Spin tricks make Test cricket classic

How odd cricket is! After casting aspersions on their spinners only a month or two ago following England's triumphant walloping of their former colony, the Indians trumped an arguably more intimidating Australian outfit on yet another dustbowl in Chennai. It seems that spinning a web around the 'Roos is considerably easier than doing it to the Poms. And Australia shall now really have to pull off something extraordinary in the coming days to avoid further embarrassment ahead of the Ashes.

Turning the Tide: The Aussies were 'spun out'

The great thing to have come out of recent test cricket in India is further proof that cricket still is unique in being so vastly diverse a game. How one team dominating in a particular part of the world is so easily thwarted a few thousand miles away is so intriguing and exciting. The purists in Australia and England so often harp about how cricket in India is so "farcical", sidelining the traditional excitement of pace bowling and making cricket so boring and dreary. To many purists in the Westernized world, test cricket in India is essentially a game played in "slow motion" on "slow tracks" where the ball refuses to go to the batsman and the batsman tires in despair against the turning, twisting leather - so much in contrast to the tall, intimidating paceman steaming in on a "green top", threatening to take out the head of any soft-hearted batsman 22 yards away!

What the contrasting performances of the touring English and Australian batsmen has shown is so very different. The England team, desperate for a win and well aware of the dusty pitches the Indians were laying out for them, went on a countrywide hunt ahead of the tour looking for potential weapons and pulled out Monty Singh Panesar back from the graves, along with a certain unassuming Joseph Root from good old Yorkshire. The Australians, on the other hand, stayed true to their traditional strengths and vowed to bring along an extra-charged pace battery to the subcontinent, although including the off-spin of Nathan Lyon for academic purposes.

The Poms struggled in their first outing in Ahmedabad after keeping out Monty Panesar from the playing squad, but on correcting their mistakes in the dustbowls of Mumbai and Kolkata, reaped rewards that few of their ancestors had ever tasted before. It was England's most emphatic show of strength in India since the Battle of Plassey and the joy was more than evident. The star cast of England didn't just include their new-found spin twins Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar; in fact a more predominant performer in the tournament was their eternally classic captain Alastair Cook. Digging deep and grinding long, Captain Cook earned much accolade for his sense of application in alien conditions.

Cook's batting exploits throughout the tour was a fitting answer to the Western purists. He showed how classic test cricket is when a batsman patiently grafts the twisting, twirling ball, countering the spinner's tricks with a few of his own. The Indians had few questions to ask the English captain as he played on their patience and wore down their minds. The Australians in contrast so far have adopted their 'natural game', summoning courage and aggression with the hope of hitting the Indian spinners out of the game. The disdain hasn't worked.

Judging from their first game, the Aussies have much to learn about adapting to modern cricket's diverse playfields. They might also have to take a leaf or two out of Captain Cook's book. Test cricket in India is now the real deal. Playing spin isn't all about "slow motion" hurling or easy slogging. It's about beating the opponent in the mind. And that's what makes it ever so classic.

Is the Nawab already done?

Amongst all of world sport's most renowned, celebrated, decorated, scrutinized and news-making individuals, Virender Sehwag stands out. Sehwag is the kind of guy who can be furiously talked about irrespective of whether he's on the field or outside it - in team meetings around the world, selection committees across the country and opinion articles from all around the spectrum. What makes Sehwag special is his ability to be the eternal tick-ticking time bomb. He can be equally dangerous to his own team as to the opposition. He is both a captain's most lethal weapon as well as his greatest liability, all at the same time. In many ways, Sehwag is the most prime example of oxymorons one can ever come across - lazy yet efficient, destructive yet vulnerable, awkward yet terrifying.

Packing Up?: Virender Sehwag

It didn't take Sehwag too much time to tell the world, and particularly myself, that he was meant to be the next big thing of world cricket history. It was Bloemfontein, early November, 2001. The South African pace attack of Pollock, Hayward, Kallis and Ntini was feasting on the Indian batsmen, sending down hostile swinging deliveries at furious pace. Very quickly, the Indians subsided to 68/4 with Tendulkar hapless at the non-striker's end. Then came the debutant Delhi dasher. Few had heard of him and his technique, if there was any, seemed to suggest that the Indian selectors were surely out of their minds giving this man a Test debut in alien South Africa. But history was on its way. Sehwag, wielding his willow like an axe, butchered each bowler running in to him and sent the South Africans on a nationwide leather hunt. Balls travelled far and wide as Tendulkar and Sehwag turned an impending disaster into a fair lot of 397 runs. The world hailed the centurion Sehwag as the new age Vivian Richards. Sir Viv himself paid homage to a star - "He's simply magnificent."

