Madcap Recap Part II

Continued from Madcap Recap, the World Cup diares, Part I,
March 24, 2014.

Another great performance and I think my prediction has gone terrible. Yet again. The last thing I predicted was Virat Kohli will fail in South Africa. The last time Dhoni lost a toss, the match was abandoned. That was the luck of Ms Dhoni and tosses. With the bowling attack built around spin, he can’t afford to lose the toss he has been successful so far. Yesterday was all about great bowling, captaincy-which cannot be said often- and terrible fielding. Surprisingly Dhoni was spot on with team selection (once again) and bowling changes with Indian bowlers made Raina’s prematch comments (or trash talks as you would say) look legendary. The West Indians never bothered to rotate the strike nor hit sixes like their Captain reckoned in the pre match presser. Chasing was all successful and it was done without a sweat under the guidance of master chaser Mr. Virat Kohli.  However the great take away from this game is the confidence boost in Bhuvi-who had a bowling figure that would make Steyn and Malinga jealous- and Rohit Sharma letting his bat speak after a considerably long time. Dhoni was all usual Dhoni in the presser wanting Yuvraj to get his mojo back. By Dhoni standards, he won’t be dropped but you can never guess whats up with our cool captain.However the point of discussion yesterday was about India not going for NRR. In my opinion, I dont think it will haunt us later and the outrage was all just for the sake of it surprising the folks who didnt expect a comprehensive win. First thing being, the rest of the teams has already lost a game in our group. (Not considering Bangladesh for obvious reasons. ) and my prediction is we will win the remaining games even. Hopefully my prediction is right at least this time.

March 29, 2014

You don’t often see an international game-not just cricket- with two team’s national anthem written by the same person. The person is Rabinthranath Tagore and the match started in a predictable manner right from the toss.It looked liked the replay of the previous game which indeed looked like the replay of the first game. There was a heavy discussion if India played the same game thrice in succession. Virat Kohli did what he was supposed to. He could do no wrong and he didnt. It was all simple and Dhoni wanted some batting practise which he got. India became the first team to qualify for WT20 semi-finals making my prediction look like a joke. Yet again. 

March 31, 2014

What just happened? I missed most of the game and I am literally shocked. My title favourites were knocked out and they were preparing for a battle of wooden spoon with Bangladesh. I did follow Yuvi blitz though. As usual, not surprisingly, Dhoni fans wanted the credit for their thala. I didnt have any clue and didnt offer any opinion for obvious reasons. Another surprise though, was Ashwin claiming more wickets than Mishra and I am pretty sure the guys who accuse me of regional hatred would have been happy. Happy for you, guys. 

April 4, 2014

My first full game of cricket since the New Zealand series. 
& ofcourse, from hopes to stakes to nerves to tension, everything was pretty high. It was India playing the Ch.. err sorry, Proteas in the second semifinal in Dhaka. With weather issues looming large, MS Dhoni did what he does the best. Lost yet another important toss. Du plessis decided to bat first & why not, MSD with a few guts to leave Dhawan & Shami out, playing the unchanged side from the Kangaroo roasting a few days ago.
With a deck that looked 160-165 par to Shane Warne, Africa lost de Kock right up, unsuccesfully fending at an outswinger & guiding it right into the trusted hands of Captain nowadays-not-so-cool. Amla, Faf got going but then a screamer from Ravi Ash that got Dada gushing cleaned Amla's middle stump up. It was the carrom ball that turned. Many, post match, termed it as the ball of the century in T20 cricket. Ashwin, a wizard of words as he is giggled & defended it with a straight bat. "To be honest, I have no idea if I can bowl that one again." Du plesis, Duminy - after a brief quiet period, put their feet right on the 4th gear. Amit Mishra, ineffective for the first time in the tournament added another frown to Dhoni's forehead. Suddenly one from Ashwin turned again & the next moment, Faf was on his behind, bewildered that how it hit his stumps. But there was no time for a breather. Abraham Benjamin de Villiers coming out, marking his guard - it was as if the nation took the notice & offered a collective prayer to the almighty.

Oh AB, not today.

Oh AB, not today.

Reverse swept for four on the fourth ball.

AB please.

AB please.

And he scoops it up to Rohit on the boundary.

As if we won the match already. Thank you Bradman, Sachin, God, Heavens, Ashwin & whoever else did that. Phew.
But Duminy didn't listen. Adding to Bhuvaneshwar's newfound wayward deliveries & foreverfound death woes, he took him & Mohit for the cleaners along with some god-awful raw striking from David Miller to give South Africa a possible non-choking total of 172.

Big ask. No joke.
But there was something inside each Indian fan, now as confident in chasing as an Entrance examinee writing a 5th grade paper,
"You know, if there is someone who can pull this one off, it's us." The belief that radiates from the team itself to the fans, the worshippers, the lunatics but misses a few nutjobs on Twitter, hitting on all the positive energy with their negative titbits.
Oh shut up you guys.

Out came Rohit & Rahane, determined to set up a launchpad. All thanks to Faf who had Steyn fielding the boundaries when Duminy was taken for 14 in the first over itself. No sight of the shit scary mohwak even in the second over. 

God bless Faf du Plesis.

39 good runs & the maggie timer went off. The neurons in Rohit Sharma's brain had this sudden urge for a nap & the next thing you know is the ball is soaring higher & higher & higher, complimenting the chords of Sanjay Manjarekar in the commentary box.

Drop it.
Drop it.
Drop it.

Nah, out of luck. Caught. Gone. Idiot.

Rahane's neurons, proven to be far better than Dhawan & his just dismissed counterpart kept faring well. But the focus had changed.

On the other end of the crease was a man whose jersey resembled the 10, the 19 & it only knew to score. & score. & score.

