Scout's honor

Aakash Chopra played with great distinction for Delhi on the Indian domestic circuit before he was unceremoniously dumped from the squad.  Rather than waste time fighting the system, he took that as an opportunity to migrate and play for Rajasthan.  In two years, Rajasthan won the Ranji Trophy twice and his reward.....

....well, read for yourself.  There's a reason I will be following the fortunes of the Himachal Pradesh Ranji team very closely this year.  In fact, my dream final would be between Himachal Pradesh and Hyderabad.

So, why am I on the road once again? Have I fallen in love with this nomadic lifestyle? Or is it the lure of money that has forced me to ditch my old team? No, I don’t like living out of a suitcase and away from my family for five months in a year. The older you get, the more you miss the comforts of your home. No, it isn’t the money either, for God’s been kind enough to provide enough work to keep me occupied and the fire burning in the kitchen. I’m on the road for the very thing that made me hit the road for the first time - honour, a sportsman’s eternal quest.

Book review: Beyond the Blues

For a few weeks I have working furiously on a personal deadline of writing a book before Christmas rolled around.  Now that the deadline has been done and dusted with I can get back to more important things like living my life again.  (Some will snicker that the deadline was less about Christmas and more about Boxing Day.  Oh, how well they know me!).

Anyway, thinking about books took me back a couple of years to a book that I had read, liked, promised to review but had never gotten around to doing.  So, here it is - my review of Beyond the Blues by Aakash Chopra.  Better late than never.

From September 9th, 2007 to June 5th 2008, Aakash Chopra kept notes of his actions and thoughts in the form of a diary.  Eventually, to the happiness of many of his fans, including me, he went ahead and published them.

The book is filled with an insider's perspective of Indian cricket, from the behind-the-scenes shenanigans in the backrooms of selectorial meetings to the on-field skullduggery that the viewer is unable to pick up on from 90 (or in these days 60) yards away.

It is a compelling book, written from the heart.  The best way to appreciate the book is to read it in its entirety.  Here are some of the nuggets that caught my fancy and should serve to whet your appetite for when you read the book.

On Sachin Tendulkar (p48):

Aakash Chopra had a very pivotal hand in Sachin's classic exercise in self-denial, that face-saving 241* at Sydney in Steve Waugh's final Test in 2004.  In fact, it is safe to say, that Aakash saved SRT's life that day.  He did something that made him "... one of the few people in the world who has given something to the Little Master without taking anything material from him in return."

On a fellow team-mate (p60):

He has definitely mastered the way to score at this level consistently and I wouldn't be surprised if, one day, if he plays enough domestic cricket (given his India commitments), he goes on to break every batting record on the domestic circuit.

The story in each of us

Yesterday, on Prem Panicker's blog he mentioned that Aakash Chopra was coming in for a live chat on Yahoo! India's cricket page. On a lark, I sent Panicker a question to pass along to Chopra. Wonder of wonder, just minutes into the chat today, Prem dropped in my question.

Unfortunately, Aakash did not answer it directly, so it did not register. I think. Foiled! But I will not rest till I get through.

I am attaching a screen shot of the chat (click on it to enlarge).

(Disclosure: A few months ago, I emailed Aakash Chopra asking him (roughly) the same question. He replied in a generic manner, thanking me for writing the note, telling me that he had not thought about a book on those series, and that he may consider it in the future, politely dismissing me. *Sigh*)

The man who would be king

If you like honest appraisals of sportstars, you have to read what Aakash Chopra has to say about MS Dhoni on his (Aakash Chopra's) blog.

The formatting of the page leaves a lot to be desired and the article itself is a little clunky to read, but it is well worth it. It is as splendid an inside look of Dhoni before he became Dhoni as any I've read. This is exactly the type of inside stuff I look for from cricketer-writers.

Here's a brief excerpt to whet your appetite.