Years later, Sehwag took his 'axe' around the world, hacking bowlers into submission, sending balls into the sea. A particular innings of 195 against Steve Waugh's largely unblemished Australians in Melbourne was described by Ian Chappell as the "second best innings I've ever seen in my life. That was the best Australian side ever and he absolutely demolished them."

100 Tests, 2 triple hundreds (nearly three) and close to 17000 international runs later, Virender Sehwag is sitting on the bench outside. Bowlers around the world might heave a sigh of relief, but to Sehwag lovers around the world, irrespective of whether Sehwag is done now or not, his career shall always be about the difference between what could have been and what is. There is no reason to Sehwag's inconsistencies with the bat - not the pitch, not the weather, not the opposition. Sehwag's weaknesses are the strangest. He's one of those people who can plunder hundreds of runs in a day in particular conditions and come out the next day to get dismissed the first ball in a totally identical situation. Many say it's callousness. Others say it's laziness. Gregory Chappell, his former India coach and life-long admirer, reckons it's simply the lack of willingness to work hard enough. "Sehwag is so naturally talented that he's never really had to work too hard to do the things he does."

Is he really? One will never know what it feels like to be Virender Sehwag. He holds all aces to the outcome of a match. He throws the dice and either team falls. Perhaps that's what makes Sehwag so exciting - the unpredictability. A match is never lost or won before Sehwag is done. He backs himself to keep it simple. Batting to him is the exercise of putting willow on leather and sending the latter as far as possible. There are no unnecessary complications; no ifs-and-buts; no question marks; no game plans; no extensions.

Maybe Sehwag isn't done yet. It's extremely difficult for any team in the world to keep a player like Virender Sehwag in the reserves for too long. You can't ignore him even if you do hate him. Often, it's impossible to hate him. He revolutionized batsmanship and got rid of cricket's excesses and complexities. I can't wait to see him back. To me, there is no flavour in cricket without Virender Sehwag.

Take charge, captain!

It's hard being an Indian cricket fan these days. But what's even harder is to be the Indian cricket captain! It only seems like yesterday that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was being crowned as India's best ever skipper after lifting the World Cup trophy. Everything seemed like a romantic little fairytale.

But then things started to fall apart. Coach Gary Kirsten took his leave and the energy of the Indian team went with him. India got plundered in England, Australia, even at home and most significantly, even by the mercurial Pakistanis. Stalwarts walked off the field - Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, even the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. None of MS Dhoni's Midas touch was coming to his aid as India fell off a cliff at rapid pace, helplessly. It's so much like Ian Chappell, the former Australian skipper used to say - "When things go wrong, they seem to go wrong horribly and seemingly forever."

Some help please!: Dhoni seems to lack good resources

It's been a hard 2012 for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He hasn't been a bad batsman at all; in fact, he's been India's most effective, coming up with face-saving graces every now and then. He hasn't been a bad wicketkeeper either; he's still amongst the world's best, if not the best, flying around like a sly fox behind the sticks. But then the Indian fan wonders - has he been a bad captain? What has Mahendra Singh Dhoni done so differently since April 2, 2011 that has led to such a stunning catastrophe?

Many say that MSD has been stubbornly "regressive" on the field. He seems less willing to take risks now than he did when he first came in. He's most certainly also been hiding himself in the batting order, refusing to come in to bat until the game is already done or the innings about to fold up. Much of that seems to suggest that the captain has lost faith in his men. The seniors of Indian cricket had pampered him so much with their unmatched competence and skill, taking India to the pinnacle of world cricket, that he doesn't seem to have the confidence to go on without them. Ricky Ponting had similar problems following the retirements of Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden and Glenn McGrath and even went on to face a humiliating Ashes defeat at home. What India don't seem to have done when the going was good was to build on their bench strength and groom the future generation. The result: a dramatic collapse.

The least MS Dhoni can do for Indian cricket today is to groom a new generation of world-beaters. Perhaps that explains why he's been "hiding in the batting line-up" - to give the Kohlis and Rohits and Rainas more time to play their natural game and build careers. However, if MS Dhoni doesn't have confidence in the current lot, he needs to look beyond them, back in the domestic circuit. India need to identify a real talented batch of young guns and let them play their natural game on the world stage. The captain needs to repose more faith in them and play with them as he would with his previous bunch of greats - daringly aggressive. Who knows? "When winter comes, can spring be far behind?"

Is Sachin pushing Father Time too far?