He was the center of all the hopes. Focus of the spotlights. Topic of the discussions. Demon of the opposition.

His name was Virat Kohli. He came, dropped the anchor & sealed it with superglue. Not looking to match the set Rahane, playing his own game, in some zone of his, in some other world where cricket balls appear like footballs & fielders go invisible.

Single here. Single there. Bad ball, four. Single. Bored with singles. Let's play with the in field. Two. Two. Two. I dont like spinners. Six. Rotate. Repeat.

Before you finished your first nervous coffee of the evening, Kohli sir stormed into the thirties. Rahane, in a sudden bug, pulled one straight to de Villiers. 

Damn, son. Why let the boat toddle? Bad, very bad.

He although, played well. Shikhar certainly needs to pull his socks up. Now what happened with Yuvi coming in, on a pitch tough to accelerate rightaway, the proteas smelled a long shot at victory, effectively cutting off the twos, some dots, decreasing the boundary frequency & making Virat execute all his this-is-crisis-I-did-not-expect expressions on the other end.

Calm down, son. This is a run chase, no? You have them for dinner all twelve months, no? 

Calm down Virat.

Don't get out.

Don't mess this up.

We can do it.

You can do it.

He listened. He did. Smoking a rememberable maximum off Imran Tahir, notching up his 50, going past the Netherlands duo to sit firmly on the top of the leading run getter list. 
Yuvi didn't look like he did against the hapless Oz, spooning one up & giving the proteas some more hope, yet again. We could lose. We had to do what our opposition does the best. Choke.
NO, said Virat.  You don't lose matches when I'm in. 

Stow the negativity, kids. I'm taking this home. Now.

He didn't wait. Not long enough to let his & Dhoni's different finishing methods have a giant clash. Suresh Raina, like a well instructed,supremely oiled machine, took on Wayne Parnell like he had eaten his quota of ice cream every single night this month.

Bang. Six.
Two.
Flunk. Four.
Whip. Four.
You could smell it.
23 runs. 18 balls.

Final chance of any mess up. Dale Steyn running in. Steyn who? I can only see a football. & it's coming for the middle of my bat, said Virat. Eighteen runs. Steyn scratches his head, looks at his captain, then at Kohli, takes a deep breath & starts walking towards long on.
Something you don't see everyday.
You could smell it.

Raina however smelt like something is burning in the dressing room. Lobbing Hendricks up to mid off on the 19th with just six runs required. Nuthead.

You could smell it.

In comes MS Dhoni with a bat that looks heavier than himself.
Helicopter time.
Virat pulls one off Hendricks. Takes a single.
Scores are level.
YOU CAN SEE IT.
MSD WILL SPANK THIS ONE TO MOOOOOON......
Virat gives his biggest, cutest, bubbliest My-job-is-all-done grin to his skipper.
SPANK SPANK SPANK.........
He plays it down quietly.
ERM?
Ah he wants his boy to score the winning runs.
There comes Dale Steyn.
Outside off.
His eyes light up like Diwali.
Whip to midwicket.
Favorite shot. Favorite son.
A roar to the sky. A thanks to dad. Some love to Yuvi paaji.


Be prepared, Sri Lanka.


10.00 AM, 6th April, 2014

I have this non-final like cheery vibe today....
Maybe because it's India vs Sri Lanka for the shitllion-th time....
Maybe because we have been so clinical throughout the tournament.....
Maybe I am overconfident. Let's not mess it up.

7th April, 2014

Yet to forget last night. 

We messed up.

Big time.

You can't win any T20 on a subcontinental pitch with 130 on the board. Unless your bowlers had magic performance enhancing & multiplying potion for dinner. 

Neither did we.

It was awful. Yuvraj, out of sorts, out of everything, didn't middle a single ball.
It's all bad karma & not to forget, some stunning death bowling from the Lankans.
Hoped against hopes.
But not to be.
The oldies stole it comfortably in style. Sangakkara, Jayawardena. Farewell.
200 million ounce of sadness.
You couldn't look at Virat Kohli's face.
A man, so selfless, scoring almost 60% runs of the team total, breaking a handful of records.
For nothing.
So near, yet so far.
Even the heartless would've felt for him.

Come 2016, we will.

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Madcap Recap Part I

A first phase of T20 overkill before the Tamasha cricket is done and dusted.  Probably the only tournament which has a qualifying round one for the minnows even after respective teams qualifying for the tournament. The joke that is, is over now. This had everything from- TRP fixture aka the India v Pakistan to the mandatory India v Sri Lanka to South Africa reduced to a joke in multinational tourneys to England crumbling to spin.

Instead of waiting for some topics I decided to write whatever I observe in this WT20. A statuary warning is that it is entirely like my musings and probably it wont have anything new, if you expect.

Before the tournament, like everyone, I never imagined India would go this far. And having nothing to do, I thought of keeping a diary on India games, And this is that.

How was this for India? Clubbed with three better teams which had two favourites in them?

Even though England  lost a T20 series against West Indies just days before the WT20, ICC, for some reason, made them play again in a warm up fixture. So, if you try to make sense of ICC, you cant. So leave it.  A regular game against Sri Lanka to begin with.

March 18, 2014.

Though India lost yesterday, I am quite happy with my prediction of India going down is on track. It was all predictable. Dhoni won the toss and India chased unsuccessfully. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar continued to wane as his new ball prowess was lost somewhere in middle. He did increase his reputation,of being the worst choice to bowl at death, conceding seventeen runs- A six and a four to Kulasekara- and probably the game. The surprise though was Varun Aaron who looked sharp forcing Dilshan to a scratchy start. who was all about playing and missing. The main weapon, spin bowling, was drastic with Mishra doing nothing to change the skipper's perception on him while Ashwin outsmarted him easily. However the worrying thing was Yuvraj not getting to bowl in a pitch where even Raina managed to squeeze in two overs.

