Setting High Standards!

As Published in #TablaSingapore on January 18, 2019

It seems like ages ago when the video of the Indian cricket team celebrating their first Test series win in Australia at their hotel lobby was going viral over social media. The young man in that video, with Calypso-like dance moves, was Hardik Pandya.

Seven days later, and the Indian all-rounder is the face that probably nobody wants to see.

The world no longer moves in days, hours or minutes. It moves at the speed of the Internet. There is very little margin for error and almost no hope for a redemption – not a quick one anyway.

On the Indian TV show Coffee with Karan, Pandya not only managed to sound borderline racist but he was also unabashedly misogynist, adding how his family was “proud of him”.

Opener Lokesh Rahul has not had much else to do lately than to play sidekick, both on and off the field. He made up for the absence of a live audience by applauding Pandya and his parents, calling them the coolest one could ever meet.

There is something about bullying, racism, misogyny and sexual abuse that represent the lowest ebb of human conscientiousness, and, almost always, where one raises its head, the others are not far behind.

Working with some of the best leaders in Asia for over two decades, the one thing I have found them to have in common is a zero threshold for tolerance when dealing with any of these, regardless of age, experience, educational or social background and even the gender of the perpetrator.

The Australian Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull had called #Sandpapergate (the ball-tampering scandal involving the Australian team during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in March last year) a disgrace.

A senior business leader in Sydney responded to my comment on the sentence meted out to the players involved (captain Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner were suspended from playing for Australia for 12 months and opener Cameron Bancroft for nine months) as being too harsh by saying: “We want to keep the bar high and the message unambiguous. Australians will not stand for cheating.”

Big words, I had thought to myself. But then how else can a group of people achieve greatness if not by setting themselves the highest standards and the most audacious goals?
There is no law against what Pandya said on the show, or maybe there is. I am no legal expert. To me the more important element is how a society responds to racism and misogyny even in its most passive form.

For me, when a player representing his country talks openly about how women are objects or trophies that he has accumulated, it reflects poorly not just on him but his team-mates and everything his team stands for. Parents who applaud such dialogues and behaviour reflect on the larger society they represent.

What started as a show-cause notice has now become a personal mission for Diana Eduljee, the only female in the Indian board’s committee of administrators. One can sense her need to stand up for her gender, given how it was belittled by Pandya’s raunchy comments.

Good luck to her in trying to get anywhere in what is otherwise a severely male-infested domain.

I was glad to read, however, the comments by India’s captain Virat Kohli, who made it absolutely clear that the remarks by Pandya and Rahul were theirs alone and not a reflection on the side’s thinking.

There has been a remarkable transformation in Kohli’s persona, particularly in the way he communicates, over the past two months. He now speaks like a man who knows himself and every member of the side as well.

He talks like leaders would about culture being the driver of actions and integrity being the cornerstone of their efforts.The results are beginning to show. This is just the start he says and he sounds convincing.

There is no room for prima donnas or people obsessed with their own performances in this Indian side. They are showing glimpses of becoming very much like the Australian sides of the ‘90s and early 2000s especially in one-day cricket, where Kohli has a win ratio of close to 75 per cent as captain.

But he is not happy with this being the case for a season or a year. He wants it to be sustained for a long time. He has set the bar high, very high. All teams suffer a slide from time to time. What separates good teams from great ones is how quickly they get back up and start marching again.

The first one-dayer against Australia last Saturday saw an Indian side that looked rusty. It was a slow track at Sydney and credit must be given to the Australians for putting up a very disciplined batting effort – 288 proved to be a more-than-adequate total.

Rohit Sharma welcomed the arrival of his baby girl with a splendid 133 and put on 137 runs for the fifth wicket with M.S. Dhoni. But it is always a tough task chasing a big score when you are three wickets down with four runs on the board.

Dhoni looked woefully out of sorts getting to 51 from 96 balls. One could see that he lacked match practice as were the cases with Bhuvaneswar Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed with the new ball earlier in the day. Left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, taking 2 for 54 from his 10 overs.

