Butt and director-human

resource Wasim Bari. In fact he was also

issued show cause notice by Bari for

failing to attend an ICC course in

London. However Sohail, 42, said that

he was getting no ‘job satisfaction’ and

so he decided to resign. The former

batsman said he will revive his career as

a television commentator. Sohail’s deci-

sion to quit comes after former chief

selector Abdul Qadir, also an ex-Pakistan

Test cricketer, resigned because of his

differences with the Board’s top brass.

West Indies batting legend

Brian Lara could make his

coaching debut at next

month’s Champions League

Twenty20.The former cap-

tain, who retired from inter-

national cricket in 2007, is in

talks with his home side

Trinidad and Tobago Cricket

Board for a role as coach of

its side in the October 8-23

event in India. Trinidad and

Tobago is the only West

Indian team to take part in

the Champions League

Twenty20 after winning the

Stanford Twenty20 compe-

tition here.” I haven’t been

approached but we have

had discussions on it,” said

Lara. Lara was associated

with the Indian Cricket

League but has reportedly

broken ties with the ‘rebel’

Twenty20 league.

Uttappa may be out of Indian team, He

might have not done any good for the

Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL

but still he is the hot commodity in the

state version of the cash rich league.

Robin Uthappa became the costliest play-

er in the KPL, inviting a bid of Rs 3.25

lakh from Bangalore Brigadiers in the

auction. This price tag shows that

Karnataka still hold high regards for their

discarded son from the Indian team.

Apart from Robin as many as 48

Karnataka players went under the ham-

mer as the eight franchisees of the

September 9-23 event participated in

the bidding process. Karnataka State

Cricket Association had kept an upper

limit of seven lakh for six chosen players

by each franchisee. Stuart Binny was

picked by Gulbarga team (Bijapur Bulls)

for Rs 3.2 lakh, B Akhil was taken on

board by Bangalore Rural for Rs three

lakh, while veteran Sunil Joshi pocketed

Rs 2.05 lakh thanks to Hubli-Dharwad

team (Shamanur Davangere

Diamonds).The Karnataka Premier League

has lost some of its sheen after the

Board of Control for Cricket in India

denied participation of out of state play-

ers in KPL, making it only a state affair.

Lara set tocoach his

home side?

AAMER OPTSOUT OF PCB

BEST PAY FOR UTTAPPA

SSuunniill GGaavvaasskkaarr wwiillll hheeaadd tthhee MMuummbbaaii

CCrriicckkeett AAssssoocciiaattiioonn’’ss CCIICC aafftteerr aa

ddeeccaaddee’’ss aabbsseennccee ffrroomm aannyy aaccttiivviittiieess

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nnaammeedd aass tthhee cchhaaiirrmmaann ooff tthhee CCrriicckkeett

IImmpprroovveemmeenntt CCoommmmiitttteeee,, ddeeaalliinngg wwiitthh

aallll ccrriicckkeett mmaatttteerrss iinncclluuddiinngg tthhee

aappppooiinnttmmeenntt ooff ccooaacchheess aanndd vvaarriioouuss

sseelleeccttiioonn ppaanneellss,, aatt tthhee MMCCAA’’ss MMaannaaggiinngg

CCoommmmiitttteeee ssiittttiinngg rreecceennttllyy.. TThhee oonnllyy

ttiimmee tthhee ffoorrmmeerr IInnddiiaa sskkiippppeerr hhaadd bbeeeenn

aassssoocciiaatteedd ooffffiicciiaallllyy wwiitthh MMCCAA aafftteerr hhiiss

ppllaayyiinngg ddaayyss wwaass iinn 11999988 wwhheenn hhee wwaass

ccoo--oopptteedd aass aa vviiccee pprreessiiddeenntt ttoo ffiillll iinn

tthhee ssppoott vvaaccaatteedd bbyy eexx--TTeesstt ffaasstt

bboowwlleerr RRaammaakkaanntt DDeessaaii aafftteerr tthhee llaatt--

tteerr’’ss ddeeaatthh.. Back to home

62

74 80 86c

on

ten

ts

Foremost Stepis to set up aSalaryStructure forthe Curators:Daljit Singh

The unluckiestteam in the World

Make Flintoff’sRetirement anException, Notthe Trend My Heart

goes forHaryana:RahulDewan

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match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia 10 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

McCullum chooses countryover money

Two cricketers from Gujarat,Yusuf Pathan and RavindraJadeja recently joined theReliance Industries Limited(RIL) as executives (Sports andCulture) at a ceremony organ-ized by the company. BothYusuf and Jadeja were induct-ed into the company by itsgroup president. “We all see agreat cricketing potential andfuture in Pathan and Jadeja.

They are colleagues atRajasthan Royals in the IndianPremier League (IPL) and nowthey become colleagues atReliance. They become ourexecutives (Sports andCulture) and join the roll withParthiv Patel,” he said. Wicket-keeper Patel was the firstcricketer to join RIL rolls onJune 25, 2004.

Indian cricketers joinCorporate World

IPL bids goodbye to

‘icon’ playersThe ‘icon status’ of India’s most cherishedcricketers will soon come to an end. From2010 onwards, Sachin Tendulkar, VirenderSehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly andYuvraj Singh, who enjoyed this special sta-tus in the inaugural two seasons, will belike any other player in the Indian PremierLeague (IPL).”In the original plan itself, ‘iconstatus’ was only for two years. That timeIPL was a new concept and we wanted tobuild a strong base for teams. But it is notmandatory to keep these players after thenext season,” said IPL commissioner LalitModi .”They can be traded or other teamscan bid for them in the fresh auctionsafter the 2010 season. They will not beicon players anymore,” he added.Abolishing the ‘icons’ tag would mean thatthese players no more stand to earn 15%more than the highest-earning player fromhis franchise. The fees will be at the dis-cretion of the franchise.

BBrreennddoonn MMccCCuulllluumm hhaass sseett aann eexxaammppllee ffoorr tthhoossee wwhhooaarree lluurree bbyy tthhee ffllooww ooff ccaasshh wwhheenn iitt ccoommeess ttoo cchhoossee

oonnee bbeettwweeeenn ccoouunnttrryy aanndd tthhee mmoonneeyy.. HHee ssiiggnneedd nnaattiioonn--aall ccoonnttrraacctt aanndd lleett aa hhuuggee aammoouunntt ggoo ffrroomm hhiiss ccoonnttrraacctt

iinn tthhee IIPPLL.. MMccCCuulllluumm wwiillll bbee ppllaayyiinngg ffoorr hhiiss ccoouunnttrryywwhheenn tthhee tthhiirrdd sseeaassoonn ooff IInnddiiaann PPrreemmiieerr LLeeaagguuee

ssttaarrttss.. NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd WWiicckkeett--kkeeeeppeerr bbaattssmmaann pprreesseenncceewwiillll ccuutt sshhoorrtt bbyy hhaallff ooff tthhee lleeaagguuee.. BBrreennddoonn MMccCCuulllluumm

aaddmmiittss tthhee ddeecciissiioonn ttoo ffoorreeggoo hhaallff aa mmiilllliioonn ddoollllaarrss ttoorree--ssiiggnn wwiitthh NNeeww ZZeeaallaanndd CCrriicckkeett wwaass aa ttoouugghh oonnee ttoo

mmaakkee.. MMccCCuulllluumm,, wwhhoo ccaappttaaiinneedd tthhee KKoollkkaattaa KKnniigghhttss iinntthhiiss yyeeaarr’’ss IIPPLL,, ssttaannddss ttoo lloossee aarroouunndd NNZZ$$550000,,000000 bbyy

oonnllyy bbeeiinngg aavvaaiillaabbllee ffoorr hhaallff tthhee IIPPLL ccoommppeettiittiioonn..

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:33 PM Page 6


Herschelle Gibbs will represent his

home team Cape Cobras, instead

of his IPL franchise Deccan

Chargers, in this year’s CL T20.

Convenor of selectors for the

Cape Cobras Omar Henry

announced recently that the initial

20-member squad, led by South

Africa captain Graeme Smith,

which include Gibbs for the tourna-

ment due to be held in India from

October 8 to 23.Gibbs’ inclusion

came as a surprise since he was

expected to play for Deccan

Chargers.Cape Cobras CEO Andre

Odendaal said the side pencilled in

Gibbs after the Chargers had

released him.”The Chargers con-

firmed over the weekend that

Herschelle would not be in their

squad and we are thrilled that a

player of his pedigree will now be

in the team,” Odendaal said.

SSqquuaadd:: Graeme Smith (Captain),

Derek Brand, Ryan Canning, Henry

Davids, Jean-Paul Duminy, Sybrand

Engelbrecht, Herschelle Gibbs,

Claude Henderson, Rory Kleinveldt,

Charl Langeveldt, Richard Levi, Carl

Nieuwoudt, Justin Ontong, Vernon

Philander, Francois Plaatjies,

Andrew Puttick, Gurshwin Rabie,

Leonard van Wyk, Stiaan van Zyl

and Monde Zondeki.

Aussies T20 star

in a Soup

Gibbs boosterfor Cobras

Luke Pomersbach problems seem to

be getting in worst shape. He has

been banned by Australian cricket

authorities from playing until at least

January after he pleaded guilty to

multiple charges including assaulting a

police officer. The Middle order bats-

man, who is the squad of Kings XI

Punjab in the Indian Premier League,

apologized in court for a drunken

rampage that led to him being arrest-

ed by police in Perth in recent time.

Pomersbach pleaded guilty to a total

of six charges that also included

pushing a policeman into a window at

his Perth home, breaking the glass

and causing minor injuries, as he

resisted arrest over a hit-and-run

road incident. Following the court rul-

ing, the Western Australian Cricket

Association (WACA) imposed further

penalties on Pomersbach.

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:33 PM Page 8


Saqlain Mushtaq, the former

Pakistan and Surrey off spinner, has

been appointed as spin consultant

by New Zealand Cricket (NZC) for

the next 12 months. Saqlain’s first

assignment will be New Zealand’s

six-week tour of Sri Lanka. New

Zealand Cricket has an agreement

with Saqlain Mushtaq who will work

with the Blackcaps over the next 12

months, Stephen Hill, the NZC

spokesperson said. “His experience

as a spin bowler is considered to be

of significant assistance.” Saqlain’s

foremost advice to New Zealand

bowlers before the Sri Lanka tour is

that bowling in the subcontinent is a

“mental battle”. To be on top of the

opponent, Saqlain said the bowlers

would need to “understand” and

“control” their skills. He said the

main reason he was brought on

board was to help New Zealand

neuter the danger posed by Murali

and Mendis.

Cricketer’s passion,Hummers gain

Indian cricket stars have found their new love. It has nothing to do with

some beautiful lady instead it is about their passion on roads. Cricketers are

more often known for their love when it comes to speed and cars.

Commanding to this love Bhajji and Dhoni has bought Hummer, the American

SUV. famous for there passion for vehicles, India captain Mahendra Singh

Dhoni and spinner maestro Bhajji has added a brand new ’Hummer’ worth

around one crore to their already rich collections of cars. While Dhoni’s

Hummer is of silver colour, Harbhajan has opted for a “Black Beauty”. Mahi’s

H2 2009 Hummer will definitely get the pride of place among Dhoni’s Toyota

Corolla, Scorpio, Mitsubishi Pajero, Harley Davidson, Yamaha 650cc sports

bike, Kawasaki Ninja and other two wheelers.

Kiwi colors forSaqlain

Two Champscomes togetherIPL franchisee Deccan

Chargers is venturing in

sports personality manage-

ment and has signed ace

shuttler Saina Nehwal.

Signing Saina has mark the

beginning of the IPL fran-

chisee’s first foray in sports

other than cricket, sources

said. Deccan Chronicle, the

newspaper owned by the

Deccan Chargers manage-

ment has announced Saina

as their brand ambassador

recently. The Chargers, led

by Adam Gilchrist, has won

the second edition of IPL

Twenty20 tournament in

South Africa earlier this year.

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:33 PM Page 10


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Steyn cleared on dope violation

Boycott’s superiority,

Dickie’s denial

Former cricketers were seen at the music

release party of the upcoming film Ruslaan.

Kapil Dev, Azharuddin and Madanlaal ensured

there presence at the mega event which was

also attended by many famous stars of enter-

tainment field. Music launch was held at the

official residence of Chief Minister Sheila Dixit.

Ruslaan is based on the real story of bombs

explosion in the local trains of Mumbai.

Former England opener Geoffrey Boycott

believes he was technically superior to Sunil

Gavaskar. However, his Yorkshire teammate Dicky

Bird feels otherwise. The England opener with a

reputation for straight talking said he and

Gavaskar were similar in many respects but he

had the better technique. “As our records show,

Sunil played more matches, scored more runs

and centuries than me, but in terms of tech-

nique, I consider myself superior to Sunil even if

by just half a percentage point,” he added.

Incidentally, Boycott’s argument could not con-

vince former umpire and his Yorkshire teammate

Dicky Bird who had no doubt that Gavaskar was

the better batsman. “What a great sight it was

to watch Gavaskar bat. Pace bowlers could never

really dominate him. That’s why I rate him as the

best opener of my era”.

Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib

Akhtar has apologized to the

PCB for appearing on a televi-

sion show without PCB’s per-

mission.A senior official

of the board told that

the fast bowler,

who was served a

show cause by the PCB,

has replied back on last

month ( July) apologiz-

ing for his

actions.The offi-

cial said Akhtar

himself is now

keen to mend

fences with

the authori-

ties and

wants to

get back in

the national

side as he has realized that he

didn’t have too many years of

cricket left in him.”That is one

reason why the PCB is also

not playing up this issue

and handling it quiet-

ly. In all likelihood

they want to end

this matter and drop

any disciplinary action

against him,” another

source in the

board

said.Pakistan

captain Younus

Khan has said

he has no

problems hav-

ing Akhtar in

the team as

long as he

performs.

Cricketers comes together

for music release

Rawalpindi expressexpresses regret

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:33 PM Page 12


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2211sstt SSeepptteemmbbeerr-- CCoouurrttllyy AAmmbbrroossee ((WWeesstt IInnddiieess))

2233rrdd SSeepptteemmbbeerr-- MMooiinn KKhhaann ((PPaakkiissttaann))

2288tthh SSeepptteemmbbeerr-- SSttuuaarrtt CCllaarrkk ((AAuussttrraalliiaa))

Indian sideConquers

snowFormer Indian cricket stars didn’t let

their country down in the match

that was played on Swiss snow.

Indian side beat an All-Star team

from England by four runs.

Sharmila Tagore was the one who

tossed the coin while her husband

Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and his fel-

low Farokh Engineer were the

umpires. Kapil called right and

decieded to bat. His side made 108

in their five overs thanks to

Sandeep Patil (25), Ajay Jadeja (26),

Kapil Dev (26), Roger Binny (12) and

Syed Kirmani (12). The All-Stars

needed to score at 20 an over.

Radford made 25, ICC match refer-

ee Chris Broad made 26 and Collis

King made 26. It was left to the pair

of skipper Alvin Kallicharran and

John Emburey to get 38 off the last

over.Ajay Jadeja obliged the rivals by

bowling a no-ball and the asking rate

came down to five per ball and six

off the last. Kallicharran aimed for

the straight field but was beaten by

the bounce and mishit behind the

‘keeper for just a single. Skipper

Kapil said, “The event was supposed

to be a fun thing, but once you

wear your cricket gear, you only

want to win and we were happy to

do it on our I-Day in front of Indian

tourists.”

Ex-Pakistan cricketer Qasim Umar has

claimed that former West Indies captain

Vivian Richards used to take performance

enhancement drugs.In a startling revela-

tion, Qasim said the batting legend

indulged in doping before the new anti-

doping regulations were enforced by the

ICC.Appearing on television talk show,

Umar, a controversial figure in Pakistan

cricket, said Richards had himself con-

fessed to him that he used to take drugs

to release tension and improve his stamina

and endurance levels. He had also accused

former Pakistan captain Imran Khan and

other players of using their kit bags to

transport drugs to the United Kingdom

and was subsequently banned for life by

the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Dope allegations on Viv Richards

Kambli finally calls it a dayIndian batsman Vinod Kambli recently announced his retirement from

international cricket but said he was still available to play domestic crick-

et. He made the announcement at the inauguration of his sports acade-

my - Khel Bharati. Indian opener Virender Sehwag inaugurated the acade-

my. Ramakant Acharekar, who coached Kambli as well as his school-mate

Sachin Tendulkar, was also present. Kambli, who played his first One-Day

International against Pakistan in 1991, said his childhood friend and bat-

ting legend Tendulkar could not come because of his previous engage-

ments, but has offered to help the academy. Kambli, who played 17 Tests

and 104 ODIs, played his last match for India in October 2000 at Sharjah,

against Sri Lanka. He made 1084 runs in Tests, which includes four cen-

turies while in one-day format he made 2477 runs.

NEWS.qxd 8/26/2009 6:34 PM Page 14

20 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

ENGLISH PREMIERLEAGUE (15TH AUG - 9THMAY)

It is the most watch out league in

the world. EPL is known for its sheer

pace and it is a home to many super

stars of the football world. If

reports to be believe, Premier

League is also the richest football

showdown on the planet. EPL have

been a dominant force in European

football also. Since last three to four

seasons, Champions League (Top

European Honor) has witness the

much more English teams in the

Semi-Finals and Finals. Current

(2009-2010) campaign of Premier

League would take the intensity to a

new level with Twenty teams fight-

ing for the top honor.

PREDICTIONSManchester United will be the force

to reckon with. Current champions

might have lost the charisma of

Ronaldo but they have enough

power in their belly to be the

champs once again. Chelsea with the

new manager (Carlo Ancelotti) and

Liverpool with their star players

could tumble the title race. Last

years fourth finisher Arsenal might

go down further in the league with

the departure of Adebayor and

Toure. Manchester City relishing

under new owner and players could

be the surprise package of the cur-

rent season. Rest of the positions

would see up and down of many

teams.

PROBABLE TOP FOURFINISHERS1. Manchester United

2. Chelsea

3. Liverpool

4. Manchester City, Aston Villa or

Arsenal

PLAYERS TO WATCHOUT FORFFoorrwwaarrddss:: Rooney ( Man U), Drogba (

Chelsea), Torres (Liverpool),

Vanpersie ( Arsenal), Robinho ( Man

City), Owen( Man U), Adebayor ( Man

City), Tvez ( Man City).

MMiidd--FFiieellddeerrss:: Lampard ( Chelsea),

Gerrad ( Liverpool), Fabregas (

Arsenal), Nani( Man U), Mascherano

(Liverpool), Benayoun(Liverpool),

Barry( Man City), Arshavin( Arsenal).

DDeeffeennddeerrss:: Terry (Chelsea), Toure(

Man City), Ferdinand( Man U),

Carragher( Liverpool), Agger(

Liverpool), Dunne( Man City), Bridge(

Man City), Silvestre ( Arsenal).

GGooaallkkeeeeppeerrss:: Cech( Chelsea), Reina(

Liverpool), Howard( Everton), Van

Der Sar( Man U), Robinson(Blackburn

Rovers), Almunia( Arsenal), Given(

Man City).

Real Time Real Business Top Football flights will be on their way in the month of August. World is anx-iously waiting for the ultimate attack, defense, tackle and skills on the footballfield. We bring you the predictions, teams and players to watch out for in thetop three leagues of the World.

news preview cover story interview triviaSPORTS ROUND UPby Mohd. Asim

Sports round up.qxd 8/26/2009 5:04 PM Page 6

editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 21Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

SPANISH LA LIGA (29TH AUG-16TH MAY)La Liga is one of the most popular professional sports

leagues in the world. Attacking football and beautiful skills

are the main touch downs of this competition. It is also

known for its tough fight on the ground. Shakeups of the

team’s positions are frequently seen. Football Pundits finds

it virtually impossible to predict the top finishers as the

contest is so evenly poised that you never know who will hit

out on the given day. Football fans have seen the magic of

most gifted footballers of many generations in the La Liga.

Likes of Maradona, Romario, Zidane and Ronaldinho were

the few jewels of Spanish top fight.

PREDICTIONS Real Madrid has gain all the attention for the upcoming sea-

son with their record signing of Ronaldo, Kaka, Alonso and

Karim. It is their attempt to finish the dominance of Catalan

giants (Barcelona). Barca on the other hand has kept their

last season squad intact which won three titles in the last

year campaign moreover they have brought in Ibramahovic,

the top scorer of Italian Serie A in place of Eto, who has

joined the ranks of Italian Champions. Spanish La Liga had

often notice that money can’t buy everything so Barca hold

the advantage over their rivals Real Madrid. Title chase

seems to be blowing up even before it begins with other

teams like Valencia, Atletico Madrid, Villarreal and Sevilla

gearing up to knock-out the giants (Barca&Real) from the

top position.

TOP FOUR FINISHERS1. Barcelona

2. Real Madrid

3. Atletico Madrid

4. Valencia, Sevilla or Villarreal

PLAYERS TO WATCHOUT FORFFoorrwwaarrddss:: Raul( Real Madrid), Ronaldo(

Real Madrid), David Villa( Valencia),

Messi( Real Madrid), Forlan( Atletico

Madrid), Henry( Barcelona),

Kanoute(Sevilla), Ibramahovic(

Barcelona).

MMiiddffiieellddeerrss:: Kaka( Real Madrid), Alonso( Real Madrid), Iniesta(

Barcelona), Guti(Real Madrid) , Robben( Real Madrid), Silva(

Valencia), Garcia (Atletico Madrid), Aguero( Atletico Madrid).

DDeeffeennddeerrss:: Lopez( Atletico Madrid), Alves( Barcelona), Puyol(

Barcelona), Abidal( Barcelona), Pepe(Real Madrid), Ramos(

Real Madrid), Marchena( Valencia).

GGooaallkkeeeeppeerrss:: Sanchez( Valencia), Casillas( Real Madrid),

Valdes( Barcelona), Asenjo( Atletico Madrid), Palop( Sevilla)

ITALIAN SERIE A (23RD AUG- 16TH MAY)It is regarded as one of the elite leagues of the foot-

balling world. Historically, Serie A has produced the high-

est number of European Cup finalists. As of 2008, Serie

A is ranked third among European leagues by UEFA.It is

best known for its defense display. Italian clubs play with

the mindset-Defense is the best ploy to counter attack-

ing football. Serie A over the years has given the world

real jam of footballers. Italian top competition was the

best football saga in the world but with the passage of

time it has lost the charm with match fixing scandals at

its corner every now and than.

PREDICTIONSSerie A new season will not be different from what is

happening since many years. Inter Milan will surely be in

the best reckoning to top the league with Juventus and

AC Milan playing the catching game. Other teams will

step up to fill the fourth spot. Bottom of the table

might see the entrance of new teams with some

stronger outfits of last season going down the ladder.

Transfer Window has not seen the major singings in

Italian top flight. Teams like Inter, AC and Juventus has

bought some players.

TOP FOUR FINISHERS1. Inter Milan

2. Juventus

3. AC Milan

4. Roma, Fiorentina

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FORFFoorrwwaarrddss:: Totti ( Roma), Eto(Inter Milan), Filippo Inzaghi(

AC Milan), Ronaldinho(AC Milan), Del Piero( Juventus),

Mutu( Fiorentina).

MMiiddffiieellddeerrss:: Seedorf( AC Milan), Pirlo( AC Milan),

Stankovic( Inter Milan), Baptista( AS Roma).

DDeeffeennddeerrss:: Nesta( AC Milan), Zambrotta( AC Milan),

Zanetti( Inter Milan), lucio( Inter Milan, Cannavaro(

Juventus), Motta( Inter Milan), Dainelli( Fiorentina).

GGooaallkkeeeeppeerrss:: Dida( AC Milan), Toldo( Inter Milan), Milito,

Buffon( Juventus), Doni( AS Roma), Frey( Fiorentina)



SANIA ‘SDROUGHT ENDSSSaanniiaa’’ss eennggaaggeemmeenntt sseeeemmss ttoo bbrriinngg hheerr lluucckk wwhhiicchh sshhee nneeeeddeeddttoo eenndd tthhee sslluummpp ooff ttiittlleess oonn tthhee ccoouurrtt.. IInnddiiaa’’ss aaccee sseeeeddeedd sseecc--oonndd aatt IITTFF LLeexxiinnggttoonn CChhaalllleennggeerr ccoonnttiinnuueedd hheerr ggoooodd sshhooww aasssshhee uuppsseett ttoopp--sseeeedd FFrreenncchhwwoommaann JJuulliiee CCooiinn 77--66 ((77//55)),, 66--44 ttoocclliinncchh tthhee ttiittllee ..SSaanniiaa kkeepptt hheerr ccooooll iinn tthhee sscciinnttiillllaattiinngg ffiinnaall iinnffrroonntt ooff ssiizzeeaabbllee IInnddiiaann ccoommmmuunniittyy ttoo sseeaalleedd tthhee ffiirrsstt sseett vviiaa ttiiee--bbrreeaakkeerr aafftteerr ssqquuaannddeerriinngg aa 55--22 lleeaadd aanndd ffaacciinngg 55--aallll.. SSaanniiaa bbrrookkeetthhee CCooiinn sseerrvvee iinn aa mmaarraatthhoonn tteenntthh ggaammee ooff tthhee sseeccoonndd sseett ttoorreeggiisstteerr aann iimmpprreessssiivvee wwiinn.. IInntteerreessttiinnggllyy,, tthhiiss wwaass oonnllyy tthhee sseecc--oonndd IITTFF $$5500,,000000 eevveenntt tthhaatt SSaanniiaa hhaadd ppaarrttiicciippaatteedd iinn,, tthhee ffiirrssttbbeeiinngg wwaayy bbaacckk iinn 22000033 wwhheenn sshhee wwaass ssttiillll mmaakkiinngg aa nnaammee ffoorrhheerrsseellff oonn tthhee pprroo ttoouurr..