March 20, 2014.

The second practice game is a great example what happens when we are pushed to plan B without a choice- batting first- which never happens unless we lose the toss. We got away with that yesterday because Virat Kohli didn't retire after scoring a fifty-which usually happens in a warm up game and more because that was England. The consistency though was marvelous. Rohit and Dhawan killed the momentum with the bat and Bhuvi with the ball even before it showed up while Mishra's chances got reduced with everything against him. Yuvi didnt get a ball and he had nothing to show with the bat adding to perception that he is in the team as a specialist batsman who is seen as a far better choice to Rahane. The other important and predictable thing was Raina in Virat mode proving once again T20s are his best format.

March 21, 2014

I think India is going to the tournament knowing Rohit is not good enough up top and a serious contender for 'match ka murjim'. With Mishra ji going for runs I am pretty sure Dhoni will go for Varun Aaron. Even though Varun Aaron looked sharper in the first practice game I think he is a bigger liability than Rohit. Anyway I am not quite sure of having Bhuvi in the team. And that could be the only way Aaron could be in the team.

March 22, 2014

Winning the toss, with a sigh of relief, Dhoni was happy to bowl first and with reports doing around that he doesnt prefer Amit, he did prefer him and surprisingly the idea of three spinners. Probably the match was won with the toss and that decision. Mishra apart from one over, bowled beautifully with flight using up whatever the track offered. Jadeja proved why he is the third best performer in Indian team after Dhoni and Virat Kohli with a terrific spell. Ashwin being Ashwin, struggling for consistency in a over, did bowl well if not great. The surprise package though was the death bowling which was Steyn, Malinga esque considering our pretty bad standards. The chasing had no real trouble apart from the mild heart attack when Yuvraj got bowled to a straighter ball but one would imagine getting him bat before Raina itself was a huge mistake. However the idiots of the day award went to Bhatti and rest who tried to target Raina with short stuff, hilarious thing being, born and brought up in SC they didnt know the basics. With a comment of "Raina is the bradman of SC" somewhere in my twitter TL people were busy trolling the neighbours. To be frank I didnt expect India to win and I am sure we wont make it to the semi finals.

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Blackboard CWC '15 - issues, issues, issues

So it's been over two months & nine International matches since the Men In Blue won a game of cricket. Sometimes they came close, sometimes agonisingly close, sometimes threw it away, sometimes succumbed to pressure & sometimes never made a human chance out of it. No, before you assume that I'm here to throw my furnitures at the Indian cricket team regarding their recent heroics abroad, as much as I'm tempted but that's not the case. They escape today, marginally so.
My agenda today is a little far sighted, approximately three hundred & eighty two days away. It is the cricket World Cup 2015, to be hosted by Australia & New Zealand & to be defended by erm, us.
I'm writing this specifically to emphasize that "erm" there. And ofcourse, I have enough details to scare you guys a bit more if the boys haven't done enough already.

The pre & the present math : source of the scare 

© CFL 

What happens if you grab your goldfish out of the aquarium & put it on the desk for a minute? It starts trembling, crawling & waving it's fins desperately in need of the oxygen it's used to. That goldfish is Indian team, outside the subcontinent, on the bouncy green decks, facing an average to a good bowling lineup, exposing the familliar woes, out of sorts, moving in no direction. No kidding, the current set is brave, brave enough to overcome these but then my friend, you ought to say that the results are yet to show up. The overseas record since the last World Cup in 2011 has been well, shameful. Yes, big enough word but 4-0 (England), 4-0 (Australia), not making the finals of the CB Series, 2-0 (South Africa), 1-0 (South Africa) & now 3-0 (New Zealand), the list just keeps getting longer & longer & painfully longer. And you know what's worse? The schedule coming right up involving tours of England & Australia just threatens to add a bit more to the sorrow.

So brace yourselves, I intend to break down the issues neat & clean. If at all, we are to retain our glory, a serious postmortem is in order.

Opening woes : once resurrected, twice fatal 

We thought we had this in the bag, damn it.

But thanks for making our heaven drop right back to Earth & now inching towards hell, dearest Rohit & Dhawan. They batted like a dream, not putting a wrong foot forward, it was unreal to think that we found Viru & Gauti 2.0 so soon. Oh yes, too soon. Dhawan averaged 24.00 in the 3 ODIs vs South Africa & 6.00 in the 3 ODIs vs New Zealand till he was dropped on the fourth one to make way for Ambati Rayudu. Not to dwell on the results but it was his manner of dismissals that would make you frown. Cross seam deliveries at a genuinely quick 140+ pace, short of good length or banged in short. He pulled, it went to the keeper. He pulled, he mistimed it. He pulled, straight to the man on the boundary. Personally a fan of his, I was gutted. He was last person I wanted to put in the Raina-Yuvi category. Rohit on the other hand, threw it away mostly like a Rohit Sharma can do, fired up by verbal duels or a string of fishing outside off. So what do you do? Bring back Gambhir & Sehwag? Stick with these two? Make Virat open? Make Rahane open? Make it a combination of experience & youth? Drop Rohit back to the middle order & let Dhawan stay? More options the merrier? Not. Bringing back Gambhir doesn't seem like a bad idea after all. He has the experience, he has the anchor as long as he doesn't wish to poke. Him & Dhawan will do. The latter has some serious sorting out to do though. Or Che Pujara. He provides the solidity & consistency a Kane Williamson does for New Zealand. I'm not with Virat being made to open, although there is not much difference, the no.3 position has some blood-flesh relationship with him. Why not let the man have it?

