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Plays of the Day from the second ODI between South Africa and India at Wanderers

Sidharth Monga at the Wanderers15-Jan-2011The mosts
Sachin Tendulkar has reached a stage in his career where everything he does seems to break a record – his own, if not someone else’s. As he walked out to bat today, he joined Sanath Jayasuriya as the most capped ODI player, with 444 matches. In terms of innings, he went one better than Jayasuriya; this was the 433rd time he was batting in ODIs.Graeme Smith, though, is not that familiar with records, but as he went out for his 139th ODI toss, he broke Hansie Cronje’s record of having captained South Africa in 138 matches.The bouncer
The moment he saw Suresh Raina, Lonwabo Tsotsobe went on a bouncer spree. So excited was he that he nearly bounced himself with one, pitching it at his toes in a way that the ball almost hit him in the face during his follow-through. Smith, fielding at straighter extra cover, had the best seat in the house and fell down laughing.The contest
Watching cricket in South Africa is a complete experience. People come with their portable chairs, iceboxes full of beer, and spend lovely time either on grass banks or in the stands. During the innings breaks, the kids either get to play cricket on the field or take parts in contests, as has been a ritual at Wanderers. It is a long-standing tradition, and they keep records: Faf du Plessis today broke the previous record held by Johan Botha, set at a time when he used to be an extra.It involves running along the 30-yard circle, doing various tasks. First up is to lift and rearrange three sets of balls from one cone to the other. Then run along, collect a ball and bowl at the plastic stumps. Can’t move to the next before hitting the stumps with a legal delivery. Then a machine throws up skiers. Catching one of them completes the next task. And finally one tennis ball has to be hit from the 30-yard circle into the crowd. One extra from each side, and kids from the crowd take part in the contest. India’s R Ashwin took one minute and three seconds, one second better than the best among the kids. Botha’s record was 56 seconds, which du Plessis smashed by three seconds.The Powerplay, and how not to use it
After South Africa displayed the perfect use of the Powerplay in the first ODI, India showed the dark side of the moon today. When Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni were going well, India didn’t ask for it, even though Yuvraj was starting to hit aerial shots. Three overs after Yuvraj’s dismissal, India asked for one, and immediately lost Raina. A maiden over followed. Then another wicket. Then another. Four wickets fell for 14 runs during those five overs. South Africa did not fare much better, taking their Powerplay in the 32nd over, and hurtling from 145 for 4 to 165 for – a passage of play that ultimately cost them the game.

For the third time in his career but the second time in eight months, Kevin Pietersen translated a solid start into an explosive double-century finish, as if his recent lean times had taught him the value of seizing the moment

Andrew Miller at Lord's22-Jul-2011It was on this ground three years ago that Kevin Pietersen’s career reached a plateau of contentment. Against South Africa in 2008, he stroked a century in his first Test appearance against his former countrymen, and declared immediately afterwards that he’d never felt “so loved”. Today his emotions were ever so slightly different. There was plenty love, he said, from his grateful colleagues in the dressing room as he basked in the brilliance of his 202 not out, but one sensed that his over-riding emotion was relief.Relief, in the first instance, that India’s belated acceptance of Hotspot technology allowed him to escape the humiliation of becoming MS Dhoni’s first Test wicket. Relief, also, that Rahul Dravid’s scooped catch at leg slip on 49 was turned down by the TV umpire. But relief, ultimately, that in the course of a 326-ball stay that comprised three distinct tiers of confidence and aggression, he was able to crush the last of the many hoodoos that have laid his career low in recent times.For the first time since that summer of love three years ago, Pietersen has recorded a century on home soil. It’s not, in his own singular mind, an especially big deal, for he had threatened to do just that throughout a series of burgeoning form against Sri Lanka. All the same, the manner in which he broke through was typical of the man and his talents. For the third time in his career but the second time in eight months, Pietersen translated a solid start into an explosive double-century finish, as if his recent lean times had taught him the value of seizing the moment.”It’s something to be proud of, definitely,” Pietersen said. “There’s been some fairly complimentary thing being said to me in the dressing room. I’ve never had to work harder. With the conditions I batted in yesterday, and having to face MS Dhoni for half an hour as well, I reckon it’s right up there with the hundreds I’ve scored. They bowled really well in swinging conditions and the pitch was seaming as well. I was missing balls by a couple of inches on occasions… it was real hard graft.”Pride and relief were the overwhelming emotions for Kevin Pietersen on making his first home ton in three years, and going on to convert it into a double•Getty ImagesThe real graft was done, unquestionably, on the first afternoon of the game, prior to Zaheer Khan’s hamstring strain, when a thick and transformative cloud cover had forced England to wade through their day’s work at barely two-and-a-half runs an over. Pietersen himself made 22 from 73 balls in that time, an unwaveringly diligent spell at the crease that had more in common with Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott, the two men who have superseded him as the bankers in England’s batting line-up.No-one in their right mind would wish Pietersen to take on board too many of the accumulative traits that those two have been displaying in the last 18 months – last month Graeme Swann jokingly referred to England’s top three as the ultimate cure for insomnia, and added that it was only KP and Ian Bell who were actually worth the spectators’ entrance fee. Nevertheless, since Pietersen’s last hundred on home soil at The Oval in 2008, eight of his team-mates have racked up 18 hundreds between them, including four apiece for Trott and Cook.There’s a lesson to be learnt from their current levels of accumulation, especially as that was the one great criticism of KP during the days when he scored runs for fun. He made ten centuries in his first 30 Tests, yet managed just one in excess of 158, against West Indies at Headingley in 2007 – a return which hinted at a tendency to play one loose stroke too many when he had opposition bowlers at his mercy. “Make it a daddy,” has been Cook’s mantra throughout his career, as learnt from England’s most prolific batsman of all, Graham Gooch. When you get in, go on. And today, as in Adelaide, Pietersen did.The true glory of Pietersen’s innings did not appear until much later in the piece, however. The thrill of his acceleration was something to behold, as he spent 134 balls over his first fifty runs, 82 over his second, 75 over the third, and a blistering 25 in powering along to his double, which he sealed in a throwback fashion by blazing Suresh Raina for 4, 6, 2 and 4 off consecutive deliveries. In the first phase of his career, that was his method for dealing with all the nervous nineties – and sometimes, perhaps most fatefully at Sabina Park in 2009, he would succumb trying.Maybe this willingness to postpone the extravagance is the mark of a new maturity. At the start of the year, Pietersen spoke effusively of his desire to push on to 10,000 Test runs, and cement the legend that his early successes had always suggested he could become. During today’s grandstand finale, he powered past 6000 Test runs, and by the time of England’s declaration, he had nosed his career average up to 49.83.And what is more, he did so while obeying team orders, as Andrew Strauss’s improbably aggressive declaration quickly confirmed. “I went off for a toilet break at drinks and I said to Strauss if you want to pull us off now, then pull us off now,” he said. “We had quite a few runs, so it wasn’t about double-hundred for me. It was about the team being in a good position going forward in this Test match.”They certainly are in a good position, with Pietersen’s timely input ensuring they have now gone seven consecutive innings without being dismissed for less than 450. And once again, his eye for the grand occasion is in full evidence. Just as his innings defined England’s victory platform in the crucial first win of the Ashes, so he now has laid claim to the first round of Test cricket’s current world heavyweight bout. His backpage-catching strongman pose on reaching 200 was the biggest extravagance of his day – that, and an aborted switch hit off Harbhajan Singh, when the beleaguered offspinner spotted him flipping in his stance with his 150 already on the board.”You go through good, you go through bad, but if you’re being true to yourself, you do your hard work and do the business,” Pietersen said. “If you do the hard work that I do you have to be rewarded.”

Fast bowling has been Sri Lanka’s weak suit historically, but they need to step it up over the next four weeks in England

S Rajesh24-May-2011Sri Lanka have never won a series of at least two Tests in England, Australia or South Africa, but over the next four weeks they’ll get an opportunity to start rectifying that statistic when they take on England over three Test matches. The hosts obviously start favourites after their fantastic Ashes campaign in 2010-11, but Sri Lanka have sounded a warning by winning both their warm-up games, including a superb come-from-behind victory against England Lions last week. One of the most encouraging aspects of that win was the performance of the fast bowlers – Dilhara Fernando, Thisara Perera and Nuwan Pradeep took 15 out of 18 Lions wickets, returning combined figures of 15 for 388. They, and the other fast bowlers who play, will have to maintain those kind of figures if Sri Lanka are to win the series, especially given that this is the first half of the summer in England, when conditions are most likely to favour fast bowlers and not offer so much assistance to spin, traditionally Sri Lanka’s favourite suit.Pace could also play a bigger role in Sri Lanka’s campaign this time because they can no longer fall back on the wizardry of Muttiah Muralitharan. In his absence, the spin mantle will be borne by Ajantha Mendis, Rangana Herath and Suraj Ranjiv, but it’s quite likely that the series result could hinge on how well Sri Lanka’s inexperienced fast bowlers fare: among their frontline fast bowlers, only two – Dilhara Fernando and Farveez Maharoof – have played Tests outside the subcontinent, and their numbers aren’t flattering: together they’ve played 18 Tests, and taken 29 wickets at an average of 62.38 runs per wicket.In fact, the lack of incisiveness in the bowling, especially among the fast men, has been one of Sri Lanka’s biggest drawbacks on overseas tours. The bowlers’ inability to take wickets and restrict opposition totals has put their own batsmen under tremendous pressure almost every time they come out to bat. Sri Lanka’s overall bowling average in England since 2000 is more than 45, while their fast bowlers have conceded more than 63 per wicket – both are easily the worst among all teams except Zimbabwe. With Lasith Malinga not around either to help their cause, Sri Lanka’s bowlers could be severely tested over the next month.