He (Dhoni) was funny and very well mannered, though a little subdued to begin with, typical of people coming from small towns. He'd talk about his dogs and his bikes. Sriram (Sridharan Sriram), he and I used to hang out quite a lot. Since he was not in the playing XI, after his keeping stint he would bowl to batsmen in the nets. Both Sriram and I were getting a little irritated at seeing him bowling everyday, and that too, to Dinesh Karthick, his immediate competitor. So one day we told him, rather bluntly, that the idea of playing for India A is to eventually play for the country, and that his primary role is to keep the wickets and if there's any time left, he should devote it to his batting and not on providing someone else a hit. But Dhoni being Dhoni, he simply said 'अगर  आपको  भी  खेलना  है  तोह  मैं  आपको  भी  ball डाल  दूंगा ' (if you also want to have a hit, I'll bowl at you as well). May be it was thanks to his bowling efforts in the nets that Karthick batted beautifully in the games he played and was called up for the Indian team in the middle of our A tour. 

Since my hand was still injured, I was staying away from active cricket and spent a lot of time on the sidelines working on my fitness. I would run for a long time at the end of the day's play with the reserves. I rarely had Dhoni for company as he always despised my running round and round in circles around the ground. He would do some keeping drills instead besides sending down a few more balls in the nets. One day I was doing shuttle running and suddenly found Dhoni game for it. Now I take a lot of pride in my stamina and endurance and was pretty sure that Dhoni would be very poor competition. But he gave me a run for my money. I was a little zapped and asked him if he's been running around in the gym or something to keep his stamina right up there. To that he answered that slow running is boring and that is why he stays away from it, but short sprints is something that he enjoys doing and I think he's naturally gifted in that aspect too. I argued that to play the longer version of the game one must develop stamina by running long distances, but he innocently retorted that he finds the longer version a little boring too.

Collating thoughts

Here are some news items that have caught my fancy in the past few days.

a) First up: Aakash Chopra's latest installment about how cricketer's perceive the world. This episode deals with pre-match preparation and what goes on in a top notch player's mind the day before the game.

Rohan Gavaskar wouldn't play a single ball in the nets, while Viru likes a long hit. Similarly Gautam Gambhir needs his throw-downs before every match, while Sachin Tendulkar's batting in the nets depends purely on how he's feeling about his game at that point of time. While Sachin didn't bat too often in the nets during the 2003-04 series, when he did, he made someone bowl at him from 15 yards most of the time.

There was one extraordinary instance of Dravid and Viru missing the practice session and watching a movie instead. It was before the memorable Adelaide Test in 2003. Sometimes, simply unwinding is the need of the hour.

b) Does this apple look funny to you? Even if it does, don't be alarmed since it is just a rejigging of the base-pair sequences, the odds of which occurring are set at about one in a million.

It seems to me that the odds need to be even larger, since I don't ever recall hearing of a half-and-half apple.

c) If you have been following this blog closely, and since only a select few do follow this blog you must a close follower, then you know that I am an unabashed admirer of Roger Federer's skills on the tennis court. In an age of conditioned, IMG-programed, PC-soundbites to the media, I like Roger's candor and honesty when he is interviewed. Here's an interview he did between the French Open and Wimbledon, before the birth of twin girls. Plenty of nuggets in there, so do read it in its entirety. Here are some excerpts that caught my eye.

5. What would you want to have to be the perfect tennis player – without Roger Federer?
Serve, I take Andy Roddick, in addition David Nalbandian’s backhand, Rafael Nadal’s forehand and Lleyton Hewitt’s fighter qualities. There is no longer so many volleys today, but I would say Stefan Edberg, Patrick Rafter or Tim Henman. And in the mental area, I take probably once again Nadal. This doesn’t guarantee success, but it would be a very difficult to play against this opponent.

40. What surprises me about Rafael Nadal is:
His consistency in his early years.

d) Somethings are better left for you to comprehend and digest.

... administration officials objected to giving author J.K. Rowling the Presidential Medal of Freedom because her writing “encouraged witchcraft”.

e) "Do unto others as others do unto you" is the theme of this long article on Dan Brown, the author of The Da Vinci Code. Using Dan Brown's style of writing (if it can be called that) Francis Storrs sets about trying to unravel the man behind the book series that is minting money by the millions.