One of the greatest moments in modern Indian sport came to be on the 2nd of April, 2011 in Mumbai. Chasing down a challenging total in front of billions of spectators, India beat Sri Lanka in the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup to take world cricket's most coveted prize for the second time in history. It's almost like yesterday in the memories of a billion Indian cricket fans. For others, it was a closely fought battle between two of Asia's cricketing heavyweights.

There were a number of inspiring scenes at the Wankhede that night - Mahendra Singh Dhoni's trademark helicopter six off the last ball, the barrage of blue-shirted Indians rushing out on to the field to embrace their skipper and perhaps more significant, the Indians carrying Sachin Tendulkar on their shoulders with the Tricolour draped around him. It was an emotional moment. The greatest cricketer in world history had finally won the greatest prize of them all, and to add to it, he'd done it in front of his home ground. Young colt Virat Kohli summed it up when he said, "Sachin has carried the burdens of the country on his shoulders for 22 years. It's time we carried him on ours."

Sounds romantic, doesn't it? But Tendulkar's 22-year-old international career wasn't done yet. There was something else - he had 99 international hundreds to his name. "Only" 99. No human had ever come within touching distance of that figure. But there's something about mathematics and psychology that seems to make 100 much greater than 99 compared to how great 99 is to 98. Sir Donald Bradman, the legendary Australian batsman, had an average of 99.94 in international cricket when he retired. He needed a mere four runs in his final innings before little known Eric Hollies decided to carve his name in the pages of history by getting the most famous wicket of all time. The Don saw his stumps fly out as cricket's most awaited innings was done and dusted in just two balls with a blob on the scorecard. Tendulkar certainly didn't want to do that. And so, it took him more than a whole year to go from 99 to 100, scoring a century against little Bangladesh in the Asia Cup of 2012 in a game which India shockingly lost. TIME published a cover story on Tendulkar after that explaining why he was the "greatest sportsman ever". But the sheen was gone. The man himself had been made tired by all the number chasing.

I learnt two things from the whole episode - for one, the astronomical distance between 99 and 100 was reinforced and two, imperfection is legendary. Tendulkar is undoubtedly the greatest man to have ever held a bat in his hand (some may bring up the name of the Don to counter that) but there is something more mystical about 99 as compared to 100.

The Falling Timber: Tendulkar is bowled, yet again

Following Tendulkar's magnificent achievement, people started asking him when he was to retire. But Tendulkar brushed them aside. "You don't retire when you're on top; you serve the nation when you're on top." It was a novel thought. But he wasn't quite on top at the time. Following the fairytale World Cup win, India went on to get walloped in England and Australia. Tendulkar was a part of both squads and he watched helplessly as his team was getting slaughtered. It was hard work representing India on the cricket pitch. Patience was running out back home with over a billion people wounded by the drubbing. So two of modern cricket's legends and Tendulkar's closest comrades, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman stepped down to let young blood take over. But despite his past glory, Tendulkar's own stats weren't doing him much good. The reflexes were slowing down, the stamina was disappearing, the energy was waning, and the shoulders that had carried a whole nation's sporting hopes for over two decades were starting to droop. People started to inevitably beg the question - "when?"

With England giving Tendulkar a hard time on pitches he had grown up on, the time is running out. One of the marks of a great athlete is that he steps down from the podium at the right time. It's hard to say when the "right time" is. But Steve Waugh did it. Pete Sampras did too. And so did Usain Bolt. Tendulkar's legacy is one that is unparalleled in world sport. No man has ever carried the hopes of so many passionate people on his shoulders with so much success for such a long period of time. No man has so single-handedly dominated the record books of any sport with such consummate ease. Tendulkar hasn't just broken records - he has set new ones at another level altogether, often asking of humanity if anyone born of flesh and blood can ever go so high. It would be a real shame if such a heroic icon was to outlive his own legacy, taking away some of that sheen as he walks away. He deserves a glorious exit, and to be fair, he's had plenty of opportunities to have had it before.

Return of the Pirates

The world erupted last week as the West Indies lifted the World T20 cricket cup in Sri Lanka. It was for the first time in 33 years that the boys from the Caribbean were lifting a World Championship tournament. Although the West Indies did manage to win the Champions Trophy of 2004 in England, never since Clive Lloyd's legendary team of 1979 had they managed to put in a belligerent and flamboyant enough performance to take home a World Championship trophy.