Having lost the first one-dayer by 34 runs, the Indians faced a must-win situation going into the second one on Tuesday in Adelaide, which is fast becoming a popular hunting ground for the Indians.

Bhuvi dismissed Australian captain and opener Aaron Finch yet again, bowling him through the gates for six to kick of proceedings for India. Any signs of rustiness were gone.

He then bowled what I thought was the over of the match – when he got rid of the dangerous Glenn Maxwell and the well-set Shaun Marsh with the third and fifth ball of the 48th over.

That one over proved to be the difference in chasing a score of 325 versus 299, which India eventually rattled up in 49.2 overs.

No butterflies this time round for the Indian batsmen as Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit got India off to a flier. There were partnerships ( 47, 54, 59, 82 and 57*) for every wicket as India finished on 299-4.

This Indian batting line-up has two of the best finishers in limited-overs cricket in Kohli and Dhoni. Both average a staggering 99.04 and 99.85 in 72 and 77 successful run chases respectively.

Dhoni has two and Kohli 21 centuries in such chases, but that is more an outcome of where they bat. Kohli played one of his most sublime innings to bring up his 39th one-day hundred. Needless to say, he was immensely disappointed to not be there at the end.

Dhoni did what he does best, by batting till the end. He found terrific support from Dinesh Karthik, who is fast developing a reputation as a finisher too.

Together they remained calm and collected, as they knocked off the remaining runs in an unbroken 57 run partnership to set up a series decider today in Melbourne.

It was a clinical performance by an Indian side who responded to their captain’s call for setting high standards and achieving greatness both on and off the field.

Hopefully, those aspiring to play for India, will now understand what it will take to rank among them.

My Wager With Ajay!

As published in #TablaSingapore on January 11, 2019

I want to tell you a story, about a wager, between a very dear friend Ajay and me.

Ajay had introduced me to a group of like-minded cricket fanatics in Bengaluru, all of whom had one thing in common, their love for cricket and the Indian team.

You could find every type of Indian cricket fan in this group. From the never-say-die faithful to the India-will-never-win cynic. But all celebrated every India win and hurt every time the team lost. 

It was just before the 2007-08 India-Australia series in Australia. Most hoped India would win, but Ajay was certain. He always was. I disagreed and even offered him a 10-year window for India to win a series Down Under. The bet was on.

It became the mainstay of the banter between us, especially every time India travelled to Australia thereafter.

The series under the leadership of Anil Kumble was lost 2-1 and remembered mostly for the monkey-gate scandal that nearly saw the tour being called off. 

In 2011-12, one just knew a series win wouldn’t happen. As a last hurray sounded for Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman, it was an ageing Indian side and it got creamed by the Australians 4-0.

I asked Ajay if he would like an extension of our wager for another 10 years. He declined. He remained confident it would happen the next time.

In 2014, it looked very promising with a new-look Indian side and the legendary M.S. Dhoni leading them. But defeats in the first two Tests put paid to those hopes very quickly. It stayed 2-0 till the end for the Australians. 

Last Monday was a difficult day for me. I usually start writing my article on Sunday, but in this case I just had to wait one more day. I wanted to see history being made. I was desperately looking forward to losing the one wager I never wanted to win in the first place.

Ten more wickets is what India needed. Australia would not get the required 300-odd runs they were trailing by. The Indians had a stranglehold on them. It was not about whether but about when.

Rain cast a wet blanket by denying the Indians the satisfaction of what would have been a 3-1 series win. 

For the Australians, the rain offered some respite, a break from the onslaught this Indian juggernaut had unleashed on them: 2-1 does not sound as bad as 3-1.

Many have pointed out that the Australians did not have their two best batsmen in the side. But then I could give 72 ifs and buts on why India should have won a series earlier.

We could start the debate from 1947, but that would be trivialising what is a huge moment in the history of Indian cricket.

To understand the magnitude of India’s series win, one needs to know that India first visited Australia in 1947. Since then teams from Asia have played 98 Tests, of which the Asians have won 11 and the Australians 66.

This was the 12th tour to Australia for the Indians in a total of 31 done by all Asian teams, under 29 different captains. Only eight of those captains know what it feels to win a Test in Australia.