For an English teacher, Dan Brown is extremely limited as an author. He is repetitive, uses big words to try to impress the reader, and his characters do not talk like normal people at all. At the drop of a hat they are ready with a long discourse on the topic of discussion. Coincidences abound aplenty and the story is just stitched together to put forth the information the author really wants to share. Robert Langdon has now appeared in three stories but very little character development has occurred. If anything, there is less detail about Robert in the latest book - The Lost Symbol. Dan Brown would be better served reading books by Dick Francis to see how a few words and implied gestures here and there in a book can help paint a very vivid picture of a character.

f) Finally, a sobering thought: what if someone knew your every move in the virtual world? What if they could then use that information to profile you and get to you? What would you think of it? Some say that world is already here. George Orwell's world where Big Brother is watching (1984) does not seem like fiction any more, does it?

...by cleverly combining log-in data, cookies, and IP addresses, Google is able to connect search queries to a particular individual across time – with impressive precision.

The result is striking. Google knows for each one of us what we searched for and when, and which search results we found promising enough to click on them. Google knows about the big changes in our lives – that you shopped for a house in 2000 after your wedding, had a health scare in 2003, and a new baby the year later. But Google also knows minute details about us: details we have long forgotten, discarded from our mind as irrelevant, but which nevertheless shed light on our past: perhaps that we once searched for an employment attorney when we considered legal action against a former employer, researched a mental health issue, looked for a steamy novel, or booked ourselves into a secluded motel room to meet a date while still in another relationship.

Each of these information bits we have put out of our mind, but chances are Google hasn't. Google knows more about us than we can remember ourselves.

While it is disquieting, I do not quite share the same sense of doom that the author does. Yes, my personal information is out there in cyberspace, but not any more than I want to share with others. There are lots of parts of me that have never made it outside my mind, or my inner circle, and that will stay that way, no matter how hard any search engine tries.

Cricket clicks

Two stories for your consumption:

1) First the ridiculous. Gautam Gambhir is injured and will not participate in an ODI series. Naturally, the BCCI selectors pick Virat Kohli as his replacement, a player who himself is just coming back from a shoulder injury. Is it me or does it seem odd that when an injured Delhi batsmen cannot make it, he is replaced by a recently-injured Delhi batsman. Got to maintain those zonal quotas, don't we?

2) And now for the sublime. Aakash Chopra continues his quest to demystify some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of international cricket on CricInfo. This week's article is about team meetings and their relevance to player preparation for matches. Fascinating and insightful. Read it and enjoy.

Catching on

My favorite cricketer-writer (here I go again!) Aakash Chopra, talks about fielding at forward short-leg, easily the most dangerous place in cricket for a fielder. Read the article in its entirety. Some nuggets are reproduced below.

A key difference between fielding at short leg and silly point is the way the fielder protects himself when the ball is hit. At short leg you must go down as much as possible and become as small as you can: batsmen rarely try to keep the ball down while pulling or sweeping.

At silly point the fielder must jump to defend, because batsmen rarely try to hit the ball in the air on the off side. They aim to keep the ball along the ground, and hence you can avoid the line of the ball by jumping. While jumping you must remember not to turn your back towards the batsman because all your protective gear (shin-pads, abdominal guard and helmet) are worn on the front. Keeping an eye on the ball helps too!

(...)

Is it scary?
The correct answer would be a firm "no", but the honest answer is "yes". I have been scared a few times. For example, while fielding at short leg when Matthew Hayden and Justin Langer were sweeping almost everything. The shots were so ferocious that the fielders at long leg - and this was at huge grounds like the MCG and SCG - were ducking for cover. A few yards left or right of them meant a boundary.

I got a real fright once when the ball hit my helmet on its way to crashing into the fence, bouncing only once in between.

(...)

The moment I decide to allow the ball to hit me, the brain processes that information and prepares the body. It might sound weird, but once you know it's going to hit you, it doesn't hurt all that much.

High ground

Here's reason number 14,657 why I like Aakash Chopra. Aakash recently played a few matches in Agartala, a location not often visited by the cricketers. His CricInfo blog touches upon the place and his feelings.

