.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Sight Screen

Friday, September 16, 2005

real test cricket(should finish soon today): Ind-Zim Day4 Open Thread

Gone through all the media reports about SG, GC, RD, VVS, YS, MK, SB(senior bowler)etc...and ohh boy...what a storm they have cooked up...wonder what's it really worth :)...we'll find out in due time I guess...as I don't see any answers coming up anytime soon..

Meanwhile...open thread for the day's game...which hopefully wouldn't last the whole day. I have work to do this morning, will hopefully pop in later in the day.

posted by worma at 3:27 AM

118 Comments:

  • worma, are you there?

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:00  

  • This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    By Blogger Shankar Anand, at 04:02  

  • dadagiri,
    I saw that, too. Ironic that having created the stir in the first place by asking the questions that fuelled the response HB, SGav, and RS are a little unsure about the furore they have created. (least of all in this blog)

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:03  

  • here for now...jaunty

    By Blogger worma, at 04:03  

  • Whatever be the case, Ganguly shouldnt have told the media that he was asked to step down before the test match. This will create unnecessary complications and bring down the morale.

    Hope that after his scratchy 100, SG finds his confidence back again, as he claims and returns to batting like he did in his prime. I feel he has atleast a couple of years of international cricket left in him.

    Hope all this controversy dies down and we answer all critics through bat and ball.

    By Blogger Shankar Anand, at 04:03  

  • isnt why they are trying to clear up by saying they dont know what exactly was said by GC to SG....

    By Blogger worma, at 04:04  

  • dadagiri, what was the question to which SG replied by saying that he was asked to step down as captain (is that what he said, step down as captain or step down as player?)

    By Blogger worma, at 04:05  

  • worma, I have tried to find it but cannot find it. The text of his exact comment that sppawned the storm in the teacup are easily found, but not the question, so no way of knowing whether he was badgered, words were put in his mouth, or he was just responding testily (which I doubt happened).

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:10  

  • ZK has bowled 2 no-balls in the first 4 balls he has bowled. I don't really know what to say about this anymore.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:11  

  • 3 slips, 2 gullies

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:14  

  • ravi,
    in sequence, my comments:
    1) SG was talking to the media as the person that had a huge part in the day processdings. (HS and IP were also interviewed but not a peep has been written about their comments). He knows this comes with the territory so I am sure he was as "comfortable" as he could have been.
    2) You are assuming this is part of a strategy of GC to incite players to perform. Without actually hearing from the guy, it would be incorrect of us to presume that.
    3) Not enough data to suppose this.
    4) I think players have always gone to the media. Its just that in recent times with the increasing number of news outlets, and consequently an increasing pressure on each news outlet to garner readership/viewership, only comments that can be attributed to have other meanings or rake a controversy are usually highlighted.

    And yes, the team has provided meat (at a place of slaughter, no less), and could have been avoided completely.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:24  

  • Zimbabwe hitting it out here.... 26 runs from 30 balls bowled today!

    By Blogger Shankar Anand, at 04:25  

  • ravi,
    Arun Lal seems to implicate GC fairly and squarely as the person that said that to SG, and is pondering whether it was a strategic ploy on the part of the coach to get SG to focus on oroving him wrong by scoring runs!

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:25  

  • I hope Ganguly does not spread the field in order to stop these boundaries and then ease up on the close-in pressure on the batsmen.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:28  

  • dadagiri, that article has put a hude smile on my face! Here is a guy (the mono-named Anil) slamming Cricinfo :
    Cricinfo, a particularly pathetic tabloid-style site devoted to cricket, went the extra mile by slamming Ganguly for his "slow century".

    And then spends a major part of the article slamming the media that is slamming the captain. Why could he not have set an example himself by refuting Dileep's contentions and providing a cogent rebuttal to that "tabloid-style" Verdict column! Speak of vicious cycles.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:32  

  • Assumptions are, as they famously say, the mother of all .....

    I think that all that can be said about this topic has been said , as far as I am concerned, I am done with it and moving on.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:35  

  • And, oh yes, that other topic that has garnered an odd quote or two has been brought up, too. Its a known issue and a known trend and thats all I have to say about it.

    Kumble on and Taibu is playing down the wrong line each time. Playing for spin?

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:39  

  • For the media who feel Ganguly's captaincy burdens are affecting his batting: Have a look at the little giant Taibu. A glaring example of a fighter. Though he knows he cannot win against top teams he does not get dejected. He is batting his heart out.