Overdependence on the men in charge 

Just because they don't disappoint you 99.99% of the times, if you're banking on Captain & Vice-captain to win you every match, day in, day out, I'm sorry, that's called burdening. There are people who would blame it on Virat & Dhoni, saying that they got out at the wrong time. Maybe they did. But for heaven's sake, what are the nine other men doing? Is it just their responsibility to take you over the line all the time? No, it isn't. Virat Kohli & MS Dhoni are your trump cards, key players, they'll set it up, they'll finish it off but you ought to have another guy or two stepping up, supporting them. 

Swing 'em, eh?

I remember the cricket pundits nodding in approval when four succesive balls went past Md. Hafeez's bat in Bhuvaneshwar Kumar's debut match. It was fun to see him playing the Oh so close oh so close game with the top orders of the oppositions. He didn't have the pace but the accuracy was admirable. It's been a while since he has looked a bit ordinary. Be it Md. Shami bowling in tandem or whatever, too many down the leg, too many loose balls & barely any swing. On the other hand, Shami, having the pace, the ability to take wickets, does save the day more often or not but he's quite expensive as your leading bowler. All you can hope for is that these two too don't end up in the eventually swingless, ineffective list of the Kumars of Indian cricket. Varun Aaron, fresh off a prolonged injury break, I'd give him some time before I judge him. But he looks raw, pacey, lack of direction &  variations so far. So is Umesh Yadav where Ishwar Pandey & Rishi Dhawan are yet to be given chances to prove themselves. This 3rd option will cause some headache & if fit, Irfan Pathan is my man.

Oh, I forgot Ishant. Keeping him on the bench looks like good karma, we should stick to it for some time. (i.e forever)

Part time options, the lack of quality 

The fifth bowler. It's like you have to choose between candies, sugar & honey. Yuvraj Singh & to an extent Suresh Raina were the best we had. Had. When you see Virat Kohli bowl those nasty leg cutters & full tosses & no balls off the wrong foot with that ridiculous to the power ridiculous action of his, you know you don't have many choices. Seeing Ambati Rayudu bowl yesterday, it felt like even Virat would've been better. Rohit being the other option & all three being good enough to give away 20 an over, you have to pity Dhoni.

So what do you do? Keep your fingers crossed that Binny bowls as hardcore as he looks. For now.

Captaincy : Y u no attack? 

A captain is as good as his team. Yes, most certainly. Although a certain Tiger Pataudi would've disagreed with the cliche. To him "A bad captain can make a great team look ordinary." This is certainly not a great team but MS Dhoni the captain isn't great either. Why does your part timer bowl 3 overs at 7.25 & the allrounder you picked in the expense of an One Day veteran bowls just one when you are defending 278? When the best test lineup in the world is as cornered as it could be, why do you start the final session with your 5th bowler? Just because you lost two matches chasing, why choose to bat first when your bowlers are inable to pick wickets at the right time? Oh the questions are endless. To be honest, we all know that MS Dhoni does pull out a rabbit from his hat but overseas, if you cancel out the Champions' Trophy, I see the hat but where is the rabbit? You have to question his field sets, his decision to "back" non-firing players for longer than any captain should, his approach to win a match, his favoured team combinations with the luxury of two spinners on foreign tracks & ofcourse, his prized tactics. I think Gideon Haigh, the master of words has put it right. "Dhoni isn't a tactical commander, rather a supervisor. He leads by ineffectual experience."
( Reference : Here)

Mind you, this is about Dhoni the skipper & has nothing to do with Dhoni the batter.

There is a level till which one can tolerate, hoping for magic, luck & even fairy tales.
But that level has been crossed by far, don't you think? As a friend said, he has to be a very lucky person to be asked to lead the team with the dubious set of overseas records he carries with his ever so cool, ever so calm, ever so smiling persona.
He is the luckiest, no doubt. I cannot imagine another captain from any other country, continuing or being asked to continue with half the burden from Dhoni's records. But then, Indian cricket doesn't work that way.
Maybe we need to believe in some supernatural overhaul that takes away all the cool & calm and transforms Dhoni the defensive to Dhoni the aggressive overnight.

Or you could try out a Virat Kohli. Please, enough of that he's yet to mature shit. There was a smooth transition possible a half century ago with Tiger taking the responsibility from Nari contractor and if we have to believe the history books, there wasnt any outrage seeking maturity from a 21 year old.

There is a famous footballing philosophy saying, "You are old enough if you are good enough" He is good enough and with that he should be allowed to take the reigns from a captain who is struggling to turn the tides overseas. Why?

 I'd rather lose with the youth who learns from his mistakes.

Death bowling : well...

When it comes to the bowling department, we are still in the same phase wherein we are still looking at who our permanent bowlers are. We know the spinners and they look good and we know they are the ones who will carry on until the World Cup provided there are no injuries. Fas bowling, we are still not sure who our choices are and what individuals we are looking forward to. Back at home we talk about pace & bounce. We get bowlers who bowl quick but they end up giving more runs without even bowling at the slog. So we have to find a fair balance.

That was MS Dhoni in his press conference yeserday. There, you have your answers. We don't have the crop of fast bowlers to bowl you out anywhere, forget the death. Bowling is our main worry, as always, heading into an international tournamnet but giving away 80-100 runs in the last ten like they are now, is an alarming practice to be beheaded as soon as possible. Easier said than done & then batting has always been our aura. But it is time when batting marvels are unable to bail you out, there is just too much to do. It is time when our bowling is disappointing & disgracing our batting.

So what do you do? There is not one pleasing answer, unfortunately. You groom Shami, who looks the best bait so far, you hope Jadeja-Ashwin keep up the good work since the 2nd ODI & then you have a blank to fill in the form of your 3rd go to man. Bhuvaneshwar is sincerely, not cut out for death.