Bowling attacks in England in Tests since 2000

TeamTestsWicketsAverageStrike ratePace – wicketsAverageStrike rateAustralia1730229.1249.120531.8551.2England76123130.5057.0100429.4854.2Zimbabwe45034.1672.74531.9365.8Pakistan1218334.2763.413930.5855.3South Africa914035.0063.312633.3859.3India711138.1769.66937.4966.6West Indies1520038.8468.917235.8063.9New Zealand67240.3476.65642.2378.1Sri Lanka66945.2485.83363.42108.0Bangladesh42774.44104.81485.14107.1Usually conditions in South Africa, England and Australia are more favourable for fast bowlers, but Sri Lanka’s numbers don’t suggest so. In all three countries, their pace bowlers concede more than 47 runs per wicket, while in most other countries they average in the 20s or 30s. What has also hurt their cause is the sheer lack of opportunities to play Tests in these countries: in the last 11 years, Sri Lanka have played only 15 Tests in Australia, England and South Africa.

Sri Lankan bowlers in each country in Tests since 2000

CountryTestsWicketsAverageStrike ratePace – wicketsAverageStrike rateZimbabwe23819.4440.02122.0943.9Bangladesh47723.6646.42927.9652.2Sri Lanka5999827.0659.038830.5358.9New Zealand46231.7762.03833.7362.4Pakistan811435.9372.86237.5071.2West Indies45436.0366.43135.1657.5South Africa55840.0176.83147.8380.5England66945.2485.83363.42108.0India67448.8382.72654.5792.5Australia44851.1282.72658.0392.7The lack of matches has also hurt the batsmen, for it gives them little opportunity to acclimatise to conditions which are completely different from what they face at home. Looking at the stats of all teams in England since 2000, Sri Lanka slot in somewhere in the middle with an average of 28.10, while compared to their own record in other countries, their stats in England are fairly ordinary.Among the batsmen in the current squad, Mahela Jayawardene is the only batsman to score a century – he has scored one in each Lord’s Tests on the last two tours, and averages more than 45 in six Tests. In fact, his four innings at Lord’s reads 107, 14*, 61 and 119. However, Kumar Sangakkara has been a huge disappointment, with a highest of 66 in 12 innings, and an average of 30.54, which is almost 27 fewer than his overall career average.

Sri Lankan batsmen in Tests in England since 2000

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sMahela Jayawardene650245.632/ 2Tillakaratne Dilshan319532.500/ 2Kumar Sangakkara633630.540/ 2Thilan Samaraweera2174.250/ 0The good news for Sri Lanka, though, is that they have won Tests in England, unlike in Australia and South Africa, where they haven’t won any. They won the one-off Test in 1998 on the back of outstanding performances from Sanath Jayasuriya and Muralitharan. On their most recent tour, they lost at Edgbaston, but fought back superbly to level the series at Trent Bridge, with Muralitharan again winning the Man-of-the-Match award for an 11-wicket haul. Both their wins in England have thus been engineered by Murali; in his absence, it remains to be seen who will take on the mantle of strike bowler.

Tests between England and Sri Lanka

TestsEng wonSL wonDrawOverall21867In England10523Since 200015546In England since 20006312England will be full of confidence coming into this series: their last series was a magnificent triumph in Australia, and they also have an outstanding home record in the last decade. Since 2000, they’ve lost only three home series out of 22 – once each to Australia (2001), India (2007) and South Africa (2009). During this period, their win-loss ratio at home has been 2.68 (43 wins, 16 defeats), which is third only to Australia and India.England’s batsmen were in fine form in the Ashes, and they’ll want to continue that run. Among those in England’s current squad, only three have played a home Test against Sri Lanka: Kevin Pietersen has enjoyed himself, with two hundreds in three matches, but Andrew Strauss only managed a highest of 55 in five innings.

England’s batsmen at home against Sri Lanka

BatsmanTestsRunsAverage100s/ 50sKevin Pietersen336072.002/ 0Alastair Cook317543.750/ 1Andrew Strauss315631.200/ 1England’s partnerships for the top five wickets, though, have almost all been productive, and that’s helped them stay on top in most home Tests against Sri Lanka since 2000. The average stands for the top three wickets are all more than 60, with the average for the first wicket being 72.55, which again illustrates Sri Lanka’s lack of fast-bowling firepower. On the other hand, Sri Lanka’s average first-wicket stand is 23.25, with a highest of 59, which is significantly lower than England’s average partnership.

Partnership stats in Eng-Sri Tests in England since 2000

WicketSL – Ave stand100/ 50 p’shipsHighest standEng – Ave stand100/ 50 p’shipsHighest stand1st23.250/ 15972.551/ 61682nd45.541/ 310966.553/ 02023rd54.952/ 420662.222/ 21594th37.542/ 114631.550/ 2605th41.811/ 212552.621/ 31736th17.000/ 16830.280/ 2587th17.900/ 04426.830/ 049*

Plays of the Day for the fifth day of the third Test between India and West Indies in Mumbai

N Hunter26-Nov-2011The silly act
There were quite a few inexplicable mistakes committed by the West Indies batsmen but none as silly as the one from Marlon Samuels. It was only his third delivery. Pragyan Ojha had already accounted for Darren Bravo off the first ball of the over. India were in a hurry to bat again and Samuels had no reason to give Ojha the charge, but he did. Ojha cleverly pitched on off stump and made the ball turn away. Samuels was deceived completely and MS Dhoni knocked off the bails.The dropped catch
Ravi Rampaul bowled a length ball to Virender Sehwag, who played from his crease, trying to hit straight over the umpire’s head. The drive did not have enough momentum, though, and the ball went in the air towards Rampaul and bounced off his wrist. Rampaul could not believe it and covered his face with both hands. In the first Test in Delhi as well, Rampaul had failed to grasp a return catch from Sehwag. Today, Sehwag was on 6 and India were 17 for 0. By the time he was dismissed for 60, India were scoring at a rate of more than five an over and needed only 142 from 44.5 overs.The reverse-paddle
With runs coming quickly, Devendra Bishoo opted to bowl from round the stumps to try and restrict Sehwag, who opened his stance slightly to counter the changed line. Sehwag went for a premeditated reverse-paddle of the first such delivery. The ball, a full toss, took the leading edge before floating into the hands of Darren Sammy at short fine leg. Sammy had given Sehwag his third reprieve earlier but this time he took the catch safely. Sehwag went down on one knee, embraced his bat like a child who had committed a mistake, and walked back hugging it.The gift
India needed 12 runs off 19 deliveries. Rampaul had kept Ishant Sharma in check for four balls. Ishant pushed the final ball of the over towards cover and rushed for a tight single. Sammy, the fielder, had been getting treatment through the afternoon for a leg strain. His throw at the striker’s end could have found Ashwin short but he missed by some margin and also conceded an overthrow, which kept Ashwin on strike for the next over. An annoyed Rampaul could only stare at his captain.The winner …
… was the Mumbai crowd. They came out in large numbers on all five days, peaking on the third and the fourth, when the figures crossed the 20,000-mark. Today around 18,000 people turned up. A slap in the face of those who thought people cared only about Sachin Tendulkar’s landmark.