    He has been in the field for almost all of this test match. And look at the pressure on him. He is the captain, he has to think of field placements, bowling changes and what not...and at the same time keep concentrating hard on each and every ball that is being bowled (and bring off spectacular catches once in a while). Burdens are not taked off his shoulder when Zim is batting. He is their best batsmen and is the backbone of Zim lineup. He scores consistently against all teams. And yeah Zim cricket must be barely paying him more than peanuts.

    At 21 this guy is totally amazing and deserves much more than the attention that he is getting in the elite cricket circles right now.

    And now think again. Does really captaincy burden someone too much? Is it impossible to be a captain and do other things if you have the resolve?

    By Blogger Shankar Anand, at 04:42  

  • shankar anand,
    Taibu is a gem. He is rarely mentioned when discussions of the best keepers comes about but from what I have seen of him, he is top-notch. I have a feeling that before his career is done we shall revere him the way Andy Flower is.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:44  

  • here we go again...

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:51  

  • Ooooo, HS is bowling really well here.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:53  

  • dadagiri, :-) yes.

    And oh, the other one simmers, too.

    Good to see HS going round the wicket (i.e. over the wicket) to left-handers.

    By the way, I thought I heard a snick on the ball through to the keeper from Kimble but no one appealed or even flinched.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:55  

  • Why doesn't AK bowl round the wicket to left handers? Shane Warne switches back and forth so easily, so its not as if it cannot be done. It must be a mindset thing then.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 04:56  

  • sorry jaunty...I went out for a while...thx for the interview details..one more thing...(if you havent already said this)...from your impression of the interview....when ganguly said he was asked to step down....was he talking about captaincy or about stepping down from the team totally ? (as a player also?)

    By Blogger worma, at 04:57  

  • ..and btw...my impression still is that the 'blame' if we want to call it that, is solely with the media for focussing too much on the off field activities...and reporting it such that the readers like us are made to feel the issue is bigger than it actually is....for example...read the match thread on cricinfo....usually it has a heading on the match related issue...then the first link is to the live scorecard....check it out today

    By Blogger worma, at 05:00  

  • ..and I dont think Harsha has done much wrong..ofcourse he and any other good journalist would probe on an interesting hint....but he cannot control how big it is blown up in the next days headlines

    By Blogger worma, at 05:01  

  • dadagiri sorry dude LOL :-)....my bad...got confused...rushing in and out of meetings ;-)

    By Blogger worma, at 05:02  

  • dadagiri, yes, I thought that was a kind gesture, and the player will treasure those moments. I know I would!

    worma, I am going to stay mum on two topics - you know which ones I am referring to - but since you asked; my impression (and the inference is mine) was that he was asked to step down as captain, thats all.

    This is what he said, "I can tell you that before this match I was asked to step down as captain. So it was an extra determination that I found," said India's captain, in the middle of a Test match.

    BTW, Cricinfo has this new article (hot off their presses!!):
    http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/zimvind/content/story/219400.html
    tiled, "Whatever happened to Team India? The season of discontent" by Anand Vasu.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:03  

  • dadagiri, what is Harsha's email address? (If it is something that is private and you obtained from him, please don't tell me).

    Thanks.

    And by the way, guys, does anyone know Prem's email address? The one he uses for public consumption?

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:06  

  • Oooh...leg spin for Kumble..a good foot or more!! Food for thought for Taibu now.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:07  

  • GONE! Yes, that very ball that he used earlier has gotten him now.

    Smart, smart bowler!

    The ball after the leg spin was a straight one and Taibu watched it closely. And then when the next one came he prodded unsurely at it, unable to form a clear opinion of how much it would turn. Classic Kumble dismissal. Taibu walked, too.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:09  

  • Nearly one more!!

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:09  

  • Again! Goes on the backfoot to Kumble...foor Ewing. Its a matter of time if he keeps doing that.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:10  

  • ..dunno what to make about vasu article...I have had some issues with cricinfo's negativism towards the indian team...since the Zim tour...right from the start (and I mentioned it here, with example...that how differently they reported two similar performances from Ind and Nz against the same opposition). I had some reservatios with S Rajesh and Anand Vasu being over critical in SL tour, and Dileep yesterday about SG, as someone pointed out). I hate to say its a cricinfo level conspiracy against Ind team or SG etc....because they are much better in their peers category....

    This new article from Vasu...says chose to make a statement that will rock the very foundations on which spirit and togetherness are built in a team of sportsmen......now how much do we agree with this ? Sure maybe there's a hell of things wrong with this team....but then they are not getting any worse because of this statement....they were already wrong....