There are so many more problems, so many more issues to address, so many weaknesses, so many gaps.

There is slip fielding that make you pray that may Rahul Dravid gets out of the commentary box & take the field. There is the familliar issue of tackling short balls. There is overall deep fielding, in the form of Ashwin, Aron who needs to improve by far. There is Suresh Raina, whom you have to decide on. There is the lack of a genuine allrounder, you have to stress about. There is the toss factor, the pressure, the expectations & well, I will just stop and let you enjoy the depression.

It is easy to say, based on the present that Cricket World 2015 looks like a dream with thousand stairs leading up to it. We have to climb & climb hard, solving the issues, giving the answers & showing the results. Dare I say, it looks unlikely with every passing match we lose & ofcourse, the credit is mine for reverse jinxing if they make the finals after all.

But we can't just give up, can we? We are world champions. We bleed blue. We will fight.

Here's crossing my fingers & hoping for the best. 

[ I think I'll check for white hairs now that I'm done with the piece. You should too. ]

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Tender Foot Virtuoso.

                       "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it.
                                                If you can dream it, you can become it.
                        All our dreams can come true.
                                               If you we have the courage to pursue them."
                                                                                                                     -- Walt Disney.



Nothing is impossible. After all, how hard it could be to dream & play cricket in a country that breathes more cricket & less oxygen? It could be. When you come from the country's one of the most if not the most politically disturbed places. And Geographically not at all suitable for cricket. Laid in the serene beauty of the snowclad Himalayas under the mountaneous Karakoram valley & to the west of the Tibetan Plateau, almost 1,073 metres above the sea level in the Northmost part of the Indian Subcontinent, resides the once peaceful state of Jammu & Kashmir. A place of breathtaking Lanscapes & breathtaking (technically) blasts, not left behind from the rest of country's cricketing megalomanacy is all set to watch one of its sons take the field in blue in Zimbabwe in a few weeks.


Not even close to the best of facilities. Yet here we are discussing the first ever (Statewise, overall third, after Vivek Razdan & Suresh Raina) Kashmiri to don  the blues. He goes by the name of Parvez Ghulam Rasool Zargar. Hailing from the beautiful "Town Of Chinars", Bijbehara, a small town on the banks of river Jhelum, the Parvez Rasool saga is worth it all. Like 8 out of the 10 cricket aspirants, his cricketing influence reflected upon from his father himself, at a very early age. "Parents wanted their children to study," says his father Ghulam Rasool Zargar, "to become doctors or engineers. But I always wanted my children to follow cricket." Ghulam himself was a roller operator in the government's mechanical engineering department but his passions seemed to be more engaged in the cricket he played at District level. The growing civil unrest in the Valley put paid to any cricketing aspirations he might have had but he was determined that things will be different for his boys, Parvez, Asif & Umar. "You have to be lucky to be born into suh a family," Parvez says, "for whom cricket is more than an amusement, a game for kids who can't excel at Science or Mathematics." The 24 year old Rasool took up cricket rather seriously playing first for his school, then J&K U-14 & U-16 teams followed by some club cricket representing the Bijbehara Sports Club, a prominent & renowned base for the cricketers hailing from Central & South valleys of Kashmir. There he chanced upon the expert eyes of once Jammu's Poster Boy of cricket, Abdul Qayoom. "When I first saw him in the nets, he would bat well and keep wickets. Then one day, he insisted on bowling to the tail-enders. He finished them off one by one and then I knew, he was a talent, a real all-rounder."

2008 :

Soon his cricketing prowess earned him a shift to the Capital, Srinagar, where he came under the selection radar to play for the U-19 & U-22 sides. In an U-22 CK Naidu Trophy match of 4 days against Himachal Pradesh, Rasool took 5-78 & hit the winning runs scoring a brisk 21* as J&K thumped HP by 6 wickets. An upset nevertheless & the main reason behind the upset, Rasool, found himself getting a quick call-up to the Senior Ranji side in no time. [ Scorecard ]

Cometh November 16, a bright eyed 18 year old made his debut against the Ranji side of neighbours, Himachal Pradesh. But, it didnt fold the fairytale way. Inexperience was taken for a toll as Rasool gave away 58 & 85 runs in both the innings at a less less less than impressive economy rate of 5.27 & 5.31 respectively, without picking up a single wicket. His handy contribution of 40 in the first innings came to no use as the mighty Himachal Pradesh thumped Kashmir by 480 big runs.

Dreams suffered a landslide first up, indeed.

Parvez, like many others in the team never had any giant leaps or whatever you would call them. His growth was a gradual one. More like one stair at a time rather than rocketing to the top of the staircase at once. He had a promising first year(2004/05) in the Vijay Merchant trophy. He never knew the at that time, the guy smashing 179 against his team will be his first national captain one day. His dual role helped his cause and was retrained for the next edition. Results aside, that season turned out to be a successful one for this man. 202 runs and 16 wickets.
The 'gradual' was evident yet again. He found his name in the limited overs team for the next year and retained his position in the longer format. Though the transformation from the U17 to U19 didn't work that well, he picked up his U19 form in his second year (2007-08)  by picking up 8 wickets against Jharkand. He picked up his batting by hitting a fluent 78 against Goa as the tournament went on. He took his team to the Cooch Behar trophy semifinals securing fourth place. A general observation here is he always peaked with the time. 

2009 :

Early 2009, right after his 19th Birthday, Rasool made his List A debut in a Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Delhi with his soon to be National Captain Mr. Kohli hitting him all over the park yet again & scoring 102 runs leaving poor Rasool with an Economy rate of 7.25. No prize for guessing, Delhi won the match 112 runs.