DEFEAT CHECKS PHELPS MARCH

World record holder of many swimming titlesMichael Phelps has suffered his first defeatat the hands of German swimmer. PaulBiedermann shed Phelps, handing the swim-ming icon his first loss in about four years inan individual event at a major internationalmeet in the 200metres freestyle. The 14-time Olympic champion last failed to get goldwhen he was edged out by fellow AmericanIan Crocker in the 100m butterfly at theworlds in Montreal. Phelps had not been beat-en in the 200m free since the AthensOlympics in 2004 but Biedermann producedan astonishing swim to triumph by a bodylength and also set a new world record ofone minute 42.00 seconds in the process.

World costliest player has the costliest legs in theWorld. Real Madrid has insured CristianoRonaldo’s legs for £90million after thePortuguese winger picked up a knock in pre-sea-son.Ronaldo suffered a minor knee injury afterbeing tackled in the Peace Cup semi-final againstJuventus in Seville lately. The 24-year-old hasbeen given the all-clear by doctors but Real isnervous that he might pick up a long-term injuryin the future. Real paid an £80m world-recordfee for Ronaldo in June (2009) and have nowtaken steps to protect their investment by tak-ing out an insurance policy. Ronaldo has alreadybeen fouled 34 times in three pre-season games.

COSTLIEST LEGS

GGaaggaannjjeeeett BBhhuullllaarr ffiinnaallllyy bbrrookkee tthhrroouugghh oonn tthheeAAssiiaann TToouurr bbyy lliiffttiinngg hhiiss mmaaiiddeenn ttiittllee aatt tthhee

IInnddoonneessiiaann PPrreessiiddeenntt IInnvviittaattiioonnaall.. LLoonngg bbiilllleeddaass oonnee ooff tthhee bbrriigghhtteesstt yyoouunngg ttaalleenntt oonn tthhee

AAssiiaann TToouurr,, tthhee 2200--yyeeaarr--oolldd IInnddiiaann jjuussttiiffiieeddtthhaatt ttaagg wwiitthh aann eemmpphhaattiicc ttwwoo--ssttrrookkee vviicc--ttoorryy oovveerr AAuussttrraalliiaa’’ss AAddaamm BBllyytthh aatt tthheeDDaammaaii IInnddaahh GGoollff -- BBuummii SSeerrppoonngg DDaammaaiiccoouurrssee..”” II’’vvee bbeeeenn wwaaiittiinngg ffoorr tthhiiss ffoorr tthhee

ppaasstt ttwwoo yyeeaarrss.. II ppllaayyeedd rreeaallllyy wweellll ttooddaayyaanndd II hhaadd aa vveerryy ggoooodd ffiinniisshh wwiitthh aa ggoooodd

ssccoorree ttooddaayy,,”” ssaaiidd BBhhuullllaarr.. VViiccttoorryy wwaass wwoorrtthhUUSS$$6633,,440000 aanndd mmoovveedd tthhee yyoouunngg IInnddiiaann uupp ttoo

1100tthh ppllaaccee oonn tthhee AAssiiaann OOrrddeerr ooff MMeerriitt aanndd hheejjuummppeedd ffrroomm 441177 ttoo 225555 iinn tthhee ooffffiicciiaall WWoorrllddGGoollff RRaannkkiinnggss..

BHULLAR MAKESINDIA PROUD



Michael Schumacher won’t be back toroar again on the F1 track. Germanhas abandoned the comeback afterfailing to shrug off a neck injury suf-fered in a motorbike accident fewmonths back. Earlier seven-time F1world champion had agreed to helpout former team Ferrari and step infor Felipe Massa on a temporary basisafter the Brazilian suffered headinjuries at the Hungarian Grand Prixrecently. Ferrari have reacted quicklyto the news that Michael Schumacherwill not returning by naming LucaBadoer as his replacement.Schumacher told his official website:“I had to inform Ferrari PresidentLuca di Montezemolo and TeamPrincipal Stefano Domenicali thatunfortunately I’m not able to step infor Felipe.”I really tried everything tomake that temporary comeback pos-sible, however, much to my regret itdidn’t work out.”

World Champion ViswanathanAnand, an 11-time winner in Mainz,bowed out before the finals at a

venue which has become synony-mous with his name.Anand lost twoof his first three games and endedthird in the four-man event.Anandhad won the title every year inMainz since Kasparov last won it in1999.The 11-time winner here,Anand scored 2.5 points while thetop place went to Levon Aronian ofArmenia and Ian Nepomniachtchi ofRussia finished second.

DEFEAT AFTER 11 YEARS

DREAMREMAINS A

DREAM

Olympic champion Lin Dan becamethe first shuttler to clinch three suc-cessive World Championship titles.He beat second seed compatriot JinChen in the summit clash.Dan, seed-ed fifth in the event, defeated hishigher-ranked countryman 21-18,21-16 a 46-minute contest. But hisgirlfriend Xie Xingfang faltered atthe final hurdle and lost 23-21, 21-12to Lu Lan at the BWF WorldChampionships on Sunday.Incidentally, Lin Dan is the first shut-tler to clinch three world titles. Inanother all-China final, eighth-seededwomen’s doubles pair of ZhangYawen and Zhao Tingting defeatedsecond seeds Cheng Shu and ZhaoYunlei 17-21, 21-17, 21-16. AllEngland champions Cai Yun and HuHaifeng of China won a thrillingmen’s doubles final over Jung JaeSung and Lee Yong Dae of Korea 21-18, 16-21, 28-26. In all China wonfour out of the five golds on offer.

CHINESE ROAR IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

TTiiggeerr wwooooddss wwoouulldd bbee aabboovvee aallll tthhee cchhaalllleennggeess iinn tthheewwoorrlldd,, HHee mmiigghhtt bbee rriiddiinngg oonn tthhee ssuucccceessss ooff ttwwoobbaacckk ttoo bbaacckk ttiittlleess bbuutt tthhiiss ccoouulldd nnoott pprreevveenntt YYEEYYaanngg ffrroomm ttaammiinngg TTiiggeerr oonn tthhee ggoollff ccoouurrssee.. HHeeoovveerrttuurrnneedd TTiiggeerr WWooooddss 5544--hhoollee lleeaadd ttoo ccllaaiimm tthheeUUSS PPGGAA CChhaammppiioonnsshhiipp aatt HHaazzeellttiinnee NNaattiioonnaall.. YYaanngg,,3377,, bbeeccoommeess tthhee ffiirrsstt AAssiiaann--bboorrnn ppllaayyeerr ttoo wwiinn aammaajjoorr aanndd hhee ddeenniieedd tthhee wwoorrlldd nnuummbbeerr oonnee aa 1155tthhssuucchh vviiccttoorryy,, tthhee AAmmeerriiccaann hhaavviinngg pprreevviioouussllyyeennjjooyyeedd aa ppeerrffeecctt rreeccoorrdd iinn ttuurrnniinngg 1144 tthhiirrdd--rroouunnddmmaajjoorr lleeaaddss iinnttoo wwiinnss.. HHiiss vviiccttoorryy oovveerr TTiiggeerr WWooooddssiinn tthhee UUSS PPGGAA CChhaammppiioonnsshhiipp ttaakkeess hhiimm ffrroomm 111100tthhiinn tthhee wwoorrlldd ttoo 3344tthh..

YANGTAMES

THE TIGER



Manchester United striker Michael Owen hasmissed out on an England recall by ThreeLions boss Fabio Capello.Although Owenhas not featured for his country since thefriendly defeat in France nearly 18 months

ago, it was thought his surprise summerswitch to Manchester United might prompt areturn to international duty. However, afterwatching England’s fourth highest goal scorer inaction at Old Trafford where he drew a blank inUnited’s 2-0 win over Valencia, Capello has leftOwen out of his squad to face Holland inAmsterdam recently. Instead, Owen’s Red Devilsteam-mate Wayne Rooney is joined by EmileHeskey, Jermain Defoe and Carlton Cole toform a four-man English strikeforce.

Roger Federer claimed his thirdCincinnati Masters title with a 6-1 7-5victory over Novak Djokovic in thefinal.Federer, who beat defendingchampion Andy Murray 6-2 7-6 (10/8)in the semi-finals, con-firmed his statusas heavyfavorite forthe US Openwith an out-standingperform-ance. It washis 16thMastersSeries title -his first as afather - andapart fromDjokovic's fight backearly in the second set hewas never troubled. Theworld number one and defend-ing Wimbledon, French and US

Open champion took histotal career prize

money to USdollars 50mil-

lion with thistriumph.

FEDERER SUPREMACYCONTINUESBOLT

ROCKSWORLD

Usain Bolt created yet another piece of athletics history whenJamaica won the men’s 4x100 metres relay title. It was his third goldat the World Championship. He also set up a sensational win in the200 metres at the World event in Berlin. After winning the 100mwith a new world record of 9.58 seconds in recent times, Bolt com-pleted another landmark by smashing his own world record in the200m for good measure. Bolt stormed to victory in the OlympicStadium in 19.19 seconds, slashing 0.11secs off the time set in Beijinglast year, with Panama’s Alonso Edward claiming silver in 19.81 andAmerican Wallace Spearmon the bronze in 19.85.Bolt 23, becomesthe first man to hold the 100 and 200m world and Olympic titles atthe same time following his triumph in last year’s Olympics.

CHAMPIONSHIP

SHOCKER FORESPANYOL

Spanish football club Espanyol was left in mourning afterit was confirmed that their captain Daniel Jarque hasdied at the age of 26. The midfielder passed away whenhis heart stopped following a training session inCoverciano, Italy where the squad is on a pre-seasoncamp. Jarque died from a cardiac arrest. Espanyol hascancelled their pre-season tour and returned to spain.Jarque joined Espanyol at the age of 12, making hisdebut in 2002, and was handed the captaincy this sum-mer. His death comes two years after that of Sevilla andSpain defender Antonio Puerta, who suffered multipleorgan failure in hospital, three days after a cardiacarrest during a league match against Getafe.

SHOCKER FORESPANYOL

OWEN’S EXILE CONTINUES


editor speaks interview market letterCT 200925Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

DDaattee TTiimmee MMaattcchh VVeennuuee

Tue Sep 22 18:00 Group B - South Africa v Sri Lanka SuperSport Park, Centurion

Wed Sep 23 18:00 Group A - Pakistan v West Indies New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Thu Sep 24 13:00 Group B - South Africa v New Zealand SuperSport Park, Centurion

Fri Sep 25 18:00 Group B - England v Sri Lanka New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Sat Sep 26 13:00 Group A - Australia v West Indies New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Sat Sep 26 18:00 Group A - India v Pakistan SuperSport Park, Centurion

Sun Sep 27 13:00 Group B - New Zealand v Sri Lanka New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Sun Sep 27 18:00 Group B - South Africa v England SuperSport Park, Centurion

Mon Sep 28 18:00 Group A - Australia v India SuperSport Park, Centurion

Tue Sep 29 18:00 Group B - England v New Zealand New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Wed Sep 30 13:00 Group A - Australia v Pakistan SuperSport Park, Centurion

Wed Sep 30 18:00 Group A - India v West Indies New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Fri Oct 2 18:00 1st Semi-Final - TBC v TBC (A1 v B2) SuperSport Park, Centurion

Sat Oct 3 18:00 2nd Semi-Final - TBC v TBC (B1 v A2) New Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg

Mon Oct 5 18:00 Final - TBC v TBC SuperSport Park, Centurion

2009 ITINERARY

ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY1998 2000

2004

20062009

2002

CT.qxd 8/26/2009 5:19 PM Page 2

26 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewTHE CONTENDERS

eeccoorrdd:: India have never actually

won the Champions Trophy sin-

gle handedly. Their one win

came in Sri Lanka but that was

when they shared the spoils

with hosts Sri Lanka. The attempt

before that one in Nairobi is seen to be

their best shot at this event but some-

how Chris Cairns on only one leg

thwarted them in the final, after a

dream run in the tournament saw them

beat Australia and South Africa. In the

first edition in Bangladesh, they ran into

South Africa, the eventual champions

and later in England, they were simply

not upto the mark. The story was

repeated at home in the last edition

where Rahul Dravid’s men disappointed

a billion fans.

CAPTAIN: MS DHONIMS Dhoni’s honeymoon got over only

recently. The T20 World Cup in England

was a balloon of expectations but was

burst when India failed to make even

the semis. The fact that the team left

for the West Indies trip, and won there,

possibly saved them from facing a

backlash at home. But the hard truth is

that now when the season begins for

Dhoni and his men, they will no longer

be the team who will be young and

inexperienced. That cycle is over and

done with, for this is the team that is

expected to win the World Cup in two

years’ time in India and Dhoni is expect-

ed to be the man to lead them to that

triumph. It begins now and any devia-

tion from the expected path will not be

tolerated with ease.

COACH: GARY KIRSTENGary Kirsten is a former South African

cricketer, and current coach of the

Indian cricket team. He played 101 Test

matches and 185 One-day internationals

for South Africa between 1993 and

2004, mainly as an opening batsman.

Kirsten made his Test debut against

Australia in Melbourne in 1993. He

retired from international cricket in

2004 after crafting a match-winning 76

in his final innings, against New Zealand.

Kirsten held the South African records

for most runs and centuries in a Test

career, before both were surpassed by

Jacques Kallis. He was the first Test

batsman to make hundreds against

each of the other 9 Test nations. He

made a score of 275 against England in

1999, which was another South African

record until Graeme Smith made 277

against England in 2003. He still holds

the record for highest innings by a

South African in a one-day international;

188 not-out made against the United

Arab Emirates during the 1996 World

Cup, which is the fourth highest innings

of all time in One-Day International

cricket.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:In the recent months, too much has

been said and written about the Indian

batsmen’s ability to play short bowling,

in the negative sense of course. And

hence the selectors felt it necessary to

provide some cover in the form of

Rahul Dravid. Talking of him, South

Africa has been good for him in particu-

lar, ever since his days when he first

started batting at number three for

India to the second season of the IPL.

Now that he has nothing left to prove,

he will play without much pressure on

r

India

INDIA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:07 PM Page 2

Cricket TodaySeptember 2009 editor speaks contents letter book review interview market mania 27

his shoulders. That doesn’t mean he will

not be in solid elements.

The absence of Virender Sehwag meant

that Dravid had to be selected other-

wise the team would again fall short of

experience in the middle order. Sachin

Tendulkar does return from his thumb

injury but he will bat at the top of the

order, and that is rightly so, for the

best batsman in the team should play

the maximum overs. Suresh Raina and

MS Dhoni will once again shuffle the

duties of number three with Dravid now

to back them up as and when needed.

And lest we forget there is the incom-

parable Yuvraj Singh who will be the ful-

crum of the batting order at number

four. Without doubt, the Indian batting

looks pretty strong once again.

The bowling however might be a cause

for concern as spearhead Zaheer Khan

is missing. Ishant Sharma wasn’t really

spectacular last season and India did

suffer from the lack of a second spin-

ner and a seasoned fifth bowler in the

T20 World Cup. And so the inclusion of

Amit Mishra isn’t all that surprising. The

only point of thought is that Pragyan

Ojha didn’t do much wrong in playing

second fiddle to Harbhajan Singh, what-

ever opportunities he got.

Overall, India should atleast make it to

the semi finals, if they can get the bet-

ter of arch rivals Pakistan.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: YUVRAJ SINGHEvery time a new season begins, it is

said that Yuvraj Singh will be the center

around which the Indian batting will

evolve from here on. The good part is

that he has the talent to make good on

the promise. The bad part is that time

and patience is running out for him to

actually come good on that. Towards

the end of the last season, especially in

England and the West Indies, he was

proving to take the center stage at will

and do his own thing. Clearly in both

Sehwag and Tendulkar’s absence, he

was the best batsman in the side.

If he can deliver a bit more consistently,

that would go a long way in increasing

the percentage of matches that India

wins. And with the run up to the T20

World Cup in May next year up until the

2011 World Cup in India, Yuvraj’s time

to deliver the goods begins now. �

SQUADMahendra Singh Dhoni (cap-

tain), Yuvraj Singh, SachinTendulkar, Gautam Gambhir,Rahul Dravid, Suresh Raina,

Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan,Harbhajan Singh, Abhishek

Nayar, RP Singh, IshantSharma, Ashish Nehra,

Praveen Kumar, Amit Mishra

INDIA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:07 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: Australia pride them-

selves at winning major tourna-

ments, especially at the highest

level, and so this will be another

tournament that they would

want to win. Add to it, they are the

defending champions for the last time

the tournament was staged in India, it

was added to the collection of Cricket

Australia. Prior to that, they were quite

unsuccessful in the previous four

attempts; twice they lost out to India in

the first round itself in Bangladesh and

Kenya. Then twice they lost out in the

semi finals in Sri Lanka and England, so

the last edition was a much wanted

relief for the side.

CAPTAIN: RICKYPONTINGRicky Ponting is having one hell of a

time leading the current Australian side.

In his first half as skipper, he didn’t real-

ly have to do much with some of the all

time greats of the game in his side. But

now, the current players are making

him work extra hard in lieu of those

times, it seems. His own form, as a

result, has been patchy to say the least

and now that the Ashes have been lost,

this is going to be an important run in

to the Australian summer. If he survives

this period, he might still lead his

national side for a couple more years.

Otherwise the next six months will be

the last we will see of Ricky Ponting,

captain of Australia.

COACH: TIM NIELSENTim Nielsen was a talented wicketkeep-

er-batsman for South Australia who

quickly made his mark in the coaching

arena. After playing in 101 first-class

matches and overtaking Barry Jarman’s

state wicketkeeping record with 316 dis-

missals, Nielsen retired in 1999 to

become an assistant coach at the

Redbacks. He spent three years helping

John Buchanan in the national set-up

before becoming the head coach of the

Centre of Excellence in Brisbane in

2005. Buchanan walked away from the

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post after his second World Cup win

and handed the reins to Nielsen.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSESWithout doubt, the main strength of

this squad is its batting. Earlier this year,

against South Africa they tried a new

opening combination with Brad Haddin

and Michael Clarke at the top. In the

name of continuity, they made that

combination work again when playing

the Pakistanis in the Gulf. Again it

worked well for them but the main dif-

ference in the two series was that the

middle order was not able to handle

spin that well against Pakistan.

The Aussies will have no reason to

worry about spin in South Africa atleast

not against the West Indies, but they do

have India and Pakistan in their group to

contend with. And that again might just

turn out to be their undoing. Even so,

the middle order will be bolstered by

the return of Ricky Ponting who missed

the series against Pakistan and further

back up has been incorporated in the

name of middle order batsman Adam

Voges.

Some more steel will be added to the

side by Shane Watson. Ever since the

first IPL season, the all rounder has

proven to be a better international

player. If he can check his injury worries

somehow, he will surely be an asset for

the side. He might even open the

innings and that would mean Clarke can

come down the order and help

them spin more easily.

The Australians don’t really

care about spin bowling

anymore so expect them to

play all pace attacks in the

tournament, which will be

somewhat aided by the tracks

in South Africa. But even then

a single dimensional attack

would mean that the

opposition

would have more than a handsome

chance to come out on top, should one

plan not work out for the Aussies.

Everything taken into account, it will be

tough for Australia to retain their

crown.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: SHANE WATSON

The Australian team that had

Andrew Symonds in its middle

order was a fearsome one.

Instead now, they have a much

softer looking player in his

stead, a fine all rounder no

doubt but doesn’t appear as

menacing. But that is as far

as the looks are concerned.

For the first season of the

Indian Premier League

proved his many utilities

in a cricket eleven.

He can open the

innings, come in at

number three to pro-

vide impetus and if

need be can come

down the order to

guide a chase or

make an impact in

the dying overs. His

more than military

medium pace means

that he adds another

option to the bowling

attack and like all Aussies,

is a brilliant fielder. If only he

can retain his

fitness for a

whole crick-

eting season,

we would get

to see the

real Shane

Watson in

action. �

SQUADRicky Ponting (captain),

Michael Clarke (vice-captain),Nathan Bracken, CallumFerguson, Brad Haddin,

Nathan Hauritz, BenHilfenhaus, James Hopes,Michael Hussey, MitchellJohnson, Brett Lee, Peter

Siddle, Adam Voges, ShaneWatson, Cameron White

AUS.qxd 8/26/2009 5:09 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: South Africa were the

first winners of the Champions

Trophy, then known as the

Knock Out Trophy first played in

Bangladesh. A Jacques Kallis

special lit up the tournament for them

as they beat the competition to pulp.

Since then, they have struggled to

make an impact in this tournament.

India have proven to be their bane in

Kenya and Sri Lanka in the subsequent

editions. After that, the team under-

went quite some changes and was

never the world beaters that they have

now groomed into. England and India as

host nations didn’t bring any changes in

their fortune, so the home conditions

might just play out in their favor this

time.

CAPTAIN: GRAEMESMITHIt will be hard to find a more inspira-

tional captain in international cricket at

the moment. Quite simply, Graeme

Smith is top of the lot and that was

confirmed earlier this year when he led

his side to a victory Down Under, some-

thing not many people have been able

to achieve. Given that he is an able bod-

ied opening batsman to boot, you

would understand why he is aggressive,

confident and understands the game

quite well. The last couple of years have

seen him transform his side at a contin-

uous pace, something that has worked

only because he had the patience and

experience that comes in form of learn-

ing on the job. If there is one point that

is out of place, then that has to be the

luck factor that South Africa carry

along with themselves, always managing

to shoot themselves in the foot.

Removing that choker tag is Smith’s

biggest challenge at the moment.

COACH: MICKEYARTHURMickey Arthur scored 6557 runs playing

for Free State, Griqualand West and

South Africa A before hanging up his

boots in 2001. He coached Griquas in

the domestic competition before taking

over the Eastern Cape side in 2003, and

guiding them to the finals of the

Standard Bank Pro20 series in the last

two seasons. He was a slightly surprising

choice to take over as the national

coach in May 2005, succeeding Ray

Jennings.

His first two Test series as coach hap-

pened to be against a rampant Australia

and South Africa were easily brushed

aside. In between they did clinch a tense

one-day series win over Australia at

home, which culminated in a record

breaking chase at Johannesburg. A

home win over New Zealand was fol-

lowed up by a disastrous tour of Sri

Lanka in the summer of 2006 and fail-

ure to make the final of the ICC

Champions Trophy. From there on

though, South Africa were led quietly,

calmly and successfully by Arthur and

Graeme Smith and did not lose a Test

series until early 2009. Back-to-back

Test and one-day series victories

against India and Pakistan at home were

followed by semi-finals of the 2007

World Cup. Under Arthur they snapped

a 43-year dry run with their first series

win in England and then a series win in

Australia earlier this year.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:It is indeed tough finding faults with a

line up that has been so steady over

the past couple of years that they have

made it to the top of the charts in

Tests as well as ODIs. Of course then

they are surely doing something right

and have not much to worry about. A

batting line up that reads Smith, Kallis,

Gibbs, Amla, de Villiers, Duminy and

Boucher has done plenty over the last

two seasons to show what sort of

touch these players are in. If it was

Smith in England, then Amla came to

the show in the sub continent. Later it

was the de Villiers and Duminy show in

Australia as the rest chipped in around

them. Out of all of them it was Jacques

Kallis who grabbed the headlines in the

IPL at home and then in the T20 World

Cup after that.

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Even their bowling has made all the

right noises. The pace bowling is ever

reliable in the hands of Steyn and

Morkel but with the addition of

Tsotsobe, they have unearthed a new

talent to add legs to the attack. But the

best part about the whole situation is

that probably for the first time in their

cricketing history, South Africa have a

spin angle to their bowling. As we saw in

England, they are not just your old part

time spinners but can really make the

ball talk. If the IPL is anything to go by,

then spin is going to be a major factor

in this particular tournament which is

more than just slam-bang stuff.

If there is indeed a weakness, then that

obviously is their chokers tag. In the

beginning it was probably seen as some

roll of bad luck. With time it became a

tag and now with some more time, it

has become a tag that has become

stuck on their sleeves. Rarely a tourna-

ment goes by when South Africa aren’t

expected to do well, but along with it,

they are never expected to win the

prize. For it taken for granted that at

some stage or another, they will come

unstuck. It is high time they reversed

their luck and home is the best place to

start doing that.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: JACQUES KALLISOh, what a year he has been having. To

say that wine gets better with age

would be such a cliché, but come to

think of it, there is nothing else that

could describe this cricketer better at

the moment. There were some ques-

tion marks being asked when Amla was

doing all the scoring at number three,

but in response, came the series against

Australia and then the IPL. In fact, it is

the latter that has given him a fresh

lease of life. For when Kallis replaces

Gibbs at the opening slot in a T20 line

up, there must be something that he

must be doing terribly right. It seems

the game has taken a couple of steps

forward that this aged all rounder is

finding it more suited to his game, at an

age when many said he would hang up

his boots. �

SQUADGraeme Smith, Johan Botha,Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher,

AB de Villiers, JP Duminy,Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques

Kallis, Albie Morkel, MakhayaNtini, Wayne Parnell, Robin

Peterson, Dale Steyn,Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof

van der Merwe

S AFRICA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:10 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: Crowned champions

along with India, Sri Lanka are

the only team to have hosted

and won this competition, if you

call two rain marred finals that.

On other occasions, they have not been

blowing so hot, stopped in their tracks

on both sides of that singular win. At

present, they are one of the most com-

petitive sides in world cricket at the

moment; therefore greater things are

expected of them this time around. It

can be considered a given that they will

do similarly well as they did in India the

last time around.

CAPTAIN: KUMARSANGAKKARAThe thing about Sri Lankan captains is

that even though they inherit much of

the team built by their predecessors,

each of them skippers tend to leave

their own imprint on the side. And so is

the case with Sangakkara. He got much

of the side molded into shape by Mahela

Jayawardene but over the last twelve

months has shown enough vision and

ability to take his side to be considered

one of the best in business. Not that his

talent was in much doubt anyways, but

at the same time he has kept up anoth-

er tradition of the Sri Lankan cricket

captains. They do not allow the leader-

ship job to weigh down on their batting

skills and yes, he has excelled in the

same department as well. They made it

to the finals of the T20 World Cup after

they reached the finals of the 2007

World Cup. That’s two ICC finals in a row

and it wouldn’t be a surprise if

Sangakkara leads them to three in a row.