Finally, after 72 years, the team led by Virat Kohli became the first Indian or Asian team to win a series in Australia.

Kohli was very philosophical at the press meet. India had been competitive in South Africa and England recently but did not have the results to show for it. 

In Australia, there was a horrible sense of deja vu when India were 41-4 on day one of the series. But that is where things also turned around. The Phoenix finally rose from the ashes.

Kohli talked about the work they had put in to build a world-class pace attack, how much this win meant to him and the mantra “team first” that the whole team embraced. He does seem to have a true vision for the Indian team especially in Test cricket.

Coach Ravi Shastri, on the other hand, seemed to be on the top of his game, firing no blanks, shooting only tracer bullets.

This has been a series of many firsts. Never before has an Australian batsman failed to score a century in any Test series of at least four matches. Their poor batting form reflected in the fact that it was the first time they were made to follow on in a home Test since 1988.

Rishabh Pant became the first Asian wicketkeeper-batsman to score a Test hundred in Australia.

But to me the most pleasing first was Kohli not being the highest scorer in an away series for India since becoming captain. Not because one does not want to see Kohli do well, but because it was high time the rest of the batting unit stood up.

I would, however, have liked to see the Man of the Series award shared by Cheteshwar Pujara and Jasprit Bumrah. If Pujara was the glue that held the Indian batting together, Bumrah was the detonator that caused the Australian batting line-up to implode time and time again. It was given only to Pujara.

This year is going to be busy for the Indian team and their fans. It is going to involve a lot of white-ball cricket. Three one-dayers against Australia, starting in Sydney tomorrow, followed by five ODIs and three T20 matches in New Zealand.

Australia will then travel to India at the end of February to play five ODIs and two T20s, probably the last international games the Indian team will see before the World Cup starts in England in May.

It is only wise that Bumrah has been rested. He will be India’s premier fast bowler in the coming months and those batteries need to recharge. It will allow the likes of Bhuvneshwar Kumar to get much needed match practice. 

Pant is missing from the Australia ODIs, but the chairman of selectors M.S.K. Prasad made it clear that he remains an integral part of India’s World Cup plans.

Throw in the Indian Premier League and Indian fans will be watching non-stop cricket for the next seven months.

I never really finished my story of the wager with Ajay. That is because I never really got a chance to pay up.

On Jan 11, 2016, my friend passed away in the most bizarre of accidents. 

I always imagine how he would have bellowed with laughter, collected the money from me and ordered drinks for us with it.

If he were still around, I would have tempted him to another wager – that India will not win the World Cup this year. He, being the quintessential Indian fan, would have taken me on in a heartbeat. Of course, we would both want that I lose again!

Can India Make History?

Unabridged version of article in #TablaSingapore

The Boxing Day test at the MCG has always held a special place in cricketing hearts. It is one of the most anticipated test matches of the year, not just in Australia but the global cricketing fraternity, no matter who Australia plays. 

It’s popularity has now led to most test playing nations in the Southern Hemisphere  adding a Boxing Day test on their calendars, offering viewers the world over marathon viewing of test Cricket for the period right after Christmas. 

However in Australia, it is special. Given the stature of the mighty MCG as a Cricket ground, especially when it fills up as Australia take on the old enemy, England, or India their new arch rivals. 

Perth had turned out to be a huge setback for India, not because they lost but because of how they did, especially after they won their first test in Adelaide. 

Kohli himself admitted they had fallen for what the wicket looked like and what they thought it would do. For the second time in the year, India played an all pace attack. 

However, unlike Johannesburg in January last year the outcome in Perth in December turned out to be a defeat. 

The Australian pace battery exploited the conditions perfectly, but the man who had the Indian’s undone was once again, their off spinner Nathan Lyon. 

To turn around from the setback of 146 run defeat in a test match is never easy, especially when you are playing Australia in their den.  

Sir Winston Churchill had once said: “Success is going from one disappointment to another with no loss in enthusiasm”.  

If there is one thing this Indian team has shown throughout the year, is their ability to move on from the setback of a defeat and turn up the next day, with nothing but winning on their minds.  