But the year 2009 in Pervez Rasool's career, rather sadly shall be marked for some other reason.

That was the first time the Jammu and Kashmir team traveled outside the North zone. Rasool, fresh from a five-fer against Orissa, along with his friends were excited without knowing the national limelight will be on their side within a couple of days. And not in the best possible way.

ICC Champions Trophy was underway. Rasool and his fellow J&K cricketers were staying at the KSCA complex at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore which happened to be the very same place where a match between Victoria & Cape Cobras was about to begin. Rasool was seized & taken into custody with a "suspicious bag with suspected explosives" causing the match a 2 hours delay & ultimately being a 17 over a side affair. Fortunately, it turned out to be "just" a suspect as the Karnataka based Forensic laboratory (FSL) cleared Rasool's forensic reports & charges.

"I always knew I would get a clean chit. Today, I have been proven innocent, but I request the Police not to let such things happen to anyone else, be it a cricketer or a common man. A small mistake can ruin someone's life." But well well well, guy turned out to be very much a Man of Steel. Four days after the Explosives-in-bag-fiasco, Rasool finaly did what he came to do in Bangalore. "Pick up a bat, get in the middle & play some cricket."

And he did play some cricket, scoring 68 against Karnataka. "After the day's play he mentioned three times in six minutes about his disappointment of missing out on a century." Gushed then J&K coach Abdul Qayoom. "The whole team stood up to applaud him & five team mates along with the support staff went downstairs to shepherd him in tapping his helmeted head hard."

Rasool did find some redemption. He scored a couple of half centuries in the Mumbai match to follow.
"I was determined to show that I am a cricketer and not a terrorist," roared a pumped up Rasool after his very well made 68 and 35 against the hosts Karnataka after that dreadful experience of him which he describes like this "Mentally, it was the most difficult phase of my life. I have been touring the country since my under-15 days, but I have never faced a situation like this before. So, you can well imagine what I must have gone through,"

He even raised a question which almost everyone knew the answer. "While other players kept moving around, I sat in my room and kept thinking: why me?"

Someone would have said him. India is that place where they fake encounters with all the prejudice. Politics aside. Anyone would have given up and he even thought "I shouldn't have come." He swept aside all those thoughts and this says why he is here travelling abroad with the Indian team.

"And I let my bat do the talking for me this time."
The building blocks of a fighter in making were polished that day. 

2010, 11, 12 :

A couple of wickets and a century at no.6 against Andhra Pradhesh in 2010, 5 wickets and 45 runs against Goa in the following were the notable games in his early Ranji career. However 2012/13 was the difference. He had good games and brilliant games all along. Most special of the lot being a game against Assam where he claimed a 5-for to go with a fantastic century. It was a selector-shakable-consistency if you could put it that way.

2013 :

It was time all the hard work, all the struggle paid off. And it did.
First he got a place in the the India A squad to play against England in a warmup in New Delhi, he was the first cricketer from the state & second Kashmiri to do so. He was also the lone cricketer to be picked from J&K to star in the Deodhar Trophy squads in consecutive years, under the captaincy of Virat Kohli.

Then came an Board's President XI call up to combat the visiting Aussies just in he nick of the Border Gavaskar Trophy. Clueless Kangaroos lost 9 wickets to spin on the first in Chennai & 7 of them were to the very Parvez Rasool. [ Scorecard ]

The National selectors invited him to join the National Team's camp. "I was so happy," says Parvez, still visibly elated, "to be a part of the side, to bowl against Dhoni & Sehwag." As if its sill quite unbelievable, he adds "I travelled with them on the bus and they talked to me, joked with, shard their experiences." Boy, he's going to have to get used to it, soon.




With some stunning Domestic performances under the belt, the Pune Warriors India picked up Rasool in the IPL auction. And guess what? His first IPL wicket turned out to be none other than Kallis. He did savour the moment to the fullest. Later credited Yuvi for inputs. Modest lad.

The showdown occured late afternoon, 5th of July. Resting the seniors for an inconsequential Zimbabwe tour, Sandeep Patil & Co. decided to give the lad from Jammu a big nod in the Touring 15.

Parvez Rasool made the Headlines again. This time around, for the correct reasons though.

"Because we are Kashmiri, because of the bad times we have been through, we are the subject to so much suspicion. Now you see, when we go to play in Mumbai, we shall be treated with the same suspicion again for all this." Coach Qayoom's words reflected upon not Rasool entirely. Small town. Indifferent circumstances. Huge dreams. He is not just a talented young man equipped with impressive cricketing abilities. He is much more. And beyond. He is what Kashmir is. He represents. He reflects. Ever since India's independence in 1947, Kashmir has been the central of all the worry. Continious intrusions-invasions by various National & International forces combined with poor social-political infrastructure & lack of proper administrative concern have only lightened the fire further. Also, the cold shiver you feel the moment you hear "Kashmir", the continious media allegations of the Youth from the hills preferring guns over roses & bombs over proses have only worsened the case of the beautiful valley.

What we forget? We forget that dreams know no bounds or place or politics.

That is where my friends, among all the ruins, the ashes, the blood, the cries, the trials & tensions, someone picked up a ball and a bat & dared to dream. And dream big. & here he is.

Small town boys and their stories are always fairytalesque. Just because they would have heard more bleak backtalks than the encouraging ones. Beating odds against yourself & yet thriving to succeed is always sweet. It requires determination, love for the profession, self confidence and more importantly deaf ears to all those dismaying people. In that way Rasool is already a hero. We have always heard assassinations, assaults, wars, border issues, gun shots and explosions with kashmir. Now for a change, a cricketer. From Kashmir. This what you call a fairytale.