The Indian captain talks about the emotional and pressure-laden World Cup win, switching off from the game, his future one-day plans, and more

Interview by Rajdeep Sardesai17-Dec-2011″It’s very difficult to control an emotion like that. I was controlling [myself], I wanted to quickly go up to the dressing room, and I saw two of my players crying and running to me. All of a sudden I started crying”•Getty Images This has been a remarkable year for you. Did you feel at the start of 2011 that by the end of the year you would be a World Cup champion? Honestly?
It was a difficult task ahead of us. Most of the people in India thought we would win the World Cup because we are hosting it. If you see the stats you see that the host country had never won the World Cup before this edition. There was a fair amount of pressure on the players but we were more worried about the fitness. We knew if the 15 that got selected, if all of them are available, and if they play to the kind of potential they have, we would win the World Cup. But it [the pressure] keeps on mounting.I still remember playing the Australia quarter-final. People thought that was the biggest game when it came to the World Cup. Then it was Pakistan in the semi-final. I remember travelling and people were like, “Win this game and we don’t care about the finals.” As soon as we won the semi-final, it was like, “You have to win this because it doesn’t matter what you’ve done. If you don’t win the final it won’t be really nice.” So I think there was pressure, which was the ultimate thing. I never saw the pressure on your face. All these months, even in bad times, in England, you didn’t seem to feel the pressure. What is it? Do you do yoga? Meditation? I often wonder if you practise Buddhism.
I don’t practise any of the above things. I love to be in the moment, I love to analyse things a bit. Very often what is important is to realise what went wrong, not only when you are losing a series or a game, but also when you are winning a series; when you need to realise which are the areas [you] need to work on. And especially, if you see the England series, losing players at crucial times – it never really went our way. Losing Zaheer Khan in the first game, Bhajji went out in the second, Gautam [Gambhir] getting injured in the first game, not being available in the second. All these things mattered. Of course we could have done slightly better. We were in positions in the Tests where the game was slightly in our favour, but without the explosive power you need to tame a side like England, it is a bit difficult. The moment we all lived for was to win the World Cup, and there was a moment when you hit a six to win the World Cup – you twirled your bat, and for the first time I saw emotion on your face. Was it just all those days and weeks where you had kept it under, that you said, “I have achieved it”? For the first time, I saw you really explode.
It was one of the biggest things for us as Indian cricketers, you know. We are playing at the top level. We all want to be part of a World Cup-winning side. The last time we won the proper 50-over version was 28 years back. So most of the people [in the] side wanted to win the World Cup, and as soon as we got into a position where we saw the World Cup coming into our dressing room, emotions started to flow. If you see, before the post-match presentation, almost every player cried… Did you cry?
Yes, I did. You don’t have footage of that. It’s very difficult to control an emotion like that. I was controlling [myself]. I wanted to quickly go up to the dressing room, and I saw two of my players crying and running to me. All of a sudden, I started crying, and I looked up and there was a huddle around me. It just so happened that you don’t have footage of it – you just see me coming up and doing that . And each and every one cried. You started off in Ranchi and you have achieved this. Has it been a difficult journey or has it been that you always felt… that you would be CNN-IBN Indian of the Year, win all these awards? That one day you would be the most recognised face in India. Has it been a difficult journey?
I love being in the present. When I was playing for my school, the only thing I wanted to do was get selected for the Under-16 or the Under-19 district teams. When I was selected for the district I would think about the next level, which was getting selected for the state side. I’m a person who lives very in the moment. Frankly, I never thought that I would represent my country one day. Now I’m leading my country, so it’s like a fairytale. I never thought I’d do all these things. I lived in the moment, I kept working hard. I never expected to get a call for the Indian cricket team in the very next meeting.

“I love to go back to Ranchi. I have three dogs at home. Even after losing a series or winning a series, they treat me the same way. Getting up quite late in the morning, going to clean my bikes, spending some time with my family, my parents and friends, going out for rides with my friends and having lunch or dinner at a roadside hotel – that’s my favourite time-pass”

I said, wherever they select me, whatever they select me for, I will go there and try to do my best and put pressure on the selectors to select me. So I was never disappointed when I didn’t get selected for India A or the India team. Do you owe this to someone? Is there one person that you would say is responsible for making MS Dhoni who he is today?
There are lots of people – because every small thing really counts. Of course, my parents never being against the sport. Time management was very important, and four to six was the time I used to play in winters. Summer, the days being longer, you could play for a bit longer. They never told me not to play or not to enjoy the sport. That was the crucial period, because if there was any stoppage from my parents, that would have been very difficult. So, parents, I think, are very special.And each and every friend who helped me go through the bad phases in life. You got married last year and became the world champion. What was more difficult? Winning the World Cup or getting married?
I think both of them are quite difficult to do. Because, all of a sudden you have someone in your life who lives with you 24 hours and you have to adjust to her and she needs to adjust to your kind of living. And I think the first six months goes by trying to understand each other a bit better. Being girlfriend and boyfriend, okay, you are [talking on] the phone for most of the time, but being together for 24 hours, you have to change your lifestyle. How do you handle this pressure of cricket? What do you do to keep away from this pressure? Do you just not think of cricket when you are not playing the game?
Well, that’s what I do. I like to stay away from the game when I am not playing it. Of course, there has hardly been any break between series. We have been kept busy.That is also a good thing. We go back home for seven or eight days, and after three-four days we realise, “Oh, we are missing something.” Cricket has been a big part of our life. And what do you do at home? I’ve often wondered how you relax at home.
I love to go back to Ranchi. I have three dogs at home. The best thing is that [whether I win a series or lose one], they treat me the same way. They greet me in the same way. That really relaxes me. Getting up quite late in the morning, going and trying to clean my bikes – I have quite a few of them in Ranchi – spending some time with my family, my parents and friends. Going out for rides with my friends and having lunch or dinner at a roadside hotel – that’s my favourite time-pass. These are the sort of things that really excite me.”Batting at No. 6 or No. 7, it’s a very crucial spot, and it’s very difficult to consistently do well. That’s why I have regard for Yuvraj Singh. Most of the time he has batted at No. 6 and consistently scored runs “•AFP Was there a moment in the World Cup that you realised as a captain that you can win the cup? When did you first feel “I have a team that can win this World Cup”? There were a few moments in the early rounds when it looked as if we might struggle a bit.
Well, we always had the kind of self-belief needed, because we have been playing good cricket in the last two- two and a half years, in either format. Our biggest worry was, like I said, the injuries list. With the kind of breaks that we have between two games, I thought we can manage with minor injuries. People having a few niggles can be 70-80% fit and be available for the next game. That was a worry, that if somebody gets injured in a big way, it can be a factor that could really restrict us in the World Cup. The shots you play are unique but there is one shot people call it the helicopter shot – did you practise it as a young boy in Jharkhand when you were 16? Or is this a shot you have evolved over the years or does it just come naturally to you?
I used to play a lot of tennis-ball cricket. [We would] play on a 16- to 18-yard wicket with a lawn-tennis ball, and most of the time the bowler tried to push in a yorker. That was the kind of shot you needed to hit for a six, because in tennis-ball, you don’t have to middle it. Even if you are using the bottom-most part of the bat and if you hit it quite well, it always goes over the boundary. You are making it sound very easy but to hit a a yorker for a six in the manner in which you do is not easy. So did you practise the shot in tennis-ball cricket or is it something you’ve become better at over the years?
I think I became better. I never practised it. I used to use it in the games. And not to forget, I’ve quite often hit my left ankle doing that. Over the years you get better and better and I’ve seen a few other people trying to copy it, you know, and hitting their left ankle, and I’m like, “Okay don’t worry, I also started like that.” You keep, you bat, you captain. Have you ever felt tired in 2011? That enough is enough, I’m going with my wife to Ladakh or somewhere for one month, away from cricket? Have you ever thought, “Let me take a break from this game for one month”?
At times you feel tired. Again, what’s important is that you can push your body. Unless you’re mentally tired, I don’t think you really need a break. And even if I was really tired, I don’t think I [have been] in a position where I could take a break, because our senior players were missing because of injuries or some other things that happened. If there are players, senior players, who are there to play in the next series, and then if you take a break, it is fair enough. But if you see the last few series, we have missed most of our senior players. So you have to see the strength that the team has. And if the team needs me most right now, I don’t mind playing a few more series before taking a break. You’ve achieved it all: you’ve won the World T20 title, you’ve won the Champions League, the IPL and now the World Cup. Is there one dream still left for you in the game? Is there some ambition, some Mount Everest you still want to conquer?
Well, why not do it all over again? If you don’t really have a dream, you can’t really push yourself, you don’t really know what the target is. I think it is very important to stay focused, have short-term goals, not look too much in the future, and try to win each and every series that is coming. Of course, you won’t be able to do that. But it is important that you prepare yourself in that way and try to give your best on the field.