    By Blogger worma, at 05:11  

  • Doosra by Harbhajan?! Looked plumb first up to me. Batsman is indicating he touched it, but I am not sure that is the case.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:13  

  • okay dadagiri, thanks for clarifying that. I understand.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:14  

  • yeah dadagiri..same thing I just said :)..and jaunty prem's email address is on the site(his profile)... prem@us.rediff.com

    By Blogger worma, at 05:14  

  • HS does seem to have a spring in his step that was missing for a little bit. Bowling round the wicket to the left-handers has been a bugaboo of his. Hopefully this will convince him to do so more often in the future.

    worma, read them and move on. If you notice the articles these days on Cricinfo and other websites, they are very reactionary. Follow the articles after the Lords Test and then after the 2nd Test and you will a flip-flop as typical as a Hawaii chappal of ours. I read them, smile, and then go on to other things.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:18  

  • dadagiri, if you are writing to Harsha, do ask him (if you did not already have this in mind) that is he aware of the ramifications of that one answer he was probing to get out of SG ? The Indian team may yet get well out of it (hopefully)...but the whole media frenzy and inciting of public opinions that it has created...is he aware? Can he do something about it now? If possible, he should.

    By Blogger worma, at 05:18  

  • Thanks worma, for Prem's address.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:19  

  • jaunty...yes mate...I have aquired that 'instinct' to filter a lot of junk out of those...and formulate my own opinions :)

    By Blogger worma, at 05:20  

  • I don't care who the batsman would be, they would be hard-pressed to be comfortable against HS the way the guy is boiwling right now. Ever ball looks like it can take a wicket.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:22  

  • alright dadagiri. Am outta here once again....hopefully this would wrap up before lunchtime...and good to see bhajji not only getting wickets...but bowling well (from what I read on darned cricinfo ;-)....even bowling the doosras...

    By Blogger worma, at 05:23  

  • This is like watching a movie you have already seen. You know the what is going to come, just a matter of watching it through, thats all!!

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:24  

  • yeda_yakub, I dount if these batsman will last long enough. It will be tough to prise the ball from the hands of these two bowlers, and there is no reason to as of now. Almost all the balls are being played (or missed) by the edge of the bat.

    worma, bye..."see" you sometime during the next match then.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:25  

  • Easy enough chance dropped by Gambhir...should be taken, but these things happen sometimes. (Remember the "laddoo" that Streak dropped off HS, first ball?)

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:26  

  • Good to see that a close-in fielder was not sacrificed to fill the gap at deep mid-wicket.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:32  

  • Kumble is spinning the ball a huge amount now! Slower in speed but more spin. Good for him.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:34  

  • India can delay lunch by a half-hour I think if this wicket does not fall before lunch.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:35  

  • ze rambler, yes, I am watching the streaming on Willow TV. On google type in "willow tv" and the first link will take you there.

    Or go to the live scorecard option in Cricinfo and click on "live video" and it will take you to the same site.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:42  

  • Just looked at the rules and nope, I could not actially find a law that lets you delay lunch to get a verdict. Close of play can be delayed, not intervals like lunch or tea or drinks. Oh well.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:42  

  • ze rambler, here is the link:

    http://www.willow.tv/EventMgmt/Default.asp

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:43  

  • Leg gully has been removed for HS. I wish they would keep up the pressure. We have tons of runs on the board. Keep attacking, guys.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:46  

  • ze rambler, They used to have the option of going back and looking at an archive but that function has been stopped, so unfortunately you cannot do that.

    However, you get no ads between overs!! And additionally you get all the on-camera people in their candid moments as the coverage continues between overs, before and after the play. You get to see them prepping for their interviews, adjusting their clothes, doing voice tests, practicing their dialogue delivery and also from time to time hear thier interchanges (off-camera, since they assume everyone is on an ad break!!)

    Fun really. The Ashes were also a lot of fun to watch on that. All of it was one big package they had. I have been watching the same package for months now.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:49  

  • Leg gully is back for HS! Good.

    Yes, avinash, I think its time for Pathan to come back.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:50  

  • Over! Round the wicket and got the right hander. Good to see HS changing his line and not worrying about being only over the wicket, etc. Plumb, plumb...dream LBW dismissal for an off-spinner. Pitched on the stumps and spun back onto the back foot in front of the middle-leg stump.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:52  

  • They had a package that advertised about 200 days of coverage for about 200 dollars and I signed up for it a few months back. I don't know what the price is now.