Personally, I like coming to the smaller, lesser known places in this vast land. Only cricket could have given us the opportunity to travel all over and get acquainted with various local cultures. There’s something peculiar about the houses (on the outskirts) in this part of the country. Since land is not at a premium the houses are built on a big compound with enough space for a garden. Invariably there are a couple of coconut trees in every compound and the boundary walls are made of bamboo. Those bamboo boundary walls – some of the smaller shops have them too - make a statement: we trust each other. It reminds me of the tradition in a small island called Nevis in the Caribbean, where locking your car is taken as an insult by the others.

What is impressive about the post is not what is there, but what is not there. Chasing a mammoth score of 306 to win, Aakash and Virat Kohli hit centuries to guide Delhi to a great win.

It is so typical of the fellow that he did not refer to this in his blog. His book (which I have now read and shall review in detail when I have a couple of hours to spare) is also written in the same style.

He truly believes in letting his deeds do the talking. For a guy not considered good enough for the slower formats of the game, check out where he ended up in the leading run-scorers table after the Vijay Hazare tournament.

Hell and beyond

Being an India cricketer is hell in many ways, because of the intense scrutiny you are subjected to by a billion people. But not being an India player is even worse. The same people who feted you one day suddenly behave as if you are the bane of their existence.
- Aakash Chopra

Earlier this week I finally received my much-awaited copy of Aakash Chopra's debut book, "Beyond the Blues". A few weeks ago, when the book was released, Aakash shared with us some of the reasons and inspirations behind the book.

A lot of things also conspired to keep me on my toes: the central contract, Delhi's dream run, my personal form and chances of playing for the country. In any case, I couldn't have written the script better. It was a landmark season with Delhi winning the Ranji Trophy after 16 years, North Zone clinching the Duleep Trophy, and me ending up being the highest run-scorer. We also had the first edition of the IPL in the same season to top it all.

It is a diary of the 2007 cricket season but is much, much more than that. I will write a proper review when I am done reading it, but I am sure that this is the first of many books from him.

I am still hoping that he will write one about the tours to Pakistan and Australia that he was such an integral part of.

Unbuttered bread

It is no secret that the BCCI is not on my list of favorite organizations. But they make it so easy for me to justify my disdain and disregard.

Right now, in grounds all over India the Vijay Hazare Trophy, the BCCI's premier ODI trophy for Ranji teams is being held. But look at the BCCI website. For the life of me I cannot find even a piddly link to it. Except for the 15 or so members of the Indian team slugging it out with New Zealand, the rest of the best cricketers are playing and there's no mention of it on the official website of the organization that is, ahem, organizing it! But you will find a prominent video of Lalit Modi plumping the IPL's second season. Priorities, priorities.

If a tree falls in a forest and there's no one to hear it, does it make any noise?

Well, luckily for cricket fans, the BEST sports website in the world (in my jaundiced opinion) is CricInfo. Check out how detailed CricInfo's coverage of the tournament is.

While on this topic, BRB/AV points out something strange about the tournament itself. Look at the points table at the end of the "league" phase. Here are the top teams in each group with their win-loss record:

• Uttar Pradesh (4-1)
  
• Bengal (4-0)
  
• Delhi (4-1)
  
• Tamil Nadu (5-0)
  
• Mumbai (2-2)
  

Now look at the schedule for the "knockout" stage of the tournament.

Notice something strange? The only team to go 5-0 (Tamil Nadu) is playing a pre-quarterfinal game, while a team with a 2-2 record (Mumbai) gets a bye and goes directly into the quarterfinals! I have looked all over for the rules for deciding which teams get a bye and which do not, but I could not find them anywhere. If someone out there can, please help us out!

(Luckily, Tamil Nadu's pre-quarterfinal match was washed out and they got through to the quarter-finals without breaking a sweat, but why did that even have to happen?).

Finally, at the quarter-final stage, check out the batsman at the #2 spot on the run-scorers list. Why isn't he in the Test squad, at least?

Ground beauty

Aakash Chopra talks about playing cricket in one of the most beautiful grounds in the world. How can you not want to play with such a backdrop? I'd do it in less than a heartbeat.

Penny wise, pound foolish

How did the BCCI become the richest cricketing Board in the history of cricket?