“It’s very important to realise at the right time what you are good at, whether you’re good at cricket or any other sport or at studies. If you are good at studies and you want to play cricket, you may work harder than any other person but you may not achieve it. So it’s something you have to balance in life”

So 2015 is the next goal – the World Cup? The last one we won in ’83 and then for 28 years we waited – from Kapil Dev – for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to arrive. So is 2015 a goal? Or is it series by series, tournament by tournament, match by match?
It is series by series. If you see 2015, you know, still three, three and a half years to go. I don’t really know where I will stand. Everything needs to go off well, and then by close to 2013, I will have to take a call whether I can really 100% be available for the 2015 World Cup, because you don’t want a wicketkeeper in the side who has not played at least 100-odd games, at least close to 80-100 games, going into the World Cup. So that’s a call that needs to be taken. But if everything goes off well, 2013 end will be the time where we will have to carefully study the body and see what can be done. You seem to have mastered the art particularly of one-day cricket. Against England you didn’t even get out this year, match after match. Is that something you’ve worked out – that there is a way you play and you’ve decided that’s the way you’re going to play?
Batting at No. 6 or No. 7, it’s a very crucial spot, and it’s very difficult to consistently do well. That’s why I have regard for Yuvraj Singh. Most of the time he batted at No. 6 and consistently scored runs for the Indian team. I think it’s a crucial position, and also, what happens is, you give a youngster a chance to bat at No. 3 or No. 4 so he gets groomed under the senior cricketers. And there comes a time when I will say, “Okay, no, the next six months or half the year, I’d like to bat up the order and you guys come down the order and take the responsibility”. Because at the end of the day they will have to learn how to bat at No. 6 so that the coming youngster bats at No. 3 or 4. You’ve played with the likes of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Ganguly earlier, and yet you’ve gone on to captain them. Have you ever felt, “I’m captaining Sachin, all these big players”? You seemed a natural leader of men. Were you someone who was the boss, the gang leader from childhood? Have you always been a leader of people?
Never, really, because I was very a shy kid, and the first time I captained was very late in my career. Very late means I was playing maybe U-19 or something like that. And I never had a fair amount of exposure when it came to leadership.I felt it’s always important not to think whom you are leading. More important is what needs to be done, and to channelise the kind of resources you have to accomplish the target, to be successful at what you are supposed to achieve. There are thousands of youngsters who want to be Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who idolise you, who want to be like you. What would you like to tell those young people?
I think keeping it simple is very important. Of course, working hard, because I don’t feel there is any shortcut. You can have a bit of luck on your side. But it’s very important to realise at the right time what you are good at, whether you’re good at cricket or any other sport or at studies. If you are good at studies and you want to play cricket, you may work harder than any other person but you may not achieve it. So it’s something you have to balance in life, and be practical where you are good and then channelise your efforts in the right direction to be successful in life. We all have heroes. Does Mahendra Singh Dhoni have a hero, someone who inspires him?
Well, that’s a very difficult one. There’s someone like Sachin Tendulkar, who is a part of the side, whom most of the individual cricketers look up to. And not to forget Amitabh Bachchan, who has been the biggest thing when it comes to Bollywood, and he is known the world over. So if you look at him, still, at his age, he is working and being among the best. So these are the two people who are ideal role models, who have struggled through their phases in life and yet come out successful. The best thing is that they are very humble and grounded, which I think is very important to be a successful person.

Matthew Wade’s startlingly poised and powerful century on the second morning of the Dominica Test means he is no longer just keeping Brad Haddin’s seat warm in the Caribbean

Daniel Brettig at Windsor Park25-Apr-2012Whenever Victoria batsman Brad Hodge deputised for a resting Ricky Ponting in Australia’s ODI team, he felt he was achieving very little by being there. Convinced he was only keeping Ponting’s seat warm, Hodge made slim scores on numerous occasions, reasoning it did not matter whether or not he succeeded. Invariably, Hodge would return to the fringes of the national squad, ruminating on how unlucky he was. The possibility of making a sparkling hundred and forcing someone else out of the team never appeared to dawn on him, and he ended his international days with the righteous air of the perennially wronged.Another Victorian, Matthew Wade, has been keeping Brad Haddin’s seat warm in the Caribbean, after Australia’s No. 1 Test gloveman left the tour due to personal reasons. Over the first two matches in Barbados and Trinidad, Wade did little to provoke criticism, but not so much to linger in the memory either. His glovework was neat, his batting doughty and his character sturdy. However he did little to change the status quo, as demonstrated by the captain Michael Clarke’s steadfastness about Haddin’s return for the next home summer.”In my opinion Brad will still come back into the Test team when he’s fully fit and available,” Clarke had said before this match. “But the next Test is a long way away, there’s a lot of cricket to be played and that’s certainly nothing against Wadey. I think he’s done everything in his power to put his hand up there and perform. I think he’s made the most of his opportunity in Tests, one-day and Twenty20 cricket. I think he’ll play a huge role in Australian cricket going forward and he wants to continue to get better like the rest of us.”All that has been changed by Wade’s startlingly poised and powerful century on the second morning of the Dominica Test. Unlike Hodge, Wade has made the kind of batting statement that is virtually impossible for the selectors, Clarke included, to ignore. By dragging Australia from 169 for 7 to their eventual 328, Wade showed a counter-attacking instinct of the sort that Haddin hinted at, but at a level of accomplishment more often associated with his storied predecessor Adam Gilchrist. All Haddin’s three Test centuries have been made in innings where at least one other Australia batsman passed three figures. Wade’s innings was the first Australian score of more than 73 for the entire tour.While there was some good fortune behind Wade’s performance, including a dropped return-catch by Kemar Roach immediately prior to Mitchell Starc’s run-out – a dismissal that triggered the keeper’s thrilling charge at the bowling – his confidence and presence of mind as he neared the milestone of a first Test century was truly compelling. Having cowed the West Indies bowlers with a trio of sixes and a handful of other boundaries, Wade pushed through the nineties with scarcely a moment’s hesitation, and moved from 99 to 103 with a simply played but commandingly placed punch through the covers.Wade’s first reaction was to shout in exultation and punch the air with his batting glove, not a millions miles removed from Gilchrist’s celebration when he reached a first Test century in a legendary fourth-innings chase against Pakistan at Bellerive Oval in 1999. Now, as then, Australia’s wicketkeeper had seized the match; West Indies’ facile batting in the afternoon would only confirm the fact.Wicketkeeping is one of several areas the selectors will have to assess as they spend the next few months working out whether or not to go back to Haddin. Wade’s work behind the stumps has been tidy in extremely challenging circumstances, and it may be argued that he has done better than Haddin managed when he also debuted on West Indian tracks in 2008, and followed up with notable struggles on the subsequent tour of India. Haddin enjoyed several decent days behind the stumps towards the end of the past home summer against India, though his batting had trailed off.Haddin’s leadership, too, is a significant factor for discussion. Though Shane Watson is the formal vice-captain to Clarke, and led Australia in his absence during the Caribbean ODI series that preceded the Tests, Haddin is clearly an important and savvy lieutenant. This can be as apparent off the field as on it, and Clarke has deep respect for a man he began his first-class career alongside. Haddin’s captaincy of NSW was also an example that Clarke sought to follow, and their thoughts were commonly in sync across the 4-0 caning of MS Dhoni’s team. Wade has shown in this series that he is a capable voice in the field and a sharp observer of batsmen also, but he does not yet have the experience that Haddin can call on if picked against South Africa in November.That first Test is more than six months away, and in between Wade will take the gloves for a broad assortment of ODI and Twenty20 matches in Ireland, England and Sri Lanka. Over that time the public and the national team will both grow more used to his presence, and he will grow more used to theirs. It is not yet clear exactly how Haddin’s personal situation will affect his desire and inclination to travel with the national team again, and he will have been out of the seat a long time by the time Graeme Smith’s men arrive in Australia. Clarke will likely have the casting vote on whether Wade usurps the senior man then. Either way, a striking innings at Windsor Park has forced the issue, and has made it highly unlikely that Wade will finish his career with the same sense of ‘what if’ that is likely to haunt Hodge.

Ancient sculptures, national parks, and plenty more to see when you come to Hambantota

Dinesh Chandimal19-Aug-2012Hambantota is a long journey from my home, now in Colombo, and is also very different from the capital. It’s usually hot. The climate is dry compared to the more humid parts of Sri Lanka, and the region is still quiet and calm, not far from the wild sandy beaches of Tangalle on the southeast coast. The national parks of Bundala and Yala, which people visit to see leopards and elephants, are nearby as well.The region was hit hard by the tsunami, but visiting the central town of Hambantota now is a bit like taking a look into Sri Lanka’s future. The new cricket stadium is just one part of the new developments aimed at building Hambantota as a new second city to Colombo – with a new port and an international airport on the way. A new branch of a highway is being built to run from Colombo to Hambantota, which I am looking forward to, because it will cut down on our travelling time for matches. Hambantota is a place for Sri Lanka’s future.I will never forget the first time I travelled from my childhood home on the west coast as a ten-year-old for the famous Kataragama festival. People from all religions, across Sri Lanka, travel to the temple there to celebrate and worship together with prayers and dancing. It’s certainly a fun and special experience. Visit the sacred Kataragama jungle shrine, if you get the chance. You’ll also get to see the famous Maligawila Buddha statue and the Buduruwagala ancient rock sculptures nearby.A must try for visitors is the very good local yoghurt with honey.Hambantota doesn’t have too many hotels, so sometimes the Sri Lanka team stays in smaller hotels in the surrounding areas. To a visitor to the Hambantota region, I would recommend trips to the historical town of Tissa. You’ll see lotus-filled lakes, paddy fields, large and temples.It’s also a great place for wildlife lovers. The Buttala foothills are known for some of the best national parks in the country, especially Udawalawe, a great place to see wild elephants, which sometimes even wander outside the park. You can also visit the elephant orphanage there.The stadium in Hambantota opened only last year for the 2011 World Cup. The ground is very large, still brand new, and set in a wild, open landscape outside the town. The view from high up in the stands, looking down at the cricket and the scenery outside, is fantastic.