    I got to see Ind-SA, Ind-Bangladesh, ENG-WI, NZ-SL (the tour that was cut short by the tsunami), Aus-Ban, AUS-WI-Pak tri series, Aus-Pak series, Ashes, Natwest triseries, the recent Ind-Zim-NZ seris, the Zim-NZ series, the Indi-SL odi series. And a few more I cannot recall off the top of my head. And in the future, I will get to see Aus-WI and Aus-SA.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:56  

  • Quite some bang for my buck, so to speak. (No wonder it took me so many years to finish my PhD!! Just don't tell my parents this :-)

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:57  

  • Arre yaar, a students life, especially when I WAS a graduate student, was bindaas. My advisor let me do things on my own time schedule so I used to come in to the department late at night, set up the computer in my lab to cricket and then work away on my analyses! :-)

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 05:59  

  • ajoy, sorry slipped by your question from earlier.

    Nehra was not happy that Irfan got the new ball ahead of him. Actually it was more that he wanted to bowl with the new ball. But then if he was to bowl (at that time he was the first change) then Irfan would have to make way.

    Its all in the past now...not-so-distant...but in the past.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:05  

  • dadagiri, yes it has to be Pathan, I think so, too.

    SG mentioned that IP likes the kookaburra ball more than the SG ball, because the kookaburra ball swings more. Maybe that also may have something todo with the skewed nature of his stats. But oh well, thats girst for some other day.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:06  

  • Yes, IP it is for MOM.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:07  

  • IP syas that he has slowed down because when he bowls faster he does not get as much swing. Hmmmm, that explains the drop in pace.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:08  

  • IP is speaking in a very mature manner. Impressive.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:09  

  • avinash, yes, thats why I said it was in the past and should be left there...its old stuff and not reall yimportant.

    dadagiri, bye. I am taking a week-long road trip through the US by myself, so I may miss the next match, unless the hotels I stay at have internet access at a cheap surcharge. As Amitabh would say, "Main aur meri tanhaiyi". Maybe I will write a tavelogue and put it up on my so-far-nonexistent blog. Take care.

    By Blogger Jaunty Quicksand, at 06:18  

  • For those of you who woke up early to watch India win and now dont feel like going back to sleep... more live action - International 20 20 championship ... the Faisalabad foxes are on fire..
    http://willowandleather.blogspot.com/2005/09/international-20-20-club-championship.html

    By Blogger Pavan, at 06:39  

  • After listening to Ganguly's post match comments, how many of you feel that he is going to step down as the captain after the Harare test...?

    By Blogger Pavan, at 06:43  

  • Well something's gotta give.. The stepping down thing is definitely on his mind.. He is bent on using this series to better his batting credentials.. He knows pretty well that he would need one more hundred in the next match to keep him in contention as a batsman for the next series.. If he voluntarily steps down, I dont think he'll take it back even if JD goes on a hunger strike.. - he takes a lot of pride in his actions..

    By Blogger Pavan, at 06:53  

  • It was Ravi at the presentation ceremony .. so the questions were less troubling.. Ganguly mentioned that questions were bound to be asked when the performances were not upto par and that he understands that he hasn't been playing well of late.. He said he hoped to perform consistently from now on.. and when asked about the significance of his 48th test, he said he had one more to go, his 49th.. Not sure what he intended to say there... seemed as if he wanted that to be his last...

    By Blogger Pavan, at 07:13  

  • Rajesh.. about that last bit (SG telling Harsha about the dressing room).. where did you get it from?

    By Blogger Pavan, at 07:14  

  • thanks rajesh.. i missed that...

    By Blogger Pavan, at 07:21  

  • Let's be clear about the coach/manager selection. During the process it was SG and his mentor who wanted GC. RD and AK and VVS wanted Tom Moody. Now GC comes in and calls it like it is and he is not a good coach. This is great and makes a lot of sense....NOT!!

    By Blogger Gopal Bhagavatula, at 08:14  

  • miyazaki - I respect Jimmy Amarnath tremendously as a player and let me say aas a kid growing up in India he was my favorite player. But I also want to say the attitude with which he approached the position of coach led me to think his appointment as a coach/manager would have been one of the biggest blunder in the history of Indian cricket. Mind you that is just my opinion. He may be very good as a academy coach teaching players how to remodel their game etc but that is not the role a senior team coach/manager plays. Players whose games need to be retooled do not belong in the senior team.

    By Blogger Gopal Bhagavatula, at 08:33  

  • Even if Chappell asked Ganguly to resign ( and that's a big IF ) he would only have been saying something that is so blatantly obvious that i can't believe the amount of bellyaching that it seems to have caused. Ganguly at the moment is a net liability to the team - his batting is leaden, his fielding absolutely disgraceful and he really hasn't got a lot to offer the team. So if someone makes a friendly suggestion along the lines of "mate, you're not contributing to the team and that is undermining your ability to inspire and lead, why don't you give up this captaincy lark before you are sacked and focus on your game", I don't see why that should cause such outrage.
    The villain of the piece isn't Chappell. if anything it is Ganguly attempting to become a martyr by mentioning this on day 3 of the test after scoring a none too impressive century.

