Why India are what they are

There is no doubt in my mind why India are what they are in International cricket. As much as the advent of the IPL, the player’s sloth, cricket overkill and the BCCI can be blamed for the perennial mediocrity and inconsistency with which the team performs, the selectors deserve some stick too for inheriting the poor selection methods of their predecessors and reapplying it a thousand times over and over again even when they don’t produce results.

The team selection for India’s home ODI series against Australia is a case in point – the employment of the same old methods. The team selections in India have traditionally centred around regionalism and parochialism. Invariably, the coaches have used their power as a vehicle to promote players hailing from their region to the international stage. These players may have been the best representing their regions but would generally be far from the best India as a nation has to offer. Numerous names of cricketers who benefitted from such politics come to mind and could constitute the subject matter of  a different post altogether.

The Indian selectors always fail to look beyond that pool of 30 odd cricket players. They dropped Ravindra Jadeja and went for Abhishek Nayyar before the Champions trophy. Now they have dropped Abhishek Nayyar for Ravindra Jadeja. Nayyar did not have much of a role to play in India’s defeat in the Champions trophy. It baffles me what prompted his exclusion and why he is being made the scapegoat for the failure on the part of the Indian bowlers.

Nehra was almost forgotten before he resurfaced from oblivion. Rahul Dravid doesn’t quite know if he should retire from ODI cricket. He might soon get a call when India are back on a losing streak. Rohit Sharma, technically sound and compact so-to-speak is out of contention. Tomorrow when Virat Kohli fails to fire, Rohit Sharma might replace him in the squad.

If this is how the Indian selectors go about picking the team, the results that India have produced in the recent past are not any surprising. They typically begin their experimentation by playing 17 and 18 year olds in the international side. If they taste early success, they’ll stick to them for a while. The moment they start failing, they’ll revert to experienced players, giving them a second life. Suddenly the fielding and running between the wickets will become talking points. The experienced would be sacked. The same youth brigade would be brought in and the vicious cycle would continue.

They have never persisted with a youngster enough to blood him. They expect instant results from their new recruits and expect those that are good to repeat the feat consistently. The administrators do not care a fig about the players’ packed international calendars. They have packed it even more with two T20 competitions every year. How do they expect these youngsters to consistently perform on top of their game in so many matches that they play in a calendar year? They fail to rotate the players for different tournaments, turn a complete blind eye to player burnout and still expect them to produce results.

Venkatesh Prasad, though not an exceptional bowler himself, has done a commendable job behind the scenes in preparing a good stock of pace bowlers. When the bowlers failed to deliver in two consecutive tournaments for reasons that are beyond Prasad’s control, he has been axed. The selectors, who have been tolerating India’s mediocre fielding all these years have suddenly decided to blame Robin Singh for the lack of any conspicuous improvement on the fielding front. There can’t be worser knee-jerk reactions taken by a selection committee.

The Indian selector is no longer holding a honorary post. He is being paid for his selection decisions and is equally responsible for the team’s poor show. How about sacking the selectors if the team underperforms?

The day is not far away, one should think.

Early Observations from the Champions League

After the first round of matches has completed, four of the 12 teams have gone home. Eight progress through to the second round and from here we will lose 50% of the teams until we are finally left with one.

The impressive teams to date have been New South Wales and the Cape Cobras. New South Wales are a team to die for and have ridiculous depth for a provincial side. Players such as David Warner, Phil Hughes, Simon Katich are good enough but then they have an all international bowling line-up of Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Stuart Clark and Doug Bollinger. They are a fantastic side, easily won both of their first two matches and will take some beating.

The Cape Cobras are just as star-studded. They have Herschel Gibbs, JP Duminy and Justin Ontong. They are capable of turning something into nothing and are a very dangerous side.

From Group B, the Eagles advance with NSW after defeating Sussex in a bowl-off.

From Group C, Bangalore will join the Cobras in the last eight. With Anil Kumble, Mark Boucher, Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, Roelof van der Merwe and Vinay Kumar there is a strong Indo-South African flavour to the side.

From Group D, the Delhi Daredevils and Victoria are progressing. All sides won one and lost one and both of these sides will be a stern challenge to the Cobras and Bangalore. The Devils are a good side. They did very well in the IPL this year and in Tillakaratne Dilshan, Dirk Nannes, Virender Sehwag  and Amit Mishra they have a quality squad.  Victoria and the Cobras will hold the advantage of bringing two points with them from the group stage.

Group A wasn’t decided until the final ball of competition. Somerset joined Trinidad and Tobago in the second round when Deccan lost to the West Indian side by three runs. The defending IPL champions bow out of the competition without winning a match and in both instances they were very unlucky.

It is good for West Indian cricket that Trinidad and Tobago go through to the next round. They are somewhat of a dark horse with the cricket betting world. There are two sides from India, Australia and South Africa in the final eight with one each from the West Indies and England. Each side only plays twice in the second round so those teams who bring points through with them only have to win once to advance to the final four.  This is a huge advantage and you would expect all four to progress.

David Wiseman writes for this blog. He also writes about the Melbourne Cup.

Who will reign in India?

The first Champions League of Twenty20 cricket is happening in India. Last year’s event was cancelled due to unsavoury external factors so it is good that this year’s tournament will be happening. Although it is unfortunate for the teams who were going to be participating in last year’s event, but won’t be here now.

