Merry IPL festival...!

India is no short of festivals, events, melas, and carnivals. We need a reason to engage ourselves, we need a reason to express ourselves, we need a reason to hedonism, and we need a reason to speak and write about. In the month of August, there is Dahi-Handi, September brings Ganpati, October is devoted to Navratra, November shines with Diwali, December provides X-Mas, New Year, Janaury sweetens us with Sankrant, February loves us with lovely Valentine, March baths us with Holi.

But, what about April and May? A notable festival was missing. What to do in these two months with vacation on?

Thanks to God (and BCCI), the biggest festival got introduced in the months of scorching heat - April and May..... yes, The IPL Festival! It has colours of Holi, fireworks of Diwali, Jagran of Navratra (day-night matches), worship of idols, "Merry" of Christmas (I hope you understood what "Merry" stands for), and party of Valentines. It filled the void of our appetite for the festival. Such is this festival, we don’t even realiase that the heat is on. Like other festivals, Government should include the IPL in official holiday calendar and on the IPL final, there should be public holiday.

No one can claim that it is a festival of Hindu, Muslim or Isaai. Whole cricketing world including players, audience, spectators participate in and cherish this festival. In that sense it is a secular event.  Here, there is no me or you, mine or yours, people say it is ours. Genuine cricket lovers, seasonal cricket lovers, filmstars, politicians, everyone loves this festival for their "own" reasons.

Those who are devoted, enjoy this festival on the festival ground, the likes of us belonging to poor class participate in the event through TV sets.

Some social workers, activists, and matured politicians are questioning about the wastage of water and electricity. It is part of their professional life, but these people too check the status of this festival on their android cells. Like Shri Shri Ravi Shankar says "Life is a festival, enjoy every bit of it". Similarly, IPL is a festival, enjoy every match of it.

So, Merry IPL to all…





Ritesh Kadam
09011020015

The Nightmare v/s The Dream

Some news, events, results give us joy. What if petrol prices slashed to Rs.50 per litre, company declared 40% salary increment, share market index crossed 25,000 mark... Don’t know whether it would happen or not, but one thing has really taken place - India conquered Australia in the Test series by 4-0. Most important feature of this victory was “an innings in need, is an innings indeed”. In all three matches, two to three players contributed collectively, either with the Willow or with the Leather. In the first Test with Australia scoring 380 runs and India struggling under predicament situation, Sachin and Kohli played the required solid innings and Dhoni stretched it from nowhere to winning position. In second Test match, the youngsters Pujara and Vijay paved the way for victory, scoring “the Tendulkar” (I had read a post on Facebook that '100' has been replaced by 'Tendulkar' in the mathematics term...).

“You have been suspended for one Test match for not preparing presentation on how to improve the performance.” No, this so called disciplinary action had not been sentenced by any match referee, but the coach Mickey Arthur. There is a phrase in Hindi “Apne Pairon Pe Kulhadi Maar Lena”. It implies, asking for trouble by self. So despite of rain and scoring over 400 runs, Australia could not avoid the defeat in the series-decider third test. The debutant Dhavan took full advantage and scored a fluent century (...his innings reminded of the 100 scored by Warner in the Perth Test against India). In all three matches, our spin charmers attacked Australian 'fresh' blood which looked destitute to handle the turning leather, and put them on the descent (...even Sir Jadeja got more than the required wickets.)

If this series is to be named, it would be “The Nightmare v/s The Dream Series”. Looking at the way this series had routed, white-wash looked expected, if not inevitable. Winning array of four test matches always gives a satisfaction and it’s also a healthy sign for the required balanced team. Australia, a prominent force in the world cricket, can not be termed as a mediocre team looking at its current performance. But it is imperative for them to reinforce its fragmented strength to show the sign of resurgence. On the other hand, though India has won this series convincingly, it has to look ahead for strengthening the fast bowling department. The grit and Virat compressive strength in the batting, much required in the test cricket, looked strong in this series. To cement it properly, it needs the water of consistency. The incumbent Dhoni should now more focus on the rational thinking than the favouritism, especially for building the Test team. Winning all the time is not what all the cricket lovers expect, but we do expect consistency and vigilance in the performance, and approach to make cricket a joy to watch and satisfaction to enjoy...

Ritesh R Kadam
09011020015

Australia " The stubborn Test"

No, till time Dhoni has not demanded for special requirements like “I want rank turner pitch, don’t want Sehwag, Piyush Chawla should be included.” “ Two different pitches for India’s batting & Australia’s batting.” At least he has not cried it before media.