    By Blogger Piyush Pant, at 10:12  

  • well i think a lot of it is blown out of proportion. The fact is India is still the No.3 team on icc rankings just 6 pts behind england ( who think they are world champions tho they havent beaten india in india for i dont know how long).

    So lets give SG some credit even in a bad year we werent that bad in test cricket .. Yes one days is another story. We won quite a few tests and series in 2004 people might say at home but didnt eng also not beat aussies at home only ??

    He still is the best bet as captain yes he needs to improve his batting no doubt but on current form who doesnt ?

    Interesting all these debacles happ since SRT not around ? Any views on that ? Maybe he was the glue and his presence just made so much of a diffrence

    Karthik

    By Blogger Karthik, at 10:16  

  • The bottom line is that the team has lost its Mojo ( to use an austin powerism). A lot of that has to do with it becoming stale and complacent. A bit of new blood, a shaking of the old guard and Ganguly being given a golden watch for his services and shown the door marked "graceful exit" would help.

    By Blogger Piyush Pant, at 10:20  

  • No one is "bashing" Laxman. Ganguly is being bashed not because of his batting in this match but because of his totally out-of-place comments. I would hardly call Sehwag and Gambhir's innings "failures" while Yuvraj, well, he will come good when the going gets tough.

    How do you know Chappell humiliated SG ? This is a very easy and populist and dirty card to play - the racial issue. Ganguly has completely lost control of himself or he is trying to play even dirtier politics. In either case we are better off without him

    By Blogger Gaurav, at 10:34  

  • This is what Chappel had to say abt the match, controversy in a discussion at the end of the match with Harsha, Sunny and Shastri

    Harsha : Irfan Pathan, the man of the match, has a pretty good game isnt it?

    GC:Yes its a very good all round performance, He's worked very hard on all aspects of his game, fielding, batting as well as bowling. He is swinging the new ball well and he bowled a good length in this game, he felt he was little short on the first day, the second morning and the last evening, I thought he bowled pretty well

    Ravi: Greg, good performance by India to win this game, but how do you take it forward to Harare? Do you want certain things to improve even more when you go into Harare?

    GC: Yes Ravi, we have just got to keep working on those process, have to stop worrying about outcomes, you get ahead of yourself or you start falling behind yourself thinking abt how things could have been better, and I think if we can continue to get our process right, bowl the ball in the right areas, put pressure on the opposition both with the ball and in the field and put pressure on the opposition by scoring runs and running well between the wickets, these are things we are judging ourselves at the moment and we need to keep improving in those areas. Zimbabwe is an young team an inexperienced team, we will get more pressure than they were able to put on us from other teams, so we need to keep developing those process

    Harsha: And as well Greg as I suspect get rid of the irritants that can sometimes come in the way of process, that seems to the process is confined to what happens in the team meetings and on what happens on the ground, Sometimes they can be irritants to the process and we need to debug it as quickly as possible

    GC: Yeah, there are some things that you cant control obviously Harsha, what things are being said outside in the media by supporters whatever, we cant worry about that, we have to concentrate and focus on what we are doing and we are attempting to do that and hopefully get better at it.

    Harsha: Well you have never played in India Greg, but I guess the process of understanding India is well under way, having been a month and a half into this job and as you know we Indias are very passionate cricket followers and want to know everything about the side, Is there is a little reassurance that you want to give to this Indian side that look there is a lot happening there in the media, but this Indian side will continue to play the kind of cricket you wanted them to play?

    GC: Well thats what we can do, and thats what we want to do, Obviously we are happy that so many people follow the Indian team so closely but from time to time it can be intrusive if we let it and its important that we focus on what we are doing and whatever happens outside the group we cant control and we cant spend too much time worrying about, we just got make sure that we keep doing what we do as well as possible

    Harsha: Was it a bother though, the fact that somuch attention is devoted to things that happened off the field than on the field?

    GC, Oh not really, I have been thru all this stuff before Harsha, always going to be something bubbling around the place, once it gets a bit of oxygen it can take off and be blown out of all proportions, we cant worry about these things like that and get involved in it, we have to keep focusing on what we are doing.