• By shrewd investments in the ad-friendly versions of the game
  
• By cutting corners
  
• By caring for the paying public
  

In the words of Meat Loaf, two out of three ain't bad.

We already know how the BCCI has tapped into (and plundered beyond recognition) the Twenty20 cash cow. They came late to the party - incredibly, India had played just ONE T20 game before the World Cup in South Africa - but when they did come, they came hard and fast.

Left behind in the wake has been the paying public, as catering to the television is of paramount importance. However, you'd think that a Board so rich would not worry about cutting corners. But it does and it is shocking how callous it all seems.

Aakash Chopra talks about the state of the game on his blog on CricInfo. In a recent post he mentions the paucity of balls in the first-class matches conducted by the cash-rich entity. Either they are making money by cutting corners...or someone, somewhere, is making a lot of money selling cricket balls.

We are told that the balls are too expensive, and hence we must make do with some other local brand that is white in colour, to get the feel of the white ball. We would be given an odd Kookaburra or two every now and then in the interim. I am struggling to get my head around this decision. Yes the balls are expensive, and must therefore be used sparingly, but definitely not as scarcely. If money is such an issue with the association then how the same association managed (if a newspaper article is to be believed) to spend Rs 40 lakh on buying tracksuits for the cops and another obscene amount (nearly Rs 28 lakh) for an AGM totally stumps me.

Sadly, for all of us concerned, the entity which endorses the product by buying into it - the paying public - is the one being shortchanged.

Writer's blocks

Luckily for us fans of Aakash Chopra, he continues to write on his CricInfo blog. In his latest post, Aakash Chopra describes the hard work that went into writing his first book.

A lot of things also conspired to keep me on my toes: the central contract, Delhi's dream run, my personal form and chances of playing for the country. In any case, I couldn't have written the script better. It was a landmark season with Delhi winning the Ranji Trophy after 16 years, North Zone clinching the Duleep Trophy, and me ending up being the highest run-scorer. We also had the first edition of the IPL in the same season to top it all.

From goodbye to hello

Aakash Chopra's first book on cricket, Beyond the Blues: A Cricket Season Like No Other, has finally been published. Not surprisingly, it is based primarily on his experiences during the recently concluded cricket season. But, if his blogs and articles are anything to go by, it promises to be better than the run-of-the-mill "autobiographies" that get churned out by players, current or former.

The reviews have started to come in and are quite positive. Suresh Menon chips in with his impression.

This must rank as the best book written by an Indian Test cricketer. It is candid and takes you into the mind of the player. Most books by Indian players are ghost-written autobiographies with tedious details of matches played, the odd anecdote, and very few insights into the game in India.

Aakash Chopra has written a book that has both immediacy and perspective. He uses a single incident or personality to comment on a system and the inevitability of it producing the kind of players India produces.

My order has been "placed" and the book is on its way to me. I can hardly wait for it...

Last words

2008 is in the books and who better than Sambit Bal to give a comprehensive review of the happenings across the playing fields and beyond. The review is in two pieces - part 1 here, and part 2 here.

Here's his take on MS Dhoni, the golden boy whose captaincy is still in the honeymoon phase. His first hiccup was in not pursuing a 2-0 verdict against England, but that was completely overshadowed by his so-far successful reign as the skipper.

India are lucky to have found Dhoni to take them through a crucial hour of transition. He has shades of Sourav Ganguly's leadership qualities, and on the evidence of his few matches in charge, greater tactical nous. Most of all, he seems immune to the media, which as Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble found, often poses a much greater challenge to Indian captains than opponents on the field. So far, admittedly, he is yet to taste the kind of press that drove Dravid and Kumble to distraction, and he has maintained an aloof, and in fact slightly amused, air about media criticism.

As captain he doesn't seem burdened by precedents or shackled by the fear of consequences. There is a method to his tactics, but he has allowed himself to be guided by his instincts. In some ways he is an old-school captain, not given to over-theorising or over-reliance on the laptop, and guided instead by a cricketer's reading of situations. As a result, his decision-making has come across as uncomplicated and uncluttered. He also seems to possess that intangible thing that all successful captains need: luck.