Maybe its Kashmir's reminder of being there after all these. Letting us know that there is more, more to Kashmir. Even if its impossible. Inspiring its misguided Youth with a lionheart.

That is why, Ladies & Gentlemen, Parvez Rasool is special. And the Parvez Rasool story, even more.





[Credits : Cricinfo & cricketarchives.com (stats), Tehelka & Google Images]

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The Dhawan way.

Out comes the helmet followed by a Dabangg-like twirl of the moustache. Up goes the bat towards a roaring PCA Stadium in Mohali. A Shrewd smile of satisfaction and a broadened shoulders' salute.

*Just 85 balls.

**Its a Test match.

***Its a debut Test match.

Meet the newest pinnacle of Indian Cricket, err Gabbar Singh err Chulbul Pandey err Shikhar Dhawan or fondly & more aptly, DA.ONE.

Gundappa Vishwanath & Lala Amarnath must not have been the happiest of men on 16th March 2013. Scoring 187 off 174 meant Vishwanath's long sustained record of the highest score by an Indian on debut (137 against Oz in Kanpur, 1969) & the record of most runs on debut by Amarnath (156 in two innings combined against Eng in Mumbai, 1933) were as good as broken. Power of the moustache, aye.

Flashback 2004.

He didn't have this big a moustache back then. In fact he didn't have one at all. Ear rings were missing. Hairs weren't.  He was a bit more fairer and cuter if you ask fan girls. The man wore the blue jersey for the first time ever on February 16, 2004. The boy from the Capital was asked to open for the Indian U19 team under the captaincy of  a start stop Ambati Rayudu who had a bad company in between only to return to the fold later. 

He was just an ambitious kid and probably he wouldn't have known that he would become the leading run scorer of the tournament guiding India to the semifinals and that he would repeat the feat again -this time in a perfect manner- to clinch the title for the senior team after nearly a decade. Nevertheless, that was some innings to start your national career. 

An unbeaten 155 with three fifty plus partnerships with the likes of Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina. His bat led team India to the semifinals with three centuries and a fifty only to lose against the eventual champions and neighbours and foes Pakistan. However the best thing about the tournament was when he showed he-apart from the free strokeplay- has the capability of holding the innings thus bailing out the sinking ship against Sri lankans. 

It was the same year when he was given Border Gavaskar scholarship with Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao where they were drilled by Allan Border and Bennett King at the Australian cricket academy .

Fresh from the success of the 2004 U-19 WC, here he is, giving some intense insights of his game. "I don't believe in the concept of bowlers being difficult. I feel one needs to play the ball & not the bowler, as a great ball from an average bowler can get the better of you." Boy knows to speak.


Dhawan had his own heroes. 
"Andy Flower for grit, Brian Lara for flair and Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist for sheer aggression."



Thus the rookie from Delhi followed up his first full domestic season with him being included in squads facing touring sides and performing well. With all his supporting performances, he became a near permanent member of India A side at the end of 2005. Not to forget the not so successful not so bad Ranji to follow. Averaging 41.14 with the bat, he showed glimpses of List A form even.

The India A opener had a successful EurAsia series (April-May 2006) scoring (127, 52,1,91,17 ). But he didn't fare well in the next India A tournament - Top End series as he was asked to bat away from his favoured opening slot, at various other positions ranging from one down to finisher to accommodate Gambhir, Uthappa as openers. Though he started off well with a half century in the first game, he couldn't repeat his form as the tournament went on. There was also one four day game when he was asked to open with Pujara only to get dropped for the rest of games. Thanks to his 4 & 15. To his bad luck, his patchy form continued throughout the season scoring just one century and three fifties playing 9 innings each in First class as well as List A. With this relatively terrible 2006-7 Indian domestic season he lost his place in the India A team that participated in a tournament in Zimbabwe  Tri Nation series, Sri Lanka and the home series against touring South African A team. [Fun fact: Praveen kumar  opened batting in some of those games]

The world famous and recently much abused English summer once helped him. Or put it this way. He bailed out The Etherley cricket club which apparently approached him on his holiday in Middlesbrough during the big gap in the Indian domestic season. The free stroked batsman gave everything to the club that they still remember him.

"We've had some tremendous professionals down the years but he's the best ever,"  observes Hylton Balmer, former player who also adds 

"Shikhar has been a real shot-in-the-arm, a lovely man and an absolute fitness fanatic."



"always smiling, always talking" refers Dhawan's spin bowling team-mate from the same club as he smashed the 157 year old club record with an unbeaten 215 in 45 overs and later adding 119 out of 291 partnership in the following game that made Roy Coates, the club Secretary is spell bound and says,  

"He must have put a dozen into Dawson Street, I was getting worried about the cars." 

You can read more about his might and Etherley club drooling over him. 

He was not a schoolboy anymore. He had mastered the puddle. Now he had a big sea to survive. He had to be brackish to withstand and carry on with the extremely distinct scenario. 
He started afresh accepting challenges. That was very much visible as he was a key member in the side's Ranji trophy win after 16 years in 2007-08 from which his average shooted up as years rolled on. 


2008-09-54.70

2009-10-64.71

2007-08-43.47

But getting in the hard & often cruel system of Indian cricket & more importantly, belonging there gave Dhawan a tough time. He started fairly early yet he started late. His ODI debut was 6 long years after his U-19 stints & he got bowled by Clint McKay in the second ball of the innings only to be consoled by Skipper Dhoni & Raina later. Lets slip into his shoes maybe. Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma from the same U-19 team as his starting to find their feet in the One Day side. All younger. "From Delhi alone there were players like Gautam Gambhir & Virender Sehwag all ahead of him yet he wasn't getting a chance. The frustration kept building in & showing in his game." Says his coach Madan Sharma, unable to find his flaws once vanishing out of contention after touring West Indies under Raina after 8 months post his debut. The selection of Virat Kohli, 4 years younger to Dhawan, as he now says with a hint of a giggle, took him to the thoughts of giving up the game. "He was feeling aloof." "There is nothing wrong in his game actually, its all in his mind." Sinha had observed. Shikhar himself recalled, "Am I good enough to play at the international level? I knew I had the talent & of course I was working as hard as someone else but something was missing."