    Harsha: And looking ahead to Harare, I know historical stats dont have too much meaning but India has never won a test match, infact lost two

    GC: Thankyou verymuch for reminding this. Obviously again we cant control what happened in the past and all we can do is look forward to whats coming up next week and prepare ourselves as well as possible, I have been very happy with the way the guys have performed, training sessions have been very good, very enthusiastic, the support staff have done a fantastic job, all in all we are doing as much as possible what we can do at the moment and we just got to keep winning, get into a habit of winning, it takes a lot of pressure off in lot of areas

    Harsha: There are a couple of aspects a lot of people in India would be focussing on in the next 3 or 4 days, is how this team get its act together because there has been a few things said in recent times by couple of lead batsmen and obviously thats not going to help matters, whats the team going to do to get everyone together, maybe just say look our job is to play cricket

    GC: Well yeah we have talked about those issues and I mean as things come up from time to time, people get frustrated, say things that perhaps they dont really mean or as important as they are made out to be, again its a matter of focussing on the process and if we can continue to have success, I think lot of these other issues just fade away

    Ravi: Greg, what time you playing golf with Sourav tomorrow

    GC: Probably in the afternoon sometime I would think

    Harsha: Did you have a long chat with him, because the way he played, bcause lot of us here have watched Sourav Ganguly bat for the last 9 years now, and hardly ever seen this kind of batting from him, grafting out 6 hrs to score a hundred, was that something you have talked about this kind of innings as well together

    GC: We have talked about a whole range of issues, including batting, captaincy and all sorts of things and we continue to talk about those things but we got to understand that Sourav was under lot of pressure and obviously he also wanted to put that pressure behind him, he worked very hard to get that hundred, I would rather look at the positives and the result of the game than get involved in anything else

    Harsha: One other thing we saw this morning is we havent seen too much of when Harbhajan got his 200th wicket is he bowled a lot more with fizz, that he bowled a lot more round the wicket , was it something you were experimenting with?

    GC: Yes we worked on those issues with Harbhajan, looking at different angles, talking to him about different angles and different batsmen and different ways to bowl, particularly when conditions arent in favor, when ball spinning a lot sometimes its good to change the angles, Yeah he is had a bit of pressure on him as well, getting the 200th wicket I think, took the pressure off a bit, I thought he bowled pretty well this morning, So I mean its a matter of confidence, continue to take wickets, if he can do that, I am sure his bowling will only get better and better

    Harsha: Ravi has talked about a round of Golf, Arun lal was here and he said you might go bungee jumping with Sourav together

    GC : Well he is on his own there, I am afraid bungee is not my go

    Harsha: Thankyou very much Greg for taking time off and congratulations on your first test win

    GC: Thankyou very much

    By Blogger Neelan, at 10:56  

  • cricktip, just recorded it while they were on air

    By Blogger Neelan, at 11:07  

  • neelan great work man....infact....I'll post it on the blog...this is good interview...

    By Blogger worma, at 11:20  

  • Read abt a column posted earlier in this thread

    --quote--
    Should Ganguly resign or should Indian media?
    By Anil - September 15 2005

    Today, the Indian captain drove home a point after scoring a century despite being in poor form. But media in his own country are more interested in creating scandals where none exist.
    .........................................
    .........................................
    As to the rest of the Indian media that likes to dwell on controversy rather than cricket, would you please learn some elementary rules of journalism?
    --quote--

    This column goes on criticizing Harsha for his questions, but I really believe that media should ask these kind of questions rather than all those nice words. For eg at the end of 2nd day when they were interviewing Laxman, he had lot of complaints abt him being left out of the side blah blah, he should have been asked why he was running so bad btwn the wickets, its pathetic the way these lazy guys play, as you might have seen the way the running bet the wickets, the fielding is so terrible, and still Lax wants to be in ODI team. And if Chappel wanted the best XI to take the field if that means dropping Gangs, I just dont find any problem with it. May be the timing might have been wrong if he had asked dada to step down

    And some others posted supporting Gangs for his century like India was in a great position and if he is out of form whats the problem in taking time and scoring runs. But international cricket is not the place for getting back into form, why cant he realize he is blocking another cricketers opportunity, all in all its in bad shape Indian cricket at the moment..

    By Blogger Neelan, at 11:25  

  • cricktip...those bunch of loosers in Australia are doing it ;-)

    By Blogger worma, at 11:25  

  • neelan....if its not a big secret..can you tell us mate how u did that transcript thing ? !

    By Blogger worma, at 11:29  

  • shri...well you know technically Kaif also bowls, and yuvraj also bowls...and India has an opener who bowls...but we know what the truth is...Aus has been playing their game with 4 bowlers (albeit very good ones...till recently)

    By Blogger worma, at 11:31  

  • worma I just recorded it while they were interviewing Chappel using my mobile

    By Blogger Neelan, at 11:34  

  • cricktip...the kind of seize mentality that Aus was stuck in in this series..Katich or any part timer would not have helped...they had enough support cast...it was the main actors who were missing :)

    By Blogger worma, at 11:36  

  • neelan...very very smart indeed :)...you made my day (and many of us here can say that!)