When India beat Australia in an ODI triseries in Brisbane 2008, the world believed that was the end of a decade of Australian dominance in world cricket. Time proved that although Australia didn't collapse as dramatically as the world expected them to, they certainly had lost their golden generation of cup-winning conquerors. On that historic day, one opinion writer summed up global emotions beautifully - "When the Australians lost in Brisbane, the world celebrated. But when an equally dominating West Indies team collapsed in the late 1980s, the world mourned."

Caribbean Calypso: The Windies celebrate their T20 win

The grand emotions that one saw following the West Indies' win were a direct continuation of that idea. Yes, the world loves underdogs. But the world also loves the West Indies! Gayle's Gangnam dancing was part of the Caribbean culture, said Pollard, following the win. They love to party, it's in their blood. But is it, really? Prior to the tournament, Sir Vivian Richards made his thoughts rather clear - "Look at them! They're always listening to music, laughing, dancing!" I suppose Sir Viv has a point. The West Indies didn't dance and fool around in the 1970s like they do today. They didn't bathe in champagne following a win or listen to boom box music in the dressing room. Neither did they roll on the floor laughing at a teammate nor prance around the field whilst the opposition looked on haplessly.

But there's something about West Indies cricket that appeals to the world when it's at its best - it's simple, straight forward and succinct. They don't beat around the bush, playing mind games, building up to a tournament. Nor do they waste their time stuffing their heads with colossal game plans and strategies. They don't cheat, sledge or irritate the opponent like the Aussies did when they ruled world cricket. Nor do they pick on their opponents, screaming and yelling at their face after getting them out. They just play their cricket - simple as it gets - and they play it hell hard while they're at it. Whether it was during the era of Andy Roberts and Joel Garner or today, with Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, the West Indies are so wonderfully entertaining to watch while at their best. They cut straight to the point - playing plain, unabridged cricket and enjoying themselves thoroughly while at it. They're never 'gentlemanly' in the true English sense but they're not unnecessarily brat-like either.

That's when the West Indies are at their best - when their players aren't away on strike and when their cricket board isn't playing 'Big Brother'. And that's what exasperates the world when it comes to West Indies cricket. When you have the ability to enthrall the global audience with plain, unabridged cricket, why deprive them of it? Why put yourself into petty fights? It's hard to say if the World T20 win will signal a new era of Caribbean dominance in the sport but what's for sure is that the world is keenly hoping it will!

Doctor Laxman at Your Service

The World of Cricket is undergoing generational transformation. Great players the world over are stepping down, satisfied at having given their respective countries the best they've got. Australia lost a line of all-time legends over the last few years. Ricky Ponting was the latest to join the list. The Indians too have lost all their Golden Era torchbearers, save the most revered Sachin Tendulkar. In such a situation, it almost becomes customary for sports writers everywhere to devote extra time and effort in writing tributes to the passing greats, enumerating their many achievements and counting their many qualities.

You could look at this post as yet another of those many tributes flying around at the moment. But I simply had to write it - for it isn't often that one sees a man, known as a legend, not for his super numbers, but for his pure indulgence under pressure. One such man is the now retired 'Physician of Indian Cricket', Vangipurappu Venkat Sai Laxman, or VVS 'Very Very Special' Laxman.

Operation Impossible: Laxman crafting a flick

VVS Laxman was not quite the sort of sportsman who went professional right from his little kid days. He was a student of medicine. A few more years in medical college and perhaps the world would have missed out on seeing the finest cricketing physician yet. To the mighty Australians of the early millennium, VVS Laxman needs no introduction. In 2001, Kolkata was to witness what many call the greatest Test match of all time. It was the legendary Australian team of the time, the erstwhile world champions, record breakers, benchmark setters of world cricket, running on a rampage. In fact, Steve Waugh's team was unstoppable. They were on the threshold of making history, holding the most number of consecutive test wins in all time. And nothing seemed like it was going to keep them from winning as many as they felt like. Certainly not India, in the first half of that game. The Australians piled on a massive amount of runs on the hosts and then got them reeling in their second innings. Until Doctor Laxman walked in to cure the terminal illness. With Rahul Dravid by his side, Laxman played the most breathtaking of strokes against the likes of Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath on a rapidly deteriorating pitch at the Eden Gardens. Warne tried to weave magic with the ball. But the Doctor made him look ordinary. "To all you kids out there, don't try this at home," Matthew Hayden later said recalling Laxman's strokeplay. After a day and a half of the most elegant and classy piece of batting, Laxman made 281 runs. The Australians couldn't get rid of him. To their horror, they ended on the losing side. The dream run was over, and in the most improbable way.

