The legend of the modern Indian batting line-up.

529 international test matches
105 hundreds
40000 runs
average of close to 50

These statistics are not of a fictitious warrior cricketer born in a planet far away.These are the combined factual data of only the top 5 batsman of the Indian batting line up.The Indian batting order is considered to be the best,and i make no half measures in saying this-the very best in the world today.No other country can boast of a record so prolific and no other team has been able to garner half the praise or criticism that the Indian batting line up has accumulated in the last decade.The praise-I won't elaborate.I say criticism beacause of certain debacles that the team has encountered in not only recent times but ever since a certain Titan cup was played or a team boasting of humongous magnitudes of talent was sent back by the aussies in 99 with their tails between their legs.That and cases like being the No.3 team in the world,conceding 600 first innings runs,following on and losing a match to a couple of spinners.One of them a debutant with an experience of 19 B-grade first class matches.

Ajantha Mendis.The name has hooped up so much of newsprint in the last month or so,I can't remember if remember if Lara was given half of it when he became the highest run-getter in the history of the game.India continued to prove the jinx right time and again in the second half of the year in the shorter version of the game starting with the Kitply cup and then then following it up with a almost stomping march to the finals of the Asia cup,only to lose their way miserably ultimately,folding up like a pack of high-school kids appearing for the district team selection before rushing out to audition for a play.It would've all been forgotten as just another final debacle for the mighty team if it wasn't for the presence of one man who single handedly took it away from India with 6 wickets.Ajantha mendis destroyed India's hopes of winning an Asia cup yet again.If the Indians believed the final was nothing more than a one-off incident and it couldn't happen again,they couldn't have been more wrong.The team vying for the No.2 spot in the world with 3 other countries at present was made to follow on humiliatingly after 5 years of International cricket and it was defeated,in fact debilitated,by Lanka's most depleted bowling attacks in recent times(at least on paper)by an innings and 239 runs inside 3 full days(the first day was a mere formality with only one session being played).Did some one say invincible batting line up?I don't think so.

Right.Murali sent 11 guys of the Indian team single handedly back to the dressing room during the course of the match,and was man of the match.How many times have we heard of that happening before?Probably everytime Sri Lanka goes on to win a match.Murali has been part of the mainstay bowing attack of Sri Lankan cricket since one can remember.It's not for nothing that you get to be the highest wicket taker in the world.Ever since I understood the rules of cricket,i remember switching on the TV to watch an India V Lanka match,and if Lanka fielded, till before this very match,I can recollect only two bowlers bowling in tandom.Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas.So either the oppostition batsmen got tired of negotiating the wizard for half the day's play or it just got too boring to defend an off cutting seamer at nothing more than a 120 case that a batsman simply knocked his own stumps down with a punch.

This time it was different.Lanka had taken to the field with two seamers.Not the usual Fernando or Malinga or Maharoof.All of their front line seamers were missing from action cooling their heels at the hospital.So in came Vaas' partner in crime-a totally inexperienced test cricketer in Nuwan Kulasekara.Not that it mattered much as Vaas and him bowled not more than 30 overs between them in the second innings.What must be pinching the Indian batsmen the most is that in their quest to unravel the mystery and hype that has surrounded Mendis in the lead up to the test,they probably took their mind off the main threat of the Sri Lankan artillery-that of Muralitharan himself.Not to take credit away from Mendis' splendid debut performance;but the question that still pokes my mind even when i watch the highlights of the match is whether Mendis actually took all of the wickets or were most of them offered to him out of sheer fright of deception?
Except Laxman and Tendulkar,neither of the other batsmen seemed to have any answers to Mendis's finger flicks and while the others seemed overly cautious in trying to thwart off Mendis with a strategy that seemed to say "lets keep blocking him out till he injures himself or till the match is called off for rain",Tendulkar and VVS seemed to be the only two batsmen to still remember the sole purpose of the match being played-that of winning by putting up runs on the board.Dravid and Ganguly seemed clueless after a BCCI enforced 2 month exile and seemed completely out of sorts to gift their wickets to the Lankans with shot making of such dismal quality that simply wouldn't go with stalwarts of impeccable records.And Dinesh Karthik remained only a pale shadow of himself from England,where he promised so much more.And although Tendulkar really didn't last long to stand apart from the other batsmen's flawed approach,he could atleast take heart front the fact that one of his dismissals was a genuine Murali nipper while Sehwag's was a stark reminder of why technology still can't promise the best.

