Powerplay's...Freehit's...What's Next

A lot of changes in cricket are happening all the time, but are any changes working in favour of bowlers. I feel all the changes made till now are working in favour of the batsman, look at this powerplay there has been always restriction for the fielding on one-day matches on first fifteen overs but the odd thing is “batting powerplay”. For example you are watching a football match which is closing to an thrilling end then the referee comes and says that one team can have only 3 or 2 players for their defence, what would you say? Nothing less than “crazy” comes on my mind. The same feeling happens to me then a good chasing cricket match is going on and nail biting climax is on the making like 40 runs needed on 30 balls, you are not even changing the channel for a second. Then you know what happens next….powerplay tactics comes into play. The match changes to be one sided in a couple of over. Now the freehit, blowers are been penalised twice for one mistake, actually this term freehit should be changed as “with love ICC”.

On a flat pitch when most of the balls are been hit all around the park, nobody complains about the pitch. On the other case then the ball is turning, bouncing and the teams got out on a low score then all are complaining about the pitch especially the visiting team. Good competitive pitches can create good cricket matches. Likewise good bowlers can create good batsmen. The main point is that you can’t increase the standard or interest of cricket by spoiling one part of the game which is bowling. We are still taking about great bowler like Imran,Kapil,Akram,Mcgrath,Waqar,Murali etc and we will be taking about their greatness even after 10 years. Not just because they are great bowlers, also because there wont be too many to fill their vacuum. These players achieved the greatness because they had their chance to bowl on good pitches. But are the current bowlers having the equal chance of the past to achieve the greatness. Above all on 20-20 matches one batsman can change the game completely. One missed catch or runout can finish the match easily because there is not many opportunity for bowlers to create wickets. Bowlers have to wait till the batsmen make a mistake, that is definitely not satisfying for any bowler. The gap between good batsmen and ordinary batsmen are reduced significantly on a flat pitch. Let’s hope the inswingers and outswingers won’t be treated as magic trick in future.

Where's the Fire

One thing we all going to miss in this India-Australia series would be the fire, not on the batting powerplay but on the field. Everybody from both teams is talking about the rivalry created between the teams on the last 2 years. But the main reason for the rivalry is missing on this tournament. One of the missing element on this rivalry is Sreesanth, who made the pitch look like a boxing ring. When he is up against Hayden or Symonds, we always had a feeling that something unlike cricket is going to happen. Uthappa, the reason for mentioning his name is because of the quote he said “We will fight fire with fire” just before the start of the previous India-Australia series shows his aggression against Australians. Then the rivalry combo of Harbajan and Symonds which is quite famous for “Maa ki or Monkey” a kind of school fight but still got the most attention, Symonds is not on the tour maybe he is still fishing somewhere.

And the good news for the auditions is Gambhir and Watson, we are not excepting an elbow again from Gambhir but definitely some heat between them on field. Talking about Australians how can I forget the master who scored 2670 runs in 61 mathces with 8 Hundreds, Sachin. Against the Australians, Sachin always have something special.

-vishnu

Let's Start with Rahul

I always loved to watch Dravid batting, but that’s not the reason for me to feel disappointed on dropping him again. The headline is “what was the selectors thoughts while picking him for the away series of Srilanka and S.Africa”, are they looking for a 23 ball 50 from him. We all know Dravid well and I hope the selectors also do. Dropping a man who did his job perfectly is definitely a shame. Is he dropped because of the result of Champions Trophy and then do we get the solution by dropping him. It was a team’s failure,not of any individual which includes the selector’s also. Or is age the problem, then why he been selected back and dropped after performing. If age is not an issue for the selector’s and politicians from doing their job then why it becomes a concern when it comes to players. Even then Dravid had been one among the rare players to stay away from injuries. I believe Dravid was the second best Indian batsman on both the series, but that’s been the problem for Dravid. Always treated as Second-Best. Even after having a completely different style and approach to the game, Dravid was always been compared with Sachin.

The approach of promoting youngsters is also going on a wrong direction, if you have to replace any player then play better than him. There is no charity business in sports. You better earn it to keep it. We are on the modern cricket world, here commitment and determination are treated as second-best qualities. No more time to stay in the crease and play, so walk out and hit back. Be a one-ball hero. People will forget cover-drive’s and square-cut’s easily, so its time to try some switch-hit’s and scoop’s.

We all respect you Mr. Wall, you are already a legend. So no need to prove anything else.

-Vishnu