    By Blogger worma, at 11:37  

  • GC is no fool.. he would NEVER ask SG to step down, unless he had some (or all) of the board, or at least a powerful faction, guiding him.

    I am not sure if GC is even involved, regular followers of this blog would probably recall Prem's article on how the Board manouvered to strip SRT of the captaincy, and how it was decided in March 97 but only happened in Jan 98.

    This is all Board politics,mark my word, and SG, more than GC, is going to be the fall guy.

    And please note, all this rubbish has been happening since the start of the 2004-05 season, so it seems that this is (hopefully) the culminating stage of the drama.

    Feedback welcome..

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 11:45  

  • BTW, guys, Prem and I talked about starting a discussion group sometime back, I had even setup the back end, or a part of it, but since then Prem's been pretty busy, and I dont know if it will happen... but its all ready and I am just waiting to hear from him..

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 11:46  

  • jgohil, not replacing the blog, it will merely make discussion easier,at least that was what we thought....but this was almost a month back...basically Prem wants this to be more than a blog, so he keeps experimenting..this was one idea.

    It ran into trouble because it cant be hosted on Blogger and his Rediff page took long to load (its based out of Mumbai), so we were looking for alternatives and one of them was my homepage. Its ready to go now, but Prem and I havent been able to discuss it for more than 2-3 weeks, so I dont know if he still wants it..

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 11:53  

  • rp...sure there would definitely have been misunderstanding....it cannot be all made up. but cant it be less important than its being made to sound? Do you think all coaches and captains are in good relations ? Do you think Wright never had a tussle with ganguly ? Or Buchanan with Waugh? etc

    By Blogger worma, at 12:06  

  • Neelan, the interview that you posted and your analysis are great. I agree with you in your analysis, that current performance should be the only criteria for getting in to the team. One cannot rely on past performances. That is the reason, VVS and Anil Kumble was dropped. They cannot field, even though they can do their primary function ( which are batting and bowling respectively )well. Going by the same yardstick, SG should also be dropped ( though he has not batted well for a long time and for sure runs someone out when he is batting, just like he did with VVS ). SG does not support AK in ODI for the same reason, but when it comes to him, he takes it personally and goes on to make a painstakingly slow hundred to prove a point. I could not certainly see a point from SG there. Looks like he has lost his self-confidence and some support from his team members. All eyes will be on SG in the upcoming SL series. I agree, that it's time that we groom some youngster in his place for wc'2007.

    By Blogger sv, at 12:07  

  • Lawrie, Everybody that is on this discussion wants the Indian team to do well. But to do this consistently, we need to have performers. If someone does not do well, they are bound to be criticised and the reverse is true also. When they can take the praise, why can't they take the criticism ? Now my question is, why are players ( especially the captain of all people ) talk to the media about teams internal bickerings ? What will the other players think about this ? Doesn't this give mixed signal or negative vibes ( that VVS was talking about )to the team ?

    By Blogger sv, at 12:15  

  • But if there ARE factions, then whose are they? And are they linked to the team, or are they aligned to warring factions within the board?

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:19  

  • lawrie thanks, as GC said, most of the time it is like that. Indian media, we know, has its own needs

    rp, cant the coach suggest the struggling player to play as a pure batsman to reduce pressure (I believe thats what GC said..asked SG to step down from captaincy...not as a batsman?).

    If you ask my opinion, there may be a lot wrong with this team.....but there are no factions. Sure kumble feels aggrieved at being left out of ODIs, but he kept it to himself (and i think SG mentioned this while praising his attitude)...and sure Lax feels he is unduely pressured in his position in the test team (but SG backed him, even earllier, and praised him yesterday, and also mentioned that he TALKED to lax and asked him to just make runs and forget everything else). So...IMO....there are no factions. ofcourse when so many individuals have their own problems, and when team results are also not good...then there's bound to be some tension (like, what do you think, would be the atmosphere in the current Aus team ?..all nice and feel-good???)

    By Blogger worma, at 12:21  

  • worma, it is widely known that ganguly faked his injury for the Nagpur test, and was caught out. When he refused to play, Dravid was furious and stopped talking to SG, and finally Wright had to broker a truce...

    A lot of members of the team talk - off the record, of how other teams have 11 players, and they have 10.

    With this background, and the Nagpur test happened in November 2004, surely some cracks/factions would have happened by now?