COACH: TREVORBAYLISSTrevor Bayliss is the current coach of

the Sri Lanka national cricket team.

Bayliss is a former cricketer for New

South Wales and a former coach. He was

selected in June 2007 for a two year

term as coach of Sri Lanka from August

1, 2007. Bayliss made his debut for New

South Wales in the 1985/86 season. He

was a right-handed middle order bats-

man, an occasional off spin bowler and

good cover fielder. His best season for

the Blues was 1989-90 when he scored

992 runs at 55.11 which earned him his

side’s ‘Players’ Player of the Year’ award.

His final season in first class cricket was

in 1992-93.

Trevor Bayliss succeeded Tom Moody as

the coach of the Sri Lankan national

team in August 2007. He was selected

ahead of Queensland Bulls coach Terry

Oliver by a selection committee compris-

ing of former Sri Lanka Cricket officials

and captains including Aravinda de Silva,

Ranjan Madugalle, Michael Tissera, Sidath

Wettimuny and Bandula Warnapura.

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STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:If recent results are to go by, then the

leadership of Kumar Sangakkara has

taken them to the next step of the

process that was started by Mahela

Jayawardene, his predecessor. It has

been a constant building process for

them, as it is with other teams, but with

them it just seems to click simply

because all the players tend to be on

the same page.

At the same time, they have also broken

out of the shackles that previous cap-

tains probably had forced onto the

team. Like defining batting positions and

roles for their batsmen! It could only be

a Jayasuriya who could lambaste the

bowlers or only Aravinda or

Jayawardene would do the anchoring

role. The present day Sri Lankan team

has broken through all these typecasts

and now they have any batsman ready

to perform any role in the batting order.

You can call it the effect of using two

Australian coaches in a row, Tom Moody

before Bayliss, but the bottom line is

that this approach is working for them

and the results are coming in.

Bowling continues to be their strength

as ever with the ever dependable

Muralitharan now having Mendis and

Malinga keeping him company. The loss

of Chaminda Vaas will hurt a bit but

then it was known for some time now

that he would be leaving soon. So in

effect the search for replacements

began early and they have a good cou-

ple of players coming through to fill

those big shoes.

All in all, the Sri Lanka team is probably

the favourites, trumped up probably

only by South Africa thanks to their

home advantage.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: TILAKRATNEDILSHANWhenever they will talk about the term

purple patch, Dilshan will get more than

just a mention. At the turn of the year,

he went out to bat against Bangladesh

in the Test series and it seems he has

been batting in the same vein since. And

it has been eight months since that hap-

pened. That series, then against India,

the IPL, the T20 World Cup and now

against Pakistan, he simply hasn’t

stopped scoring runs and on the way

picked up wickets and led the team to

victory a couple of times as well.

If there is a possible explanation to his

superb run, then probably he has hit the

maturing age that every batsman

encounters after having spent some

time in international cricket. Quite sim-

ply, he is making the most of while the

run lasts be it any opposition or any

match conditions, home or away. And

not for nothing do they say that such

traits are the hallmarks of a true cham-

pion. There is no reason to believe that

this run is going to stop sometime soon

and thus no one is betting against him

being the stand out batsman in the

Champions Trophy as well.

Maybe he will innovate a new shot for

ODI cricket too. �

SQUADKumar Sangakkara (capt),

Sanath Jayasuriya,Tillakaratne Dilshan, Upul

Tharanga, MahelaJayawardene, Thilan

Samaraweera, ChamaraKapugedera, Angelo

Mathews, MuttiahMuralitharan, Ajantha

Mendis, Thilan Thushara,Nuwan Kulasekara, Dammika

Prasad, Lasith Malinga,Thilina Kandamby

SRI LANKA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:12 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: This is one trophy that

Pakistan are yet to lay their

hands on and thus you can

expect them to go ahead full

steam this time round. Looking

back though, they have been eliminated

in the first round the first two times.

With the advent of the group stages in

the tournament, their luck didn’t

change much in either Sri Lanka or in

India, but in between in England, they

did manage to reach the semi finals

where they lost to the West Indies. That

one time remains their highest achieve-

ment in the tournament’s record books.

CAPTAIN: YOUNUSKHANThere has never been a Pakistan captain

who hasn’t been dramatic and Younus

Khan is no less. Quitting after the T20

World Cup might not have been the

best of ideas, but as far as the team is

concerned, it won’t matter much. For

currently, Pakistan need to do well in

the longer versions of the game, espe-

cially with a host of youngsters coming

into the side. And thus they need Khan

to be the experienced man in charge.

He is himself an able number three or

four batsman which means the solidity

he provides to the batting order can’t

be replaced easily either. Pakistan need

Khan to keep going and one hopes he

doesn’t quit the ODI captaincy should

they win the Champions Trophy.

COACH: INTIKHABALAM Intikhab Alam is a retired Pakistani crick-

eter who played in 47 Tests and 4 ODIs

from 1959 to 1977. He also played in

English county cricket for Surrey

between 1969 and 1981. Intikhab was

Pakistan’s first One Day International

cricket captain. He played 3 matches as

captain, winning two and losing one. He

was the coach and manager of 1992

Cricket World Cup winning Pakistani

team. In 2004, he was appointed as the

first foreigner to coach a domestic

Indian cricket team, coaching Punjab, in

the Ranji Trophy.

On 25th October 2008 he was named

as a national coach of Pakistan cricket

team by PCB, a day after Australian

Geoff Lawson was sacked as a national

coach. Intikhab was also the coach of

the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup winning

Pakistan team.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:Without a shadow of doubt, the huge

talent that resides in the Pakistan team

is both their strength and weakness.

Strength in the simple fact that on

their day this team can prove to be

unbeatable! The very same players who

would seem to be indifferent to cricket

one day will put in the performance of

their lives the very next day. And in

doing so, they will surprise and shock

even the best of teams, as well as pun-

dits and fans alike.

Why this is also a weakness for tem-

perament and talent go hand in hand in

sport. If only talent is brought to the

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table without the required ability to

handle the same, the end results are

somewhat like Shoaib Akhtar or the

prodigious Mohammad Asif. And these

are only two names from a long list of

such players who didn’t have what it

takes to handle the big stage and all

that comes along with it.

Asif returns after a one year ban and all

eyes will be on him. Will he kick start his

career again or will he fade away like

Akhtar has, courting one controversy

after another? Along with Umar Gul,

they will form a very potent bowling

attack complimented again by Naved ul

Hasan and Iftikhar Anjum.

In that sense, Pakistan is a team rejuve-

nated. They lost out big time with

retirements and players going for

money in the ICL, but with the likes of

Mohd. Yousuf, Imran Nazir and Naved

returning means that this team can

again look forward to being a threat in

world cricket. Forget what happened in

Sri Lanka, for that is always a tough

proposition, the real comeback of

Pakistan cricket begins now in South

Africa. Other teams will do well to

watch out.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: SHAHID AFRIDI

Who else but the Pathan is the man to

watch out for? He was simply superb in

the latter stages of the T20 World Cup

and seems to have finally found his call-

ing in the shortest format of the game.

But at the same time, ODI cricket is not

too distant from what he used to thrive

at, in the recent past and thus needs to

find a cohesion with his form in T20

and 50-over cricket.

Afridi of course has further captaincy

designs for Pakistan which means that

he needs to get into pole position in

terms of performance by the time the

current skipper decides to call it a day.

To do that he needs to start pulling in

the reigns of his game just a bit and he

can be a much more effective player as

many teams have found out to their

chagring in the shortest format. But

then making Afridi understand some-

thing like that might just be banging

your head on the wall. �

SQUADYounus Khan (captain), ImranNazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, UmerAkmal, Shoaib Malik, ShahidAfridi, Rana Naved-ul Hasan,

Fawad Alam, MohammadYousuf, Kamran Akmal,Umar Gul, Mohammad

Aamer, Mohammad Asif,Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal

PAKISTAN.qxd 8/26/2009 5:14 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: Victory in Nairobi in 2001

is their one and only major in

international cricket. And it isn’t

as if that was on cue. It was

more of a one off when Chris

Cairns on one leg upset the applecart

and India didn’t have any answers for

once. Apart from that they have strug-

gled to make an impact in any of the

preceding or subsequent editions of the

tournament, be it in England, Sri Lanka

or India. And the trend might just as well

continue this time around.

CAPTAIN: DANIELVETTORIAt the time of writing came the news

that Vettori had been given voting

rights as a selector of the national team.

Probably that makes him the most pow-

erful cricket captain now, if not ever. For

is that not what all skippers want? The

power to say who is in and who is not!

This could actually revolutionize how

many cricket boards work especially if it

actually comes good for New Zealand

cricket as a whole. At the same time, it

could be a double edged sword for

Vettori who has been spotless as captain

so far. Maybe this could be his chance to

really mess up just fine but knowing him

and reading his record so far in charge

of affairs, the possibility of that hap-

pening is less than remote.

COACH: ANDY MOLESAndrew James Moles is a former English

first-class cricketer for Warwickshire and

Griqualand West. After his playing career

he became a coach and currently coach-

es the New Zealand national cricket

team. Moles was a gritty and deter-

mined, right-handed opening batsman.

He played from 1986 until his retire-

ment in 1997 for Warwickshire, where

he scored 13,316 runs at an average of

38.59. During the late 1980s he also

played domestic cricket in South Africa

for Griqualand West and in three sea-

sons managed 1,989 runs at 64.16.

After retiring as a player, he started his

coaching career at Griqualand West,

staying there for five years. In 2003 he

was appointed as the national coach of

Kenya, but he had a turbulent time due

to infighting between the Kenyan

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Cricket Board and players which led him

to quit the job at the end of 2004. He

took over as the coach of Scotland in

January 2005 but quit the job after less

than a year as a result of disagreements

with some of the senior players. He was

appointed coach of Northern Districts in

New Zealand domestic cricket for the

2006-07 season, and in his first season

helped guide the team to the State

Championship. On November 25, 2008

New Zealand Cricket announced that

Andy Moles had been appointed to suc-

ceed John Bracewell as the New Zealand

Coach.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:The major strength of any New Zealand

line up is their numerous bits and pieces

players. Quite clearly all of them possess

the firepower to win matches without

batting an eyelid. In Guptill, Elliott, Taylor,

Ryder and McCullum, they have a bat-

ting order than can frighten any bowling

attack. Each of these batsmen can play

attacking cricket as well as build when

the opportunity arises. They are not

really susceptible to spin and handle

pace equally well.

The bowling has always been a good

part about their cricket with almost all

players capable of chipping in, ably guid-

ed by the clever Vettori. But this time

around they get their major strengths in

pace back. Shane Bond and Daryl Tuffey

make a return from their ICL sojourn

which means that they have added

teeth first up on their bowling front.

The weakness of this team like South

Africa and Pakistan probably is more

about mentality than talent. They know

what to do but it is just that it doesn’t

come on too regularly for them on the

cricket field. And unlike the other two

teams they probably suffer from stage

fright as they become unstuck on the

biggest of stages. That explains why

they have only one major cricketing tro-

phy in their cabinet.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: BRENDONMCCULLUMAfter a superb 2008, he has had a torrid

time this year. First up it is never easy

mixing wicket keeping and opening the

batting. But to add to it, he had to lead

the side against India as well and his

inexperience showed. If that wasn’t cue

enough, he was made to lead the

Kolkata team in the IPL as well, which

further accentuated his confidence

problems and led to a loss of batting

form.

Quite clearly, if he knocks about the ball

well enough, then everything is good

enough for this cricketer and that is

where he derives his confidence. With

Vettori coming back into the fray, it is

now easy to see why he will have a

much more defined role where he can

go back to being what he was. Reckless

yet somewhat responsible in both the

roles that he performs and that is when

he is at his most potent and devastating

best. �

SQUADDaniel Vettori (captain),

Shane Bond, Neil Broom, IanButler, Brendon Diamanti,Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill,Gareth Hopkins, Brendon

McCullum, Kyle Mills, JacobOram, Jeetan Patel, JesseRyder, Ross Taylor, Daryl

Tuffey

N ZEALAND.qxd 8/26/2009 5:15 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: They are no better than

Pakistan in terms of history in

this tournament. In fact atleast

Pakistan have won world titles

atleast at some point in their

cricket timeline, something that isn’t

the case with England. They are yet to

win a major cricket tournament and as

long as their priority is to win the Ashes

once every two decades, then that will

continue to be the case. The tourna-

ment when held in England remains the

only instance where they did well

enough to reach the final, even though

they did end up losing to a weak West

Indies side that time. On other occa-

sions, they have just about only turned

up for the event.

CAPTAIN: ANDREWSTRAUSSAndrew Strauss is leading a resurgence

of English cricket at the moment. He

was thrust into the limelight for a sec-

ond time when no one wanted to be

captain it seems. Since then he has ably

done the one job that is considered too

hot to handle especially when the Ashes

are to be played. But winning against

the West Indies both home and away

set his team on their requisite path and

at the time of writing, they were just

about to beat Australia as well. Strauss

has been at the top of his game not

only while leading but also the batting

part. Only thing is will he go the way of

his predecessors and stop the buck at

winning the Ashes? Or will be show a

different direction to his country’s

cricket and take the next step?

COACH: ANDY FLOWERAndrew Flower is a former international

cricketer for Zimbabwe and is currently

the England team director and will now

be involved in team selection. Flower

played 63 Test matches for Zimbabwe,

scoring 4,794 runs at an average of

51.54 and taking 151 catches and 9

stumpings, and 213 one-day interna-

tionals, scoring 6,786 runs at an aver-

age of 35.34 and taking 141 catches

and 32 stumpings. He holds the

Zimbabwean records for the most Test

career runs, the highest Test batting

average, and most ODI career runs.

On 7 May 2007, Flower was appointed

Assistant Coach of the England team,

replacing Matthew Maynard. On 15 April

2009 following England’s Caribbean

tour, for which he was installed as inter-

im team director following the depar-

ture of Peter Moores, he was appointed

full-time team director. In the summer

of 2009, during his tenure as team

director, England regained The Ashes,

beating Australia by two test matches

to one.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:Under a coach who was more than a

good batsman in his heydays, the

England team has probably taken a cou-

ple of forward leaps in a bid to step up

their ante towards the Ashes this year.

r

England

ENGLAND.qxd 8/26/2009 5:16 PM Page 2


That should inadvertently set them

up for better things later on as well,

as hard work on and off the field

never goes unpaid. They boast of

some solid looking batsmen at the

top with a whole host of all

rounders thrown in to get the mix

right. Now these all rounders can

both build an innings as well as

blast their way out of the park

which lends the right balance to

their presence in the side.

Under Strauss, the team has

grown a fair amount in just

about six months’ time, some-

thing last witnessed probably

under Nasser Hussain. In his second stint

as captain, with Flower guiding him ably,

the English captain seems surer of his

methods and backs his players to the

hilt, a necessity to exceed at this level.

Probably England have been able to

solve the captaincy issue for a fair bit

of time to come as his batting is also

‘flowering’ at the moment, another

point which a fair share of his predeces-

sors weren’t able to do.

The apparent weakness of this

squad is that they do not their

own limits. For long any England

team is built for one purpose and

one purpose alone. That is to win

the Ashes after getting drubbed

around by all other teams.

However that mentality has to

change for this is a squad that boasts

of talent capable of giving every side in

the world a run for their money. The

only point is in asking can they actually

do it and stop all the questions that are

posed of them.

And one other thing, they will miss

Kevin Pietersen for whatever said and

done, he is a class act and can bat to

change the situation of the game in a

flash. A long term injury to him can only

mean disappointment for the Poms.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: RAVI BOPARAOver the last twelve months, Ravi

Bopara has found himself thrust in the

limelight. Call it a lack of a definitive

impact player in the continued absence

of Andrew Flintoff if you will, but that

being the case, Bopara has been asked

to step up. Not the most pleasing tech-

niques but sometimes works out to be

the most effective one, he eased up

into the team on the basis of some

strong performances against the West

Indies.

Facing Australia though proved to be a

different prospect as he struggled

throughout the Test series. Having said

that though, this was hardly a parame-

ter on which his future selections will or

will not merit themselves. Now in the

side as an impact player given the

absence of Flintoff, he can finally let go

off the blanket that he surrounds him-

self in and unleash his full worth, some-

thing we have heard so much of, but

yet to witness it. �

SQUADAndrew Strauss (captain),

James Anderson, RaviBopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart

Broad, Paul Collingwood, JoeDenly, Andrew Flintoff, Eoin

Morgan, Matt Prior, AdilRashid, Owais Shah, Ryan

Sidebottom, Graeme Swann,Luke Wright

ENGLAND.qxd 8/26/2009 5:16 PM Page 3


eeccoorrdd:: They were champions of

the England edition in 2004 and

then in 2006 almost defended

their crown but for the Aussies

to stop them in the final. They

could have won the first edition of the

tournament in Bangladesh as well, but

then they were stopped by the mighty

South Africans, again in the final. It

could be said then, looking at their

record, that they enjoy this tourna-

ment and would fancy their chances,

but if we look at the squad, that seems

to be out of the question for West

Indies cricket has a habit of pulling itself

down just when it seems they might be

getting out of their deep pits.

CAPTAIN: FLOYD REIFERAfter a very successful Red Stripe Cup

scoring 756 runs, Reifer was given a

chance with his first one-day and Test

matches against the Sri Lankans on

their tour of the West Indies in 1997.

However, he did not manage to produce

the necessary performances and,

despite being given another chance on

the West Indies A tour to make his way

back into the senior squad, played only

two more Tests and one more one-day

international. Three years later, follow-

ing some decent domestic matches, he

claimed that he was again ready to be

chosen for West Indies. And he was, in

the most unexpected of circumstances,

in 2009, when the original squad to

face Bangladesh in Kingstown decided

to boycott the Test a day before its

start. The board scrambled to organize

a replacement side and Reifer found

himself leading the second-string squad

ten years after he had played his last

Test. However, he couldn’t script a win

in either the Test or the ODI series.

COACH: DAVIDWILLIAMSDavid Williams was a competent wicket

keeper but his weakness with the bat

(he made seven ducks in 18 completed

Test innings) meant he only played 11

Tests. But he did have his moment in

the sun when he hit 65, and added a

match winning 129 with Carl Hooper,

against England in Trinidad in 1997-98.

r

West Indies

WEST INDIES.qxd 8/27/2009 10:03 AM Page 2


This was a rare high point for Williams,

though, who was dropped after the

fourth Test of that series. As a coach,

Williams has been involved with the

Trinidad & Tobago team from 2003, and

the team enjoyed a purple patch which

included two one-day titles and three

four-day titles in four years. He was

appointed assistant coach to the West

Indies team for the Twenty20 World

Championship in South Africa and after

coach John Dyson was sacked following

the series loss to Bangladesh in 2009,

he was handed the reigns for the ICC

Champions Trophy, also to be played in

South Africa.

STRENGTHS &WEAKNESSES:It is tough to find strength in a team

that has lost comprehensively at home

to even Bangladesh. It is a pity that the

cut off for the ODI rankings was April 1

2009 for qualification for the tourna-

ment in South Africa. That is because it

will be but a travesty if this West Indies

team gets to participate and shame the

names of their glittering ancestors.

They face Australia, India and Pakistan,

so let there be no doubt that they will

be mauled.

If there is a chance for them to surprise

people, maybe just maybe, that will

come only if the teams up against them

become more than just complacent.

For the West Indies seem so fragile that

even just being complacent might not

be enough for them to cause an upset.

It would have made far more sense to

have Bangladesh participate than allow

the West Indies Cricket Board to make

this tournament such a farce.

PLAYER TO WATCH OUTFOR: DARREN SAMMYEven though the team might disappoint

as a whole in the absence of their stal-

warts, it might just be the right oppor-

tunity for some one with real class to

make a name for themselves. And the

money to do just that would be on

Darren Julius Garvey Sammy. He is the

first international cricketer to emerge

from St Lucia, an island rediscovering its

cricket culture as the new Beausejour

Stadium has captured imaginations.

Sammy, who spent some time at Lord’s

with the MCC cricket staff, also showed

off his skills as a batsman and right-arm

medium-pacer as part of the University

of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI.

He won a one-day cap in England in

2004 and was called up late to the

Champions Trophy squad in September

2004 after Jermaine Lawson pulled out

with a stress-fractured back. In July

2006, he was named as St Lucia’s cap-

tain for West Indies’ first-ever

Twenty20 tournament and was recalled

for the tour of England in 2007. After

missing the first two Tests, Sammy was

drafted into the side for his debut at

Old Trafford, and celebrated with 7 for

66 in the second innings. He is still try-

ing to cement his place in the Test and

limited-overs sides as an allrounder.

Playing for a weakened team against

Bangladesh in 2009, he ended the two

match Test series with 12 wickets. �

SQUADFloyd Reifer (captain), DarrenSammy (vice-captain), DavidBernard, Tino Best, Royston

Crandon, Travis Dowlin,Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller,Daren Powell, Kieran Powell,Dale Richards, Kemar Roach,

Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge,Chadwick Walton

WEST INDIES.qxd 8/27/2009 10:03 AM Page 3

42 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match book review match content news interview RECORDS

THE FINALISTS:YYeeaarr VVeennuuee CChhaammppiioonnss RRuunnnneerrss--uupp MMaarrggiinn

1998 Dhaka South Africa West Indies Four wickets

2000 Nairobi New Zealand India Four wickets

2002 Colombo Sri Lanka-India - Abandoned

2004 The Oval West Indies England Two wickets

2006 Mumbai Australia West Indies Eight wickets (D/L)

SUMMARY OF RESULTS:TTeeaamm MMaattcchheess WWoonn LLoosstt NN//RR SSuucccceessss %%

West Indies 18 12 6 - 66.66

Sri Lanka 17 10 5 2 64.70

India 16 9 5 2 62.50

South Africa 14 9 5 - 64.28

New Zealand 13 8 5 - 61.53

Australia 13 8 5 - 61.53

England 12 6 6 - 50.00

Pakistan 11 5 6 - 45.45

Bangladesh 8 1 7 - 12.50

Holland 2 - 2 - 00.00

United Sates 2 - 2 - 00.00

Kenya 5 - 5 - 00.00

Zimbabwe 9 - 9 - 00.00

HIGHEST INNINGS TOTALS:TToottaall TTeeaammss VVeennuuee DDaattee

347-4 in 50 overs New Zealand v USA The Oval 10-09-2004

316-5 in 50 overs South Africa v Kenya Colombo 20-09-2002

307-8 in 50 overs India v Australia Dhaka 28-10-1998

302-8 in 50 overs Sri Lanka v Bangladesh Mohali 07-10-2006

299-7 in 50 overs England v Zimbabwe Birmingham 10-09-2004

298-8 in 50 overs England v Zimbabwe Colombo 18-09-2002

296-7 in 50 overs Australia v New Zealand Colombo 15-09-2002

295-6 in 50 overs India v South Africa Nairobi 13-10-2000

292-6 in 50 overs Sri Lanka v Holland Colombo 16-09-2002

290-4 in 50 overs India v Kenya Southampton 11-09-2004

LOWEST INNINGS TOTALS FOR EACH TEAM:TToottaall TTeeaammss VVeennuuee DDaattee

65 in 24 overs United States v Australia Southampton 13-09-2004

77 in 19.3 overs Bangladesh v New Zealand Colombo 23-09-2002

80 in 30.4 overs West Indies v Sri Lanka Mumbai 14-10-2006

85 in 30.1 overs Zimbabwe v West Indies Ahmedabad 08-10-2006

86 in 29.3 overs Holland v Sri Lanka Colombo 16-09-2002

89 in 25 overs Pakistan v South Africa Mohali 27-10-2006

93 in 31.3 overs Bangladesh v South Africa Birmingham 12-09-2004

94 in 32 overs Kenya v Pakistan Birmingham 15-09-2004

108 in 34.1 overs South Africa v New Zealand Mumbai 16-10-2006

125 in 37 overs England v India Jaipur 15-10-2006

RECORDS.qxd 8/26/2009 5:20 PM Page 2


HIGHEST MARGINS OF VICTORY:MMaarrggiinn TTeeaammss VVeennuuee DDaattee

210 runs New Zealand beat United States TheOval 10-09-2004

206 runs Sri Lanka beat Holland Colombo 16-09-2002

176 runs South Africa beat Kenya Colombo 20-09-2002

167 runs N.Zealand beat Bangladesh Colombo 23-09-2002

164 runs Australia beat New Zealand Colombo 15-09-2002

152 runs England beat Zimbabwe Birmingham 11-09-2004

10 wickets West Indies beat Bangladesh Jaipur 11-10-2006

9 wickets Pakistan beat Sri Lanka Nairobi 08-10-2000

9 wickets Australia beat Bangladesh Colombo 19-09-2002

9 wickets Pakistan beat Holland Colombo 21-09-2002

9 wickets Australia beat United States Southampton 13-09-2004

9 wickets S. Africa beat Bangladesh Birmingham 12-09-2004

9 wickets West Indies beat Zimbabwe Ahmedabad 08-10-2006

9 wickets Sri Lanka beat West Indies Mumbai 14-10-2006

LOWEST MARGINS OF VICTORY:MMaarrggiinn TTeeaammss VVeennuuee DDaattee

10 runs India beat South Africa Colombo 25-09-2002

10 runs West Indies beat Australia Mumbai 18-10-2006

14 runs India beat Zimbabwe Colombo 14-09-2002

20 runs India beat Australia Nairobi 07-10-2000

29 runs West Indies beat Kenya Colombo 17-09-2002

2 wickets South Africa beat West Indies Colombo 13-09-2002

2 wickets West Indies beat England The Oval 25-09-2004

3 wickets Pakistan beat India Birmingham 19-09-2004

3 wickets West Indies beat India Ahmedabad 26-10-2006

3 wickets England beat West Indies Ahmedabad 28-10-2006

HIGHEST INDIVIDUAL SCORE:RRuunnss BBaattssmmaann AAggaaiinnsstt VVeennuuee DDaattee