There will be days when his plans misfire and luck deserts him. That will be his true test. Last year was one in which he could do no wrong. Still, all signs suggest he will be all right.

While on skippers, a man who went from hero to zero (or worse) in the blink of an eye has spent many years on the outside. But, luckily, it appears that the (perceived) sins of the father are not hampering the progress of the sons. Mohammad Azharuddin's older son is being recruited by the IPL. Here's hoping he cares a niche for himself and outdoes his father on the field. Also, the younger son has been spotted, too, and if anything, is a bigger chip off the old block than his elder brother.

Finally, Aakash Chopra was recently shown the door by the BCCI, effectively ending any hope he had of playing for India again. He has gone back to blogging for CricInfo but here and there you can glimpse the pain he feels from not getting a chance to represent the country again.

Now that we're home and with our families, we must make the most of it as we really don't know what the future has in store for us. Though, personally, I wouldn't mind staying away on New Year's Eve with the Indian team once again.

His first book, Beyond the Blues, is releasing this week and I am looking forward to owning a copy soon.

Spitting into the wind

I have never hidden my admiration for Aakash Chopra, and have even advocated a major role for him in the current Indian set up.

A few days ago the BCCI announced the latest list of contracted players. Many fringe players made it, but there was one omission that went largely unreported - Aakash Chopra was quietly dropped from the Grade D (the lowest grade possible). (Siddharth Mongia explores this in more detail in this piece).

To say Aakash Chopra was stung by the vote of no-confidence is an understatement. On his CricInfo blog, Aakash puts forward a very compelling case for why he deserved a longer run, clearly showing that the BCCI only pays lip service to the domestic game. I fear the writing is on the wall, and Aakash Chopra will never play for India again and the loss is entirely Indian cricket's. Shame on you, BCCI.

Initially, the list of contracted players was limited to the top players in the country, and it had no more than 25 players spread over three grades. But last year the BCCI went a step further, and included the players who were doing really well in the domestic circuit. It was a great gesture from the BCCI, and it rewarded a lot of players for their performances. Well, everyone can't be playing for the country at the same time, and hence getting a contract was a huge encouragement. Once you have the contract, contrary to popular belief, not only does it bring the money and security, but it also adds to the motivation to do well, knowing that you're in the loop and would be rewarded again if you do well.

Last year with the contract under my belt, I was all geared up for the season and played with the single-mindedness of proving right the decision to back me. It was a great feeling to be back in the loop after three years of wandering in the wilderness after getting dropped from the national side. It was good to be back.

I went on to score 1339 runs at 60 runs per innings in the longer format, and was the highest run-getter in the season with three double-centuries and two centuries. Incidentally, my tally was the fourth-highest in a single season in the history of Indian first-class cricket. I was lucky to add three unbeaten centuries in the shorter format, taking my season's tally to nearly 1700 runs.

(...) The new list of contracted players was announced three days ago. I was disheartened not to find my name in the list. For the last couple of days I was mulling over what must have gone against me. Did I not score enough runs in that period? Was I supposed to do something more? And after two days of brainstorming, I am still as confused as I was earlier. If I was disheartened earlier, now I was positively lost. I really don't know how to react to the news of not finding my name in the list. It was, after all, meant to be the reward of doing well in the contract period. One part of me still believes that my name must have been forgotten, as I've always had faith in the system where one performs and gets rewarded. Questions are plenty, but answers are none.

No surprisingly, Aakash Chopra is back at it again, scoring runs and keeping Delhi's hopes of defending it's Ranji Trophy triumph alive, by leading from the front as captain and opening batsman.

Good guys rarely finish first, but I'm rooting for this one to buckle the trend.

How do you do?

In Indian cricket, it is not how you do but who you know that matters.

Come with me while I show you what I mean. The following players are under contract with the BCCI:

Grade A (Rs. 60 lakhs): Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Anil Kumble, Yuvraj Singh and Zaheer Khan.

Grade B (Rs. 40 lakhs): Wasim Jaffer, S Sreesanth, VVS Laxman, Dinesh Karthik, RP Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag.