Sri Lanka took a gamble by throwing a rookie spinner into deep end and he responded with the best figures of the match. It should promise more opportunities at the highest level

Andrew Fernando28-Sep-2012Following the nerve-fraying finish and the drama of the final half hour of Sri Lanka’s Super Eights encounter with New Zealand, Akila Dananjaya’s four overs in New Zealand’s innings seems an age ago. It was a quiet night for bowlers in general, but Dananjaya’s performance deserves to be highlighted. It was not just that he was steady despite his inexperience, and that he kept his nerve against destructive Twenty20 batsmen intent on unsettling him, but his 2 for 32 were actually the best figures for any bowler in the match. Given he dismissed both New Zealand’s top scorers, his impact on the game was perhaps even more significant than the numbers suggest.That he was so undaunted in front of a heaving crowd in the second phase of a major international tournament is praiseworthy given he is only 18, but it will not surprise those who followed him in the SLPL. He had only played tier-three school cricket prior to August, but in a professional tournament with a significant global following, he never seemed out of place. Even in his very first match he was unafraid to bowl each of his five variations, and most of those were on display during his international debut as well.Mahela Jayawardene has been the most ardent supporter of Dananjaya’s elevation, and he has taken care to ensure the sudden transition has been easy on the bowler. Before his first spell at the top level, Jayawardene was at the bowler’s crease encouraging Dananjaya and talking him through the field settings. When he had Martin Guptill caught at long-off three balls into his career, Jayawardene was the first team-mate Dananjaya sought out to celebrate with.Jayawardene had first seen Dananjaya over a year ago, when Sri Lanka were preparing for the tour of the UAE and Dananjaya came in as a net bowler who bowled a similar doosra to Saeed Ajmal. Back then Dananjaya was too loose. He had the variations, but did not have the control to maintain pressure on his opponents. Dananjaya went away, worked on his game, and returned to the Sri Lanka practice sessions a much improved bowler. He impressed Jayawardene and coach Graham Ford enough that they requested his inclusion in the World Twenty20 squad. Since then, Dananjaya has surprised even them with his poise under pressure, like when he continued to bowl even after being struck in the face by a full blooded Rob Nicol drive. In his next over, with cotton up his nose to stop the flow of blood, Dananjaya had Nicol caught at deep midwicket.”I just wanted to give him a game early on so that his jitters are over,” Jayawardene said. “He bowled really well and came back even with a knock. Good that he got a game under the belt. He’s a competitor. When he got hit I went to him thinking he was gone for the game. He said, ‘Shit, I missed that catch.’ And he was bleeding from his nose. That’s his attitude.”The Sri Lanka dressing room is perhaps one of the easiest for young players to settle into, and the support he has received there has no doubt helped him acclimatise to the international cricket environment. That rather than bowling quicker and flatter than he normally would in his first match, Dananjaya erred on the fuller side speaks volumes about his courage and confidence. Even when batsmen had successfully charged him, he continued to flight the ball – occasionally too far. If that is his only major weakness so far, it is not a bad one to have.”Akila has settled into the squad very well,” Jayawardene said. “He’s very talkative and has his own pack among the younger group. He’s got his transport organised because one of the senior players is driving him up and down from his home. Lahiru Thirimanne is his chauffer. He only lives a couple of blocks away from Akila’s place in Panadura, so he has to go and pick him up and drop him off.”He’s settled in nicely, but we’ve got to make sure we handle him properly.”Jayawardene and the Sri Lanka team have been cautious about throwing Dananjaya into situations that may not suit him. Ford revealed that he had been slated to play South Africa in the group stage, but had been held back when the rains came and the wet ball posed a problem. They will be encouraged by Dananjaya’s first international outing and will likely give him more games, particularly if Ajantha Mendis cannot fully overcome his side strain. Beginning with the Super Eights match against West Indies on Saturday (if passed fit), Dananjaya now has the opportunity to complete the fairytale by making a name for himself at the top level. In some ways, he already has.

Harsha Bhogle, Rahul Dravid and Sanjay Manjrekar discuss MS Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher ahead of two big home assignments