145* Nathan Astle (New Zealand) United States The Oval 10-09-2004

145 Andy Flower (Zimbabwe) India Colombo 14-09-2002

141 Sachin Tendulkar (India) Australia Dhaka 28-10-1998

141* Sourav Ganguly (India) South Africa Nairobi 13-10-2000

133* Chris Gayle (West Indies) South Africa Jaipur 02-11-2006

132 Avishka Gunawardene (SL) W.Indies Nairobi 04-10-2000

126 Virender Sehwag (India) England Colombo 22-09-2002

123* Shahriar Nafees (Bangladesh) Zimbabwe Jaipur 13-10-2006

119 Marcus Trescothick (England) Zimbabwe Colombo 18-09-2002

117* Sourav Ganguly (India) England Colombo 22-09-2002

117 Sourav Ganguly (India) New Zealand Nairobi 15-10-2000

116* Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) India Colombo 25-09-2002

116 Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa) Kenya Colombo 20-09-2002

113* Jacques Kallis (South Africa) Sri Lanka Dhaka 30-10-1998

112* Dwayne Bravo (West Indies) England Ahmedabad 28-10-2006

111* Mohammed Kaif (India) Zimbabwe Colombo 14-09-2002

111 Brian Lara (West Indies) Kenya Colombo 17-09-2002

110 Upul Tharanga (Sri Lanka) Zimbabwe Ahmedabad 10-10-2006

105* Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) Sri Lanka Nairobi 08-10-2000

105 Upul Tharanga (Sri Lanka) Bangladesh Mohali 07-10-2006

104 Saeed Anwar (Pakistan) New Zealand Nairobi 11-10-2000

104* Chris Gayle (West Indies) Bangladesh Jaipur 11-10-2006

104 Andrew Flintoff (England) Sri Lanka Southampton 18-09-2004

104 Marcus Trescothick (England) West Indies The Oval 25-09-2004

103 Philo Wallace (West Indies) South Africa Dhaka 01-11-1998

102* Chris Cairns (New Zealand) India Nairobi 15-10-2000

102* Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) Pakistan Colombo 12-09-2002


44 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match report preview cover story breaking news interview trivia

HIGHEST RUNS GETTERS:BBaattssmmaann MM II NN..OO RRuunnss AAVVGG HH..SS 110000 5500 00

Chris Gayle (West Indies) 14 14 2 695 57.91 133* 3 1 1

Sourav Ganguly (India) 13 11 2 665 73.88 141* 3 3 1

S.Chanderpaul (West Indies) 16 16 5 587 53.36 74 - 5 -

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 14 14 3 564 51.27 113* 1 3 -

Rahul Dravid (India) 16 13 2 547 49.72 71 - 5 -

Sanath Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka) 17 17 2 502 33.46 102* 1 1 2

Damien Martyn (Australia) 12 11 3 492 61.50 78 - 5 -

Brian Lara (West Indies) 18 17 3 465 33.21 111 1 2 -

Stephen Fleming (N.Zealand) 13 13 - 441 33.92 96 - 3 1

Herschelle Gibbs (S.Africa) 9 9 1 438 54.75 116* 3 1 2

Sachin Tendulkar (India) 14 13 2 433 39.36 141 1 1 -

Marcus Trescothick (England) 8 8 - 421 52.62 119 2 2 1

Mahela Jayawardene(S.Lanka) 15 14 2 411 34.25 77 - 2 -

BEST BOWLING PERFORMANCE:WWkkttss BBoowwlleerr AAggaaiinnsstt VVeennuuee DDaattee

6-14 Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka) West Indies Mumbai 14-10-2006

5-11 Shahid Afridi (Pakistan) Kenya Birmingham 15-09-2004

5-21 Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) Pakistan Mohali 27-10-2006

5-29 Mervyn Dillon (W. Indies) Bangladesh Southampton 15-09-2004

5-30 Jacques Kallis (South Africa) West Indies Dhaka 01-11-1998

5-36 Jacob Oram (New Zealand) United States The Oval 10-09-2004

5-37 Glenn McGrath (Australia) New Zealand Colombo 15-09-2002

5-46 Shayne O’Connor (New Zealand) Pakistan Nairobi 11-10-2000

4-14 Michael Kasprowicz (Aus) United States Southampton 13-09-2004

4-15 Jason Gillespie (Australia) United States Southampton 13-09-2004

4-15 Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lanka) Holland Colombo 16-09-2002

4-21 Shane Bond (New Zealand) Bangladesh Colombo 23-09-2002

4-23 Muttiah Muralitharan (S.Lanka) New Zealand Mumbai 20-10-2006

4-25 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan (Pakistan) India Birmingham 19-09-2004

4-31 Keith Arthurton (West Indies) Pakistan Dhaka 29-10-1998

HIGHEST WICKETS TAKERS:BBoowwlleerr MM OOvveerrss RRuunnss WWkkttss AAVVGG 44WWII RR//00 BBeesstt

Muttiah Muralitharan (S.Lanka) 15 116.1 378 23 16.43 2 3.25 4-15

Glenn McGrath (Australia) 12 102 412 21 19.61 1 4.03 5-37

Mervyn Dillon (West Indies) 7 68 317 19 16.68 2 4.66 5-29

Jacques Kallis (South Africa) 14 88.3 444 19 23.36 1 5.01 5-30

Chaminda Vaas (Sri Lanka) 16 125.4 494 18 27.44 - 3.93 2-6

Chris Gayle (West Indies) 14 83.4 369 17 21.70 - 4.41 3-3

Farveez Maharoof (Sri Lanka) 8 55 247 16 15.43 1 4.49 6-14

Makhaya Ntini (South Africa) 8 57 248 16 15.50 1 4.35 5-21

Shaun Pollock (South Africa) 11 88.1 321 16 20.06 - 3.64 3-27

Jacob Oram (New Zealand) 8 64.4 270 15 18.00 1 4.17 5-36

Zaheer Khan (India) 9 80 368 15 24.53 1 4.60 4-45



MOST DISMISSALS IN AN INNINGS:DDiissmmiissssaallss KKeeeeppeerr AAggaaiinnsstt VVeennuuee DDaattee

5 (4 ct + 1 st) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Holland Colombo 16-09-2002

5 (all catches) Adam Gilchrist (Australia) England Jaipur 21-10-2006

4 (1 ct + 3 st) David Obuya (Kenya) South Africa Colombo 20-09-2002

4 (3 ct + 1st) Courtney Browne (West Indies) Pakistan Southampton 22-09-2004

4 (all catches) Moin Khan (Pakistan) India Birmingham 19-09-2004

4 (3 ct + 1 st) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Bangladesh Mohali 07-10-2006

4 (3 ct + 1 st) Adam Gilchrist (Australia) New Zealand Mohali 01-11-2006

3 (all catches) Rumesh Kaluwitharana (Sri Lanka) W.Indies Nairobi 04-10-2000

3 (all catches) Moin Khan (Pakistan) Sri Lanka Nairobi 08-10-2000

3 (2 ct+ 1st) Vijay Dahiya (India) South Africa Nairobi 13-10-2000

3 (2ct+ 1 st) Adam Gilchrist (Australia) New Zealand Colombo 15-09-2002

3 (2ct+ 1 st) Khaled Mashud (Bangladesh) New Zealand Colombo 23-09-2002

3 (all catches) Rahul Dravid (India) Pakistan Birmingham 19-09-2004

3 (all catches) Geraint Jones (England) West Indies The Oval 25-09-2004

3 (all catches) Geraint Jones (England) Sri Lanka Southampton 18-09-2004

3 (all catches) Geraint Jones (England) Zimbabwe Birmingham 11-09-2004

3 (all catches) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) Zimbabwe The Oval 14-09-2004

3 (all catches) Dinesh Karthik (India) Kenya Southampton 11-09-2004

3 (2 ct + 1 st) Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka) South Africa Ahmedabad 24-10-2006

3 (all catches) Kamran Akmal (Pakistan) South Africa Mohali 27-10-2006

MOST CATCHES IN AN INNINGS:CCaattcchheess PPllaayyeerr AAggaaiinnsstt VVeennuuee DDaattee

3 Marvan Atapattu (Sri Lanka) South Africa Dhaka 30-10-1998

3 Jonty Rhodes (South Africa) West Indies Dhaka 01-11-1998

3 Alistair Campbell (Zimbabwe) India Colombo 14-09-2002

3 Yuvraj Singh (India) South Africa Colombo 25-09-2002

3 Brian Lara (West Indies) England The Oval 25-09-2004

3 Marcus Trescothick (England) Australia Birmingham 21-09-2004

3 Darren Sammy (West Indies) Bangladesh Southampton 15-09-2004


46 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewSTRAIGHT TALK

I THOUGHT OF GIVINGUP AT TIMES

AMIT MISHRAAmit Mishra is a truefighter with supreme tal-ent. He fought back hisplace into the one-daysquad of the Indian teamfor the Champions Trophy.He spoke exclusively toCricket Today before hisselection.

HOW WAS THE EXPERI-ENCE OF PLAYING INTHE EMERGING TOUR-

NAMENT?It was good to play in Australia. I

have already been to down underbut this time it was far better thanbefore because new kind of balls

(orange and green) were used in thetournament. Bowling with orangeand green balls was all-together a

new experience. Pitches were favor-able to fast bowling so for a spinner

like me it was very challenging tobowl out there. Moreover tourney

had four teams which required a lotof hard work to adjust according to

the conditions.

WHICH FORMAT OF CRICKET SUITS YOU THEMOST?

FFiirrsstt ooff aallll II wwaanntt ttoo ggeett rriidd ooff tthhiiss TTeesstt bboowwlleerr ttaagg.. II kknnooww ttoo ppllaayy TTeessttccrriicckkeett iiss lliikkee aa ddrreeaamm ccoommee ttrruuee ffoorr aannyy ppllaayyeerr aass iitt cchheecckkss oonneess ttaalleennttaallll tthhee wwaayy.. TTeesstt ccrriicckkeett ggiivveess cchhaannccee ooff aa ccoommeebbaacckk aafftteerr oonnee bbaadd ssppeellll

bbuutt iinn oonnee--ddaayy aanndd TT2200 ccrriicckkeett aa ssiinnggllee bbaadd oovveerr ccaann rruuiinn yyoouurr wwhhoolleeeeffffoorrtt.. NNeevveerrtthheelleessss II aallssoo lloovvee OODDII aanndd TT2200 aanndd ccoonnssiiddeerr mmyysseellff ffiitt ffoorr

aallll tthhee tthhrreeee ccoolloorrss ooff tthhee ggaammee..

HOW FAR ARE YOU SATIS-FIED WITH YOUR PERFORM-ANCE?I am not fully satisfied; my aim was to

be the highest wicket-taker of the

tournament but could only reach up

to 16 wickets (second highest) which

was less than Sudeep Tyagi (highest

wicket taker). Though we won the

tournament but still I am not happy at

personal end.

AMIT MISHRA INTERVIEW.qxd 8/26/2009 5:22 PM Page 2


HAVE YOU MADE ANY SPECIAL PLANS TOGET BACK INTO THE ODI SQUAD?

TThhee wwaayy II hhaavvee ppeerrffoorrmmeedd iinn tthhee rreecceenntt ppaasstt ggiivveess mmee ccoonnffiiddeennccee ooffssuurreellyy mmaakkiinngg aa ccoommeebbaacckk.. AAss ffaarr aass ppllaann iiss ccoonncceerrnn,, II aamm ttrryyiinngg ttoo aaddddmmoorree vvaarriiaattiioonnss ttoo mmyy bboowwlliinngg aarrsseennaall.. GGiivviinngg ssppeecciiaall aatttteennttiioonn ttoo tthhee

bbaattttiinngg ddeeppaarrttmmeenntt iiss aallssoo oonn mmyy aaggeennddaa ssoo tthhaatt II ccaann bbee aann aallll--rroouunndd--eerr.. SSeelleeccttoorrss hhaavvee ggiivveenn tthhuummbbss uupp ttoo mmyy eeffffoorrttss bbyy ppuuttttiinngg mmyy

nnaammee iinn tthhee pprroobbaabblleess ooff tthhee CChhaammppiioonnss TTrroopphhyy..

WHAT IS YOUROPINION ONWADA ISSUE?

Doping test is not theissue with any of the

players. Actuallyproblem comes withthe hard line of the

clause. Players are onthe playing streak for

10-11 months in ayear, rest of the time

they want to spendwith the families and

close ones. WADAclause will act like an

intruder in ones secu-rity and privacy.

Leaving one or twocricketers, no one has

the proper securityto counter problemswhich could come up

if WADA clause issigned.

IPL SEASON FOUR WOULD BEHAVING 94 CONTESTS, YOUR

SAY ON THIS?It is good for the youngsters to get a

chance of involving themselves in moreencounters of cricket. Even if some

team loses two or three matches theywould still have the chance for a come-

back and same goes for the players.

WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF TEAM INDIA IN THE UPCOM-ING CHAMPIONS TROPHY?I have full faith in my team and take my words we are going to win mini World

Cup this time. Our team has got best batsmen and bowlers in the world. If we

keep apart the dismissal performance of T20 World Cup, team India’s out going

so far has been more than satisfactory.

YOUR TEAM DELHI DAREDEVILS SEEMS TO BEFALTERING AT THE CRUCIAL LEVELS. WHATARE THE REASONS?This time round (second phase) we performed really well, unfortunately Gilly

took the match away from us with his blistering knock in the semis. Daredevils

had the best bowling attack but we can’t take credit away from Gilchrist for his

superb effort.



CORPORATE LEAGUE IS AN OVER DOSE OF CRICKET.WHICH WAY YOUR PENDULUM SWINGS?I don’t think corporate league is an over dose. If we look at the brighter

prospect, it could help us to find more talent out in the country. Team India

beneficiary could go to the highest level with the corporate league.

WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM DANIEL VETTORI?Daniel is a very good bowler and has taught me how to read wickets. He

also praised me for the daring attitude of bowling. Daniel thinks bowlers

should always go for wickets rather getting defensive at times.

WHO IS THE BEST SPINNER IN THE WORLD?My list has the names of Anil Kumble and Shane Warne. They both are my

inspiration. Even we can’t ignore Muralitharan and Vettori for the fact that

they are still ruling the spin department.

YOU HAVE BEEN SEEN AS THE ONE TAKING UP THESLOT OF ANIL KUMBLE. DOSE THIS ADD UP TO MORERESPONSIBILITY?Yes, now I have to work much harder. Best would be expected from me

when ever I go out on the field. To see myself in jumbo’s shoes is a proud

feeling. Though, I have not achieved much in my life but still I am putting in

my best efforts to be a champ like Kumble. Every cricket onlooker would

want me to perform like kumble.

DOES INDIAN TEAM REQUIRE A FITNESS TRAINER?Definitely, playing at highest level requires fitness of top level. Fitness train-

er could be of great help as he/she will guide us to set up our body accord-

ing to the needs of batting, bowling and fielding department.

INDIAN TEAM HAS GOT THE SERVICES OFFAST BOWLING COACH. DOES THE TEAMALSO REQUIRES A SPIN BOWLING COACH?RReeqquuiirreemmeenntt iiss tthheerree bbuutt eexxppeerriieennccee ccaammppaaiiggnneerrss lliikkee KKuummbbllee aanndd HHiirrwwaannii aarree

aallwwaayyss tthheerree ttoo aassssiisstt tthhee ssppiinnnneerrss.. BBeessiiddee tthheemm SSaacchhiinn aanndd BBhhaajjjjii ttoooo hhaavvee

uusseeffuull ttiippss aabboouutt ssppiinn bboowwlliinngg.. TThhoouugghh VVeennkkaatteesshh PPrraassaadd iiss tthhee ffaasstt bboowwlliinngg

ccooaacchh,, ssttiillll hhee hhaass mmuucchh ttoo ooffffeerr ffoorr tthhee ssppiinnnneerrss.. LLaasstt bbuutt nnoott tthhee lleeaasstt wwee

hhaavvee NNaattiioonnaall CCrriicckkeett AAccaaddeemmyy wwhheerree wwee ccaann cclleeaarr aallll oouurr ddoouubbttss wwhheenn

rreeqquuiirreedd..

WHO PLAYPRANKSMOST OFTHE TIME INTEAMINDIA?Bhajji is the one who never

misses out on any opportu-

nity when it comes to play-

ing pranks. Viru is also a fun

loving guy. Nevertheless

everyone in the team loves

fun and are blessed with

good nature.

WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITEDESTINATION IN TERMS OFPLAYING CRICKET?India is the best country to playcricket in. Type of reception weget and the facilities whichcomes in for us are mouthwatering. Same can’t be saidabout other countries as therewe have to run for small-smallthings also.

HOW WILL YOU DEFINE MSDHONI?Dhoni has unique style of inspir-ing someone. He knows how toget best out of a player. Knownfor his patience and cool head,Mahi always have tips for theyounger lot of the team. He hasbeen like a guide to me but themost important element of hispersona is the trust which hehas on his brigade. It brings outbest from every one on thebattle field.



PRAGYAN OHJA IS YOURCOMPETITOR. HOWHEALTHY IS THIS COMPETI-TION?Competition makes me strong and by

each passing day I keep on improving

my game. Getting tough fight from

some one always keeps you on the

toes and concentration level on the

game increases. To be honest contest

constantly brings out finest perform-

ance from you.

HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN ASOUP BECAUSE OF AFEMALE FAN FOLLOWING?No, I have not been through such

experience but now the fan base is

climbing up which has lots of female

fans.

WHICH INDIAN PLAYER ISTHE MOST FAMOUS ONE ONTHE FEMALE FANS RADAR?Yuvraj and Zaheer are the toppers of

female fans list. Sachin’s popularity is

known to every one.

IF YOU EVER GET ACHANCE TO ACT IN ABOLLYWOOD FLICK,WHICH TYPE (ROMANTIC,ACTION, AND HORROR)OF ROLE WOULD YOULIKE TO FIT YOUR SELF IN?I have never thought on this but

given a chance I would go for any

kind of role.

AFTER HARD STRUGGLEAND TOUGH COMPETI-TION YOU MADE ACOMEBACK TO THEINDIAN TEAM. WHO WASTHE ONE TO HELP YOU INTHIS DIFFICULT PHASE?All the credit goes to former BCCI

president Ranbir Singh Mahendra

and my family. They are the one

who stood by me in difficult times.

After two years of sheer hard

work, when I started getting back

into rhythm an injury came as a

shocker which kept me out of

action for six to seven months.

Moreover I was always anticipated

to perform well from others to

prove my credential in the domes-

tic competition.

IN YOUR STRUGGLINGDAYS, HAVE YOU EVERTHOUGHT OF GIVINGUP?Yes, I thought of giving up at times.

My good performance was not

considered which made me sad.

Though, Ranbir Singh Mahendra,

Gauti and family always motivated

me to get back into the side.

WHICH PLAYER SUITS ALLTHE THREE FORMAT S OFTHE GAME?Sachin and Gambhir have the ability

to rule all the formats of cricket.

Sacin has nothing left to prove

while Gauti is making his mark in all

the forms of cricket.

TELL US THE SECRET OFVIRU AND GAUTI’STREMENDOUS SUCCESSAS AN OPENING PAIR?AAccccoorrddiinngg ttoo mmee bbootthh ooff tthheemm ppllaayy

tteennssiioonn ffrreeee ccrriicckkeett aanndd kkeeeeppss oonn

mmoottiivvaattiinngg eeaacchh ootthheerr.. TThheeyy hhaavvee

ppeerrffeecctt eeyyee ttoo eeyyee ccoooorrddiinnaattiioonn

wwhheenn iitt ccoommeess ttoo rruunnnniinngg bbeettwweeeenn

tthhee wwiicckkeettss.. CCoommbbiinnaattiioonn ooff bbootthh

ccaann ddiissmmaannttllee aannyy ppaaccee aattttaacckk..


50 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewCONTROVERSY

t took eleven Indian cricketers to

bring to light what was dealt

with as a matter of formality by

tens of thousands of sportsper-

sons around the world. While

there is no doubt that there has to be a

more stringent measure to curb the

use of illicit drugs in sport, and cricket

can be no exception, the BCCI is now in

a headlong battle with WADA over what

it deems are impracticable conditions

on its cricketers.

FICA JUMPS, ICC SET-BACKThe conundrum turned into a fiasco

when the eleven Indian cricketers (nine

male and two female cricketers) failed

to turn in their signed agreements by

the ICC set deadline of August 31st.

The ICC had suffered a setback en

route to ensuring a drug free cricket

policy. It led to a strong petition from

the FICA (Federation of International

Cricketers Association) to appeal to the

ICC to take action against the Indian

cricketers, who are also incidentally not

members of FICA.

Faced with an awkward situation that

the ICC could not evade, they put the

onus back on the BCCI to ensure that

the papers were turned in. An emer-

gency Sunday meeting later with the

likes of the Indian captain, Mahendra

Singh Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan

Singh, the BCCI sent a message to the

ICC that it was firmly backing its players

against the WADA code and that it was

up to the ICC to seek resolution without

compromising on the concerns of the

Indian cricketers.

WHY WADA?The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA)

is universally accepted by over 20,000

athletes over sixty international sports

federations. It has the world’s top ath-

letes on its roll and while tennis champi-

ons such as Rafael Nadal and Serena

Williams have expressed anguish at the

whereabouts clause, Roger Federer per-

haps has put it succinctly that it was a

small inconvenience to pay to ensure

the sport was rid of doping.

Even India’s leading badminton champi-

on, Saina Nehwal, sees only the positive

side of complying with WADA and has

even furthered the cause by stating

that it would not be too hard to state

the whereabouts because players would

have some form of training or workout

even during off season, a matter that

India’s Olympic gold medallist at the

2008 Beijing Games, Abhinav Bindra,

totally agrees with.

Blood doping as also the use of anabolic

steroids, diuretics, narcotics have

played a huge role in other athletic

events. While cricketers are generally

believed have a significantly lesser need

to depend on performance enhancing

drugs, that they are experimenting with

it cannot be denied. Furthermore mask-

ing agents do a good job in covering up

for doping players as hormones pro-

duced within the body in excess then

tend to skew the results.

Tour de France champion, Floyd Landis,

was stripped of his medal in 2004 after

his drug test showed an unusual

amount of testosterone in his body

implicating him in the use of synthetic

drugs. USA’s top athlete Marion Jones

though escaped getting caught and it

was only upon her own decision to con-

fess that the dreadful deed came to

light and she was subsequently taken to

tasks amidst tears that garnered no

sympathy. Shane Warne was found by

WADA- ICC-BCCI: Tiedin Gridlockby Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

i

WADA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:24 PM Page 2


an independent drug testing within

Australia of having used diuretics

before the 2003 World Cup in a coun-

try where drug awareness is at a peak

and is generally intolerant of drug

usage in any sport. Nandrolone was

found in the bloodstream of Shoaib

Akhtar and Mohammad Asif before the

ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 again by

the Pakistan Cricket Board. As impossi-

ble as it sounds, there could be more

deceitful attempts to cheat in sport

than those that have come to light only

to be dismissed by way of feigning

ignorance.

RELEVANCE OF DRUGTESTING South Africa’s Dale Steyn’s sample

turned positive apparently during the

IPL 2 season for morphine, an effect of

painkillers containing codeine turning

into morphine at slightly higher than

the acceptable levels. However, since

the officials were briefed of Steyn’s

condition and subsequent drugs at the

time of testing, he was exonerated of

all charges. The same though cannot be

said of Mohammad Asif and Shoaib

Akhtar whose blood work found traces

of banned substances.

The WADA has signed on sportspersons

around the world and they have accept-

ed, even in disagreement, the encum-

brance posed by the necessity of the

whereabouts clause. WADA realizes that

there is high pressure on sportspersons

to deliver with overemphasis on per-

formance with big money at stake and

six figure endorsements to ensure a life

of no work and all play. For some it is

about keeping their place on the team,

for others, families to upkeep, egos and

ambitions to be nursed. In some cases,

illicit drug testing has also inadvertently

boosted the bottom line of certain

pharmaceutical companies has come to

light since doping became a major con-

cern in the U.S. which has revealed cer-

tain past winners such as Ben Johnson

and Carl Lewis to have cheated.

On a more dangerous level, drug testing

has had the ulterior motive on the bor-

der lines of creating rifts on the politi-

cal roadmap. When Carola Nitschke

returned her swimming medal in 1988,

the first athlete to do so, she essential-

ly brought to light the sinister motive

where in several of the East German

athletes were given drug supplements,

without their explicit knowledge, to put

down their West German counterparts

with a clear political angle to the

motive.

With cricket being far from an amateur

sport and certainly earning professional

sport endorsements and with the ICC

now aiming a greater role for cricket in

world sports meets, it is only natural

that the sport must then fall in line

with the accepted norm which includes

WADA as the premier anti doping

agency that is respected by both,

sportspersons and sports bodies.

CAUSE FOR CONSTER-NATION - WHERE-ABOUTSAccording to the WADA President, John

Fahey, there is a greater need at pres-

ent to introduce the surprise element

of off season testing to deter the pos-

sibility of doping in sport. But the Indian

cricketers have a major concern over

the whereabouts clause that states

that they must state for an hour each

day about where they will be for the

projected period of three months. Not

only are the Indian cricketers extremely

weary of stating their location for fear

of compromising on their security fol-

lowing terror threats to some of the

top cricketers in the country, they are

also extremely protective of their priva-

cy, although that is sometimes compro-

mised upon for the odd intrusion of

endorsements.

NEGLIGENCE TO BLAMEFOR THIS STALEMATE? The BCCI may be pleading ignorance

over issues and seeking the legal opin-

ion of the likes of Goolam Vahanvati,

India’s Attorney General, and A.S.

Anand, the former Chief Justice, and on

prime facie evidence, they are likely to

support BCCI’s stand on quoting Article

21 of the Constitution that grants liber-

ty to all citizens of the country.

But there is apparently a rather tricky

situation that the BCCI finds itself in.

The BCCI committed a glaring error and

Indian cricketershave a majorconcern over thewhereaboutsclause thatstates that theymust state for anhour each dayabout wherethey will be forthe projectedperiod of threemonths.