Grade C (Rs. 25 lakhs): Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Ramesh Powar, Munaf Patel, Robin Uthappa, Piyush Chawla and Suresh Raina.

Grade D (Rs 15 lakhs): Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb Bose, Mohammad Kaif, Cheteshwar Pujara, Parthiv Patel, S Badrinath, Aakash Chopra, Yusuf Pathan.

President Sharad Pawar told the media that Grade D was aimed at nurturing new talents, who are on the fringe of making it to the Indian team, by giving them stability and financial backing. Chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar said, “They have done very well in the India A tours and we look upon them as India prospects.”

Ignoring gradations, here's how it breaks down:

Opening batsmen: Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Aakash Chopra.

Competition for this opening spot has been tough with the first three playing musical chairs with Dinesh Karthik and Rahul Dravid thrown in on the odd occasion someone needed a spot in the middle order. Of late, however, Gambir and Sehwag have cemented their spot, relegating Jaffer to the Ranji leagues, his technique having been found wanting at the highest level against the Aussies.

Gautam Gambhir got himself a 1 match ban and is not available for the 4th Test. So, naturally the Indian selectors reach back into the centrally contracted talent pool and select M Vijay as his replacement. Makes sense....wait...err...M Vijay?

Who is M Vijay? Since I cannot ask the girls next door, let's check with CricInfo.

Murali Vijay: 34 innings, 1505 runs, 4 centuries, 4 fifties, average of 47.03.

He scored a double century (243) in his latest first-class match so the numbers get better. Other facts that emerge about him are that he was the third-highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy with 628 runs in seven games at a 50-plus average in 2006-07. This year, he is the third highest scorer so far in this season.

The stats are nice and undeniably indicate a young man who could be a great player in the years to come. But when the incumbent misses a match, as is the case here with Gambhir, then the next in line ought to come from the pool of centrally contracted players, right? I mean, that is why you pay them to stay on the fringes.

Wasim Jaffer did not do well against the Australians so I can understand not trying him. But right behind him is the leading run-getter from last season, and the guy who is in 4th place (one place behind Vijay) in runs this year, too - Aakash Chopra. He is a centrally contracted player (level D) who can also replace Gambhir at the forward short-leg position. He has played for years with Sehwag and has a great understanding with him. Moreover, he has faced the best the Aussies could throw at him and acquited himself quite well in the past.

In a match as crucial as this one, the Indians are going to send in a tyro. I have no idea how good a player Vijay is and I am not saying anything about his ability here. But the person he is replacing could not keep his cool when confronted with the verbal barrage the Aussies get away with on the cricket field. Can Vijay handle this, on top of it being his first Test, while playing with teammates who would not be able to pick him out of a line-up?

I hope he does very well. If his career numbers so far are a accurate indicators, he has the capability to do very well. But the reason for this diatribe is this - would he have been pitchforked into the spotlight so soon had the Chairman of the selectors not been from Tamil Nadu? The cynic in me cannot reconcile that.

Aakash Chopra has done nothing wrong in the time he has spent on the sidelines, waiting for his chance to come. When it rightfully should have been his time, he has been by-passed. I just hope it does not come back to haunt the Indians in Nagpur.

The final nail in Aakash Chopra's international career just got rammed in. What rankles is that it came from the stroke of a biased selector's whim and not from an opponent on the cricketing field.

Trolling the web

While taking a break from preparing lectures, I wandered around the web and these are the articles that caught my eye:

a) When cricketers retire and go to the commentary booth, I expect their analysis to consist of more than the banal "What India needs right now is a couple of quick wickets." or "A good over or two will change the complexion of the game." D-uh! What I am looking for is an insight into the game that someone looking on from outside may not readily pick up on. Here's a perfect example and it comes from someone who is still playing the game at a very high level. Aakash Chopra tells us why the type of ball used in matches makes a huge difference. That's insight, dear analysts.