The recent Champions Trophy came in for a lot of praise due to its quick and concise nature. So what is this tournament like? The 12 teams have been divided into four groups of three. This means that each team only plays two preliminary matches that take a week to be completed. Wth the groups very even, cricket betting isn’t sure what to make of it all. It’s hard to get a read of who the best teams are.

Following this the top two in each group advance to the league stage. Here the top two from Group A will join the top two from Group B and likewise with the top two from Groups C and D. Here each side plays the two teams from the other group. That is, the teams who advance from the same group don’t play each other again even though they are in the same group. The reason for this is probably to keep things succinct. To give everyone else another match would mean adding days to the tournament.

Then the top four progress to the semi-finals and following that is the Grand Final.

What is interesting is the squads. Some players are eligible for more than one side and there has been some talk about this. Dirk Nannes is playing for Delhi instead of Victoria and thus the Victorians have received compensation.  The same thing could have happened with Dave Warner and Brendan McCullum but they elected to stay with NSW and Otago respectively.

This should be an exciting tournament and not just because its Twenty20 cricket. There has never really been international domestic competition. Because of the nature of this shortest form of the game, it allows it and should create a new energy for the game.

It is nice to see new rivalries created and old ones strengthened. Who knows who will win but the spectators and fans are definitely winners. Following this will be seven one day internationals between India and Australia which should make for some fantastic entertainment. As soon as that finishes England will be in South Africa in their tour while Pakistan is in New Zealand taking on the Kiwis. It has never been a greater time to be a cricket fan.

David Wiseman is looking forward to the cricket’s Champions’ League. Following this he is looking forward to the Melbourne Cup.

Champions Trophy team of the tournament

Graeme Smith

His masterful 141 against England was in vain, as was a dashing half century against Sri Lanka. On both occasions he was let down by his bowlers, but the South African skipper went down fighting, maintaining a strike rate of 107.29.

Shane Watson

He started with two ducks and ended with two centuries, which were a far better representation of his current form. Powerful and technically correct, he is the heir to Matthew Hayden’s throne at the top of the order. A genuine allrounder, his tight bowling was back near to its best and he will soon be helpng to improve Australias cricket odds.

Brendon McCullum (w)

No wicketkeeper shone in this event, but McCullum’s assault against England in a must-win match gets him the nod.

Ricky Ponting (c)

A sweet victory for the Australian captain, who knows he has some serious talent in his ranks. He was at his majestic best with the bat, particularly in the Champions Trophy semi final against England.

Paul Collingwood

He cast off his cloak of timidity with some fluent innings, clearing the rope eight times in the process.

Grant Elliott

His perfectly paced 75 not out in the semi final was one of the innings of the tournament, whilst England found his nagging medium pace unplayable in helpful conditions at Johannesburg.

Daniel Vettori

The Black Caps skipper was badly missed in the final. He captained and batted well and was as hard to hit as ever with the ball.

Kyle Mills

Wayne Parnell and Stuart Broad took more wickets, but they were expensive and flattered by their figures. Mills is an unsung hero of the New Zealand team and is now fourth on their list of ODI wicket-takers.

Nathan Hauritz

His clever use of flight and variation meant his economy rate of 3.76 was the best of anyone bowling more than 17 overs.

Brett Lee

King of the Yorker, Lee was unlucky not to take more than six wickets. He is back to his best after his Ashes disappointment.

Saeed Ajmal

Three specialist spinners is pushing it, but let’s pretend this team is playing on the Centurion turner. Ajmal was used in the power play overs, unsurprisingly considering the trouble batsmen had with his doosra.

Too Much Cricket?

It seems as though Australia has been playing continuous cricket for a long time. There was the tour of South Africa followed by a short break. They then went to England where they lost the Ashes and then played seven one-dayers. They are now in South Africa for the Champions Trophy. On their way back to Australia they play seven one-dayers against India. Back in Australia they will host the West Indies for three tests and Pakistan for three more followed by five one-dayers and twenty20s against both.

This is a lot of cricket. This isn’t their most pressing issue though. The problem is how the Australian public will react to a no-name West Indies squad. All of the first team aren’t playing due to a contract dispute with the board and this meant that a replacement side in competing in the Champions Trophy.

Australia want to win but it doesn’t want to win in 2 days. This isn’t good for anyone, least of all for the game. Ricky Ponting has already expressed concerns about playing a non full-strength West Indies side and Cricket Australia are just as worried. They have already looked into contingency plans about what to do if this is going to be the case. Cricket betting won’t accept offers if Australia has to face the under-strength West Indies side.

Following the domestic season, Australia heads to New Zealand for two Test matches, five one-dayers and two Twenty20s and then to the West Indies for the World Twenty20 Cup.  It is then back to England for five one-dayers, two Twenty20s and two Tests against Pakistan which are going to be playing at Lords and Headiingley.

So the truth is that there is no better time to be a young Australian cricket trying to break into the side. Someone like Callum Ferguson, Cameron White or David Hussey could consolidate their future with a solid 12 months of cricket. The packed schedule means that squad depth is going to be required. Some of the older members such as Ponting, Stuart Clark and Michael Hussey may be rested which would open up opportunities for others. Already Tim Paine has established himself as the back-up to wicket-keeper Brad Haddin.

For youngsters on the periphery such as Dave Warner, Adam Voges and Doug Bollinger they could find themselves in the right place in the right time. This is also the case for anyone playing in the Sheffield Shield. A great season will put their name up there and they could well find themselves getting a call up to the national side.

David Wiseman writes about cricket. He is looking forward to seeing how his Melbourne Cup betting does this year.