WADA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:25 PM Page 3


thereby, missed a golden

opportunity to state their

point at a valid time. The

NADA (National Anti Doping

Agency), an independent

agency instituted by the Indian

sports ministry, issued notifica-

tion to the effect that unless

there was opposition from the vari-

ous sports bodies regarding compliance

with the WADA norms, their silence

would be assumed as in agreement of

the rules. BCCI remained silent and has

now woken up rather late to the press-

ing issue. Additionally, the Copenhagen

declaration of 2003 against doping of

which the government of India is a

party to makes it hard for the BCCI to

weasel out of the drug testing per se

or fight a universally accepted system

on the protest of eleven cricketers.

The BCCI has also stated the example of

FIFA over non compliance with the

whereabouts clause. But contrary to

that opinion, FIFA has managed a sys-

tem wherein the International

Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) consists

of a fluctuating number and names of

players depending on their injuries and

past history with drug related issues,

while maintaining their own anti-doping

norms for all players under the FIFA

banner. The BCCI could certainly sug-

gest to the ICC a similar course of

action where only repeat offenders and

those cricketers undergoing treatment

for injuries need to come into WADA’s

bracket.

STAND OFFIMPLICATIONSThe ICC has a reason why it cannot be

the reed that usually weathers the

storm that originates from the BCCI.

The ICC now has a bigger agenda. Apart

from the fact that the ICC has also

signed on to be a part of WADA in 2006

and officially accepted the WADA dic-

tum in January this year, there is an

agenda behind this.

The ICC has aspired to be a part of a

larger global sports event, namely, the

Olympics. Recently the popularity of the

Twenty20 game also had some crick-

eters getting behind the idea of having

cricket represented at such worldwide

sports meets in its latest version.

However, for the ICC to involve cricket

WADA has theworld’s top athleteson its roll and whiletennis championssuch as RafaelNadal and SerenaWilliams haveexpressed anguishat the whereaboutsclause, RogerFederer perhaps hasput it succinctly thatit was a small incon-venience to pay toensure the sportwas rid of doping.

WADA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:25 PM Page 4


in any Olympic or sports event, it must

first have all its member nations and

cricketers adhere to universally accept-

ed, common norm and customs that

contribute to a drug free sports world.

Without the Indian cricketers jumping

on the bandwagon, the ICC cannot

carry out its plans forward.

The ICC has already received a slot in

the 2010 Asiad games in China with

Twenty20 and some would be inclined

to believe that India could be deliberate-

ly or otherwise creating a spoke in the

wheel. Nevertheless it will be hard for

them to prevent this, even as a wild

conspiracy theory, or the WADA from

coming into the picture as the ICC is

determined to help the Indian cricketers

and indeed the BCCI to see the right of

way. The ICC has instead appointed a

five man committee, consisting of

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC Chief Executive,

N. Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, ICC

Principal Advsor, IS Bindra, Anil Kumble,

member of WADA’s athletic committee,

and Tim Kerr, chairman of ICC anti-dop-

ing panel, to formulate a plan to con-

vince the Indian cricketers to accept the

WADA code when they meet in

September.

WHY INDIAN CRICK-ETERS CAN PROTESTThe BCCI has just granted the All India

Football Federation (AIFF) a grant of

Rs25 crore over two years for the

preparations for the Asian Games. Such

is the BCCI’s clout that it is not obligat-

ed to tow the Sports Ministry to pro-

cure its funds. Not mandatory to com-

ply with the norms of the Indian

Olympic Association (IOC) either, the

BCCI has been an autonomous institu-

tion unto itself and it has passed on, in

essence, the same sufficient arrogance,

to its cricketers. To now conform with

other sportspersons is then the seem-

ingly unacceptable scenario.

While it is difficult for individual athletes

to protest universal laws, it is unthink-

able when the sports discipline is

dependent on government funding.

Cricket in India, however, has always

functioned as an independent entity

unto itself which is why while the South

African and Australian cricketers have

complied with their national obligations

to drug testing without being able to

voice their protest against the WADA

clause, eleven cricketers are hoping to

turn the dictation around.

THE IMMEDIATE SOLU-TIONOne look at the ADAMS (The Anti

Doping Administration and Management

System ) website, and it will be clear as

to how easy it is to fill the calendar dur-

ing the off season. Players can simply

log on to the website from wherever

they are located, state one hour of

every day that they are available and

draft it on the calendar page which will

then be put in a bank safe like vaults

within the database. Sportspersons who

have complied with it talk about the

facile procedure as also of changing

time and place where need be. For

cricketers, it should only become easier

since they are always complaining of a

hectic international calendar which

means more of their days are already

chalked out for them without them

having to state explicitly.

The whereabouts clause is considered

as a necessary evil amongst sportsper-

sons throughout the world because of

the benefit of having fair play on the

field. It will be hard for eleven cricketers

to beat the system and they risk the

ICC’s larger plans for globalization and

expansion of cricket in doing so. A more

pragmatic course would be to fall in line

but with an explicit grievance ear-

marked for the WADA review which

comes up in 2010. �

At the emergencymeeting withDhoni, Yuvraj andHarbhajan theBCCI sent a mes-sage to the ICCthat it was firmlybacking its playersagainst the WADAcode and that itwas up to the ICCto seek resolutionwithout compro-mising on the con-cerns of the Indiancricketers.

WADA.qxd 8/26/2009 5:25 PM Page 5

62 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match book reviews content news interviewONE -TO-ONE

FOREMOST STEPIS TO SET UP A

SALARY STRUCTUREFOR THE CURATORS

DALJIT SINGH

DDaalljjiitt SSiinngghh iiss tthhee mmaann bbeehhiinndd tthhee wweeaarr aanndd tteeaarr ooff mmoossttIInnddiiaann ppiittcchheess.. HHee hhaass bbeeeenn tthhee aarrcchhiitteecctt ooff mmaannyyffaammoouuss IInnddiiaann wwiinnss.. PPrreesseennttllyy wwoorrkkiinngg aass aa CChhaaiirrmmaann ooffppiittcchh ccoommmmiitttteeee,, hhee iiss kkeeeeppiinngg aallll hhiiss ffooccuuss oonn tthhee nneewwllaaiidd ppiittcchh aatt DDDDCCAA.. DDaalljjiitt ssppeeaakkss oouutt oonn tthhee vvaasstt eexxppeerrii--eennccee hhee hhaass aaccccuummuullaatteedd oovveerr tthhee yyeeaarrss aabboouutt tthhee aarrtt ooffpprreeppaarriinngg ppiittcchh aanndd ccrriicckkeett oonn tthhee wwhhoollee..

DALJEET SINGH INTERVIEW.qxd 8/26/2009 5:33 PM Page 2


Any specific reason behindthe new laid pitch at DDCA?Actually when IPL was shifted to South

Africa for the second season, DDCA

quickly decided to rope in a new pitch

at the stadium for which they definitely

deserve applauses. DDCA motto was to

give its junior cricketers a chance to

play on a pitch which has equal bounce

and pace. Even we are trying our level

best to give DDCA what they expect

from us so that they can nourish

upcoming talent in the near future.

Has new techniques taken itscourse in pitch making or stillit is the same old story?Presently BBCI is making all its associa-

tion aware of new techniques involved

in pitch making. Even we are keeping all

these measures in effect while laying

new pitch at Feroz Shah Kotla. Now a

day’s pitch making doesn’t rely on old

methods.

Is this attempt has somethingto do with the BCCI idea ofmaking bouncy pitches inIndia? Yes BCCI wants domestic cricket to be

played on good pitches. BCCI main spot-

light is on Under-16 and Under-22 play-

ers. Moreover bouncy pitches is the

requirement of today’s cricket world

that’s why our cricket board is giving all

required importance on this area. It has

change cricket all the way in our coun-

try, now we have strong pace attack

which has been the main factor in our

wins overseas.

Does Test, ODI and T20 cricketinvolve different techniqueswhile preparing wicket?Preparing wicket for Test cricket is a

tough nut to crack. Even after sheer

hard work it is very difficult to say that

how pitch is going to behave in the

course of the match. It would be cor-

rect to say that making a good Test

pitch is an art. ODI and T20 cricket

demands batsman friendly wickets

which are good for stroke play.

Especially in T20 cricket pitch is pre-

pared keeping 40 overs in mind.

Attempt is to give both the teams equal

chance of grueling contest.

You have been associatedwith Mohali cricket ground for15 years now. How has beenthe experience on this longjourney?To keep everyone happy is virtually

impossible but I always try to give my

best. Though, on many occasions I have

faced the heat from the local teams for

not preparing the wicket of their kind.

Beside this Mohali wicket has got praises

on the international circuit which gives

me a lot of pleasure.

What made you to take this(curator) profession as acareer option?I have given nineteen long years to

cricket as a player. I played for Services,

Delhi, Railways and Bihar in my cricket-

ing days. But while working for Tata

group in Jharia (Jharkhand) we prepared

a wicket to play cricket on that. At that

time I learnt a lot about pitch and

decided to work on preparing wickets

from there onwards.

You have been part of manyfamous matches. Among thenever ending list of matcheswhich one is your most mem-orable contest?

WhenIPL was shifted

to South Africa for thesecond season, DDCA

quickly decided to rope ina new pitch at the stadium.DDCA motto was to give itsjunior cricketers a chanceto play on a pitch which

has equal bounceand pace.



Deciding on one match would be a

tough task for me but I was very

pleased with the way in which second

Test match (Mohali) in Border-Gavaskar

ended on the fifth day. India was even-

tually winner by more than 300 runs

which was a sign of relief for me.

Moreover, Man of the Match

award was bagged up by Amit

Mishra. Seeing a spinner per-

forming so well in front of

the fast bowlers like Brett

Lee, Mitchell Johnson,

Zaheer Khan and Ishant

Sharma was remark-

able.

One more match is

very close to my

heart. It was Duleep

trophy contest

between North Zone

and West Zone in which

six to seven centuries

were scored and forty odd

wickets fell in the whole

match with result coming out on

the last day of the encounter.

Is there any committee infunction to take care of thepitches?Yes, cricket board has formed a com-

mittee in domestic cricket for pitch

evaluation which will take care of all the

wickets in our country. Good pitches will

get good marks with applauds from

BCCI while the bad wickets could lead to

some strict actions against their associ-

ations.

What should BCCI dofor the curators?

First and foremost step is to set

up a salary structure for the curators

so that their standards could be revolu-

tionized. Cricket board is paying to

umpires and coaches then why

not to curators? The way

board is taking up semi-

nars and certificate

courses for the

coaching and umpir-

ing, same way has to

be followed for the

curators. There is

professionalism in

every aspect of the

game, then why one

of the most important

integrant (Curator) of

cricket is been ignored. During

the flow of matches each comment on

the ball has to do something with the

curator, where chances of getting con-

demn is more than of receiving a clap

for the hard work. So board has to start

certification courses in this stream also

which in turn will see more qualified

people coming in for a curator job.

Apart from modern equipments there

is no major change which has taken

place to perk up curator in recent time

which is totally wrong. When we can

pay lakhs of bucks to cricketers, it is our

board’s responsibility to think seriously

for all those who are involved in prepar-

ing pitches.

How far taking up a curatorjob as profession is a goodcareer option?There is a lot of difference between

the reality and dreams. If former crick-

eters or pass out graduates from agro-

culture courses comes in for curators

job, it would be very beneficial.

Students from agro-culture courses

have the in depth knowledge about soil

and grass, so qualified people would

find it easy to get into pitch making. In

coming time demand of the curators

would boost up in foreign countries

which could stand up as a golden

chance for the youngsters.

How difficult is curators job

Cricket board has formed a

committee in domesticcricket for pitch evaluation.Good pitches will get goodmarks with applauds fromBCCI while the bad wickets

could lead to some strictactions against their

associations.

FACTORS INVOLVEDIN PITCH PREPARA-TION AT DDCA:� Area of the pitch is 90x90

square feet. Nine wickets have

been prepared. In the process of

preparing wickets Daljit dug 14

inches into the surface to find a

thick foundation of bricks over

which he has created a new base.

Above that a four inch layer of fil-

ter sand has been put in place to

absorb water. Then another layer

of fertile soil was laid in for the

grass to grow into the surface. Five

inch layer of black soil was also

included in the process which has

been brought especially from

Rajasthan. One inch has been used

for the fitting of Bermuda

(American) grass.

� For the proper and smooth

drainage of water PVC pipes have

been used on the four corners of

the pitch. In case of heavy rainfall

also there will not be any standing

water on the pitch

� Apart from main pitch, four

practice and three synthetic pitch-

es have been prepared so that

there is no complaint from any of

the team playing at DDCA.

� At Feroz Shah Kotla old grass is

being replaced by Bermuda

(American) grass to give much

comfort to the players.

Daljit Singh with Assistant Curator Vijay Bahadur.



and which all qualities shouldhe posses?There is no glamour in this profession.

As far as rights are concern, it is limited

to preparing wicket, we don’t enjoy

that much rights which are given to the

officials of various cricket associations.

If you do some extraordinary work,

there will not be any reward but any

wrong doing at your part would lead to

abusive behavior.

For a curator, patience and stamina is

must. If you are emotional, it is a very

negative thing to be in. Challenges

keeps tumbling in your way every now

and then.

According to you which crick-et ground stands as favoriteand worst in your list?If I go effort wise, Dharamshala is the

best up coming stadium in the country

but I am really disappointed with the

Chinnaswamy stadium of Bangalore

with its handling of cricket getting filthy

day by day.

What do you have to say onIndian Premier League?If IPL is handled properly it could be a

boom for the cricketing world but if it

goes in the wrong direction then young

cricketers could become lazy seeing the

amount of money cash rich league gen-

erates.

What’s your say on mountingrise of glamour and money incricket?

We can’t run away from the amount of

money cricket is having these days as it

is a necessary commodity for every

cricketer to live a good livelihood. Entry

of glamour world is good for cricket but

cricketers first and last love should be

cricket only.

What steps should be taken tokeep Test cricket alive?First of all every Test match should be

result oriented. Number of overs must

be looked upon. Giving special attention

to pitches could be of great help.

Moreover organizing day and night Test

matches is another way to keep the

interest for this longer version of crick-

et intact among the masses. World

championship of Test cricket should be

organized as every country would like

to be the Test champion of the world.

You have been appointed asthe chairman of pitch commit-tee by BCCI, How much it sat-isfies you? I am very happy and satisfied also. I

don’t have greediness for the post but I

am always there to help. Let me tell you

one most important thing, I am working

for the board without taking any salary

from them.

Have you been allotted somespecial work for the upcomingWorld Cup in 2011?For the big tournaments like World Cup

ICC has its own pitch committee to look

after all the wickets but if any work is

assigned to me I will definitely go for it.

Any hardship with BCCI? Cricket is a passion in our country but

we have limitations also. It is the moral

duty of the board to expand its wings

so that our bench strength can shape

up to a stronger outfit. If we start look-

ing for the talent in the remote areas

of the country it could do a lot of good

in the future and no body in the entire

cricket fraternity would find it easy to

compete against us on the cricketing

field. India has bunch of talents which

just require nourishment to shine on

the horizon of cricket.

Who are your favorite crick-eters in three formats of crick-et? Sunil Gavaskar (Test), Sachin Tendulkar

(ODI), Yusuf Pathan (T20) and Garry

Sobers (All-Rounder). �

DALJIT’S FAVOURITE:

BOLLYWOOD FILM- GUIDE AND DEVDAS (DILIP KUMAR)ACTOR (MALE) – DILIP KUMARACTOR (FEMALE) – MADHUBALA SONG- ALL THE SONGS OF HEMANT KUMARBESIDE CRICKET WHICH OTHER SPORTS YOU LIKE TOPLAY – GOLF AND FOOTBALLBESIDE CRICKET WHICH OTHER SPORTS YOU LIKE TOWATCH- FOOTBALL AND TENNISCRICKET GROUND- EDEN GARDEN AND CCI (MUMABI)DRESS CODE- CASUAL WEARSFOOD- PLAIN AND SIMPLE FOOD WITHOUT ANY SPICYSTUFF.HANGOUT PLACE- SEA SIDE


66 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewSPARKLING STARS

hen a side ends up van-

quished with a consum-

mate ease in both the

original formats of the

game, it is hard to pick up

the positives from the series. Pakistan’s

story in Sri Lanka was in total contrast

to their World T20 campaign, as they

crashed from one defeat to another,

and were left sprawling on the floor,

bruised, battered and waiting to be

counted on the grounds of a technical

knock-out. Yet, there were a few

encouraging signs, unfortunately, which

the captain Younus Khan failed to pick

up early enough to have any kind of an

impact on the score-line.

It is an old Pakistani cricketing trait to,

as they call it, to catch them young.

Rarely would a Michael Hussey-like

example rear up its head, and then a

few of these adolescent-looking inter-

national stars would go on to assume

the mantle of seniors in the side to

continue the cycle. Three of the four

cricketers that I profile today fall in the

former category. The fourth, Saeed

Ajmal, is case in a contrasting point,

with a debut at ripe old age of thirty

and a look of a bowler who has had the

experience of greasing those fingers

with the leather in the first class cricket

for days without end.

These were the four who managed to

salvage some pride for the visitors on

the tour, who fought without the inhibi-

tions that usually engulf those who

understand how a collective set of fail-

ures could impact their futures and

their careers; which in more ways than

one assisted them in playing with a

mindset very fresh.

FAWAD ALAM:For a reason not known to a lot, includ-

ing yours truly, the Pakistani squad for

the test series in Sri Lanka, consisted of

only two frontline openers, one of

whom had exhibited enough signs in the

ICC World T20 – that had immediately

preceded the test matches – of not

only being out of form, but rather low

on confidence. The skipper, on his part,

had been criticised in the media – and

not too wrongly at that – for having

not picked Fawad Alam for the first

test, after he had displayed his attitude,

and form, in the tour game immediately

preceding the fixture.

So when Alam was hand-picked for the

second game, it hadn’t come as a sur-

prise, but what definitely had been the

fact that he was made to open the

innings. Alam is a middle-order batting

w

Can the futureof Pakistan benurtured inthe rightdirection?by Suneer Chowdhary

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all-rounder, and his usual number in the

order would have been a five or a six.

When one alludes to the top spot in the

longer format of the game, it does

necessitate a player to possess some

basic skills which are usually built by bat-

ting at that position over the times, and

Alam certainly hadn’t done that.

Yet, his knock in the second essay was

one that defied this common afore-

mentioned belief, one that had all the

characteristics of a player who looked

to have been around since the times of

W.G. Grace, and possessed all the neces-

sary ingredients to prove that he was a

batsman to watch out for in the future.

For all one knows, Alam may not be as

successful in the opening slot as his 168

on debut – the second-highest score by

a Pakistani on debut – showed him to

be, but the one glaring aspect of his

character that came out from that

knock was his ability to adapt to the

conditions in a position and a venue

that was as unfamiliar to him as batting

was to Courtney Walsh!

Alam’s bowling in the shorter version of

the game is a clear asset, especially in

this day and age of the spinners return-

ing back to capturing the eyeballs and

becoming the cynosure of everyone’s

eyes again. To me, Alam gives an

impression of being one of those, who

could easily turn into a Shahid Afridi of

the future. Careful handling is a must

though!

MOHAMMAD AAMER:When you are a left-handed quick

bowler, and rather young and raw, and

playing for the Pakistani team, compar-

isons with the great Wasim Akram are

as commonplace as the dime-a-dozen

quick bowlers that have come out from

their stable. But, unlike some of the

others that have been produced by

Pakistan, Aamer is not all about pace

only. The speed gun may have touched

the 145km/hr mark on the odd occa-

sion or two, but that, to the onlookers

hasn’t been as surprising as the fact

that his control has been almost impec-

cable.

The lines and the lengths have been to

a plan; every batsman has been worked

over as well as Aamer has been able to

The true test ofAamer came in theODI series againstSri Lanka. He cameout at the top of thewicket-taking chartswith nine wickets atan average of 20was good enough,what added thecherry to the cakewas his economy of4.23 – the best byany bowler in theseries!



and the lack of first class experience –

remember, he is only 17 and had not

played more than ten games before

making his debut – has been more than

made up by his willingness to learn.

Aamer had been reasonably impressive

in the World T20, and one of the rea-

sons for Pakistan success was that

some of the opposition batsmen had

underestimated, and almost overlooked

the man from Rawalpindi during their

preparations. The true test of Aamer

came in the ODI series against Sri Lanka,

that followed immediately after the

tournament and the bowler came out

at the top of the wicket-taking charts.

Nine wickets at an average of 20 was

good enough, what added the cherry

to the cake was his economy of 4.23 –

the best by any bowler in the series!

This is not to say that Aamer does not

have too much more learning to be

done, as was exhibited in the longer

format of the game. With not much

meat on his physique, it was only natu-

ral that surviving through the rigours

of test cricket would be baptism by fire

for a young man, and the performanc-

es were not up to the marks set by the

ones in the other formats. There is still

some way to go before Aamer can

probably do his bit in the five-day ver-

sion as well, but for now, Pakistan

Cricket needs to ensure that the histo-

ry, in the form of the his-namesake Asif

and Shoaib Akhtar does not repeat

itself.

SAEED AJMAL:Spinners, they say, do mature with age,

but a test debut at the age of almost

32 is stretching the limit a little. Saeed

Ajmal burst onto the Pakistani scenes

with a spell of 1/47 in his ten overs in

an ODI against India, where the rest of

the bowlers conceded runs aplenty, and

continued with his stingy and wicket-

taking foray into international cricket

with an economy of less than four runs

per over in the 15 ODIs he has featured

in since. T20 seem almost tailor-made

for Ajmal, as scoring off the off-spin-

ner has almost been an exercise in futili-

ty, and because of the nature of the

game, wickets have been rather easier

to come by.

Ajmal had ended the ICC World T20 as

not only as one of the top wicket-tak-

ers, but again, with an economy that

had the bowlers around the world

drooling. This after, only days before

the start of the tournament, the

Pakistani selectors had mulled over

dropping the off-spinner after he had

been reported for possessing an action

that contravened the ICC laws.

Ajmal may not be a long-term solution

to Pakistan’s spinning problems – Danish

Kaneria is almost the only one on hori-

T20 seemalmost tailor-made for Ajmal,as scoring offthe off-spinnerhas almost beenan exercise infutility, andbecause of thenature of thegame, wicketshave beenrather easier tocome by.



zon, and he has begun to leak more

than he bags – but for now, he does

look like he could herald the next gener-

ation of spinners into the side in a cou-

ple of years. He has provided the

Pakistani academies some breathing

space to unearth that next talent, a

Saqlain Mushtaq or Mushtaq Ahmed,

that looked so missing from their line-

up till Ajmal came in.

Or probably they have just unearthed it

in the form of Ajmal!

UMAR AKMAL:One needs to take a closer look if one

were to note differences in the two

brothers, Kamran and Umar Akmal.

Their cricket isn’t too different either.

While Kamran bats right-handed,

younger brother Umar is a southpaw,

but there is where the difference ends;

there is an almost inevitability about

how similar the batting styles of both

the brothers is, their swagger-like man-

nerisms at the crease and ability to take

advantage of the fielding restrictions.

Akmal was selected for the Sri Lankan

ODIs after having impressed the selec-

tors in the domestic games with a

more-than-acceptable average of

almost 45, and a crunching strike-rate

of more than 90 to his name. This

earned him a call-up to the ODI squad,

and a ravishing century in the tour

game when all seemed to be lost and an

embarrassing first ODI loss later, he was

strutting out to play his first interna-

tional in his career.

The second game saw him get to a half-

century – a 65-ball 66 – and in the very

next match, he went one step better

with a match-winning century off only

72 balls!

While it is easy to understand that far

too often has a young batsman cap-

tured the imagination of world cricket

and only flattered to deceive, most of

the times, it has been the inability of

the team-management, the cricket

board and even the media and the fans

to handle the young prodigies. To me,

Akmal definitely looks promising enough

to be termed as a prodigy, how the

people around him handle that is a fact

that could shape his future.

For now though, he has attributed his

ability to handle the pressure to the

presence of his brother Kamran, on his

side. And that may be the one differ-

ence – a sibling who has been there,

and done and endured that – that

would be of a huge assistance to the

young man. �

Umar Akmal defi-nitely looks promis-ing enough to betermed as a prodi-gy, how the peoplearound him handlethat is a fact thatcould shape hisfuture. For nowthough, he hasattributed his abili-ty to handle thepressure to thepresence of hisbrother Kamran, onhis side.


70 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009news preview cover story interview trivia contestTHE ASHES

he prognosis ahead of the third

Test of the Ashes: only rain and

England could stand in the way

of the Australians retaining the

Ashes. The rain did its part but

England were another matter altogeth-

er. The series is now tantalizingly poised

at 1-1 going into the fifth and final Test

at the Brit Oval. But there were no

doubts about which team had had the

more ignominious stumble going into

the final encounter.

When the Ashes chapter last halted,

England were on an indisputable high

after winning the second Test at Lord’s.

It was a great finish after pulling off

the Houdini in the first Test at Sophia

Gardens, Cardiff. But fast forward four

Tests later, it would not be surprising if

one found it incredible that this was the

same England team. Edgbaston was

ruined with an entire day washed out

due to rain, but the only thing that was

available after the outcome of the

fourth Test was time.

GLORY BEFORE THEINGLORIOUS When the final wicket pair of James

Anderson and Monty Panesar batted

earnestly on the fifth day in Cardiff to

keep Australia from that dangerous one

nil lead, it appeared England’s confi-

dence had derived the necessary

momentum. Four Australian centuries

could not get Australia ahead. Then the

astonishing (even though it was expect-

ed) victory riding on the back of the

England openers and in particular, the

England captain, Andrew Strauss, gave

England the upper hand in the series

that appeared to have wound up the

Australians.

The aggression of Andrew Flintoff was

the driving force on the final day of the

second Test and in that were fashioned

memories of Ashes 2005 when England

beat the odds and history to steal the

urn from under the nose of the hap-

less, not to mention gaping, Australians.