Defeats have had minimal impact on the way they have played their cricket or on their mindset which has always remained positive, and the credit for that must be given to the team leadership, especially their captain Virat Kohli. 

For all the criticisms one may level at Kohli as a strategist the one thing you cannot take away from him is his insatiable appetite for getting better and winning, especially overseas.

The man does not have a “negative” ion in his body. Which is why one often wonders about his thought process when he play’s tests with only four bowlers or some of the defensive field settings especially to tail-enders, but I digress. 

Not only did the Indians bounce back, they won the third test in Melbourne by a huge margin of 137 runs. 

Santa Claus handed the Indian team and its fans a Christmas present in the form of Mayank Agarwal. 

The gutsy Karnataka batsman was not only asked to make his debut at the MCG but was also asked to open the batting along with another makeshift opener in Hanuma Vihari. 

Success they say is when opportunity meets preparedness and Mayank had been preparing for this moment through 47 first class matches that include 8 centuries and 21 half centuries. 

It also includes a high score of 304 not out, which according to commentator Kerry O Keefe was scored in a Ranji Trophy game against the “canteen staff” of the Indian Railways. 

O’Keefe was left smelling the coffee as Mayank finished with match scores of 76 and 42 and took 3 outstanding catches 2 at short leg and one at short mid-wicket. 

Perth is probably the last time Indian fans will see Murali Vijay opening the batting in tests for India. 

If Mayank continues on his merry way, then the prodigious Prithvi Shaw will have a ready partner when he returns to open the batting for India with Lokesh Rahul still being part of the plans.

It was a ‘bold’ decision to win the toss and bat, but ‘bold’ is exactly how Kohli approaches the game. Tim Paine was honest in admitting he would have bowled had he won the toss, given how green the wicket looked.  

The two youngsters Agarwal and Vihari scraped their way to an opening stand of 40. More importantly they battled for 18 overs, something India had not done in the previous two test's. 

The MCG test however belonged to one man. Jasprit Bumra made 2018 his own as he finished with match figures of 9 for 86.

For those that heard him speak in post-match interviews at the MCG, Bumrah made crystal clear his desire to play test cricket, not just now but from the time he started playing the game as a kid.

From making his debut for India less than 12 months ago to taking what is hopefully his first of many man of the match trophies, he has now grown into the spearhead of what is a very potent fast bowling attack that India has. Some rate it amongst the best in the world even, but to me such comparisons are odious and irrelevant. 

It is not just about the 48 wickets he has picked in eight tests, but the fact that he picks them at an average of 21 runs giving no more than 2.65 runs an over, striking once every 8 overs which has placed him among the best of the world.

The Indian coaching staff has copped a lot of criticism for where it has not done well.  But, it would only then be fair to call out the splendid work done so far by Bharat Arun, the bowling coach. 

As Michael Clarke rightly observed, the beauty of the work done is not in how the bowlers are bowling but evident in the back up available. On the bench are top class pacemen  Bhuvaneshwar Kumar or Umesh Yadav and fine spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja.

A special mention here for the opponents especially Pat Cummins, who typifies the Aussie fighting spirit. I have often wondered if he is a Gladiator or the Energizer Bunny, and have firmly concluded, he is both. 

As if match figures of 9 for 99 are not enough, he fields like a man possessed and you might as well use a crane to haul him away from the crease.

His 63 in the second inning was a lesson in batting not just for tail-enders but for all top order batsmen who have struggled in this series. 

Had it not been for his resistance, Australia would have struggled to add respectability to their score line. 

By winning the third test India have ensured they cannot lose this series, which means they retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

However, if the attitude of this team is anything to go by, just like their defeats, they won’t be making much of this win either. Not because it does not matter but because the job is not over. 

History beckons Kohli and his men,  as they seem set to win the first series in Australia by any Indian team. 

The 6 test defeats in South Africa and England, were painful lessons that propelled them to work harder and prepare better. 

In Sydney they will have the opportunity to etch their names in the annals of Indian cricketing history, forever!