14-Nov-2012Harsha Bhogle: And so as India plays England in four Test matches at home followed by a little series with Pakistan in between, there’s been a lot of talk about who should play and who shouldn’t. Not as much about leadership, because, finally, I think that will have just as much of a say as, I believe, anything else. The captaincy of the Indian cricket team, the position of the coach has always been the topic of discussion. So where do India stand on this leadership issue? How stable are we? How solid are we? Is this the best way ahead? Rahul Dravid, playing for India till a couple of Test matches ago, joins us. So does Sanjay Manjrekar.In terms of leadership, in terms of the season ahead, how critical is that as factor?Rahul Dravid: The leadership is going to be very important, there’s no doubt about it. It’s going to be a couple of high-pressure series, both of them at home. Playing at home, even though India has the advantage of home conditions, brings with it its own set of expectations and pressures – having to win, and not just win but win convincingly.HB: Sanjay, is the leadership under trial in any sense, or is there a feeling that leading away from India is completely different from leading in India, and so one doesn’t imply anything about the other?Sanjay Manjrekar: I think Dhoni is under pressure, purely because of what’s happened. The 0-8 loss that we keep talking about, the overseas losses. And the popular feeling and talk is that no captain would have survived that kind of a performance. Plus, the World Twenty20 that India didn’t play too well in. So, all that is building some pressure on Dhoni.Having said that, I don’t believe he is under too much pressure in the home series, purely because the conditions suit his team. From that standpoint, he’ll get much better support from his bowlers, from his batsmen. I personally felt that Dhoni should not have been held responsible so much for what happened overseas, in England and Australia, because I thought he was one of the many reasons India had that kind of a performance.His captaincy may have been dull at times, and he was actually bailed out a bit… [but] there was Virender Sehwag who captained India in the last Test, at Adelaide, and India still had the same result and lost as badly as they did under Dhoni. So that also told you something about the team that was playing in England and Australia, specifically the batting.HB: Rahul, is it very different captaining India overseas when things are going against you or when things can go against you, and captaining in India, when you know the conditions?RD: They are completely different things because of the quality of your bowling attack. When you look at the effectiveness of your spinners in Indian conditions, and the resources that you have at your disposal, and the impact your bowling can have in India, it makes a big difference. It makes it a lot easier to captain. The challenge is when you go abroad and your spinners are not that effective and you have to rely on your fast bowlers to make the breakthroughs at various stages. Sometimes you just don’t have the quality or the fitness in your fast bowling department to be able to get teams out twice. It puts a lot of pressure on captains.When you look at Indian captains, you’ll find that they tend to be a lot more aggressive in India than abroad. Partly the reason is the kind of quality of attack, or the kind of wickets that seem to help the attack, that they have in India.I agree with Sanjay that a lot of times, maybe, captains wouldn’t have survived a 0-8 beating in other situations, but in my opinion, Dhoni has every right to survive it because he is Dhoni. And I say that because of the success he’s had in the three years leading into the last year. He’s had a disappointing last year but he’s won India a World Cup, we’ve been the No. 1 [Test] side in the world under Dhoni, and we need to give Dhoni an opportunity to show us that he’s learnt from the last year. If you put pressure on him so early in the piece, or if you try to change someone like Dhoni now, I don’t think you’ll get to see what he’s learnt from the last year.What I’m hoping in the course of the next eight Test matches is to see Dhoni, or see someone, who’s actually learnt some lessons from the defeats, learnt more about himself, more about his players and more about the team, and is looking now to the next overseas tours and looking forward to the series ahead and trying to have a better performance when India tours the next time.SM:: Yes, Rahul, but the problem here is, we won’t know whether Dhoni has improved as an overseas captain by playing in the home series.You know, I’m a huge fan of Dhoni. I’ve always been a big supporter of Dhoni. I keep saying this – once he’s gone as captain, that’s when Indian cricket will start missing him. Because he’s been there for such a long time, familiarity breeds contempt… [and] also a certain amount of indifference towards the influence he has on the team.My problem with Dhoni has been his vision for Indian cricket, or the kind of selections that he’s made. Home series, again I expect Dhoni to be a good captain because of the obvious advantage that he has with the bowling attack, pitch conditions and everything. But is he now prepared to become a better overseas captain for the next overseas tours? If that was the goal for him, to prove to all his critics that he can be a good overseas captain, which [Sourav] Ganguly was during his time, then there could have been some measures that could have been taken, which haven’t been.HB: It’s interesting what Rahul said just now because I remember talking to Sourav Ganguly some time back and he had a similar view to what Rahul did. He said you have to give captains the opportunity to make mistakes and then give them the time to learn from it. If you change your captains too quickly, they then make the mistakes but you don’t give them the time to learn from it.That might have been true for a couple of captains in the past but, Rahul, Dhoni’s had the job for a long time. And as Sanjay says, can he be a better captain overseas? Is being a better captain overseas the function of the team he will get when he goes to South Africa in 2013? Because the fact that he’s captain now means, ideally, he should be the captain in end 2013, otherwise you would have needed another captain to feel his way around.Still the best man to lead India in Tests?•Associated PressRD: Yes, I mean you’d hope that if he is the captain in South Africa then India have probably done well in these two series, against England and Australia. In some ways Dhoni, even though he’s got to keep a short-term view in terms of these two Test series – and by no stretch of imagination can he afford to take England and Australia lightly, even though we’re playing at home – he’s got to have an eye some of the challenges he faces in his career to be seen as a good overseas captain as well.That will be a function of the team that he gets but he’s got to try and have an influence on the kind of team that he gets, and that’s a process that he’s got to start now. It’s a process of, I think, communication and negotiation with selectors, coaches, working on some of the skill sets of, especially, some of the bowlers and the young batsmen coming through on what is required in a year’s time. So while he has a micro view over what needs to be done in these series, he needs to discuss with the selectors about the kind of players he wants in South Africa and entrust them with the job of actually finding those players in domestic cricket.HB: Rahul used two very good words back to back – communicate with selectors and then negotiate with them too.SM: [Dhoni] is in a bit of a fix, actually. If he wants to be remembered as one of the greatest Indian captains, his overseas performances have to improve after what happened recently. But to be the overseas captain in November 2013, he’s got to win at home and that’s where he can’t take the risks that are attached with trying new players.I firmly believe that after the kind of opening batting combination that India had in England and Australia, to go back with Gambhir and Sehwag to South Africa would be a huge gamble. So a guy with a longer-term vision would have maybe somebody else to open in South Africa, but that also means a bit of risk taken in the home series.I can clearly see Dhoni is under pressure to deliver because, until now, he seemed to be a captain who didn’t worry about the pitches that he got at home. But now I’m getting to hear that he’s very aware, and he’s talking about the pitches helping his spinners and all that, which a Dhoni who was not under pressure as a captain never did.HB: Rahul, you’ve seen Dhoni as a captain in India and as a captain overseas. Do you see him being different as a captain in India? As a person himself, his confidence level, his swagger? Or is he the same phlegmatic person that you don’t really know what’s going on inside?RD: He is the same phlegmatic person. I think his handling of the 0-8 defeat, from a personal level, his own level, was pretty good. We never ever felt he was putting himself under any undue pressure in those couple of tours. So I don’t think I’ve seen him be different either at home or away.I think on the field you can obviously see the difference, because that is where he’s got to manage that bowling attack. And when you don’t have the necessary skills with the bowling attack, you can start to look a bit defensive and a bit flustered, and start looking around for answers. So on the field maybe he is slightly different, but that is more a function of the resources he has at hand. Otherwise he’s been pretty similar and that’s been one of his strengths – his ability to stay pretty balanced, to be able to manage and stay in a cocoon and not get too affected by what’s happening around him.That’s a good thing in a lot of ways, but sometimes I think there are a lot of good suggestions outside of the cocoon and there’s a lot you can learn and pick up outside of this cocoon as well, that maybe sometimes he misses out on. And maybe now’s the time for him to, sort of, get out of that a little bit and see what he can pick up from outside of this cocoon that he sometimes puts himself in, and which has been the reason for him having this success over three to four years.HB: It’s a very interesting point you make because that’s true of leaders everywhere, that you are paid to take the call, you are given the responsibility to take the decision, but you listen to everybody because you never know where the next big idea is coming from.But, Sanjay, I get the feeling – and that could be because he’s played in those kinds of teams – that he’s happiest with his slow bowlers. You saw that with Chennai Super Kings, you see that with India in the way he handles his spinners. I remember the last time England came here, he gave Yuvraj the third over of the innings. He’s happy to experiment with it here. Is it because that’s his comfort level, playing with the slower bowlers? Or is it because that is the strength and he’s happier when that strength comes in?SM: I think more the latter, because he’s just looking at bowlers that will put the opposition under pressure and he finds that’s more the spinners that do it. He’s quite happy to use Zaheer Khan very often because Zaheer is able to do that. Give him three world-class seamers and he’ll start using the seamers very often. So, yes.And also, I think, any Indian captain, the way we are bred, right from junior-level cricket to international cricket, there’s more spinner handling than handling seam bowlers.HB: Rahul, you were captain on two overseas tours that India did well in – England and West Indies, 2006-07, in that area. Were you a little luckier in the West Indies? I thought Munaf Patel had started to bowl well, you had RP Singh and Zaheer bowl very well. Did you have a better bowling attack, from that point of view, than the team you were part of in England and Australia?RD: I think I had a more settled bowling attack. I remember in England, especially, we didn’t change the playing XI for all three Test matches. So in that sense, yes, having three settled fast bowlers, and fast bowlers who can stay fit through the tour, is critical. What we’ve had in the last couple of years, or year and a half, is bowlers who start the series and are not able to complete the series, or are not bowling anywhere near as well as they were bowling at the start of a series. And that’s the problem. In a long, three-match or four-match series, Indian fast bowlers tend to start well but by the time you reach the third or fourth Test match, they are struggling or struggling to get wickets. That can put a lot of pressure on the captain.I was lucky in that sense that we were able to keep the bowlers fit through the series and we didn’t have to make too many changes.HB: One of things that people talk about, Sanjay, is the TINA effect – there is no alternative. It’s very easy to say who should not be there. The moment you say someone should not be there or somebody should be moved, then you are almost bound to answer the supplementary question: therefore, who [instead]?Who do you think is the captain in waiting at the moment? If we are to go with the hawks, if we are to say, 0-8 – captains have been sacked for that before, who is the alternative? If you look at the senior players, Sehwag and Gambhir, they are themselves a little unsettled at this stage. Maybe they can do with just batting? [Virat] Kohli has played just seven to ten Test matches. So where was the alternative?SM: I think Dhoni knew that very well.HB: Do you think he’s that kind of person, do you think he’ll analyse everything… ?SM: No, right at the end of that series in Australia, when the pressure was building up about his captaincy, which was a little unfair… I’ve said that because the batting kept failing repeatedly and the bowling attack wasn’t great, you had to lose every Test match. He said he’d be happy to move away if you’ve got a better alternative. What happened is that Sehwag himself struggled with the bat – he was perhaps the contender to take the Test captaincy for a while from him. Gambhir also didn’t enhance his reputation. So Dhoni was fortunate.And I’ve absolutely got no issues with Dhoni being the Test captain for a while because there’s no alternative. And to give Virat Kohli the Test captaincy is far too early.HB: Will you give him the T20 [captaincy] just now?SM: Maybe one format, if you feel that Dhoni has captained a lot. If you look at the number of matches he’s played as captain, it’s 203 matches out of the 318 that he’s played, so that’s a lot of matches as captain. Even more than Sourav Ganguly, who captained 196 out of 424. So he’s also played mostly as captain and less as a player. Maybe a few years you should allow Dhoni to be a player in at least one of the formats. Let’s get to see Dhoni the player once more. When you look at Dhoni, and I’ve said this in post-match presentations as well, we sometimes are very unfair to him in that we don’t look at his other skills as much as his captaincy skills.HB: Do you think Dhoni the player has got diluted a little bit? Is that what you were suggesting just now, the player diluted because of the captaincy?SM: No. I think his Test batting has disappointed me, but I don’t know why that is because I find his technique good enough to counter Test match challenges. He’s got a rare strength that not too many of the Indian batsmen have, that he doesn’t a problem with fast bowling or short balls. If he focuses more as a batsman, there is room for improvement as a Test batsman. I think he’s done wonderfully well as a limited-overs batsman.HB: Rahul, when you became captain it was very clear who the next captain after Ganguly was going to be. It wasn’t a difficult selection. Once you knew that Sourav had come to the end, it was known to everybody that you would be the next captain. Is there a next captain in your mind – even if you don’t want to put a time frame to it?RD: Unfortunately for the selectors or for their planning, Viru and Gambhir, who probably were the obvious candidates to, sort of, be in a leadership role along with Dhoni, have their own issues, of form, of fitness. I think Viru and Gautam have both missed a lot of Test matches through injury over the last year, year and a half, which doesn’t help.Virat’s come in and done really well, but like Sanjay said, we’d all like to see him have another year like the one he’s had. If he has another 12 months like the past 12 months he’s had, then I think he’s going to start pushing himself very close to, sort of, captaincy and starting to go away from the pack. So at the moment I think the selectors themselves would have liked personally, maybe Sehwag or Gambhir to have been a lot more consistent, not only in their performances but also consistency in their ability to stay fit and playing consistently all the time, which is very important.HB: Fair call. You saw Azhar, then Sachin, then Azhar, then Sachin, then Sourav, Dhoni, and briefly you had it there as well, and you’ve been observant. Can you, sort of, watch and tell that somebody is not enjoying captaincy? That maybe, like batsmen look jaded, a leader can look jaded, or maybe that the leader’s heart is not in it anymore? Or do you actually need to be in a inner circle to realise that?RD: It’s a little difficult to tell from a distance. It’s not an easy job captaining your country, especially when you are losing games. Dhoni had three great years where we didn’t lose a lot of games and we had a lot of success. So when you have that success it is easy to have that enthusiasm and that momentum. But when you have the kind of year that he’s had, it’s but natural for him to feel a little jaded and a little despondent with how things are happening. But like I said earlier, you haven’t really noticed any change in his personality from the time he’s been doing well or the time now.