Michael Clarke scored a fine century but

it could not come in the way of an

England victory that brought the crowd

alive, too much for Ricky Ponting’s

taste.

But it did not stop the rap for Kevin

Pietersen with Sir Geoffrey Boycott

labeling him a “spoilt child”. Be that as it

may, Pietersen was also battling an

acute Achilles heel problem that neces-

sitated surgery on a priority basis which

meant that Pietersen was in a hospital

by the end of the second Test and

would play no further part in the Ashes

which, at that point in time, appeared

England’s for the taking. It did not mat-

ter; Flintoff was sleeping with a

machine that alternatively compressed

his knee and he had taken enough corti-

sone to push him through.

NO SHADES OF GREY England were even in a generous mood

(some would say, they were looking out

for themselves). Brad Haddin, the

Australian wicket keeper, injured himself

just minutes after the toss in the

course of the warm up before the

match. With team sheets having already

by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

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Johnson led Australia’s celebrations in the fourth Test.

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been exchanged, Ricky Ponting found

an ally in Strauss who allowed Australia

to make an eleventh hour substitution.

(Ponting would return the favour in the

fourth by delaying the toss by a half

hour to help Matt Prior recover from

back spasms.)

Australia struggled once again to put

up a strong first innings total after

makeshift opener, Shane Watson (Phillip

Hughes was dropped), brightened up a

gloomy first day with authoritative bat-

ting. James Anderson, with five wickets,

and Graham Onions, with four, sliced

into the visitors. England then had the

inspiration of Andrew Flintoff for sev-

enty-four runs and England captain,

Andrew Strauss, in good nick for sixty-

nine runs before him as England took a

113 run lead, this despite the efforts of

Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle. But it

was an innings completed after an

entire third day’s play was washed out,

reducing the competitive possibility of

anything other than a draw.

In the near four sessions left there-

after, Australia put forth a strong

batting performance, to the extent

that England held back Flintoff with a

view to preserve his weakening

strengths. Shane Watson’s half century

was only complemented by a rare Mike

Hussey half century. But it was Marcus

North who was busy climbing the

impressive rungs that Test cricketers do

with ninety-six glorious runs even as

Michael Clarke was making a strong

statement of his ability to withstand

pressure and take on responsibility with

another century. Australia made a defi-

nite grinding even as England would

have gone into the fifth day

with an outside chance of

making it 2-0.

Highlight of the match:

Ponting surpassing

Allan Border’s

record for the

most number of Test runs (11,174).

PICKING BETWEEN GRIMAND DEJECTION Suddenly the boos were the sounds

Ponting was relishing. No longer were

the hostile receptions a nasty surprise.

Instead they were assurance for

Ponting and his men that they were

doing something right. They were get-

ting to the crowds, rather the crowds

had got to them, had revived their

gamesmanship, the challenge of being

the ugly champions, at all costs.

One would think it was by deliberate-

ness rather than by chance that the

aggression in the body language was

back, sledge words came as did the

snorters. Australia had changed gears

between the rain and the Test at

Edgbaston. England did not prepare for

impact. And they paid rather heavily, by

conceding the lead they had so inspira-

tionally earned at Lord’s. Even the talk

amongst the Australian apparently got

to the England think tank who decided

to leave Flintoff out of the match,

against the all rounder’s assertion that

he was no worse than from the first

Test There is a cliché in Test cricket

that the first session of a Test sets

the tone for the match. In the fourth

Test of the Ashes at Headingley, the

first session not only set the direc-

tion of the match but also, decided

the fate of the England team.

There were calls from sections of

the Australian media, as also from

Allan Border, demanding that Mitchell

Johnson be dropped. Johnson himself

feared the worst. Yet the Australian

think tank continued to persist with

Johnson after seeing glimpses of

aggression in his body language at

Edgbaston. The only change, a devious

one as England would find out, was the

substitution of spinner Nathan Hauritz

There is a cliché inTest cricket that thefirst session of aTest sets the tonefor the match. Inthe fourth Test ofthe Ashes atHeadingley, thefirst session notonly set the direc-tion of the matchbut also, decidedthe fate of theEngland team.

Clarke was the show stopper withhis magnificent knocks of 103 and93 in the third and the fourth Test.



for a man all of the Australia and the

rest of the cricket world had been beg-

ging to be recalled, Stuart Clark.

When one considers that England lasted

the duration of a day’s play for the

entire Test that comprises two innings,

it is not hard to see why England were

dejected. When the writing is pretty

much on the wall by lunch on the first

day of a Test, those are danger signs

for a team. For England, it was too late.

What makes the Headingley Test such a

nightmarish experience for England is

that fact that there was nothing partic-

ularly devilish about the pitch or the

weather and while Australia were per-

haps closer to executing their plans

than they have been all of the Ashes

summer, the England batsmen lacked

the temperament on the day to raise

their game. Injudicious shot selections,

ill-preparedness at the crease, perhaps

even taking the opposition’s bowling

attack for granted, England had no

time to recover from the spiral they set

themselves for.

A concerted effort by the Australian

bowlers though was pivotal for Australia

to stage a comeback in the Test series.

Ben Hilfenhaus performed outstanding-

ly but it was Peter Siddle who struck

gold after Clark made his mark. The

tameness and trepidation in the

England batting was only contrasted by

the deadly accuracy of Australia’s

bowlers and Clark’s precision was per-

haps the quality the Australians lacked

most on this tour. The vulnerability in

the England backbone was exposed by

the combination of bowlers and Peter

Siddle, with a five-fer, was like a tiger

who was not about to let a weakened

prey out of his grasp.

Being bowled out for 102 in just 33.5

overs, the ashes spread all over

England’s debacle very early into day

one. The England scorecard had nothing

to write home about. Thereafter,

Australia capitalized on a strangely lack-

adaisical England bowling, indicative of

the depressed mood by the efforts of

the morning. It came with an arrogance

and finesse thereafter as Shane Watson

and Ricky Ponting steered Australia past

England’s paltry score into the realm of

possibilities and then cherished the

glory of Michael Clarke in the morning

and Marcus North in the sunny after-

noon of day two as they brought

Australia to their near invincible aura

(Andrew Strauss would be hoping that

aura stuck around only for that match).

Clarke missed what would have been his

third Test century of the summer by

seven runs, but it did not stop North

from getting the third in his short

career.

Stuart Broad’s six wicket effort was

completely overshadowed by 445 colos-

sal runs that Australia chalked up, a

deficit of 343 that England would buck-

le under. England’s collective collapse

was only further strengthened by

James Anderson’s uncharacteristically

wayward bowling. Hilfenhaus though

enjoyed the responsibility, another four

wicket haul testimony of it. But there

was another to overshadow this hero.

Mitchell Johnson came to England as

the Australian spearhead over the last

six months with Brett Lee slipping in

and out of domestic turmoil as well as

injuries. Lee stirred controversy when

he stated he was ready for the fourth

England battingwas only con-trasted by thedeadly accuracyof Australia’sbowlers andPeter Siddle, witha five-fer, waslike a tiger whowas not about tolet a weakenedprey out of hisgrasp.

Peter Siddle celebrates in joy after taking five wickets in the first innings of the fourth Test Match.



Test but took on Shane Watson for dis-

cussing Lee’s lack of match fitness,

something the selectors appeared to

agree with. However, Johnson slipped

from Australia’s favourite son (no refer-

ence to the relationship with his mother

here, although many have attributed it

as a factor on this tour) to Australia’s

most hated. But he came up with a

more belligerent game plan, one that

reaped enormous dividends in terms of

a five wicket haul that gave Australia

their series leveling win by an innings

and eighty runs in less than three days.

Johnson is not about to change that

aggressive tone and intent, Cricket

Australia’s warning about sledging

notwithstanding.

OFF THE CUFF REAC-TIONSThe England team were evacuated

from their hotel rooms in the wee

hours of the morning of the first day’s

play due to an alleged prank on the part

of the Australian fan group, the

Fanatics, setting off the fire alarms. It is

hard to blame this disturbance for

England’s shambolic performance but it

cannot be ruled out as one of the fac-

tors. And if indeed it was a prank, irre-

spective of whether it impacted the

performance of the opposition, fans

have only disgracefully shown how low

they can stoop and for a country with

such rich cricket history, they have

reduced the intensity of the sport by a

nefarious activity unbecoming of custo-

dians whose job it is to keep the flag

flying high.

There was panic in England as specula-

tion went into overdrive. Flintoff was

promptly drafted in two days after the

fourth Test ended on the third day.

Marcus Trescothick was supposedly con-

fronting nightmares following word of a

possible recall while Mark Ramprakash

was certainly the talk of the town

despite Jeff Thompson’s take that

Ramprakash’s contributions could only

come in the form of a couple of “ball

dance moves”. England though chose to

repose faith in Jonathan Trott in lieu of

Ravi Bopara who appears to be a victim

of sledging, from the commentary box

and most palatably from Shane Warne.

Justin Langer’s secret dossier on the

England cricketers was not even neces-

sary as far as Australia were concerned.

But there are rumblings within the

Australian team too. Andrew Hilditch

stated that Clark will certainly be on the

back end of the list of Australia’s pre-

ferred fast bowlers and there is no

word about Brett Lee and where his

future is headed in the midst of such

fierce competition. Ponting is counting

on the unstable environment in the

England dressing room but he better be

sure to check in on his own.

If England were an ordinary team to

begin with, their win at Lord’s makes

their performance even more extraor-

dinary. If this was an overnight lapse,

they cannot go from being a competi-

tive team to a rather hopeless one all in

the span of one Test. Aficionados of

the game will be hoping it is the latter,

that Pietersen’s call for heroes to rise

will be heard, and that what awaits

them at the Oval will be one nail biting,

tempestuous finish. �Anderson was the pick of England bowlers with 5/80 in the first innings of the third Test Match.

Flintoff chip in with classy 74 in the third Test Match.


74 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match trivia contest reviews content news interviewBOUNCER

hirty-one seems the wrong age

to be saying “I’m retiring” and

yet that is exactly what England

all rounder, Andrew Flintoff, was

saying as he bid adieu to Test

cricket at the end of the Ashes. As

injury prone as his career has been, it

still came as a shock. Not only was his

age a reason for concern but also, that

it could be the start of a pandemic was

not lost on the cricket fraternity.

A GAME OF NUMBERSONLY? On the outset, there appears nothing

out of the ordinary or even spectacu-

larly incredible about Andrew Flintoff.

But if it is consistency of big hearted

efforts one is looking for, look no fur-

ther. Five wicket hauls and magnani-

mous centuries may have not always

stood out on Flintoff’s career graph.

But what the graph cannot plausibly

show is the vivaciousness and determi-

nation he brings to the field, the

aggressive intent that he inspires

amongst his team and his ability to

charismatically draw the crowds into

the game to add to the intensity of the

situation.

If cricket were a game of numbers only,

then Flintoff is still infantile by age and

thirty-one is no age to be turning his

nose against the game. Yet here he is

telling the world that nothing means

more to an England cricketer than play-

ing in the Ashes but also, that this will

be his swansong. Is he leaving the crick-

et for greener pastures? Yes and no.

RETIREMENT WITH ATWISTEven five years ago, a retirement like

this would not have gone down well

with the selectors as cricketers were

not considered eligible to make deci-

sions about selective retirement on

their own. Worse still, retirement would

have implied unavailability and the

option of picking one version over the

other, not the prerogative of the crick-

eter. Circa the age of Twenty20 and

suddenly seemingly snap retirements

and reignited careers do not seem to

suffer the wear and tear of the time

machine.

Although Flintoff announced his retire-

ment from Test cricket, England will still

have his services as a one day interna-

tional player and Twenty20 cricketer,

which incidentally also makes him eligi-

ble to participate in the Indian Premier

League for the Chennai Super Kings

since it is also a Twenty20 event.

In a telling case of the rigours of the

game, Flintoff is trading the version of

the game he claims to love the most

for one that will provide him the com-

fortable livelihood for him and his fami-

ly despite his prevalent injuries. In a way,

Flintoff endorses the fears that

emerged when Twenty20 took off in

the millions of dollars, namely that the

Indian Premier League (IPL) will encour-

age premature retirements.

With loads of money to be made with

less than half the effort required in a

one day international, it was an irre-

sistible lure for any cricketer, especially

one with a young family. With that per-

centage being a huge population in

cricket, it was not long before the old-

est amongst them and the youngest

were queuing up to be picked by the

franchisees in a version that had even

less of a workout for a king size pay

packet. It would not perhaps then be an

unfair question to ask: would Flintoff

still continue to play for England in the

Test matches had he not had the IPL

contract inked?

This is not to say that Flintoff is looking

at a better life and therefore, releasing

himself from the commitment from

arguably the most rigourous ‘test’ in

cricket history. The fact that he has

announced his retirement has not

meant that Flintoff would rest on his

past laurels. If anything, he has

appeared more determined in the

Ashes, even withstanding debilitating

pain at times, than he has in recent

months. His outstanding performance

by Sreelata S. Yellamrazu

t

Make Flintoff’s RetirementAn Exception,Not the Trend

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at Lord’s to give

England the winning

edge was merely

an example of it.

But where suste-

nance over a

five day game is

all about

endurance,

Flintoff had put

in too many

days of absence

and his lack of

attendance had

become a perma-

nent contingency

plan with the England

team. With the one day

internationals affording rest

between playing days and the

Twenty20 games taking less out of a

player, Flintoff has chosen to have his

cake and eat it too. While he continues

to play cricket, Flintoff is ensuring he can

do it in the way he feels possible for him

to hold his fragile body up.

CAN FLINTOFF BECOME APRECEDENT?Former England opener and now commen-

tator, Sir Geoffrey Boycott, hit the nail on

the head back in February earlier this year

when he stated he did not think Flintoff

had it in him to go beyond the Ashes and

that he would likely take the course of

announcing his retirement from Test crick-

et and focus entirely on the IPL where he

bagged the highest paid cricketer tag for

1.55 million dollars.

Andrew Flintoff did not take Boycott’s advice

on retirement and it is quite possible retire-

ment was not Flintoff’s mind, not until the

Ashes anyway. Flintoff kept assuring the

Chennai Super Kings of his presence in the IPL 2

season in South Africa even though he was

returning home from England’s tour of the

West Indies with a hip injury. Then the knee

injury broke his will power and the eventual

rehabilitation ushered in a rather premature

retirement.

Injury/illness can have a strenuous effect on

the mind. Flintoff, at the time of announcing

his retirement, touched upon the fact that

since that the Ashes of 2005, he had spent

two of the four years in rehabilitation over a

number of injuries, a fact hit upon when notic-

ing that Flintoff had played in only twenty-

three of the forty-six Tests that England

played since that success until the series

against the West Indies.

In that sense, it should not have come as a

shock in a strategic sense for England who, by

now, should have found an alternative.

However, players such as Flintoff are hard to



come by and even harder to replace.

Their immeasurable qualities make them

not only unique but also, virtually indis-

pensable, especially when the team is

not doing well and needs that additional

effort from the heart.

But players such as Flintoff also have to

weigh – at what cost. When injury has

played such an important part in a

sportsman’s life, there has to be the lin-

gering question – is it all worth it?

Apart from ’job’ satisfaction, he

would be considered practically

foolish to pass up the opportuni-

ty to be earning a living from

the game but with much less

the stress on his body and

subsequently, on his mind.

In a more determining

and with rather detri-

mental effect, there

could be young players

who would look at

Flintoff and at the first

hint of serious injury,

think to themselves – is

it necessary to get to this

level of deterioration,

especially when there is an

easier option available?

PREVENTING AFLINTOFF FOLLOWING These are incredible days for a cricketer

- money in the game like there never

was before, opportunities galore other

than playing for one’s country and

fame of unprecedented proportions for

short blitz of glory.

There were concerns that Kevin

Pietersen would have been thinking

along those lines after his Achilles heel

injury, allegedly worsened during the IPL

2, became such a hindrance during the

first two Tests of the Ashes that he

was stretchered right into surgery in

that the last lingering image was of him

hobbling while trying to take a run and

the next image was of him on crutches.

As it turned out, complications

in the form of infection in

the scar tissue after surgery

had him going back to the hospi-

tal, further setting back his plans of

a comeback.

While Pietersen insisted that he had no

plans for a premature retire-

ment in lieu of a career

that was exclusively

IPL’s, these are realis-

tic contingency

thoughts going

through any mod-

ern day cricketer

(as well as adminis-

trators) and it

would be hard to

blame them, even

for being excessively

materialistic.

In a way, this lure also came

through official channels. The ICC had

an inkling of the commercial fall outs of

blessing an initiative such as the IPL,

although the extent may have escaped

even the more discretionary mind. For

the ICC to talk about unregulated cash

flow in the game is then its rather late,

helpless response to the growing con-

cerns over players’ loyalties in the game.

Gary Kirsten, the Indian coach, pin

pointed the IPL 2 as a factor in India’s

debacle of the ICC World Twenty20 in

England. However, it is hard to argue on

the lines of fatigue when most players

around the world were also featuring in

the IPL 2. Having said that, Kirsten was

hinting at the commercial aspects of

the game that were dividing the play-

er’s time between his commitments on

the field and those off it and affecting

his judgement about resting and recu-

perating ahead of an important national

duty, resulting in lengthy injury lay off

thereafter.

The ICC has its own solution in the issue

it has raised. By placing ceiling on the

payments accruing through authorized

cricket such as the IPL and checking

them through unplanned growth and

expansion (case in point, ninety-four

proposed matches in the 2011 edition)

when the end and means are only

financial and not all of it going into the

development of the game, the ICC

FormerEngland opener

Sir Geoffrey Boycott, hitthe nail on the head back

in February earlier this yearwhen he stated he did not think

Flintoff had it in him to gobeyond the Ashes and he couldfocus entirely on the IPL where

he bagged the highest paidcricketer tag for 1.55

million dollars.



would do itself and the game of cricket

a great service.

By ensuring to raise the players’ securi-

ty and compensation in the matter of

injuries as well as a reasonable pension

beyond retirement would go a long way

in attracting the player to stick with

national commitments over club com-

mitments.

Be it Test cricket or club cricket, players

fear losing their spot, play day in and

day out without letting the team in on

their injuries and with no time for recu-

peration, are susceptible to frequent

breakdowns that only in a vicious circle

type scenario, add to their insecurity of

a longer stint with their national team.

More inclusive contracts, incentives

based on performance appraisals, bet-

ter scheduling of the international cal-

endar, more planned breaks for family

time, would go a great way to keep

the player happy and secure

without having to stretch

himself.

Domestic dispute was

stated to be the start-

ing point of Brett

Lee’s downslide of his

marriage and his

career. Cricket

Australia did not

lose the opportuni-

ty and instead held

a day for family

counseling before

their cricketers head-

ed to England for the

Ashes. Ricky Ponting

recently spoke about his

gratitude and appreciation

for the Cricket Australia’s style of tak-

ing care of their players to make sure

they were fresh, fit and raring to go.

Ponting was given rest following

the end of the fifth Ashes

Test and the mini break

was intended to keep him

fresh for a long interna-

tional list of commit-

ments as captain even

though Michael Clarke

is hot on his heels.

Flintoff may not have

been making a great

case for too much cricket

given the number of Test

cricket matches he has missed.

However, it is a concern and perhaps a

more humane schedule will see players

perceive playing for their national team

just as financially rewarding and physi-

cally less demanding.

Some would say that the reason so

many cricketers whose chose to associ-

ate themselves with the Indian Cricket

League (ICL) only to break away now

was because the IPL money had

stunned them into thinking they had

done the wrong thing. But for most

cricketers with a candid confession,

they have spoken about just how much

they missed being a part of their

national line ups, of wanting something

deeper as a cricketer than the mere

thrill of Twenty20, and of being able to

play Test cricket in all its intensity.

Another way to raise the profile of the

game in the eyes of the cricketer would

be by not diluting Test cricket, the high-

est format of the game, to suit the

Twenty20 viewer but rather encourag-

ing the growth of the game and raising

the attraction for donning one’s nation-

al colours. Redefining the profile of the

domestic structure to enhance lucrative

incentives while the cricketers hone

their skills for the preparation of the

larger tests would be another.

Cricket would do itself a great favour

by ensuring that future Flintoffs have a

better chance at performance, rest,

rehabilitation and raising a comfortable

lifestyle (most cricketers’ pay cheques

already afford the latter) so that they

would not find themselves at the cross-

roads where cricket must become a

pitchfork affair. �

Ricky Pontingrecently spoke about

his gratitude and appre-ciation for the Cricket

Australia’s style of takingcare of their players tomake sure they were

fresh, fit and rar-ing to go.


78 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewDISTINGUISHED CAREER

urtains fell on a very distin-

guished Test match career

of Chaminda Vaas after he

announced that the series

against the Pakistanis would

be the last one he would be a part of;

of course, with a caveat that he will be

still available for selection in the other

formats of the game. And to my mind,

with this closure, we are one step away

from the end of cricket seeing these

decade and half test careers in the

future, what with the magi-noodle for-

mat of the games allowing for crick-

eters to feature in the five-day games

for some years before calling it quits

for the lucrative alternatives.

Not for nothing did Vaas survive and

blossom for more than 15 years in

international cricket. If he had begun his

international innings as a nippy and

quick swing bowler, then like many of

his predecessors, he quickly learnt the

art of surprising the batsmen with the

vagaries of his

bowling. Like Dennis Lillee, Imran Khan or

Javagal Srinath, he learnt the motley of

change of pace, cut across the seam,

and the ball that straightened instead

of coming in with the swing to the

right handed batsman. All of this

ensured that 110 test matches

after having made his debut,

he ended his sojourn at the

test match level with 355

wickets at a more than

acceptable average of

less than 30 runs per

wicket.

The oft-repeated phrase

about Vaas being one of

the servants of Sri Lankan cricket rings

is absolutely true. But, more than the

figures associated with his bowling, it is

a batting milestone that corroborates

this fact; a century in test matches

after having none in the first 96 games

that he played in! As if toiling manfully

on unresponsive tracks, inhuman weath-

er conditions and under captains who

would wait for as long as the first cou-

ple of them went to the fence before

turning to Muralitharan was not

enough, Vaas had taken upon himself to

metamorphose himself from a dour

blocker to a useful accumulator, to

finally an all-rounder who could more

by Suneer Chowdhary

c

Man Friday of Sri Lankancricket walks

into the dawn

VAAS.qxd 8/26/2009 5:48 PM Page 2


than hold his

own with the bat.

This is not to say that

the bowling deteriorat-

ed with time. It is often

said that Murali is the wily

old fox, with a bag full of

tricks. However, Murali’s

biggest asset that provides

the perfect backbone to the

rest of his armoury, was his

ability to turn the ball a

mile. Vaas did not possess

a lot of pace, with the

swing with the new ball

being his only forte. The

pace may have decelerat-

ed, but not the guile and

the wiliness, and with age,

Vaas managed to ward off

any challengers to his posi-

tion in the team with some

excellent ability to roll the

fingers over the seam,

either ways.

And lest one forget, he did

relish conditions that support-

ed even an iota of swing, such

was his control and mastery of

the incoming ball to the right-handers.

In one such ODI against the hapless

Zimbabweans, he ran through the top,

middle and the lower order to send

eight batsmen – including a hat-trick –

back to the pavilion, and finish off the

opposition for a measly 38 runs! As if to

prove that this effort with the ball was

no flash in the pan, he cleaned up the

mighty Indian batting with a 5/14 haul,

on a track where his own countrymen

had piled up a near 300. Another oppo-

sition to suffer at the hands of Vaas

was Bangladesh, as the 2003 World Cup

saw the first ever instance of a bowler

picking up three wickets off the first

three deliveries of the game, and he

added another one off fifth delivery to

send the opposing batting into an early

tizzy. Incidentally, he finished the tour-

nament atop of the bowling list, with

23 wickets.

To give an analogy of his swing, it was a

Siamese twin to Irfan Pathan’s when

the Indian was at the peak of his

prowess – or the other way around –

but unlike Pathan, whatever he lost by

the way of pace in the early part of his

career, and the bite in the later portion,

was made up in more ways than one by

his mental strength and pin-point lines

and lengths.

Vaas’ legacy will always be remem-

bered for being a successful fast-

medium bowler from that part

of the world where the tracks

have traditionally been difficult

to bowl on for his brand of art.

And where does his retire-

ment leave the Lankan pace

bowling cupboard? The

answer to that question

can possibly be found

mirrored in two impor-

tant and interesting

facets.

One is the fact that

Sri Lankan medium-

pace bowler, Nuwan

Kulasekera, current-

ly holds the top

spot for bowlers in

ICC’s official rank-

ings; a position

that he has held for more than six

months now. Secondly, if one were to

look at the Sri Lankan bowling records

of the recent times, it would becomes

easier to conclude that the Vaas has

done enough to inspire the younger

breed of quick bowlers into not only

taking up this trait, but also matching

the likes of Muralitharan and Mendis,

wicket for wicket.

The first game of the ongoing test

match has already had Thilan Thushara

do more than his bit with the ball,

whereas the test series preceding this –

against Pakistan – had had Nuwan

Kulasekera topping the bowling charts

with 17 wickets. Even there, Thushara

had scalped 12, which was after the

nine he bagged in the ODIs. With Angelo

Mathews coming into the fold too, the

Lankan quick-bowling cupboard seems

to have more than just the one prover-

bial leaf off the Chaminda Vaas book.

To cap it, Sri Lanka also possesses the

likes of Farveez Maharoof and Lasith

Malinga, both of whom have been more

out than in the side because of a vari-

ety of reasons – injury and form being

the two major ones at that. Malinga has

already proved his worth as an almost-

unplayable bowler in the death overs

with his ability to bowl the ones under

the batsmen’s bat at will. On the other

hand, Maharoof had a decent start to

his career, but lack of wickets seems to

have taken the sting out him, and

Mathews has taken over the number

seven position of a bowler who could

bat in the ODI setup. So much so, that

Mathews has earned the test match

cap as well, and while his bowling

remains as ‘work-in-progress’ for now,

what certainly does not is his attitude.