The SG Test ball that is used in first-class and Test cricket in India is relatively soft (made with a soft cork inside and a finer quality of leather) with a very pronounced seam. The ball doesn't move too much, but once it gets a little old, if maintained properly, it swings throughout the day. The ball comes a bit slower off the surface unless it's been made to pitch on the seam. The only way to succeed with an SG Test ball is to land it on the seam, for otherwise you're doomed. On the contrary, the SG Tournament ball has a lot more glaze on it, and is made with hard cork and not-so-fine leather. The ball does a lot when it's new, and travels much quicker after pitching even when it is not pitched on the seam.

The figures we see at the end of the game could be quite misleading. You can't pick a fast bowler just because he wreaked havoc with that ball in the winters in north India. Spinners get less purchase, and hence shouldn't be condemned, and poor openers might not get big scores.

b) Just a day or two after blasting Anil Kumble, Dilip Vengsarkar lets bygones be bygones upon hearing about the leg-spinner's retirement. The article itself is very bland and poorly written, but there is a nugget that was very interesting to read about.

However, DDCA’s curator was quoted as saying that the grass was cut without his knowledge on the eve of the match, making it a lifeless wicket that invariably produces dull cricket, and leaving the curator furious.

c) Rick Reilly used to write the last page article for Sports Illustrated for years. Often it was the best thing in the whole magazine. Now he works for ESPN and, occasionally, still produces brilliantly written pieces, such as this one about John Wooden, the celebrated coach of the UCLA men's basketball team of the 60's and 70's. A must-read from start to finish.

d) One of the people who caught my eye in the early part of this millennium on a cricket field was Shane Bond. He had an injury-ravaged career in which he showed what could have been. When fit, he was the best FAST bowler in the world, better than the Lee's and Akhtar's of the world. Way better. Here, he reminisces about his achievements and his role in the ICL.

e) Harsha Bhogle waxes eloquently about Laxman. I may have already linked to this earlier, but I don't care. Read it again, if you already have. Or read it for the first time and enjoy a writer describing a batsman, with both at the top of their game.

This will be one of Laxman's more satisfying moments. He was treated very shabbily during the IPL, was prevented, in a most bizarre episode, from playing for a month in England and had to witness the swords being sharpened for his execution. Don't forget this is a man who gave up a million dollars a year so the Deccan Chargers could get better players and help develop cricket in his state. In England they are going crazy over a million dollars per player. Laxman gave up a million a year for three years! At the end of the first season in the IPL, he was sacked when he had been captain for six games and the job was given to a man who had led in the other eight!! And not a thank you for the extra three million!!

f) Finally, the folks at CricInfo try to describe VVS Laxman in a elegantly written article. Wonderful writing. One for the archives.

When VVS Laxman plays like he did today, there isn't a worry in the world. For 470 minutes over the last two days even the Feroz Shah Kotla's garish stand at the Tata End didn't look ugly. For 470 minutes, Laxman disguised violence with grace and left Australia hopelessly spellbound.

When Laxman plays like he did today...

The air up there

Sachin Tendulkar has scored more Test runs and centuries than anyone else. Tendulkar has also scored more ODI runs and centuries than anyone else. Naturally, anyone with a pen in hand and a column to fill will be toasting the little guy for the next few days. There are many such articles to pick from. Unless I see something really well-written I shall stick with these two (with Roebuck and Bal in the wings, if and when they do write something).

a) Harsh Bhogle muses about what Tendulkar has meant to India.

b) Aakash Chopra provides an insider's perspective on how Tendulkar prepares for the game.

Echo

A few days ago, I made a case for Aakash Chopra to be included in the Indian side, for the time being as the heir apparent for Dravid's place. In that piece, I also touched about the inexperience of some of the potential replacements. Sambit Bal, the erudite editor of CricInfo, discusses many of the same points, though the focal point of his thesis is the search for a replacement for Ganguly, not Dravid.

Aakash Chopra has done everything possible in the last season to win back his place in the team. He has stacked up the runs, and got them big (1339 runs at 60.86, with five centuries). It always seemed a bit abrupt when he was dropped after three failures, and he was a bit unfortunate not to be picked for the last tour to Australia. He has started the season well, and batted confidently and positively till a good ball from Munaf Patal accounted for him in the Irani Cup. If a call were to be made on who the six batsmen most likely to succeed against Australia are, Chopra can't be far away.