India has struggled in the bowling department for many years now,and even though Harbhajan Singh has been around for close to 10 years now,he himself has no real impact or prescence in the line up.The punch and the air that was clearly visible in his deliveries when he made the aussies weep 7 years ago,are today,merely items of the cricket lover's museum and in spite of bagging the man of the match series award against South Africa only recently,thanks largely to a Vietnamese mine field in Kanpur,Harbhajan Singh is seen as nothing more than a loyal aide to the aging skipper,who himself seems to be struggling to find rhythm after the famous Perth victory with only 5 wickets in 4 matches.With only contenders like Piyush Chawla,Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra in the reckoning,India's spin future appears to be in the dark and it looks like at least one of the half billion women in the country need to produce another Bedi,Solkar or a modern day Chandrasekhar.And really fast!The Indians are running out of time quickly with more than half of the team pushing the not so helpful part of their 30s.

Unless Kirsten and the think tank decide to do something about the approach of the Indian players soon,or unless Mahendra Singh Dhoni decides he has got himself enough time off and returns to deliver a repeat of Faisalabad(which would suffice to say Laxman gets a five-fer in each innnings,but anyone seems to be better than Karthik),the signs look ominous.Team India need to tie their laces tight and get rid of their inhibitions and apprehensions.And if players who average around a decade of cricket at the highest level between themselves aren't able to comprehend that soon,god help the gentleman's game.

Lead to differ

Brian Charles Lara,Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar,Allan Robert Border,Steve Rodger Waugh,Sunil Manohar Gavaskar,Rahul Sharad Dravid.If this list was the cast of a movie,with the legendary cricketers being actors instead,it probably would have garnered more academy award nominations than the Titanic even before its release.

Yes.You are right.The nibbling feeling at the back of your mind about the one name missing from the list(the reason for me not preceding Dravid previously with an 'and') which statistically speaking,is the newest name in the community and the last in it deserves a mention.Sure does.No doubt about it.The problem is-I just couldn't figure out how I could include the name of a person who figures last in the clan of these stalwarts and yet,is the most different of them all.The person ruining my peace of mind is Ricky Thomas Ponting.

A test player/captain or umpire can never be consistently inhuman.And there can be no better example than Ponting.Debuting at the age of 20,after being an on and off part of a team which was,and still is meticulously grilled through by probably the toughest selection committee in the world,Ponting has not only cemented his place as one of the greatest of his kind but also more often than not, engraved it with a chisel in the shape and form of his loyal kookaburra.

A Test Captain can never consistently out-perform his own self.But what better counter example than Ponting to have consistently scored at an average of more than 74 after being named captain-not just for a tenuous term of a few months but for a mighty period of more than 4 years and counting.Does it speak volumes of a player at the peak of his international career?Not unless the volume is that of a million watts of a digital sub woofer system.It merely gives us a vague picture of a man who could never simply satisfy his explosive hunger with just frightening commitment,hard work, desire and such otherwise mortal qualities.He has always wanted to more than just swat or caress or punch or pull or flick or loft or drive anything thrown at him;be it a 50 over old,reverse swinging,leathery hard English cricket ball thrown at him at a quarter Mach by Steven Harmison on a bouncy oval wicket or for some other batsman, from the very mentioned clan-an unplayable doosra from the wily Muralidaran on a 4th day pitch at Kandy.Ricky Ponting has always been above all that.


No test captain can be expected to consistently win every test match for his nation.Some of the many captains at the highest level have been part of controversies ranging from claiming a "non catch'',to resorting to racial accusations when on the verge of defeat to having won and lost games-sometimes many at a trot,sometimes faltering ludicrously on your way to a 16-0 win/loss world record against "taken for granted" opponents who might steal away an entire match from your grasp right in front of your very eyes.Just like that.And what better example than Ricky Ponting who has been there,done it all,just like the elite group of men mentioned at the start.He never quit.He hasn't yet.He proved he didn't have to.May be this is one of the very few similarities that you would find between him and them.

Maulings from top notch international teams once in a while in your tenure as a test captain is part and parcel of a game. Atleast that is what the lesser mortals would think.After a mostly flawless reign in the saddle,it was time for the 2005 ashes series.England,as would have any other team playing against the aussies,were labelled the underdogs.An understatement to say the least.After his own dismal performance,by his standards,of a 40 run aggregate with just one century in five matches,the mighty aussies and their billion dollar ego recieved a dent,the cost of whose repair would more than outrun the repairs of a Maybach banging head-on with a semi.At the end of a previously un-fathomable 2-1 loss,Pontings army,which had on more ocassions than one could gather,been called the Goliaths of the cricketing world,were brought down to ground with a resonating thud by a 9 year old cousin of David like Englishmen.Just like that.