What will be definitely missed, if not for

his incisiveness was his perseverance at

bowling longish spells. Known to some-

time finish up eight or nine overs off

the ten a bowler is permitted to, in a

single first spell, he could also take up

the role of a stock bowler, which per-

mitted the Lankan captains to unleash

Muralitharan from the other end and

pick up many a wicket.

In all probabilities, it will be a difficult

road back into the ODI side as well for

Vaas, but somewhere in there, there

would be a burning desire for their

last hurrah, that final moment of

glory, and a healthy contribution

in the home World Cup of

2011, just like he had in the

1996 version. It remains to be

seen whether he gets that

opportunity! �

Vaas’ legacywill always beremembered forbeing a suc-cessful fast-medium bowlerfrom that part ofthe world wherethe tracks havetraditionallybeen difficult tobowl on for hisbrand of art.

VAAS.qxd 8/26/2009 5:48 PM Page 3

news preview cover story interview triviaYORKED!!! 80 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

eing a fan of the South

African cricket team is

without doubt the most

frustrating job in the

world. After all, you

always take pride in your team being

one of the most professional one to

play the sport and start almost

every tournament as one of the

favourites. Even then the South

African Cricket Board’s cupboard

lays thread bare with nothing of

note to show for.

It is nearly eighteen years up since

the Proteas won back the right to

play cricket, host international

teams and travel on tours abroad.

Apartheid had kept them away for

quite a bit of time but the way they

started, it almost seemed as they

would make up for it without pass-

ing too much time.

It happened first in the 1992 World

Cup. Under Kepler Wessels, South

Africa were largely an unknown and

unpredictable commodity at that

time. But they were not disappoint-

ing in the preliminary round when all

teams had to play against each

other. They ended third in the

league with five victories from eight

games, although before the tourna-

ment they had won only one of

their three introductory limited-

overs matches in India, some three

months before.

Here, under coach Mike Procter, one

of the world’s greatest cricketers at

the time of South Africa’s expulsion,

and spearheaded by the speedy

Allan Donald, they coolly beat

Australia by nine wickets at Sydney.

They lost to New Zealand and Sri

Lanka but beat the West Indies at

Christchurch followed by a win over

Pakistan and another over India in a

rain curtailed match which guaran-

teed their passage to the semi

finals.

In between all this, the players

shone with some brilliant perform-

ances. Peter Kirsten, who was left

out of the original tour squad, aver-

aged 68.33 in the preliminary

matches. Jonty Rhodes attracted

notice by his electrifying fielding,

immortalized himself with an air-

borne demolition of the stumps to

run out Inzamam-ul-Haq. All of them

were gathering steam at the right

time and in the knock out stages,

you never know which team might

outperform the other. In the end,

their campaign was cruelly ended by

the sudden heavy shower which fell

on the SCG, transforming a require-

ment of 22 off 13 balls to a mock-

ing 21 off one. It was such a ridicu-

lous rule that the moment in ques-

tion is still a butt of many cricketing

jokes round the world.

After the 1992 tournament, the

South African team grew from

strength to strength. Hansie Cronje

was the captain, had the likes of

b

by Chetan Narula

The unluckiestteam in the world

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Gary Kirsten, Darryl Cullinan and

Jonty Rhodes in the middle with

Allan Donald leading the bowling

attack. Four years hence they

arrived in the Indian sub-continent

perched again as one of the pre-

tournament favourites.

Placed in group B, they won all their

matches handsomely, with none of

the teams coming even remotely

close to troubling them. But they

ran into the West Indies in the quar-

terfinals and in fact it was one man

Brian Lara who was their downfall,

not the remaining ten. His century

cost them a place in the semis, as

they faced a relatively early flight

home.

1999 saw them gain even more

strength. There was Herschelle Gibbs

at the top of the order now, Mark

Boucher in the middle and Lance

Klusener after that, all in the same

explosive mould making the team an

even bigger threat. What’s more,

their biggest rivals Australia were

rebuilding as Steve Waugh was newly

appointed captain and had endured

a tough series in the Caribbean.

The group stage again went as per

the script for they topped the

charts with four wins out of five.

More than that, they lost to a mav-

erick Zimbabwe side – punching

much above its weight through out

the tournament – and so many

thought that the worst was now

behind them, as they had had their

share of bad luck in this one world

cup. It seemed so too for in the

Super Six stage, they won their first

two matches and were in complete

control going into the last game

against Australia. Beating them

would mean an easier semi final, plus

their biggest rivals the Aussies going

out as well.

As it turned out, that match

became famous for two things.

Steve Waugh’s brilliant fight back

and Herschelle Gibbs dropping the

world cup, oops no, a catch! It is

probably the most famous dropped

chance in the history of the sport as

Australia were able to fight back and

advance to the semis, setting up a

clash with the Proteas again.

Waugh had been calling on his team

to show their wares and become

champions after the disappointment

in 1996. And their determination

showed as did the nerves of the

South Africans. Lance Klusener who

had been flawless throughout the

length of the 1999 World Cup now

botched up a run and the match

was a tie. Australia progressed on

the basis of their win in the Super

Six. Televisions beamed the image of

Cronje standing muted in the dress-

Lance Klusenerwho had beenflawlessthroughout thelength of the1999 World Cupnow botched upa run and thematch was a tie.Australia pro-gressed on thebasis of their winin the Super Six.



ing room at Edgbaston. Some say

you can still see his ghost at that

ground!

The following couple of years were

not that great for cricket in South

Africa as the year 2001 brought out

a lot of ghosts from their closet,

most notably the ban on Hansie

Cronje for allegations of match fix-

ing. Nicky Boje and Gibbs were

affected too and while these names

were spent off the field, Donald and

Jonty Rhodes bid adieu as the 2003

World Cup approached. This time to

be held in South Africa, it was no

different in the sense that they

were once again billed as pre-tour-

nament favourites.

It was no different in that sense as

well that their luck refused to

change even when faced with home

support. They lost to West Indies

and New Zealand but it was the tied

match against Sri Lanka that hurt

them the most. Rain intervened in

the match bringing in mess-making

Duckworth-Lewis into play. South

Africa were level on runs required

and Mark Boucher decided to play

the last ball of the game for a dot.

Nobody in the middle or in the

dressing room had bothered to

check what the par score was.

Shaun Pollock bore the brunt of this

foolishness and was soon expended

with, as this time it wasn’t as much

with the luck but with being pre-

pared. South Africa had fallen short

in the first round itself and their

world cup curse was no firmly in

place.

Under new skipper Graeme Smith,

the Proteas took a long time to

rebuild. 2004 was an especially poor

year for them as they could only

beat the West Indies in ODI cricket

and being honest, they are not the

toughest teams to beat. However,

they are too good a team to keep

down for long and in 2006, they

chased down 434 in an ODI against

Australia in Johannesburg to signal

to the world that they were once

again on the upswing.

Prior to the 2007 World Cup, they

regularly challenged the Aussies for

the world number one ranking and

even overthrew them on a couple

of occasions. It seemed the stage

was set for a royal battle and this

time there would be a different

result to the South African chal-

lenge. But they managed to mess

up this one time as well. Losing to

Australia in the group stages, they

lost to New Zealand in the Super

Eights and then went down to

Bangladesh as well. What this meant

was that they would once again

face Australia in the semi finals who

were gunning for their third consec-

utive crown. And in the last ODI

World Cup South Africa were

bowled out for just 149 in the semi

finals to complete their poor run,

In 2007 WorldCup SouthAfrica againfaced Australiain the semifinals but theywere bowledout for just 149in the knockout stage tocomplete theirpoor run, yetagain.



yet again.

And this world cup hoodoo has

extended to the T20 World Cup as

well. That very same year in 2007, in

the inaugural tournament, they

were well placed to make it to the

semi-finals on the back of some

strong form. In fact they were the

unbeaten team of the tournament

till the time they met a rampant

Indian team. Chasing 154, they need-

ed 130 odd runs to qualify for the

semi finals on terms of run rate as

the Indians turned on the heat. But

put South Africa under pressure in

any world cup and they will crumble

came true once again as they man-

aged to not only lose but failed to

get to the threshold of qualifying

for the next round.

It was no different for them in the

2009 T20 World Cup in England.

They were clearly the best team,

winning every game in the group

stages and then the Super Eights as

well, only to go down to Pakistan in

the semi finals. Or should one say

Shahid Afridi! Whatever be the ver-

dict, it is but a fact that South

Africa are the best cricket team

ever not to win a world cup.

Their story is much the same in the

Champions Trophy as well. In 2002,

they went down to India in the semi

finals when chasing 260-odd, they

were well guided by a century from

Gibbs. But Gibbs retired with dehy-

dration and then the Indian spinners

turned on the screws. In 2004, their

match against West Indies was hit by

rain and when play continued the

next day, the Windies chased down

250 with ease. In 2006, Windies

again played their nemesis in India

this time, as they stopped their run

once again in the semis, this time

chasing 262 with ease.

The only success on the world stage

to come South Africa’s way has

been the Knock-Out Trophy in 1998,

where they were superb winners in

Bangladesh. Two years later they

reached the semi finals again, so this

was a much consistent performance

on the better side for the Proteas.

And lest we forget they also have

the only ever CommonWealth Games

cricket gold medal to their name,

which came in 1998.

The underlying point is this: should

their fans over the world be satis-

fied with just one major win and a

sorry excuse for a gold medal in

almost two decades of their return

to cricket? When are some of the

best cricketers in the world going to

stand up, make themselves be

counted and make sure that poor

excuses such as bad luck, careless-

ness and one-off wins for lowly

placed teams do not get in their way

of much-deserved glory?

When is South Africa going to break

their hoodoo at a World Cup? �

In 2002ChampionsTrophy they wentdown to India inthe semi finalswhen chasing260-odd, theywere well guid-ed by a centuryfrom Gibbs. ButGibbs retiredand then theIndian spinnersturned on thescrews.


86 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewIN CONVERSATION

RAH

UL

DEW

AN Rahul Dewan might be a

new kid on the block buthe has started roaringfor what looks like the

beginning of a promis-ing career. Having

received the award forbest under-22 player

from BCCI, Rahul is leav-ing no stepping stonebehind to achieve his

ultimate goal. He speaksexclusively with CricketToday about his cricket-

ing world.

WHAT LED YOUR INCLINA-TION TOWARDS CRICKET?I come from a sports background fami-

ly. My father and brother were crick-

eters in their times so by seeing and

talking to them I developed interest in

cricket.

WHEN DID IT HAPPEN?I started playing cricket when I was in

the sixth standard. By the time when

my ongoing reached satisfaction level I

thought of taking this sport seriously.

Family support was always there to

stand up by me.

YOU PLAYED JUNIORCRICKET FOR DELHI BUTTHEN WENT ON TO PARTICI-PATE FOR HARYANA INRANJI TROPHY. IS THEREANY SPECIFIC REASON FORTHIS?I have been there in the Delhi side for

under-19 and under-22 slot and even

led the brigade. Performance wise I was

up to the mark especially in under-22,

but all my efforts went in vain when I

couldn’t crack a place in Delhi’s Ranji

team. I knew Delhi team had got open-

ers like Sehwag, Gautam and Aakash, so

my chances of getting in the team

were very dim. In order to play Ranji

early in my career, this idea of moving

to haryana struck in my mind and I

moved on with that. My

hear

t goe

s fo

r Har

yana

My

hear

t goe

s fo

r Har

yana

RAHUL DIWAN INTERVIEW.qxd 8/26/2009 5:58 PM Page 2


HARYANA COMES IN THE PLATEDIVISION OF RANJI FORMATBECAUSE IT GETS LESS FOCUS FROMMEDIA AND INDIAN CRICKETBOARD. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TOSAY ON THIS?Last season was my first season with Haryana and I am very sat-

isfied with the performance. Moreover our one-day matches are

played according to zone wise format. We also got chance to

chip in for Duleep and Deodhar Trophy. I know that my team is a

part of plate division because of which it finds less mileage as

compare to Elite division but we would be giving our best in the

coming season so that we can take our team to the main divi-

sion. Good performance can not be backed out on the basis of

divisions in domestic competition.

WERE YOU CONTACTED BYANY OF THE FRANCHISES INTHE SECOND SEASON OFTHE INDIAN PREMIERLEAGUE?I went to Bangalore Royal Challenger’s campthis time round but unfortunately couldn’tget my place in. They selected onemiddle order batsman and onebowler from the trial camp so Iwas not looked upon as therewas no requirement for theopening slot. I didn’t con-tact any other franchis-es because each oneof them has gotlots of players intheir realm.

YOU ARE A GOOD BATSMAN BUT STILL YOU ARE NOT APART OF ANY IPL TEAM?

I was in the Delhi Daredevils team on the scholarship basis in the first season

but couldn’t get chance to play. I was only contracted for one year.

IF YOU GET A CHANCE TO PLAY IN THE THIRD SEASONOF IPL, WHICH TEAM WOULD GET YOUR THUMBS UP?

I am ready to play for any of the IPL team because every time round position

of teams goes up and down. IPL is a very good platform for the youngsters,

where hard work in short span of time can bring you in limelight, which is like

a dream come true for any of the young lad.

GIVEN A CHANCE WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAYFOR DELHI AGAIN?Haryana gave me a chance when I was looking for an oppurtu-

nity to play early in my career. Now it is my responsibility to

stuck with them. Playing for Delhi is the talk of future but

presently my heart goes for Haryana. I will put my sheer hard

work in to take my team to the elite group and if it happens, I

am going to be the most proud person.



YOUR MEMORABLEINNING SO FAR?I have played many good innings in the Under-

22 cricket where scores of 160, 300 and an

unbeaten 254 are intact in my memory, but

the knock of 81 runs in the Duleep trophy is

my best and memorable inning so far because

it got me words of praise from Rahul Dravid.

He spoke to me for five minutes after this

inning.

YOU ARE VERYCLOSE TOAAKASH CHOPRA,HOW MUCH HELPHAS HE OFFEREDTO YOU?Aakash bhai has always given me

guidance. Apart from technique

he has taught me how to

improve my batting abilities and

patience too. To be honest

Aakash bhai has a major role in

my success.

BOLLYWOOD HAS TAKENITS ENTRY IN CRICKET. HOWDO YOU SEE THAT?It is a nice step from which both the parties

would get benefit. Players will get the chance to

meet their favorite on-screen stars. Furthermore

people have started getting more attached to

cricket because their much loved bollywood

celebrities are joining cricketing ranks.

WHICH FORMAT OF CRICKET YOULIKE THE MOST?I like all the three formats of cricket. Test cricket

checks batting technique, patience and the talent

posses by its disciple. With my strong perform-

ance I will try to put myself in contention for all

the three formats of the game. However Test

cricket is the real form of this game.

HAVE YOU EVER MET VIRENDER SEHWAG? Yes I have met Viru on one or two occasions. He is very humble and even

after getting so much fame he speaks so cordially and politely with everyone.

Viru is incredible and just by seeing him you get the sense of self control.

HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER RECEIVING THE AWARD FORBEST UNDER-22 CRICKETER FROM BCCI? I was really happy at this facilitation. It is the result of my hard work and is

going to act as an inspirational factor in the near future. Now my efforts

would be to perform well in the Ranji Trophy so that I could get the best

player award in this competition some day.



MYFAVOURITES:BOLLYWOOD FILM

ANDAAZ APNA APNA

ACTOR (MALE)AKSHAY KUMAR(COMEDY) AND

AAMIR KHAN

ACTOR (FEMALE)PRIYANKA CHOPRA

CRICKETERSACHIN TENDULKAR

OTHER SPORTBESIDE CRICKET

I LIKE ALL THE SPORTS

CRICKET GROUNDWHERE EVER I SCORE

RUNS.

DRESS CODEIT DEPENDS ON THE

OCCASION.

FOODNON-VEG & ITALIAN.

MOBILE HANDSETNOT ON THE LIST. I

JUST REQUIRE PHONETO MAKE CALLS AND

SEND MESSAGES.

WHAT ARE YOUR ACTIVITIES IN THE LEISURETIME? Apart from regular net practice I devote my spare time to enjoywith my family and friends.


90 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewWILLOWY WORDS

or me, the spirit of cricket

and all the values it stands

for is more important than

the players, runs, wickets,

winning and losing. For me,

cricket as I loved died long

back. I wish cricket had remained an

amateur game. England, where profes-

sionalism under the curb of amateurs

always existed, is an exception, though.”

Vasant Naishadh Raiji, former Mumbai

player, eminent cricket writer and histo-

rian, and sincere, dedicated patron of

the game, has echoed feelings of many

old-timers like him. His whole approach

to cricket and his ideas about the game

may imply that he is a traditionalist. But

he is not completely averse to mod-

ernism in cricket. He insists, however, to

call himself a person who has played the

game, who loves it. “As it was once

played,” he hastens to add.

There are certain things that irritate

Raiji about present-day cricket. “There is

too much commercialism. Players talk of

money and money all the time. This has

led to bad sportsmanship, challenging

umpires’ decisions, maligning your col-

leagues and opponents, raising unnece-

sary controversies and so many

unpleasant things. Cricket crowds also

show much indiscipline, booing players

who fail,” he laments.

Born on January 26, 1920, Raiji is more

famous as a critic and historian than as

a highly competitive cricketer he once

was. He had represented what were

then Bombay and Baroda in India’s

national championship.

Raiji started playing cricket while at

school. He was an opening batsman

almost throughout his cricket career. At

the school, college and club level he also

bowled off-spin, but did not get much

of a chance to show his bowling skills in

first-class cricket.

He captained his school team in the

Harris Shield in 1935. He also led his col-

lege side and won the batting prize for

three successive years. His highest

score in the Rahimtoola Shield Inter-

Collegiate Tournament was 118 against

St. Xavier’s College in 1939. Raiji was

likewise captain of his beloved club, the

Jolly Cricketers, in the Kanga League.

Did he ever dream of representing India

in Test cricket? “On the basis of my per-

formances in first-class cricket I wasn’t

good enough to play for India. It’s possi-

ble that I had the potential but it wasn’t

realised. I can’t say that any injustice

was done to me. I had never set my

eyes on the India cap. I loved the game

and played it for fun and enjoyment. I

consider myself lucky that I had good

fortune to represent Bombay and

Baroda in the Ranji Trophy,” he says

with the touching modesty, an endear-

ing feature of his personality.

He was a reserve for the Hindus in the

Pentagulars in 1941. Incidentally, the

Hindus won the championship. And so

did Mumbai, in 1941, though Raiji’s own

showing made “no contribution” to its

triumph. Raiji also played for the presti-

gious Cricket Club of India (CCI) against

the Commomwealth Team that toured

this country after World War II. It was a

three-day game with a first-class status.

He was in London in 1946 and 1947,

playing club cricket at the Indian

Gymkhana. He scored four centuries in

England. Interestingly, he played for the

Indian Gymkhana against the touring

Indian team in England in 1946, though

it was not a first-class game. Learie

Constantine also played for the Indian

Gymkhana in the match.

Raiji played a solitary club match at

Lord’s. He shone with bat as well as ball,

scoring 41 not out and taking 5 wickets.

After returning to India he played for

Baroda against what was then Madras in

a Ranji Trophy semifinal in February

1950. He made 42 and remained unde-

feated. Raiji continued playing club

cricket until 1960. He was about 40, and

with no “motiovation” left, he decided

to stop playing for good. Raiji is the old-

est living Mumbai cricketer today.

Right from his early childhood Raiji was

a great admirer of L.P. Jai and C.K.

Nayudu; he also held Mohammad Nissar

“f

by Haresh Pandya

Vasant Raiji, a respectedIndian cricket historian

Willowy Words.qxd 8/26/2009 6:03 PM Page 2

and Amarsinh Nakum in high regard. So

much so, he dedicated his nicely edited

book L.P. Jai: Memories of a Great

Batsman to Nayudu, Nissar and Nakum.

But he could not help admitting, “Of

course, Don Bradman was every

schoolboy’s hero in the 1930s.”

However, it is Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji

who remains Raiji’s all-time favourite

cricketer. “Though I watched him just

once in 1928, when I was only 8 years

of age, I’ve vivid memories of his

strokeplay. But more than a player he

was one of the finest gentlemen I ever

met. He was so modest, so considerate.

I had tears in my eyes when I learnt of

his death,” he says about his idol.

In fact, Raiji has always been keen to

discuss this princely personality with

anyone who is interested in the game

and its glorious past. Raiji had edited, in

collaboration with Vijay Merchant,

Anandji Dossa and Vithalbhai Jhaveri, a

very interesting and nostalgic com-

memoration volume, Duleep: the Man

and His Game, in 1963 following his

death in 1959.

Frank Worrell was another favourite of

Raiji. “What a beautiful batsman! His

every movement on the cricket field

was graceful. The same can be said of

C.K. Nayudu,” he remarks about the

former West Indies captain.

After giving up cricket as an active

player, Raiji wanted to continue his

association with the game. “I loved the

game so much. So I wanted to be a

part of it,” he emphasises. He ruled out

scoring and umpiring and administra-

tive duties. Instead he tried his hand at

cricket writing when the Pakistani team

toured India in 1961.

All the articles he wrote about the


Raiji is morefamous as a criticand historian thanas a highly com-petitive cricketerhe once was. Hehad representedwhat were thenBombay andBaroda in India’snational champi-onship.

Willowy Words.qxd 8/27/2009 10:13 AM Page 3

Pakistani side and its players were pub-

lished in The Times of India. “K.N. Prabhu

was its sports editor at that time. It was

actually he who gave me the break in

the field of cricket writing,” reveals Raiji,

expressing his sense of gratitude

towards one of India’s greatest sports-

writers.

Raiji continued writing informative,

interesting critical pieces on cricket,

never compromising with his fixed ideas

about the game and its practitioners.

Since there was not a single book on

the incomparable Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji

by an Indian cricket writer until then,

Raiji decided to write one.

The result was Ranji: the Legend and

the Man, a book warmly received by the

serious students of the willow game in

India and abroad, which also hit the

stands in 1963.

“Charmingly produced. It is excellent.

Every essential is in it. The author

writes about the great magical player

with understanding and imagination,”

remarked Neville Cardus, no less, in his

inimitable style while reviewing the book

in Wisden. Cardus had earlier written a

personal letter to Raiji and compliment-

ed him on his nice book on Ranji.

John Arlott, too, wrote two excellent

reviews of the unputdownable book. “A

charming study of one of cricket’s most

exciting personalities… A fascinating and

consice record of a player who pos-

sessed genius,” said the renowned

broadcaster and cricket writer.

The success of Ranji: the Legend and

the Man and its favourable, rave

reviews by distinguished cricket writers

gave Raiji the much-needed impetus to

write more books. Victor Trumper: The

Beau Ideal of a Cricketer, a fine and con-

scise biography (edited) of the leg-

endary Australian, followed in July 1964.

Strangely, he did not pen a single book

for nearly two decades after that,

except one, Ranji: A Centenary Album,

in 1972. Of course, he kept contributing

articles to various newspapers and mag-

azines and also authored two books on

his profession, including Professional

Goodwill: Its Tax Implications and

Valuation.

“Being a Charterd Accountant, and

always in much demand by my large

number of clients, I had neither time

nor inclination to write cricket books

during that particular phase of my pro-

fessional career. But I enjoyed writing

articles on a wide range of cricketing

subjects during the same period,” he

explains.

But Raiji bounced back after twenty

years and contributed handsomely to

the already rich cricket literature in the

1980s with some of the most intensely-

researched books. The first of them

was The Romance of Ranji Trophy – 50

Golden Years. The book was published in

1984 to mark the golden jubilee of

India’s national cricket championship.

In 1986 came Raiji’s much-acclaimed

India’s Hambledon Men to mark the cen-

tenary of the first Parsee (“or call it

Indian”, as the author suggested in his

preface) team’s visit to England. The

book was meant to be a triubte to the

Parsee cricketers’ vision, spirit of adven-

ture and enthusiasm.

In 1987, the golden jubilee year of

Brabourne Stadium, Raiji and his friend

Anandji Dossa, the renowned cricket

statistician, wrote a brilliant history of

the famous ground in a concise form.

The book was aptly titled CCI & The

Brabourne Stadium: 1937-1987.

The two knew each other since their

school days in 1930. Raiji and Dossa

watched Lord Tennyson’s team play the

inaugural match at the Brabourne

Stadium in December 1937. Since then

they have seen most of the games

played at this historic ground in

Mumbai.

Two years later, in 1989, Raiji came up

with C.K. Nayudu, the Shahenshah of

Indian Cricket, one of the more admired

books on the man who led the country

in her maiden Test at Lord’s in 1932.

Raiji, who on one occasion had played

with Nayudu, paid a rich tribute to the

legend, who was much more than a

mere cricketer.

Raiji did not write a single book in the

whole of 1990s, but penned two in the

present decade. Duleep: A Centenary

Tribute was published in 2005 and From

Presidency to Pentangular (in collabora-

tion with the star statistician Mohandas

Menon) in 2006.

Though all of Ranji’s books are very

special in themselves, Ranji: the Legend

and the Man remains his masterpiece.

However, their author is very humble

and modest and says that he has only

tried to return something to the game

which has given him so much.

“I won’t like to single out any particular

book of mine and say it’s my best. It’s

for you to decide. You won’t believe but

it’s a fact that I’ve never thought of

any one of them being my best or mas-

terpiece. I’ve enjoyed writing all my

books. And they’re all a labour of love

for me,” he remarks.

“Every cricket writer is a historian

except one who writes cricket fiction. A

report on a cricket match or a contem-

porary player later becomes a part of

cricket history. I enjoy both, writing arti-

cles as well as books, though I can’t

write books that often,” he adds.

“I think my plus point as a cricket writer

is that I’ve played the game at a firly

high level. So I know the technical

aspect of the game. I’ve also read a lot

on the subject: history of the game,

biographies and autobiographies of


Raiji started playingcricket while atschool. He was anopening batsmanalmost throughouthis cricket career. Atthe school, collegeand club level healso bowled off-spin,but did not get muchof a chance to showhis bowling skills infirst-class cricket.



cricketers, etc.”

What is the place of the cricket writer

in sports circles? “A good and objective

cricket writer may have some following.