“I think, knowing someone like him, he would want to get more involved and have a say in where his own career and his own reputation is headed.”Dravid on Fletcher

But, like Sanjay said, you have to consider the fact that he is playing a lot of cricket and that is going to have an impact on you in time, especially if you are captaining in all three formats of the game. And I agree with Sanjay there that if you’re going to keep playing so much cricket, people have to look at it. From his own personal point of view, you also want the best of Dhoni as a player. He has a lot to contribute as a batsman, as a wicketkeeper. I don’t think we want to lose that, and if that means at some stage – maybe the time’s not right now but in the near future – we have to relieve him of the responsibility from one format of the game to get the best out of him as a player, then I think the selectors have to take that call.SM: There’s one important thing as well, Rahul, isn’t there? It’s okay to be slightly detached and not get affected by the results and things like that because it does help being an India captain and being insulated in a cocoon, and that has been his great strength. But the defeats also have to still hurt you.RD: I’m sure it must hurt him. But you’re right, in the sense that now he’s got to show in terms of actions and in terms of some of the decisions he takes that this has hurt him and he is thinking of the future, he is thinking about what’s going to happen ahead. I think he is the right man to lead India and the right man to take those decisions. I think he is in a position to be able to take those decisions, because, like we discussed earlier, there isn’t a lot of pressure on him from underneath from any particular player or set of players for his job.HB: It’s interesting that while all these defeats were happening, India beat England 5-0 in the one-dayers at home, beat West Indies, beat New Zealand, so there’s almost a skew there. But it’s also interesting that we haven’t even talked about the coach. Is that an indicator, Sanjay, that in this cricket team, it is the captain who’s taking the decisions and the coach is not as important a person? Or is that how it should be in the first place?SM: My view on the Indian coach has been the same. When they’re offered a contract, I don’t think it’s written anywhere that you’ll be one of the main selectors, or you’ll be one of the guys scouting for talent in the country, or you’ll be one of the two or three important voices in taking the important decisions in Indian cricket, especially the Indian cricket team. So he comes with very limited powers. And that’s why I don’t think he should be held accountable for what happens in Indian cricket because he has very limited influence.I am indifferent to Duncan Fletcher. It’s because of two things. One is the scope that an Indian coach has in the Indian cricket system – it’s very limited. And also, Fletcher by nature is not somebody like Greg Chappell, who, in spite of the scope, will try and make things happen, will try, for reasons good or bad, but won’t be afraid to rock the boat.For me, he is a very insignificant character in this Indian cricket team. The captain, and a few other major players, and bowlers, are far more important people in this team.HB: Rahul, you know him well. Is he as understated as he is allowing himself to look, and is his power, sort of, stated within the four walls of a room rather than visibly to the public?RD: I think Duncan has a lot to offer. He’s got a lot of strengths as a coach and he connects well with a lot of the players and works quite well with them. But, like Sanjay said, I guess, in some ways, the scope or power that he has to make decisions or to make selections has been a little limited.It wasn’t always the case. I remember John Wright or Greg Chappell consistently attending selection committee meetings, watching domestic matches. I think over the last three-four years we’ve seen that coaches have taken a slightly more detached role to our selections. I don’t think Gary [Kirsten] watched a lot of domestic cricket. Duncan has not really done that as well. Now, whether that’s something that the board has told him not to do… because this is the time when a lot of young players are going to need to be selected and decisions are going to be made about young players. Ideally you would have liked somebody like Duncan to come and maybe watch some of the early pre-season games to have a better opinion of who’s the better middle-order batsman, in his opinion.The thing is, he has a lot of knowledge, he’s seen a lot of players, that’s why I say that. Who’s a better middle-order player between Manoj Tiwary and an Ajinkya Rahane or a Shikhar Dhawan or Murali Vijay? At least to have an opinion, an informed opinion by actually coming and watching some games. Because I think he has a lot to offer in that area, he’s seen so much cricket. But the fact that he didn’t come and didn’t attend the selection-committee meeting tells you that maybe that’s not in his scope of work, he doesn’t have those powers…HB: There’s two opinions, aren’t there, about coaches being selectors? One is that the coaches observe players very closely, they understand their mental frailties, their cricketing strengths, and know whether or not the person is the right person or not. The other point of view that’s often been stated is that a player goes to a coach with a problem, and if the coach then uses the awareness of that problem to drop him from the side, players will stop going to him with a problem. So should the coach be a selector? Or should the coach be an advisor and travel with the team?RD: I think a coach should be more involved in the selection process. I like the coach to be more involved in the selection process simply because the coach should have the ability to differentiate between that and have the maturity to pick people. Some of these people do have the maturity to be able to understand that when players come to them with a problem, they don’t necessarily use that as a way to drop someone. But also the coach sees players from such quarters, he understands players. So I think he must have a say.SM: And also, Rahul, his job is at stake on the results. Now suddenly we are talking about Fletcher, whether he’ll survive this defeat or bad run that Indian cricket has had. Just imagine his fate. If he’s got absolutely no influence on the selection of players, how can he be held accountable for the results?RD: You want to give people powers and you want to hold them accountable, especially when you have senior, knowledgeable people like Duncan. So that’s important. None of us really knows whether he didn’t want to come [to selection meetings] or what was the scenario, but I think his reputation is on the line as well. I think, knowing someone like him, he would want to get more involved and have a say in where his own career and his own reputation is headed.HB: A couple of things before we finish on the coach. One of the reasons people ask questions about Fletcher is that nobody knows him at all. I’ve been around Indian cricket for a while; I have never once spoken to him. We’ve just sort of nodded heads. I don’t know him at all. Nobody knows Duncan Fletcher at all. So he comes through as this somewhat mystical, phlegmatic character who’s there behind the shades but no one really knows what his contribution is.And that is the reason why a lot of people want to know: What kind of coach is Duncan Fletcher? Can he be held accountable? Is he doing his job in making players play to the best of their ability, which is what a coach should be doing?RD: Yeah, firstly his job is not really to get to know the media or former players. I think his job is to get results from the team and the questions that are being raised today are because we haven’t had some of those results. In the end, finally, he is going to be judged by that. Not by what he’s perceived as. What I’ve learnt in cricket and being around the scene a lot is that perception about people and players and coaches is sometimes very different from who they actually are and what the reality is, sometimes. It’s very difficult to get that right sometimes from a distance. Having said that, he’s going to be judged by his results and the results haven’t been great in the last one year. That’s why these questions are being raised.I think I have seen a little bit of… definitely after the loss he has put a lot of emphasis on fitness and certain disciplines of the players, and knowing and talking to maybe some of them, and the basics in skill levels of some players. So, hopefully we’ll see some of that in these Test series and going forward – an improved level of fitness and some more discipline in the way they play the game.SM: I’ll add one more line. If Duncan Fletcher is going to be judged on the results produced by the Indian team, I think it’s going to be a little unfair. That’s why I was also reluctant to shower too much praise on Gary Kirsten, because of the kind of powers that they come with in this Indian cricket set-up. If they have defined powers and scope of work, then you could judge them by the results in either way. So with an Indian coach, we can always be a little unfair to them when we judge them by pure results, because they have such limited scope of work.How much of the blame for 0-8 should Fletcher bear?•Getty ImagesHB: Last one on coaches. Rahul, very different style, Gary and Duncan? Because one’s been the mentor for the other. In a sense, Gary admits the role Duncan has played in his evolution as a coach.RD: I think both of them have their own strengths. Gary was a terrific coach, a really good man-manager, very hard-working person who led with example in a lot of ways in the way he worked. Someone who, I think, became a friend of a lot of the players. Duncan, obviously because of an age difference, maybe doesn’t have that personal connect with some of the players, or the level of conversations that he can have with some of the guys are maybe a little different to what Gary could have had because he played with some of them.But I think Duncan has a lot to offer in terms of a coach, in terms of the tactics, his knowledge of the game – he works well in that area, he works quite closely with a lot of players. I think his relationship with the players and captain has been pretty good, from what I’ve seen and what I’ve noticed from a distance for the last six-eight months, because I’ve not been in it. I think the relationship is good within the team. Sometimes it might not necessarily come across like that outside, because of the things we said – he doesn’t necessarily take the trouble to talk about a lot of these things outside of the team environment.HB: Sanjay, since Rahul mentioned tactics, I’ll end with you on this issue – on the coach and captain being a good tactical combination. What has been your experience? We don’t know how much the tactical inputs of the coach are, but from a hundred yards away, have India been tactically strong?SM: Rahul would be a better person to answer that because he’s also been in the same dressing room. But from what I see from a distance, I see other strengths with Dhoni as a captain. I don’t think tactics are his greatest strength. I think the greatest contribution he’s made to Indian cricket is that he’s brought calmness to Indian cricket. Because very often in the past, when India was under pressure, captains would wilt, the team would panic. It got more and more assured and calm under Dhoni. That’s his greatest legacy.As far as tactics are concerned, sometimes he has some strange ideas. For example, in that Test against New Zealand, in Bangalore, the most successful bowler, R Ashwin, was [Dhoni’s] last preferred option in the second innings. Things of that kind, which you can’t understand. But, as I said, he’s got a lot more other strengths. And the kind of record he’s got, he’s got us three world titles. That’s got to count for something. But as a tactician, not right up there.RD: Dhoni as a tactician, he’s learning all the time. I guess he’s improving and no one’s perfect with it. He looks a better captain in India, like we said at the top of the programme, with the quality of spin he has. I think he’s a good captain of spin and he’s a good tactical captain in India. I know he sometimes does a few strange things that when they come off they look really good but when they don’t, you can sort of scratch your head and wonder why he’s done that.I think he’s got to keep improving and that’s where Duncan can help him. Duncan’s got to be able to help him and say, “Look, this is what I think and maybe we should try this a little bit.” I do agree that in that Test match, it did surprise me a little bit as well with Ashwin, who’s India’s leading bowler, not having bowled upfront. But sometimes you never know with these things whether it’s a case of injury or someone’s not feeling well. So, that could be one of the reasons. But yeah, Dhoni’s tactical nous is also going to be tested, maybe not so much in this series or the next couple of series but definitely going forward.HB: I must confess we got a lot out of this programme than I wondered when we started off. Just a quick one on the opposition that India face. How do you see this England side compared to the other England sides that have come to India? Are they strong enough? I think the return of [Kevin] Pietersen is such a big factor.RD: On paper, definitely they look a strong side. When they came here I thought they would be competitive, especially with their bowling, but now with injuries to [Steven] Finn and [Stuart] Broad, I think they’ll definitely be weakened. And with the news of Graeme Swann having gone back to England… they say he’s going to come for the first Test, but that can’t be easy and it’s not great for your preparation of your leading bowler if he’s going to make two long flights just before the first Test.I think the key will be if the England bowling attack can restrict the Indian batsmen to under 300 consistently. I don’t see, on our wickets, the English batsmen being able to pile up huge scores. If the tracks start turning and bouncing, the best England can hope for is to make this a low-scoring Test series. And from that point of view, they’ve got to have the ability to get India out twice, for under 300 runs in both innings. For that, they need the bowlers to do that. Finn and Broad, especially, for me, bowlers who hit the deck, who can make use of the vagaries of the nature of the wicket, would have been more dangerous than someone like a [James] Anderson, who relies on swing, or an [Graham] Onions, who relies on length, to get wickets.SM: [England’s] batting is a bit suspect. There’s only one thing. The thing is, when India got beaten by England, when Dravid got three hundreds in the [2011] Test series… yes, the pitches helped the seamers, but it was a quality bowling attack that England had. Do India have a quality bowling attack? That’s where England’s chance is to escape from the net on a few occasions.HB: Okay, we’ll wait and see. Thank you very much to Sanjay Manjrekar, thank you very much to Rahul Dravid. Both of them will be on air during the Test series between India and England, so we can enjoy their company all over again.Numbers Game Question: Since 1990, there have been 19 instances of overseas batsmen scoring more than 300 runs in a Test series in India. How many of those are from England, and who are the batsmen?