When i mentioned Ponting doesn't quit,it was in no meagre standards.The "re-match" of the Ashes in 2007 saw Ponting determined to give back to the English what he thought they deserved,to such an extent,that may be even the refree who stood politely at the time of the toss,would have decided to keep a safe distance from ponting,merely seeing the look on his face.The eyes never lied,they said.So true.So very true.The series saw Ponting at his personal best aggregating 82 with a 196 in the first match,followed up by fiersome aggression and talented cricket of such quality that lifted up not only the 10 other men on the field but also a whole nation.After piling up a mammoth 576 runs in 5 matches,he was IN-justifiably just given the man of the series award.Injustfiably?Yes.With the kind of a spirit a man could show after putting resurrection and the mythical phoenix bird to shame,Ponting should have probably been adjudged the Man of both the Ashes 2005 and '06 for two very contrasting purposes.Revenge was never before so sweet.Ponting restored the Aussie pride in a manner in which probably only he or Waugh could have done.All in a phase of one and a half months.Just like that.

No test player should be expected to be named best player in the world two years in a row.Ricky Ponting,as we came to know,was not just any test player.After the ashes retribuition he was named ICC player of the year in both 2006 and 2007,after already having been named Wisden cricketer of the year in '06 as well.He was also named the vice captain of the superficial 'Greatest Australian team' ever.

Failures and success were always considered to be two sides of a coin.A close look into Ponting's wallet would reveal a 100 dollars worth of such coins.With 35 centuries at a 'modest' average of 59 with many more years on hand ,Ricky Ponting,at this moment, is standing alongside a group of people,whom test cricketers aspire to be like.When he is done,it wont be a surprise,if he went on to lead his class.If there ever existed one.
Just like that.

The Intrigue,Drama and the final stop of the Rawalpindi Express

The date read-29th November,1997.A 22 year old lanky fast bowler charged in at the National stadium in Lahore against the West Indies to mark the debut of one of the most enigmatic and controversial bowlers of the modern era.

Shoaib Akhtar-the fastest bowler to ever set foot on the cricket field at least officially(100.2 mph),was effectively handed over a life ban to play for his country anywhere,ever again.After playing for more than 11 years,stats of only 46 tests doesn't quite provide sermon to the service that the speedster has put in for his country.Picking up more than 178 wickets in them with mostly match winning 12-5fers only re-instates the prodigy of a man who could never come to terms with containing his own image as a match winner.

From being a rage in the world cup in 99 for being the major force behind Pakistan reaching the finals,breaking the bones and in the process the courage of many prominent batsmen to being banned for drugs,being the star player to wreck the Englishmen for a 2-0 whitewash and then finally being at the receiving end of a career threatening 5 year ban,Akhtar has seen it all.His ability to bowl menacingly fast reverse swinging yorkers, well disguised slow balls, and sharp bouncers made him lethal even on dead pitches.He is also regarded as the only bowler to bowl above 100 mph-twice.Once regarded as the biggest competition to Brett Lee,it became difficult as time progressed to find both the pacers to square off against each other,for Akhtar was never fully able to participate in any series,constantly being penalized for some or the other reason..While Lee carried on to spear head the Aussie pace attack with devotion after the departure of McGrath,Pakistani captains started to think real hard on how to include Shoaib in the playing eleven without Akhtar being banned of fined for over aggression,slow over rate,indiscipline or late night parties.

Constantly weighed down by a nation infamous for first ousting or disgracing politicians,sports persons and celebrities and then revoking bans or exiles,Akhtar's journey has been nothing short of turbulent to say the least.After about a million fines and short bans for conduct not befitting a cricketer,the real trouble started first when he was sent back home disgracefully from a tour in Australia in 2005.After serving yet another agonizing exile for the same,he returned to the team briefly only to be dropped from the side in the 2006 champions trophy for testing positive for nandrolene.Again he was banned for 2 years,only to be cleared yet again by the whimsical PCB.But Akhtar's saga was far from over yet.By the end of 2007,Akhtar was charged of assault and battery when he hit his team mate Asif,with a bat.Finally the board had had enough and he was banned for an indefinite period.