At least he would be welcome and not

regarded as an intruder. I think cricket

readership is very limited in our coun-

try. It’s diferent in England,” he replies.

Will the miracles of modern technology

such as television eventually replace

print media forever as far as cricket

journalism is concerned? The ever opti-

mistic Raiji does not think so: “I doubt if

this would ever happen. They can never

replace good cricket literature. Both,

the print as well as electronic media,

have their own place and importance

and will stand side by side.”

Even today, Raiji reads gluttonously on

cricket, particularly the books on the

game. He also loves history, economics,

short biographies, humour, “light phio-

losophy” and poetry. He admits he has

not read much fiction.

The future cricket author and historian

started buying books in the early 1930s

when he was a schoolboy. As he grew,

his personal cricket library also became

larger in size and stock. As cricket

books were hardly available in India in

those years, he used to order them

from London. One English bookseller

used to send him a catalogue of cricket

books from time to time.

Always meticulous and methodical in

whatever he does, Raiji surprises you

when he reveals that he has kept no

account of the amount he has spent

on cricket books. “It must be a stagger-

ing one,” he adds.

Like most lovers of sports literature,

Raiji feels prices of cricket books from

abroad have rocketed in the last twen-

ty years or so. They were not so

expensive earlier. Until recently, Raiji

had an enviably rich personal cricket

library, featuring rare classics, including

immortal works of Cardus, Jack

Fingleton, R.C. Robertson-Glasgow,

Ronald Mason, E.V. Lucas and a host of

other celebrated cricket writers.

But Raiji sold off almost 90 per cent of

books from his library to an avid cricket

enthusiast in Mumbai a couple of years

ago, keeping only a select few he just

could not part with. “I’m fast approach-

ing 90. To keep and maintain such a

large number of books was a problem

for me and my wife. So I thought of

passing them on to a deserving person.

Though I got money in return, it wasn’t

for the lucre that I disposed them of.

I’m sure he’ll take good care of them as

he is a genuine lover of cricket litera-

ture just like you and me,” he says.

Cardus tops the list of Raiji’s most

favourite cricket authors. “Cardus was

unique and stands head and shoulders

above every other cricket writer. I don’t

think any cricket writer will ever

approach him,” he eulogises the maes-

tro.

“I don’t think there is any great cricket

writer today. It isn’t fair to compare

Indian cricket writers with their old-

time English and Australian counter-

parts. The game of cricket has changed

over the years, especially the spirit in

which it’s played, and so has cricket

writing. My preference is for the old-

time game and old-time cricket writers.

In 1989, Raiji came upwith C.K. Nayudu, theShahenshah of IndianCricket, one of themore admired bookson the man who ledthe country in hermaiden Test at Lord’sin 1932. Raiji, who onone occasion hadplayed with Nayudu,paid a rich tribute tothe legend, who wasmuch more than amere cricketer.



But then I myself am an old-timer.”

Raiji has never been a professional crick-

et writer and he never “plans” about

writing books on the sport dear to his

heart. He says he sometimes gets an

idea. If he developes it, and finds it

interesting, it culminates into a book.

“A cricket writer must know the game

well. He ought to be aware of its by-

laws and rules, its etiquette and its his-

tory. He should read the best books on

the game and shouldn’t neglect the sta-

tistical aspect of the game,” feels Raiji.

“He should discuss cricket with others

who are more knowledgeable. He should

watch cricket as much as he can. He

should try to improve his command of

the language he writes in. You can

acquire sound technical knowledge of

the game by playing, watching, reading

and discussing it with others.”

He further adds: “A good background

of the game’s history and its literature

helps. Also necessary are enthusiasm

and hard work. He should have practice

of writing through the opportunities

offered. Above all, a bit of luck also

plays its part.”

The Gujarati-speaking Raiji’s father,

Naishadh, was also a well-known

Chartered Accoutant of Mumbai. He

was a keen follower of the game and

always encouraged his two sons, Vasant

and Madan, to pursue their passion –

cricket. Madan, who was also a first-

class cricketer, represented Mumbai in

the Ranji Trophy from 1941 to 1948.

Raiji has two sisters and he is the eldest

of the four siblings. His mother,

Jayshree, was B.A. in Philosophy. She

was also a social worker. Importantly,

she was a member of the first Lok

Sabha, getting elected from Mumbai on

a Congress ticket.

Raiji’s intellectual better half, Panna, is a

Ph.D. from Mumbai University. She was a

script and commentary writer with the

Films Division of India. She retired in

1961 to look after their two young

daughters, Brinda and Renuka, and did

occasional freelance writing. Her book,

The Indian Film, is perhaps the first seri-

ous study of all aspects of the Indian

film industry.

Brinda and Renuka post-graduated from

the American universities and are happi-

ly married. Brinda is married to Dr.

Sudhir Nanavati and lives with him in

Ahmedabad. Renuka is married to Brian

Fernandes and has settled down in

Perth in Australia.

Despite being affluent, Raiji strongly

believes that marriage ceremonies

should be “dignified and simple, without

any pomp”; large expenditure on mar-

riage is “unnecessary and wasteful”.

He gives his own example: “I didn’t

spend more than Rs. 1,000 on the mar-

riage of each of my two daughters. One

of them is married to a Christian – we

had no second thought about it.”

Besides cricket, Raiji follows tennis

closely. He watches, albeit on television,

all sports except wrestling and boxing,

which he does not like. He had played

table tennis at the school, college and

club level. He had won his school’s table

tennis championship in 1931 when he

was just 11. When he was in England, he

had played table tennis at club level

during the winter.

When asked, Raiji agrees that even the

most distinguished sportswriters are

not encouraged, let alone recognised, in

this country, where political commenta-

tors and cartoonists are given all sorts

of awards and five-star treatment and

by the people in power. “It’s a sad state

of affairs. But what can one do about

it?” he regrets.

“The situation isn’t so bad in England

and Australia. Neville Cardus, John

Arlott, Jim Kilburn. A.A. Thomson and

many others did get recognition for

their contribution to cricket journalism

and literature. Cardus, as everybody

knows, was even knighted. Jack

Fingleton will perhaps be remembered

more as a cricket writer than as a crick-

eter. One can only hope that in due

course of time things will change for

better in this country.” �

Raiji has never beena professional crick-et writer and henever “plans” aboutwriting books on thesport dear to hisheart. He says hesometimes gets anidea. If he developesit, and finds it inter-esting, it culminatesinto a book.


ADS.qxd 7/25/2009 10:21 AM Page 2

96 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match content news interviewGREATS OF THE GAME

will go anywhere, to any

part of the world, to watch

Hanumant Singh bat.” –

Richie Benaud

When the former Australian

captain made the aforemen-

tioned statement, he was probably

echoing the feelings of many

cognoscenti of classic batsmanship. For

the Indians he was one of the most

gifted and attractive batsmen of his

generation regardless of the fact that

he played only fourteen Tests thanks to

petty politics.

The Prince of Banswara, the erstwhile

Indian state with 15-gun salute, always

played his cricket like one. There was an

unmistakable royal touch to his pres-

ence on the field. He was undoubtedly

one of the most delightful, magnificent

and scintillating batsmen imaginable.

Hanumant Singh was born in Banswara

in Rajasthan on March 29, 1939. Cricket

was already in his royal blood. His uncle,

Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji (who incidental-

ly happened to be the peerless Kumar

Shri Ranjitsinhji’s nephew), represented

“i

by Haresh Pandya

Hanumant Singh,the prince who playedwith a royal touch

Greats of the Game.qxd 8/27/2009 10:14 AM Page 2

England in 12 Tests. His cousin, Kumar

Shri Indrajitsinhji, played four Tests for

India as a wicketkeeper-batsman.

Unlike most Indian cricket royals, who

studied as well as honed their cricket

skills abroad, Hanumant was much more

home-grown. An alumnus of Daley

College in Indore, he was a star player

of the Vikram University cricket team.

Like many Asian batsmen before and

after him, he was not very tall; and

hence was affectionately called

“Chhotu” (short) by all. But he was an

immensely gifted right-handed bats-

man.

Good judgement and sweet timing

enabled him to play all the shots with

effortless brilliance. A very confident

batsman, he would pull the ball with

gusto and hook without inhibition.

Artistic and elegant at the crease in his

own limited way, Hanumant was truly a

connoisseur’s delight when on song.

A busy man at the wicket, he kept the

scoreboard ticking and hardly allowed

the bowlers, spinners and speedsters

alike, to tie him down. Though he played

fast bowlers with élan, he was simply a

scourge of spinners.

“He was a sight to behold against spin-

ners on a difficult pitch. He was techni-

cally very sound and it was always a

challenge for the best of spinners to

get him out. I still remember his flawless

83 for Rajasthan against Karnataka in

the 1973-74 Ranji Trophy final on a

spiteful turner at Jaipur. It was sheer

poetry,” said former India off-spinner

Erapalli Prasanna.

Though chiefly a specialist batsman,

Hanumant was also a useful leg-spinner

and a spectacular fielder in the deep.

He made his first-class debut for

Madhya Pradesh in1955-56 before

beginning his long stint with Rajasthan.

He essayed many memorable, prolific

innings for Rajasthan. When the other

Rajasthan batsmen were cheaply and

quickly returning to the pavilion against

Uttar Pradesh in a crucial Ranji Trophy

tie in 1961-62, he tried to stem the rot

with a masterly 200 not out.

He launched his international career

with a majestic105 in 222 minutes,

including 15 fours, in the first innings

against Mike Smith’s England team at

Delhi in 1963-64, becoming only the

third Indian after Lala Amarnath and

Deepak Shodhan to score a century on

Test debut.

It was adjudged the best innings of the

match. Only a few months later, he

came close to making a century in his

first Test against Bob Simpson’s

Australian side, too, but off-spinner

Tom Veivers had him caught by Norman

O’Neill when he had scored 94 (in a total

of 193) in Chennai.

An undefeated 149 at Bangalore and 98

at Hyderabad in the “unofficial Tests”

against Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) rounded

off a very fruitful year for Hanumant

and India seemed to have finally

unearthed a reliable middle-order bats-

man it badly needed.

When the experienced Vijay Manjrekar

called it a day after scoring 102 at

Chennai against New Zealand in March

1964-65, Hanumant quickly demon-

strated, with resolute knocks of 75 not

out at Mumbai and 82 at Delhi, that he

was ready to take on the mantle.

He capped yet another successful sea-

son with a scintillating 213 for Central

Zone against the star-studded South

Zone in Duleep Trophy.

Hanumant was at his best against

Garfield Sobers’ mighty West Indies

team that toured India in 1966-67, scor-

ing 102, 52 and 85 in first-class match-

es; and 37 and 50 in two Tests.

He continued his good run in the Ranji

Trophy, too, making 166 and 132 versus

Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh respec-

tively; and 109 and 213 not out against

Mumbai in the final. He ended the sea-

son with 838 runs in 9 innings at

139.66.

With such performances to back him,

Hanumant was an automatic choice for

the 1967 tour of England. Though he

scored a breezy 73 in the second

innings of the first Test at Leeds and

added 134 runs for the fifth wicket

with his captain “Tiger” Pataudi (148),

India could not avoid defeat.

It was the only time Hanumant was his

usual self at the wicket on what turned

out to be his only overseas jaunt with

the Indian team. A groin injury kept him

out of the second Test at Lord’s. In the

third and last, he made only 15 and 6.

England won the series 3-0.

The entire team had fared badly in

England, but when the time for select-

ing the Indian side for the difficult tour

of Australia in 1967-68 came, the axe

fell on Hanumant first of all.

Given his ability to handle hot pace on

lively pitches and his track record, he

deserved to be one of the first choices.

His omission from the Australia-bound

team still remains one of the mysteries

of Indian cricket.

“I was deeply shocked, and greatly dis-

appointed, when I was dropped from

the team for the Australian tour. I still

find it very hard to fathom. I had

proved my ability against different

bowlers on different pitches and my

record wasn’t that bad either,” he told

this writer a few years ago.

“I was young and had still a lot to offer

to Indian cricket. I was determined to

stage a comeback but the selectors

appeared to have made up their minds

to ruin my Test career.”

Hanumant did make a comeback – in

the first Test against New Zealand at


For the IndiansHanumant Singhwas one of themost gifted andattractive bats-men of his gen-eration regard-less of the factthat he playedonly fourteenTests thanks topetty politics.


Mumbai in 1969-70. He was under

tremendous pressure to prove his

worth all over again. And it reflected in

his two uncharacteristic knocks of 1

and 13. He never played for India again.

“This wasn’t the way to treat a class

and committed cricketer like him. He

was truly a great batsman. It’s a pity

Indian cricket didn’t make the most of

his genius and ignored him consistent-

ly,” lamented the dashing allrounder

Salim Durrani, who played with

Hanumant for many years for

Rajasthan.

In 24 innings (twice not out) of his 14

Tests, he scored 686 runs at 31.18 with

the help of 1 century and 5 fifties.

These statistics, though not unimpres-

sive, hardly reveal the kind of batsman

Hanumant actually was.

The suave, unassuming Hanumant, who

was an executive with State Bank of

India, did not allow his frustration to get

the better of him and continued to play

first-class cricket with his old enthusi-

asm and passion. As late as in1976-77,

he captained Central Zone against Tony

Greig’s England side.

He retired from first-class cricket in

1978-79 after scoring 12,338 runs at

43.93, including 29 centuries. His 6,170

runs in the Ranji Trophy were within a

striking distance of Vijay Hazare’s

record tally of 6,312 at the time.

A quiet, thinking cricketer, Hanumant

was an astute captain, too. He led

Central Zone to their maiden Duleep

Trophy title in 1971-72.

A teetotaler and non-smoker, Hanumant

was a thorough gentleman. Despite

being a prince and a cricketing celebrity,

he never put on airs. In fact, he would

feel embarrassed talking about his own

cricket or royal lineage.

He never remained idle in retirement

and served cricket in various capacities

– as national selector, as manager of

the Indian team and as director of

National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

As an ICC match referee, he officiated

in 9 Tests and 54 One-Day Internationals

and earned respect of players, authori-

ties and the media.

He was coach of the Kenyan team that

created a major upset in the 1996

World Cup on the subcontinent by

defeating the then powerful West

Indies team at Pune.

“This triumph means a lot for me. It’s as

important for me as it’s for the Kenyan

players. It’s sweeter than even my

debut Test hundred,” he told this corre-

spondent inside the Kenyan dressing

room amid wild celebrations.

The humble, unassuming Hanumant

breathed his last on November 29,

2006, in Mumbai. �


Hanumant Singhnever remained idlein retirement andserved cricket invarious capacities –as national selector,as manager of theIndian team and asdirector of NationalCricket Academy inBangalore. As anICC match referee,he earned respectof players, authori-ties and the media.


Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match trivia contest reviews content interview THE LEGEND

hen cricket was a gentle-

men’s game, not as profes-

sionalized as today, in the

year 1958, a gentleman

from Pune reached the

international stage making his city and

state proud.

A living legend with a flawless career,

who shared his 75th birthday with

Maharashtra Cricket Association formed

in the year 1934, is none other than

India’s former captain Chandu Borde.

MCA felicitated the legend in a grand

ceremony and the dais sparkled with

celebrities like Ajit Wadekar, Nana

Patekar, and Master Blaster Sachin

Tendulkar!

An ideal personality in the cricketing

fraternity, Chandu Borde has never

talked about his achievements and had

a cricketing style of his own. A talented

leg-spinner, who has sent back star per-

formers of the opposition to pavilion,

was also known as ‘panther’ due to his

electrifying fielding skills. A great crick-

eter, he is also adored by his colleagues

for been a great human. A down-to-

earth personality who kept his feet

grounded all the time, Borde is known

for his authority of the game. He is a

personification of right batting tech-

nique, footwork, placing, and running

between the wickets.

His contribution in seven big Indian vic-

tories is amazing! The first one was

against Australia in Kanpur in 1959,

when India won the game by 119 runs.

Borde got the wicket of Australia’s

Norman Onil which was the turning

point of the match. The second victory

against England was in 1961 at Eden

Gardens which India won by 197 runs. It

was due to Borde’s all-round spectacu-

lar performance in which he scored 2

half-centuries in both the innings and

took 4 English wickets. India won anoth-

er Test match in Madras by an inning

and 128 runs where Borde scored valu-

able runs and took 5 wickets. A scintil-

lating victory against Australia at

Breborne stadium, Mumbai was

achieved when Borde steered India to

victory, reaching the target of 256 runs

in partnership with Indrajeet Singh. The

other 4 victories, were against New

Zealand. The one in Delhi at Ferozeshah

Kotla Stadium which India won by 7

wickets with Borde scoring 87 runs in

the first innings and Venkat taking 12

wickets!

The next three consecutive wins were

in New Zealand. The test at Dunedin,

when India won by 5 wickets; test at

Wellington, which was won by 8 wickets,

and the last test at Auckland, where

Borde scored 41 and not out 65 runs,

and led India to victory by 272 runs.

With such a huge contribution to India’s

success, one can only say. “Hats off to

you, Sir!”

Borde was the president of the selec-

tion committee during the 1983 world

cup, when India wrote a history. Along

with a great all-rounder and captain,

Chandu Borde is also a very good coach.

He had an easy way of training budding

cricketers and never complicated the

cricket technique.

“I am a firm believer in God and he has

helped me not only throughout the

career but for entire life.”, said the vet-

eran cricketer in the grand function.

The beauty of the event was the vari-

ety of speeches of the guest who had

gathered to honour Mr. Borde. Some

speeches were very heart-touching,

while others were spicy. “Ups and downs

in the career have helped me to handle

tough situations in life”, said Borde. “My

career started because of an article in

Pune Sakaal, which narrated my

achievements and thus my parents

allowed me to take cricket as my pro-

fession. I appreciate this felicitation

especially because it is in my home

town. My life is smooth because of my

wife Vijaya as she handled the home

front very efficiently. Her inning in my

life is very important and her contribu-

tion is incredible.” Talking about the

shorter version of the game, Borde

said, “50 and 20 overs game is comple-

mentary to Test cricket. Improvisation

of the shots is going to be useful in

Test cricket. Globalisation gives a good

opportunity for players to improve.”

Narrating a heart-touching incidence

about Sachin, he said, “When he played

for India for the first time in 1989 we

were on the tour of Pakistan. I was the

manager of the Indian team. Resting in

my room in Sialkot late in the night, I

heard a consistent thud against the

wall. I woke up and went to the room

right above my own where Sachin was

w

NOT OUT 75!by Radhika Karve

100

CHANDU MORDE.qxd 8/27/2009 1:06 PM Page 2

Cricket TodaySeptember 2009 editor speaks letter101

staying. This little boy was play-

ing different shots at this late

hour in front of the mirror!

When asked the reason, he

said, ‘Sir, I am only used to

going to bed with my family

and couldn’t fall asleep. So, I

was practising!’ Since next day

was his first day of represent-

ing the country, I patted him

and put him to sleep. This lad,

who was then afraid of being

alone in the room, now intimi-

dates his every opponent on

the ground!”

Addressing Mr. Borde, Master

Blaster Sachin said, “I congratu-

late him on behalf of the

nation. I was very lucky to have

him as a manager during my

first tour. Guidance is very

important for a 16 year old

child. He helped me when

exactly needed, guiding me

about improving my batting

and avoiding mistakes. He never

changed my natural batting

instinct, talent and never over-

moulded me. He did this out of

great passion, and no expecta-

tion. In the year 2007, Indian

team was in a turbulent phase

and a calming factor was utter-

ly essential. Borde Sir played a

very important role and we

won the series in England,

though he didn’t get the

deserved credit as a manager

of the team. Looking at his

enthusiasm today, he doesn’t

look like he is 75. And with

God’s blessings, he must score

a century, as said in batting

terms!”

Former Indian captain Ajit

Wadekar said, “There is a huge

difference between mine and

Borde’s age. But we are very

close to each other. He has

always encouraged all his col-

leagues to perform well and

was the best captain I have

played under. He is my idol.”

The spice of the event was

added by actor Nana Patekar.

Saluting all those sitting on the

dais, he said, “I am awed by Mr.

Borde’s zeal and looking at him,

it is obvious why retired artists

and retired cricketers look dif-

ferent. I am representing the

crowds here. Otherwise, I don’t

deserve to be seated along

with people with such creden-

tials. We the crowds will always

expect you cricketers to win.

And when you do so, we gar-

land you. But if you lose we are

bound to blaze your effigy. We

will never change. All trophies

are always named after a crick-

eter, posthumously. Hence sit-

ting next to Mr. Ajay Shirke,

president of Maharashtra

Cricket Association, I was asking

him to name a trophy by

Chandu Borde’s name as Mr.

Borde is surely going to com-

plete the century of his life.” �

Borde isknown for hisauthority ofthe game. Heis a personifi-cation of rightbatting tech-nique, foot-work, placing,and runningbetween thewickets.

CHANDU MORDE.qxd 8/27/2009 1:06 PM Page 3

news preview cover story interview MARKET MANIA 102 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009

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104 Cricket TodaySeptember 2009match trivia contest reviews content newsOPINION

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Virender Sehwag’s allegations of unfair

selection procedures of the DDCA offi-

cials has evoked counter allegations of

favouritism against the ‘Kohinoor’ of

Delhi by the Sports secretary, Sunil Dev

and its convenor Vinod Tihara. The

‘famous’ secretary has gone to the

extent to accuse Sehwag of raising

such issues only to get Pradeep

Sangwan and Tehlan into the playing

squad.

But Is Sehwag not justified in promot-

ing the young talent instead of consid-

ering someone who does not know

anything about the sport?

Did Sourav Ganguly not support Young

Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan and Kaif and

today are we not proud of their contri-

bution to Indian Cricket?

The apparently embarrassed aggres-

sion shown by these people to justify

their blatantly violating norms in selec-

tion clearly shows their frustration.

Both of them, unmindful of the gravity

of the problem, made an abortive

attempt to snub this indictment by

putting forth some unacceptable

explanation. With a hope to swathe this

controversy, one of the three vice-

presidents of DDCA and also a former

test cricketer, tried to mollify the tor-

mented feelings of Delhi cricketers by

assuring them transparency for the

future.

s

SEHWAGSELFLESS GENIUS

by Shyam SharmaPresident Dada Army

DDCA.qxd 8/27/2009 2:02 PM Page 2

Cricket TodaySeptember 2009 editor speaks contents letter review interview market mania 105

It is clear that statement of Sehwag has

highlighted the irregularities in the

selection process, which in any case has

to be sublime. Favouritism in selection

of a team has to be kept at a distance.

DDCA is already under close watch for

not working with transparency on other

matters, be it on the Proxy issue during

its Elections or for whimsical distribu-

tion of passes to VVIP’s for internation-

al cricket matches held in Delhi. DDCA,

for sure, cannot afford to get tangled

into more controversies.

Under the leadership of Mr. Arun Jaitley,

DDCA has made all of us proud with the

infrastructure and basic amenities for

the players. But all these amenities

alongwith the most imaginative stadium

would be a waste in the drought of

fresh young talent into our team.

How long can we afford to sacrifice

them for the sons of powerful mem-

bers of sports committees or the other

VIP’s of Delhi? It might be very easy for

the sport’s secretary of DDCA to say

that he is ready to give NOC to Virender

Sehwag to play for another state but

those who are involved in a struggle to

bring the original Kohinoor back from

U.K. can only visualize the importance

of this “Kohinoor”.

We pray that the president, Shri Arun

Jaitely with his intelligence and wisdom

will prevail upon Sehwag to continue

playing for Delhi and will look into the

serious deficiencies in the selection

process personally.

We hope that in future the selection

committee would consist of former

players who would act without any

pressure from people who do not event

know the ten ways of getting a crick-

eter out.

A small introspection of few minutes

reminded me of the actual problem of

interference of the sports committee.

The problem honestly seems to be the

election process through proxies. These

vested interests work perseveringly

round the year to collect more and

more proxies. The chances of selection

of any player of their choice into a

team are directly proportionate to their

capacity to grab more proxies.

It would be apt to say that all problems

in DDCA have a direct connection with

the proxies. The solution is, thus, to

cleanse the election process. Those who

have usurped the office for decades

must do some introspection and try to

find out if it is not high time for them

to involve more learned people and

allow few genuine cricketers and cricket

lovers to take charge of the affairs of

the DDCA.

Kudos to Gautam Gambhir, Ashish

Nehra, Ishant Sharma and other senior

cricketers for taking a stand for the

cause. �

We pray that thepresident, ShriArun Jaitely withhis intelligenceand wisdom willprevail uponSehwag to con-tinue playing forDelhi and willlook into theserious deficien-cies in the selec-tion process per-sonally.

The rain of cricket books continues unabated as if to atone for the absence of the largely absent mon-

soon. The latest in the list is by perhaps India's best known cricket commentator to have never played

Test cricket, Harsha Bhogle. Titled Out of the Box, the book contains selection of Harsha Bhogle's works

for the Indian Express in the last 5 years. The book, whose introduction is penned by Sachin Tendulkar,

consists of 90 columns written by Bhogle between 2004 and 2009. The writings touch upon every

aspect of cricket - the invasion of Twenty20; thrills of Test cricket and risks faced by the longer version

of the game; ODIs; cricketing greats; rules, regulations and infrastructure. The sections discuss T20

leagues and cricket embracing its economic reality, how Dhoni has become a smarter player, what it

means to bat like Sehwag, judging Tendulkar by today's standards and the Indian cricket Board losing its

objective in the lure of money. Book also gives tributes to the likes of Lara and the "incomparable"

Tendulkar.

VVeerrddiicctt:: Though it has Harsha's articles from Indian Express, Still Out of the Box touches ones heart. All

cricket lovers should grab a copy of this book to understand the chaotic ways of how cricket is run in

India, how and why Indian players and spectators have a love for centuries and statistics, and how with

so many hundreds of thousands playing the game it is still not the best cricket team in the world.

* POOR ** AVERAGE *** GOOD **** VERY GOOD ***** OUTSTANDING

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DDCA.qxd 8/27/2009 2:02 PM Page 3