Life is a Game…

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, or MSD as he likes to be called, who just a few months ago could do nothing wrong, and in the process elevated to a cricketing immortal, is now a worried man. The fickle minded fans are now calling for his head – something that was outta imagination exactly 60 days ago. But Cricket is a cruel game and Dhoni is one of its illustrious victims.

Rewind……  It was March 29, 2007. Indian cricket was in a mess. Ousted by Bangladesh in the group stages, Dravid had given up the captaincy. Come September and the inaugural T20 world cup was slated. A very young Indian side was fielded under the new sensation Dhoni. With no real burden of expectations, the Indians led by an admirable Dhoni won the World cup. A MESSIAH HAD ARRIVED! It was all about Dhoni for the next two years and the Team India just could not stop winning.

Face the reality – Now the defending champions India are out of the t20 world cup and MSD has seen his status taking a huge thrashing. Big strokes are now a history. Attacks of brute force have been replaced by shots emanating from a dead timber. His intriguing captaincy added insult to injury, though every captain has his share of bad days.

But to call for his removal is completely unjust. Agreed, Dhoni’s honeymoon is certainly over but the marriage still remains intact!

When the T20 matches were introduced in the charity matches, it was written off as a one-off stuff. But what an impact it has made on the modern day cricket! Both the Players and the spectators have changed their outlook on the game thanks to the advent of T20.

Up until the late 1990s, 250 was a decent ODI target and if a team has posted 300 then it is rest assured. But come T20 and totals over 300 are frequently chased down with consummate ease. And to cap it off, South Africa chased a total of 434! 870 odd runs in 100 Overs – mind boggling stuff. The shorter boundaries and the broader bats may also be the reason behind this turnaround. But the role of T20 is too important to ignore.

Yes, it has won the crowd back and it offers a high entertainment value. But is it helping the game? The game is literally killed. Gone are the days when an exquisite cover drive would attract a round of applause. These days it’s hit, hit and hit! It doesn’t matter how you play as long as the runs are coming. The scoop over the keeper (“Dilscoop”), paddle sweep, switch hit, etc are catching up with the youngsters and they can no longer play to the merit of the ball. This may have drastic repercussions on the quality of the game.

If you have luck, you can succeed in T20 cricket. But the fact is that you can attain the status of a Cricketing great, if only you make your mark in the longer version of the game- the Test Matches.

Despite an abundance of exciting talents and experience, South Africa has not been in the finals of a major ICC event even once. They are perennial under-achievers and professional choker. A crisp analysis of this intriguing fact is presented.

It all began in the 1992 world cup semifinals, when the Proteas were unceremoniously dumped out thanks to a crazy rule. Rain stopped play when SA required 22 off the last 13 balls. But on resumption, SA was set a revised target of 21 from 1 ball! Then came 1999 world cup semifinals, where SA required just 3 runs off the last over against Australia. But they choked again and TIED the match – Australia went through based on the head to head record.

Even the advent of T20 did not change their fortunes. In the 2007 WC, they were unbeaten until they met India. Suddenly they found themselves out of the tournament due to an inferior run rate- they lost just one match but were out. And the history repeated itself in the just concluded world cup. Again they were unbeaten until Pakistan ousted them in the semifinals.

It’s a pity that though the South Africans deserve a silverware, they cannot lay hands on it. Unless there is some so called Divine Intervention, the chances of South Africa lifting a trophy remain bleak!

Yes, you read it right. It’s not ICL; it is IPL – Indian Premier League. You may be wondering what I am upto. Let me put forth my argument that’ll enunciate the role of Kapil Dev in the success of IPL.

Initially, BCCI was reluctant to come to terms with the T20 matches. They even considered boycotting the inaugural World cup. But Kapil Dev, in partnership with the Zee Entertainment group, floated ICL. It caught the eye of many domestic and International players. BCCI could not tolerate this and issued an ultimatum to all those who were involved with ICL. But they could not stop the players from seeking lucrative ventures. Kapil Dev went on to say that ICL players will gain the experience required to succeed in T20s.

Annoyed at the prospect of losing the exciting talents to ICL, Lalit Modi, then Vice-chairman of BCCI, began to work out his strategies and came up with a mega project named IPL. Ably supported by the board, he attracted big money sponsors and the rest, as they say, is history. Many credit Modi for the burgeoning success of IPL and he deserves a pat because he implemented it in an ideal manner.

But it was Kapil Dev who laid the foundation for a franchisee based club cricket in India and it’s apt to call him ‘The Father of IPL’ !

With Cricket’s oldest tournament Ashes series about to begin in a week, let’s have a glance at the glorious history behind it. It was 1883 and England had lost to Australia at their home. An Australian newspaper notoriously claimed that the English Cricket is dead and that its body would be cremated in England and the ‘ashes’ would be taken to Australia.

The stung English side started a mission to regain the trophy and thus the 1882-83 became the first Ashes test series. After winning, England were handed a small urn with the ashes of a bail (now found in the museum at the Lord’s). A replica is given to the winning captain of each series. England drew the first blood as they won 11 out of the first 12 series. But Australia has made it up with a 34-5-28 head to head record. The ‘Bodyline’ series and the ‘Invincibles’ are the two most important series in the history of Ashes.

In the 1932-33 series, Australia was formidable with Sir Don Bradman in an imperious form. The English were worried about this and they bowled with an intention to hurt the Aussies by bowling into their body. This is infamously called “The Bodyline” series. In the 1948 series, Don Bradman led Australia went through their entire tour undefeated (31 matches) and this team is called the Invincibles.

No wonder, both the teams take a great pride in winning the Ashes and even place it a notch higher than the World Cup.