New rejuvenated Australia with some exciting players has arrived.  On target missiles in the form of Pattinson, Starc, Siddle with experienced AK-47 Mitchell Johnson combined with guns like Lyon,  Doharty, and new  billion baby Maxwell are eager to target Indian batsmen. On the other hand, commander Michael Clarke with loads of success in the recent past in association with his other soldiers Warner, Watson, Cowen, and Hughes is ready to confront with his counterpart & enigmatic Mr. Dhoni. (No intention to grovel Dhoni but his recent behavior & tactics on the ground especially in the Test matches has earned him the title “enigmatic”.)

War of words, specific strategy, ground tactics to pinch the opposition players; Australian players learn these things before acquiring the batting & bowling skill. Be it batting or bowling only way Australia know is attack. They uses the strategy of  “resource versus output.” When they are bowling, they focus on depleting the resources than the output. They know if the resources are depleted,output can be controlled automatically.  Here resource stands for batsmen & output stands for runs. And when they are batting it is optimum utilization of available resources. Even their last two three batsmen scores 50 to 60 to stretch the run lead.

Under the current lot of Indian batting Sehwag, Pujara, M. Vijay, Kohli have the caliber of scoring big runs but lacks the ability of taking the advantage of their good start & get out at the critical juncture in maniac fashion. At this phase of their career they need to understand not to throw it against the feisty opposition like Australia. ( The legend Dravid retired by showing the path how to play & stay on the wicket.). “Tendulkar” the emotional factor of all Indian cricket lovers. Considering his last series against the loveable opposition Australia he would be eager to make a big impact. If Dhoni focus on his batting than the pitch it would give some support to the scorecard. (Thank god, IPL auction has already completed.)

    

Our fast bowling department has been discrete in this last year. Right now, it looks decent for the Australia series. Hope  the temperamental Shreeshant, new swing sensation slim trim Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, hard working Ishant & Donald admired Dinda would handle the red cherry to good effect. Our traditional strength spin department has the upper hand compared to Australia. Australia’s beloved friend (!) Harbhajan, Dhoni’s team mate Ashwin, and Ojha has the capacity to trap the batsmen in the so called spin web, if they spun it strongly.

We do like to watch the tussle of India and Australia, be it one day or five day Test. And this time also, it would be hotter and hotter as the series progresses. Let’s see how our Special-11 fare against the Aussies.

Ritesh R. Kadam,

Cell:- 09011020015.

ऑस्ट्रेलिया... "आत्ता खरी टेस्ट!"

चला, अजूनपर्यंत तरी “मला टर्निंग पिच पाहिजे, फ्लॅट पिच हवं, सेहवाग नको, पियुष चावला पाहिजे, ऑस्ट्रेलियाच्या बॅटिन्गसाठी वेगळं पिच, इंडियाच्या बॅटिन्गसाठी वेगळं पिच” असा बालहट्ट धोनीनं धरला नाही. नाही, तसं मिडियासमोर तरी हे रडगाणं धोनीनं बोलून दाखवलेलं नाही.

नव्या दमाचा ऑस्ट्रेलियन संघ आला आहे. सिडल, पॅटिन्सन, स्टार्क या तोफा घेऊन, जोडीला जोन्सन नावाची अनुभवी एके-47 आहेच, सोबत दिमतीला लायन, दोहार्ती, मॅक्सवेल या नवख्या गन्सही आहेत. स्वतः शस्त्रसज्ज होऊन मागील काही मॅचेसमध्ये भीम-पराक्रम गाजवून क्लार्क आपल्या पराक्रमी सैन्यासोबत टेस्ट क्रिकेटचं युद्ध खेळण्यासाठी संपूर्ण रणनीतीने सज्ज आहे. आता बाकीच्या गोष्टी म्हणाल, जसं की शब्दांची कूटनीती, वाक्बाणांच्या चाली, मैदानाची रणनीती, या गोष्टी तर ऑस्ट्रेलियावाले क्रिकेट खेळण्याआधीपासूनच शिकलेले आहेत.

बॅटिन्ग असू  दे नाहीतर बॉलिन्ग, आक्रमण करत राहणे हे ऑस्ट्रेलियाच्या रक्तातच आहे. बॉलिन्ग करताना त्यांचा एक फंडा असतो - "रिसोर्स विरुद्ध आउटपुट". ते आउटपुटवर जास्त लक्ष देत नाहीत, तर रिसोर्स कमी करण्याकडं जास्त लक्ष देतात. म्हणजे, आउटपुट आपोआपच कमी  होतं. (इथं आउटपुट म्हणजे रन्स आणि रिसोर्स म्हणजे बॅट्समन!) हाच फंडा बॅटिन्गसाठी - आहे त्या रिसोर्सेसचा जास्तीत जास्त उपयोग करून जास्तीत जास्त आउटपुट काढतात. अगदी शेवटचे दोन-तीन गडीसुद्धा नाही म्हणत म्हणत पन्नास-साठ रन्स जोडतातच.