The calibre of this bowler was pretty much evident when he sent Sachin Tendulkar's stump cart-wheeling right up to the wicket keeper for the very first time he bowled to him,following it up immediately next ball by getting through the defences of Rahul Dravid,a feat thought to be difficult to achieve by even veteran fast bowlers.The question that comes to the mind is all said and done,what difference is Shoaib Aktar's absence going to make to cricket?The answer surprisingly is-not a lot.After stealing the hearts of millions of female fans throughout the world and being the role model of an equal number of aspiring fast bowlers,Akhtar,from being one of the most feared bowlers has faded into memory as a gutsy player who played his childish but king sized heart out for his country time and again.Banning a person for a meagre reason such as speaking his mind on what he felt on being demoted in the contracts list and that too for 5 years which is only euphemism at it's best for at 32,it is practically curtains to the career of a fine competitor.As in many instances in life,only time will tell whether the board realizes that by not allowing Shoaib to play,even if they achieve the target of striking fear in the minds of players not to rub the administrators the wrong way, they are simply taking the easy way out to solving a continuing obstacle.Instead of slapping someone across the face and asking them to shut up for the remainder of their lives wouldn't it be wiser to just sit down and think of a situation from which both the individual and the nation benefits?


Until someone figures that out,Shoaib Mohammed Akhtar will have to suffice his thirst for cricket playing club matches and dreaming about playing his 50th test match by the time he turns 50 himself.

Who is to blame for the crack in "The Wall"?

Not many days ago,the person mightily responsible for an Indian victory in a test series on English soil after more than 21 years,resigned abruptly from one the most coveted positions in a sport which truly runs in the blood of every Indian.The reason that the man stated was he needed to concentrate more on his batting(although speculations are rife about the real reason) .This,after a test series win which most Indian captains would have killed for.

Rahul Dravid resigned from captaincy amid much controversy only because nobody really expected him to or simply because nobody wanted him to.Merely a month after his shocking decision "The Wall" as many people fondly refer to him as,was 'rested' from the Indian Cricket Team for the first two ODIs against a country against whom he has a record which is more than enviable.

The word "rested" is terribly dangerous at least for an Indian camp as when the last time this word was used for any prominent player,one of the most prolific captains that the country had ever seen was rested for more than a year and a half.Already,on the other side of 30,he doesn't even have any other ability(apart from his brilliance in batting) on the base of which he could win back his place in the national side unlike Ganguly or even Tendulkar.His other special skill,his keeping is also of little use as the current captain of the team is doing a fine job of it. It is also a matter of disdain that when asked about the decision,the chair person of the selection committee,Dilip Vengsarkar had to put it this way to add insult to injury."MS Dhoni,Yuvraj,and Gautam gambhir are the middle order batsmen of today and we have Manoj Tiwari,Raina and Rohit Sharma waiting in the wings.So we have a lot of options".He was rightly and very deservingly barred from talking to the media and publishing columns after the incident.

If India really has started having a lot of options,would it be right to drop a world class player from the playing eleven only because of a string of poor scores in one series?If so,why was Virender Sehwag suddenly recalled into the national side after sitting in the sidelines for more than 6 months?If he indeed was called back only on the merit of past records against one particular nation,as there just isn't another plausible reason coming to mind,why would it be a sane option to drop a player who has admirable statistics against all test playing countries?Specifically speaking,Dravid has close to 2000 runs with more than 1800 of them in only 54 innings against Pakistan at an average of almost 36.Whereas,in contrast Sehwag,in only 20 innings against the same country has scored 650 runs at an average of 32.55.

A comparison of Sehwag with the stalwart would be unfair but the question that the BCCI hasn't answered or doesn't have an answer to is what is the logic behind dropping the pillar of the Indian batting line-up for merely having a few bad outings?The point of being grateful would be too much to ask for in this ruthless game played by the strongest of men with iron clad nerves. But doesn't a man who has never been dropped for more than a decade in any format of the game for any considerable amount of time deserve at least a few more outings to prove his worth,which undeniably,even to the knowledge of the committee would be priceless?

Younus Khan stated in a recent press meet,"Rahul Dravid is a class act.The Pendulum definitely swings in our favour by his exclusion.The first two matches of any series are always important. His absence will make a difference to our attitude because he is a world class player and one of the best in the world".

Losing to Australia at home is one thing.Losing to Pakistan in a high pressure situation with the absence of the coolest head in the side is quite another.

Too bad the selectors didn't seem to think of that while "drafting".