The Auckland Test has highlighted the difference between the England and New Zealand bowling attacks when it comes to their ability to swing the ball

Andrew McGlashan in Auckland24-Mar-2013The subject of swing is one of cricket’s most often-debated topics, but one that rarely finishes with any definitive conclusions. That is especially true when there are such clear differences between the ability of one team to move the ball better than the other.England’s bowlers barely got the ball off straight in Auckland through 152 overs of New Zealand’s first innings. Even for James Anderson, one of the finest exponents of swing in the world, it was mostly gun-barrel straight. When the home side took the ball on the second evening, however, there was distinct shape for Tim Southee and Trent Boult. It was not always straight, but the threat from one on target, such as Boult trapping Jonathan Trott lbw, was much greater.Southee continued the trend on the third morning with a high-quality spell of swing bowling that accounted for Nick Compton and Ian Bell to ensure England’s top order was knocked over with precious few runs on the board.The ball to Compton did not actually swing, but that becomes just as dangerous when there has been movement to leave the batsman wary of what is to come. Bell was set up by a series of deliveries shaping way outside off before Southee brought one back into the pads to win another lbw decision. He should have had a third during the afternoon session when he drew Matt Prior into a drive and the edge went low to Dean Brownlie, who could not cling on low at second slip.Importantly, too, the bowlers were backed up by attacking fields from Brendon McCullum, who often had four slips and rarely fewer than three. Of course, it easy to attack when on top but it is a lesson to Alastair Cook. In Wellington, BJ Watling edged through the vacant third slip when he had 2 runs and the score was 95 for 5. That moment cost England vital time in their race against weather.Numerous theories were put forward as to why there was such a difference between the two attacks across the first innings. It could be as basic as form and consistency, but Simon Doull, the former New Zealand bowler who could move the ball mile, suggested on local TV that it was to do with the position of the seam. He picked up that Anderson had the seam pointing as far as third slip, while Southee’s was towards first. Then there is the argument of bowling fuller, which New Zealand’s seamers undoubtedly did here. Stuart Broad’s six wickets in Wellington largely came from a fuller length – as did his wicket today of Ross Taylor – but Steven Finn is not a swing bowler and his full deliveries can become floaty.More prosaically, it could just come down to the ball that was picked out of the box, as sometimes one just does not swing, or whether it gets wet as it did for New Zealand in Wellington. It is often said that the darker the leather, the more likely the ball is to swing. Choosing the ball is the job of the senior seamer, so you would think that Southee is the man with that role in the New Zealand team. He may have got lucky with his choice, or he could have pulled out a blinder for his side.The mystery of swing

Trent Boult “You can present the seam as well as you want but if the conditions aren’t there to suit then I believe it won’t swing. Dunedin was a pretty hard place to swing the ball, Wellington traditionally swings but didn’t, and coming here we knew it was going to swing. There’s no doubt you’ve got to give it every opportunity to swing and by pitching it up you are encouraging it.”

Matt Prior “They’ve probably got a better box of balls. It can be as simple as that. If it’s flummoxed scientists for years, I don’t think I’m going to have the answer.”

Southee’s stock and trade is swing. He marked his debut by taking five wickets against England in Napier during the 2008 series. His career did not flourish immediately in the way that first outing suggested and Auckland is only his 23rd Test. This has also been a fairly barren series for him; his wicket of Compton was his first since his second over of the series when he bowled the same batsman in Dunedin. He deserved some reward in Wellington, especially on the second day, but started this Test with a return of 1 for 216.However, in the last couple of years he has shown, on a number of occasions, his ability to trouble top-class batting line-ups. And it has not always been on conditions you would expect. In the space of three Tests on the subcontinent – one against India in Bangalore and two against Sri Lanka – he collected 20 wickets. That included a career-best 7 for 64 in Bangalore and a match-winning haul to help New Zealand level the series in Colombo. Returns like that do not come by accident. He would not have prevented the one-sided series in South Africa, but his bowling was missed when a thumb injury ruled him out of tour.His efforts warranted more than the final figures of 3 for 44. Instead it was Boult who ended with the headline return of 6 for 68 – his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests. He had set the tone on the second evening with a spell that quickly put England’s effort into context.The combination of Boult and Southee were central to New Zealand’s most recent Test win, the victory in Colombo, when they shared 15 wickets in the match. Despite the wobble at the start of the second innings, they have a fantastic opportunity for a repeat performance.