इकडं आपले गडी सेहवाग, रायडू, पुजारा, कोहली आहेत दमदार, पण चांगलं खेळत असताना मधेच काहीतरी उरफाटा शॉट खेळायची हुक्की येते त्यांना आणि नको त्या वेळी विकेट देऊन बसतात. निदान ऑस्ट्रेलियासारख्या संघाविरुद्ध तरी त्यांनी थोडं शांतचित्तानं खेळावं. (द्रविड बिचारा विकेट टिकवायचे धडे घालून गेला, थोडंफार तरी शिकावं की...) तेंडूलकर! जिव्हाळ्याचा विषय. आपली ताकद आणि अनुभव या सिरीजमध्ये त्याच्या कट्टर संघाविरुद्ध तो दाखवेल याविषयी मला आशाच नाही तर खात्री आहे. (कदाचित ही त्याची शेवटची सिरीज असेल...) धोनीसाहेबांनी थोडं आपलं लक्ष पिचपेक्षा बॅटिन्गकडं दिलं तर टीमला तेवढाच हातभार लागेल. (बाकी 'आयपीएल'ची बोली आधीच झाली आहे, हे नशीब!)

आपली फास्ट बॉलिन्ग इंग्लंड सिरीजपेक्षा थोडी ठीक वाटते. (आपल्या स्वभावामुळे!!) मैदान गाजवणारा श्रीशांत, नवीन, हातभर बॉल स्विंग करणारा स्लीम-ट्रिम भुवनेश्वर कुमार, जीव तोडून बॉलिन्ग करणारा आमचा इशांत आणि उंच उडी मारून बॉल टाकणारा दिंडा, सुरुवातीला 'रेड चेरी' (इथं मला नवा करकरीत लाल चेंडू म्हणायचंय) सांभाळतील असं वाटतंय. तसं आपलं वंशपरंपरागत स्पिन डिपार्टमेन्ट जरा वरचढ वाटतं. त्यामध्ये ऑस्ट्रेलियाचा जिवलग मित्र(!) हरभजन, धोनीचा खास मित्र आश्विन, आणि ओझाभाऊ स्पिनचं जाळं का काय म्हणतात ते टाकून कांगारूंना जाळ्यात ओढतील अशी अपेक्षा आहे…

पण काहीही असलं तरी, ऑस्ट्रेलियाविरुद्ध क्रिकेटचं द्वंद्व पाहण्याची वेगळीच मजा येते...

आता प्रत्यक्ष मैदानावर आपले स्पेशल-11 काय करतात ते पाहूच...!

तमाम क्रिकेटप्रेमींसाठी एक छोटासा लेख,

रितेश कदम

९०११०२००१५

Writing about Punter

140, 110,230, 220 memorable scores in the WC finals and in the back to back Test matches against India. Yes, that’s out the famous gesture during the Sydney Test 2008. Blood flow from the face in the 2005 Ashes series. Dissent, and heated argument with Aleem Dar when he realized that the match & the Ashes is flying away, the2010 Ashe.His reserved spats with Harbhajan & Zaheer.  Why I don’t’ know but all these events comes in mind when I think about Ricky Ponting. If there is any player who performed brilliantly through out his career but still remembered for all the wrong reasons that had to be Ricky Ponting.

But  despite all these odds Ricky Ponting was a batsman of his own class. Most of his innings contributed towards the team’s success. Under the reach talent & lethal performers he prevailed as a leader & carried the onus of staying at the top from where Steve Waugh had handed over him the throne. Member of three WC winning team out of which he captained in the two. Lost three Ashes series but succeeded the most difficult task of winning the Test-series in India. That brutal innings in the WC finals 2003 against India, match saving innings of 150 + runs in the third Ashes Test 2005.

His batting was characterized by the cover drive on the front foot (even on the delivery short of a good length) & the hook with complementary pull as strong as the Australian beer. His stance in the crease & approach at the time of bowler’s delivery was like a Scorpio ready for the sting. Most of his hundreds in the Test matches were above 130 . Like most of the other Australians he was unaware (!) of the spirit of the game with the perception that Cricket is a “Punterman’s game.”  

Through out his career he played more controversy than his favourite hook & pull shots, broke more glasses of dressing room than the records, hated Harbhajan more than his enemy. His aggressive approach & behavior against India & England gave tasteful topics to media… A real “Bad-Man” of cricketing field decided to go off line. I thought he would play a good innings on Perth against S. Africa in his last stay on the 22- yard strip, but… it didn’t happen. Don’t’ know about the others but India would be more relived to see that Punter is retired.  

Be prepared for every TEST!