Those, guys, were the real tough times for India's newest batting sensation who back then, had set his sights to make it big. Real big.

"He seemed to be in anguish while playing in the domestic circuit in bid to stage a comeback. Dhawan's despondency during the Ranji matches over the last few seasons indicated his turmoil within. He was working hard but runs were hard to come by. So what was missing? It was difficult for either his coach or his mentor or himself to determine."

Changes happen & in professional cricket, a shot is often enough to change the perspection of one's game, the way to look at it, the way to approach it, the way to correct a mistake & the way ahead.

For instance, Dhawan's was the one played in a Ranji Trophy match in 2010 in the Roshanara ground in delhi on a chilly December morning against the Railways. Although its cruel to single out his failure as the main reason for Delhi not being able to chase down a tiny-winy total of 136, a reckless shot did triger a middle order collapse.

"A new Dhawan was born that day."

With an aggreagrate of 486 in 11 Ranji innings until then, Dhawan was bound to receive a lot of flak for the awful shot & he did. In the 2011-12 season he made a little impact  in Ranji innings totalling 296 runs in 10 innings but his knocks of 177 & 155 against Rajasthan in Jaipur in the Irani Cup match kept him in the limelight.

"One would have thought he was not cut out for the big league after such a poor tour," says Madan Sharma after the sloppy Windies tour under Suresh Raina, "But Shikhar came back hungrier, convinced that he knew what he had to do next. That was the turning point. He kept telling everybody that he wanted to play longer for India. He realized the IPL was a platform but the real clincher would be tall scores in domestic cricket."

Those, guys, were the real tough times for India's newest batting sensation who back then, had set his sights to make it big. Real big.

He should have known nothing but scoring loads and loads of runs will help his case of living his dreams. He had no choice but to work harder. After the early stardom he was down to earth feeling the pain of getting neglected. He had to move on. Apart from the man himself none would know the feelings of fellow U 19 team mates marching ahead with him lurking behind scratching his head in frustration.

"He started coming to nets on time, fussed over his batting, started asking questions he had done never before. He would ask about wrist positions & front foot play. He decided to work on his pet shots, like the cut & the drive. And he was very smart. With the advice he got, he knew what to reject & what to incorporate. He consciously cut out the tendency to waft at deliveries when set. At 27, these are his best years as a batsman & he knows he must make them count."

Anybody else would have given up. Shikhar didn't  He had the legendary openers representing the national team. He didn't  He even lost his place in India A team to various other aspirants like Pujara,Uthappa, Gambhir, Rahane, Parthiv Patel and even Praveen kumar. He didn't  He marched & marched &marched like a blinker tied driving horse. Didn't look anywhere but his path. Well. That's what you call determination. 

So, who is this new Dhawan? The guy who is striking gold whenever he comes out with his bat?

He is "pure entertainment" as Navjot Singh Sidhu might have liked to point out.

You ask his senior Delhi teammate Akash Chopra & he will explain, "He has learnt to put a price on his wicket. Not that he has become a good batsman overnight. He has always been a talented batsman. Only problem was he never put a price on his wicket. He used to get out playing rash shots."

He is not a man of many words. He will give the press the same reassuring smile he gives an opposition bowler on field. Maybe that is why his bat is so talkative, after all. It has to do the talking for two people at a time. But, well, who's complaining?

  15 years back, a twelve year old Dhawan showed up at his now-mentor-then-coach Tarak Sinha's Sonnet Cricket Club in Delhi following the footsteps of his cousin. "He soon rose through the age-groups making a name for himself as a bold left-hander. He was essentially a strokemaker & always played that way." Sinha maintains. So the flamboyance is nothing new.

There is something about his batting. You cant stop with the Viru comparisons & hell, he is Sehwagesque. But there is more. Not a dull moment on crease. Between those resounding flicks & now-slowly-gaining-attention-of-the-cricket-world-and-beyond drives through the covers. My, dont they leave you spellbound? Powerfully silky to sum it up. Then there is a swift paddle behind fine leg & an easy-peasy squeeze to point & you can go on & on & on. Guy has a fat book of shots & I'm afraid it covers almost all in the buisness. And the positivity in his game, the way he goes about the task like an eagle to the sky, he leaves you wondering if any doubt, any concern nag him on the striker's end. He plays each ball with such clarity & ultimum intent & topped with some brutal yet crisp finesse that even when there maybe periods of measured scoring, he doesnt look laboured. Keeping up with it, always. And he does have the legs to accompany the rabbitish trio of Virat, Raina & Dhoni when it comes to running between the wickets, at 27. Also, on the viewer, a Dhawan innings doesn't grate.

As Vijay Dahiya says, "Only those desperate to do well find luck come their way."

At almost 28, he is anything but a rookie who has been around in the Domestic circuit for 9 long years. But something has happened in the last few months (apart from wedding his long time kickboxer half Oz-half Bong girlfriend Aesha Mukherjee) that has helped him crack the code, finally.

He walked into the Indian Team & has been talking in hundreds since.

It took nearly a decade for the schoolboy with dazzling shots and free stroke play to overcome his fellow openers to live his dream of donning the blue. The school boy is at it again. The same calculated aggression. The same ravishing stroke play. This time with a  big moustache though. 

[Stats- ESPNcricinfo
Pictures-Google images and Blitz]

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