That innings sparked off something inside VVS Laxman. He seemed to feast on Australian bowling, at home and away, anywhere, anytime, every time he felt hungry. In 2004, Brisbane, Laxman steered India to a historic ODI win over the Aussies. He wasn't brash. Never really flashy. He has hit a total of 9 sixes in 220 international games, unfortunately, none of which I have seen. But Laxman didn't need to hit sixes, unlike others, to make himself devastating. He had the knack of beating the opposition black and blue through fluid strokeplay and unerring calm. And he did it more so when the case was lost and his team was packing up. In Mohali, 2008, he delivered the most perfect example of that, once again with the Australians at the receiving end. Chasing down a tricky score, once again on a deteriorating pitch, India were in deep trouble. The top and middle order, and almost every recognized and recognizable batsman, had gone away for close to nothing. Doctor Laxman was left with the likes of Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma for company and over a hundred runs yet to get. But the Doctor didn't need much assistance. He carried out the surgery all alone - carefully and craftily. History was recorded. India had beaten Australia to nil in a test series for the first time. The Australians looked on sulkily. Doctor Laxman smirked in the background.

But Laxman could do what he did against the Aussies with equal ease against everyone else as well - South Africa, England, New Zealand, West Indies. It caught more attention that he did what he did against Australia, almost unfailingly, all the time. For they were the finest of all time. They played hard. They believed that to defeat the opponent, you had to break him apart. They tried the strategy on Laxman on innumerable occasions and in innumerable ways. But he was unflappable. He seemed to like it. And that irritated the Australians even further. He was a stoic on the pitch. Nothing annoyed him. Not even the pitch itself, never the playing conditions. The Doctor believed he could cure any disease and he rarely faltered. Today, Indian cricket has been made poorer by the retirement of a Very Very Special cricketer. It might be customary to call a retired cricketer 'irreplaceable'. But it's not often that you have a Doctor around, always at your service.

London 2012 - Mirroring a New World

The games are on in good old London! Thousands of athletes from all around the world shall compete in the XXX Games of the Olympiad in England, with the iconic city in the background. As always, each edition of the Olympic Games brings in with it something new and unique, extra and different.

So what does London 2012 have to offer? Quite a bit, in fact. London 2012, in more ways than one, mirrors a new world - one that is fighting for liberalism. Over the last year or so, various regions of the world have risen up against restrictions. The Middle East is revolting. Afghanistan is limping back. The world economy is struggling. The world is looking forward to a new dawn - it is changing gears. London 2012 stands for all of that.

Take for example, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has always been one of the most conservative naitons in the world. Liberties of various sections of the society have long been on hold, particularly the rights of women. But Saudi is changing. In September 2011, King Abdullah announced that women shall be allowed to vote and run in municipal elections in the Kingdom. Following that, Saudi also allowed women to take part in the Olympic Games at London for the first time ever in history. Controversy ensued, with the International Judo Federation forbidding Saudi's female judo competitor from wearing a headscarf. Enraged, the Kingdom snapped back saying that they would boycott the Games if their judo fighter wasn't allowed to compete. But better sense prevailed as the two warring factions finally came to a compromise. As a result, in what was a historic moment for Muslim women in the Middle East, long repressed by their men, Saudi's women athletes took part in the Olympic march at the opening ceremony of London 2012.

A similar story is up from the Paralympics, where 18-year-old Afghan swimmer, Malek Mohammad, shall be representing his country. Malek lost both his legs very early due to a Soviet landmine while walking through a field near Kabul's airport. What he didn't lose was his spirit. An American traveller noticed Malek and took him to America where he got prosthetic limbs made for himself. Malek didn't look back, training hard at aquatics. Today, Malek embodies every bit of his country - torn by violence, fighting for survival.

Blade Runner: Oscar Pistorius takes off

Double amputee 'Blade Runner', Oscar Pistorius, is yet another who shall make history in the 2012 Games. The South African will be the first ever amputee in history to take part at the Olympics, representing his country at the individual and relay 400 m race. Pistorius' participation wasn't without controversy either. Many have raised doubts over whether his prosthetic limbs shall give him an unfair advantage at the sprints. But how many of us shall dream of running at the Olympics after losing both our legs? Pistorius is one, heralding a new world.

The Olympic Games have often reflected the troubles of their times, from the killings at the Munich Games of 1972 to Tommie Smith and John Carlos' joint protests against racism at the Mexico Games of 1968. The Games have often awakened the world to the sufferings of many. London 2012 is now doing its bit, through the likes of Malek Mohammad and Oscar Pistorius. The Games are mirroring a new world - one filled with possibilities. As Pistorius himself said, "I'm fed up with it! I want to prove them wrong."