My Boss always says, "If you want to solve a chronic problem, attack on the root cause." He provides us with required training and with that enthusiasm, we take up a project for solving a problem. As the project progresses, we come to know that there are lot of constraints for it and our other work is getting halted by this project. As a temporary measure, we end up with some sort of patch-up action plan for resolving it. But that patch-up doesn’t work for a long and the issue remains as it is.

Similar kind of theory implies to the current situation of Indian cricket. Since we started playing cricket, facing fast bowling has always remained a psychological fear factor in our mind and that “chronic issue” is still haunting us. Every time we do analysis, we find these root causes - “We don’t have fast wickets”, “We don’t  have conditions suitable for fast bowling”, etc. Based on these causes, we suggest the implementation of action plan like prepare fast wickets, nurture the fast bowling talent, etc… Action takes place but lacks consistency and control. We are so afraid of losing the matches that after some time again we come to the starting point and prefer to have slow, lifeless wickets on which our bowlers would get advantage. We win the series and get the satisfaction of All-is-well, but while on a tour abroad, we succumb again to bowler-friendly wickets.
 
Nowadays, our batting line-up has become fragile in Tests. Playing through the line of the ball has become habit due to luxury of comfortable wickets. A small deviation or a little bounce makes it difficult to adjust. Our DTL unit (Dravid, Tendulkar, and Laxman) has taught us how to play on different wickets, but they have finished their work, and it is up to the new Spartans to carry the journey ahead. This new generation is fearless but need to be groomed on a fast wicket battlefield to survive, sustain, and perform on consistent basis. 

Cricket lovers like to watch the battle of interesting Test Cricket. That interest can be aroused if there is equal contest between the bat and the ball, the ball bouncing on the batsman, swinging deliveries from fast bowlers, play and a miss of the batsman, edges caught by slip fielders by diving, batsmen using their feet to spinners, spinners trying to deceive the batsmen. For the sake of maintaining high standard of Test cricket, I think bowler-friendly pitches are a must thing.
 
For the upcoming England series, we are continuing with the patch-up action plan again with Dhoni asking for spin-friendly wickets. Mr. Dhoni, the spi(nner)dermen would be able to do the job for you to spin the web around the Englishmen; but that won’t be a long-term strategy. To stay as a competitive team at higher level, Dhoni should focus on tapping the shortcomings and lacuna in the team, and be prepared for every "Test". Under current scenario, let's see how well D-company tests the Cook...

Ritesh R Kadam
rityakadam@rediffmail.com
090110020015

West Indies - Not only calypso...!

Once upon a time in West Indies, black diamonds ruled - the Richards, Clive Loyd, Kalicharan, Haynes- Greenidge  Holding, Marshal….! Just before the T-20 World Cup, I read and watched few videos of the documentary “Fire in Babylon”, which described how and what West Indies faced in the 70’s era, how they were grovelled by their skin colour, how they were always looked upon as Calypso cricketers of different islands, and how Clive Loyd turned these calypso cricketers into world champions. But after calling it a day by all the champion players of WI, the tag of calypso again haunted them. West Indies remained the scattered team with individual talent. The difference of Island players would be seen in their overall attitude. Lack of strong leader put the detrimental effect on their performance.

What does a team demand?? Good opening players, solid no.3 batsman, good stabilizers in the middle order, a descent wicket keeper, one all-rounder, one spinner, and three pace bowlers to be a balanced team. So Gayle, Charles, Samuels, Pollard, Bravo, Ramadin, Sami, Russel. Two good spinners Badree and Narine, genuinely fast bowlers Ravi Rampaul, Roach, Edwards. Then what was the reason behind this team not performing to their available skill? Answer is casual approach and lack of collective efforts. No one had expected West Indies to lift the cup, but this time they were in a different mood, they did it, they did it in style and showed the world they are not only calypso but also the champions..!

Highlight of this T-20 World Cup was Chris Gayle and his dancing celebration. This is not the first time West Indies celebrated their victory or had such on-field celebration. Seen different varieties from Bravo, Sami,  Roach before. The main inventor Gayle had shown many glimpses of his character. In one of the close match against Australia, his funny and friendly sledging with M. Clarke was hilarious. West Indies are known for enjoying the game and introduction of this new dimension of celebration will definitely bring T-20 cricket closer to the soccer culture.

Not only me, but every cricket lover must have been pleased to see West Indies winning the cup. We would definitely like to see West Indies resurgence in the world cricket. We want to experience the thrill of that glorious past again, we want to see that similar fearless approach shown by Viv Richards again, we are keen to see West Indies terrorizing the world with the fearsome bowling again, the awesome performance which their predecessor had shown the world by remaining invincible for 15 years, we want to see the collision against Australia, against England. We want that calypso dance again. Then and only then there will be “FIRE IN THE BABYLON” again….!


Ritesh R Kadam
rityakadam@rediffmail.com
090110020015.