Relaxed Indians, Angry Australians

Media Watch for December 24, Final Post

A light hearted bonding is must for success, so it was good to read Kadambari’s article in HT 'Good Evening Melbourne', where she talked about the Indian players looking happy and relaxed, before the start of a tough series, during a party at Melbourne’s Hotel Windsor.

Certainly, the outcome can become better and more pleasant if the mindset if free, a tough challenge does not play on your mind too much, and you have friends and children for company.

The Australians, on the other hand, seem to fighting among themselves as of now. Vice Captain Adam Gilchrist has taken offense to continuing critical comments from Ex-Australian cricketers in the media.

‘’I’m not sure why people are getting personal about things in the press…I think, we as a group, are just getting a little bit sick of a lot of the negative comments being afforded towards us or the people involved with the cricket team,’’ Gilchrist was quoted by agencies as saying.

Meanwhile, a PTI report in Hindu had a very interesting item on Steve Waugh becoming the admirer of Sourav Ganguly.

‘’You do not have to like or dislike him, you have to respect him,’’ said Steve.

Little late from the Australian Captain whose career ran parallel to Ganguly’s for nearly a decade, but then Ganguly’s tenacity has been most evident only in the last one year when he made one of the most memorable comebacks ever in Indian cricket, the kind of which Mohinder Amarnath specialized in the eighties.

(More on media watch is below the Christmas and New year greeting post)

Soaring Hopes and a Mission not Impossible

Media Watch Dec 18

India’s departure for Australia was the biggest news in Indian Newspapers today.

''Indians fly off Down Under with Soaring hopes in tow'', was the headline in the Indian Express as the paper quoted Skipper Kumble that the experience of previous tours will come handy.

His optimism was reflected in his comment that ‘’We have the potential and the players to win the series.

Blog's Take: However, while the batsmen in the team have over 30,000 runs collectively, over 10,000 more than what they had when they toured last, they are also older by four years. The reflexes may not hold this time round against Lee and Tait. The last chance missed (in 2003-04) may well have been their last chance.

Meanwhile, Laxman was as down to earth as he has ever been, as he talked about the Australian potential.

‘’They are the best so it is pretty simple that you have got to give your best against them,’’ he said. Jaffer too said that ‘’it will be a big test for me’’.

Blog's Take: Surely, and Jaffer will also need stability at the other end whether it is Sehwag, Dravid, Yuvraj or Karthik opening the batting with him. It takes two to tango. Noting illustrates it better than the exploits of Sehwag-Aakash Combo which had set the tone for the last series.

HT, well they headlined it ‘’Mission: Not impossible’’. However, the paper did say that the lack of more than one warm up match before the first test will be a big problem for India. The Times of India simply said ‘’Team off to Oz, looking to make history.’’

Blog's Take: Kumble and company can be justifiably aggrieved about the absence of adequate number of warm up matches. With so much at stake, the issue needs to be addressed quickly in future. Players are not machines that they keep on performing relentlessly at the big stage in completely different conditions without adequate preparation. The absence of that opportunity to get tuned into conditions does make it mission impossible for a team still grappling with batting combinations at the top.

In the Times of India, there was an interview with Sourav Ganguly where he said that India had done better outside the subcontinent in last six-seven years compared to Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In fact, he used the word ‘’wonderfully well’’.

He felt that this knowledge of beating West Indies, Pakistan and England in away series and drawing with Australia last time, will help India immensely. He also quoted India reaching the final of ODI World Cup in 2003 and winning the 20-20 Cup as among the important factors.

Blog's Take: Ganguly has shown that he has the skills to go with guts. A tremendous skipper, India will look at Ganguly for the kind of inspiration he showed in the recent series against Pakistan. Mission may not be possible, but that is possible!

What Bishan Bedi never said!

Well he never said that the 1990 Indian team be thrown into the sea!!

In a TV programme Sunday Night, Bishan Singh Bedi has clarified that he had never said that the Indian team should be thrown into the pacific ocean after a humiliating loss to Australia during a triangular series in New Zealand in March 1990.

Speaking on cricket controversies programme on NDTV Sunday night, Bedi, the Indian coach then, said the comment was wrongly printed and actually what he said (after India failed to chase a very modest score) was that if somebody wants to commit suicide by jumping into the sea, he won’t stop him!

Unfortunately, his anguish, with little touch of humour, became a reckless comment by the time it reached the countrymen and created one of the biggest verbal turmoils in Indian cricket.

His wife, also on the programme, said that while people may have thought of Bedi as aloof and arrogant at times, he was only being frank and forthright.

In fact, Bedi has been forthright and candid (read outspoken) throughout his life (as player, coach and columnist) which was evident when he objected to Vaseline 'abuse' by Lever during England's tour of India in late seventies. A year earlier at Kingston, to protest against West Indies 'immoral intimidation' he had declare India's second innings rather prematurely.

However, Bedi's wife did say that at times she felt that his criticism of Sourav Ganguly was little harsh and in arguments with her husband on Sourav, she often defended Sourav and asked Bedi to be soft on him!

Interestingly Atul Wassan, a pacer on that tour, jokingly pointed out that Bedi, after one such bad performance told them that make sure if your performance is not upto it on the field, at least it is good off it!

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Below are the links to two others blogs by Atul

http://spiritualsolace.blogspot.com/

http://suckersofworld.blogspot.com/

Simply Sensational Sourav

The last twelve months have been altogether a new dawn for Sourav Ganguly.

He was thrown a life-line in South Africa after nearly a year in hibernation and how well he lapped it up! Sourav has never looked more assured and the end result only goes on to confirm it.

The Kolkattan's batting, and even bowling, was instrumental in India recording a series win against Pakistan at home after nearly three decades. The last time India had won was in 1979-80 season when they beat Asif Iqbal led Pakistan 2-0 in a six test series. The Indian skipper then was Sunil Gavaskar.

Coming to Sourav, it was the first time in eleven years of international cricket that the southpaw managed 1000 runs in one calender year. But better late than never and fittingly, it came in his comeback season.

Sourav's 1023 runs from nine tests have come at an average of 63.9. An equally good performance in the first test against Australia, beginning on the boxing day will be the icing on the cake. It will be Sourav's 100th test as well.

In this series, the former Indian captain made 534 at a tremendous average of 89.00. Only two Indian batsmen before have crossed 500 runs in a three-test series. VVS Laxman against Australia in 2001 and Sehwag against Pakistan in 2005 series.

However, like Laxman in 2001, Sourav's contribution helped India score a series win, and that was most important.