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:26  

  • arjun...if what you are saying is true...if the players say off-record that our team has 10 players only, then sure there are factions in the team(..two factions...one very small one ;)

    By Blogger worma, at 12:30  

  • worma: thanks -:)

    well, i got the whole 10 players bit from a VERY reliable source (cant take names- for now at least)
    so rest assured it is true..

    but i dont see how it follows that the other faction is a very small one... im not sure if all 10 players said that there are only 10 players, it might have been 3-4, and those are probably the batsmen who are being kept out of the one day or test squads...am just guessing though...

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:35  

  • cricktip...the coach's job is to get all the players to play at their best...and to achieve best result...if GC's honest intention was that only...and he asked SG to focus on batting only because of this...then I dont think he was overstepping his authority...sure its SG's prerogative to acceed to his demands or not....

    ..and about showing difference in tri-series....we all know that coaches are not magicians mate....didnt you see how badly we played...what can the coach do.....Marsh, the coach of WC winning Aus team, also coached the current Zim side...what happened?? (I know this is extreme example...but still..)

    By Blogger worma, at 12:37  

  • crictip: Ian Healy spoke (once he retired) of how he almost quit due to frustration when Mark Taylor refused to quit during his lean run, so it was clear that the question of Taylor stepping down was mooted, and if a fellow player could do it, then Im sure the coach (I think it was Geoff Marsh) was privy to it too... so if GC did say this, it is not without precedent.

    In 1992, prior to the WC in Aus, after NZ had gotten drubbed by the English, Martin Crowe was asked to step down..

    Both refused, but such demands are not without precedent...

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:40  

  • arjun....hmm...ok from the hints I get....as I said..Lax and Kumble surely have a case of feeling aggrieved...but doesnt that mean a personal frustration (did you read the Ganguly interview in mid-day...he in fact conceded this fact!)...Laxman has on record said that 'there are different criteria in this team for diff individuals' when being left out of ODI team....didnt he mean ganguly here???....so sure...he feelts this way...but does that really mean factions?..and esp if SG is actually doing what he says(in his interviews) he is doing....talking to Lax...etc

    By Blogger worma, at 12:42  

  • Cricktip, No one knows for sure who started this. Whatever is appearing in the media, they are only speculations. These kind of speculations are flying around, because SG stated something about this in the media, without being clear about what really happened. My only question is, why being a captain he would say such kind of things to the media, while he should have dealt wiht it with the coach and with the team.

    I am not saying that GC is the saviour of Indian Cricket. I just think, that with SG a little low on confidence ( stemming from his non-performance ) and the pressure from the media and selectors, he is a little overreacting to criticism and blurting things out to the media, when the need of the hour is some honest self analysis from him.

    By Blogger sv, at 12:44  

  • worma:

    w.r.t your statement if SG is doing what he is saying, Anand Vasu's comment here is relevant

    "People who have followed Sourav Ganguly's moves over the years will know that he is not one who says things without knowing their ramifications. He knows exactly who his constituency is, and how and when to play to the gallery. And that is a quality a leader of men can do with. But he also has powerful backers both in the Indian board and in the media -and knows how to use them."

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:47  

  • SG has just used the media to air his views to the "other faction" of the Board, IMO.

    The media (and LK Sahi in particular!) are his only medium....

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:49  

  • arjun, from what I know...SG did not call a press conf to say this thing (that he was asked to relinquish captaincy)...it was coaxed out of him by Harsha on a general interview.....so I dont think this logic of Vasu applies here. Had SG called a conf to tell everyone this fact...then I would have thought that yes, its a chess move by SG for a 'bigger' cause...and he has calculated the ramifications etc. Therefore, I totally disagee with Vasu on this. And btw, this is not the only point on which I disagree with him, in this particular post. But dont want to go into that in detail now, since its not relevant :)

    By Blogger worma, at 12:52  

  • srik, I also think there may be difference between RD and SG on many issues....but why does it have to mean factions????....there would be diff in opinion between Warne and POnting on 100s of issues !!

    By Blogger worma, at 12:55  

  • suraj...good that u asked this...did u read the interview of bhajji on rediff(also cricinfo I think) ??..he mentions that he saw some good young prospects in the NCA....otherwise also nice interview

    By Blogger worma, at 12:57  

  • worma: i think Vasu seems this way cos he (and other journos) know a lot more of what goes on behind the scenes...

    here is what i know..and this is all reliable- yet off the record..so its ok if you choose not to believe but here goes...

    SG and JW had such severe differences prior to WC 03 (when India was getting hammered in NZ)... that JW told the Board he wanted to quit cos he wasnt being listened to... then the team was getting screwed, so SG began giving him importance again...

    SG took all the credit for the Harbhajan move in 2001 against Aus, when in fact the whole team fought for his inclusion... esp all the seniors (AK, SRT, RD)

    SG realized that Yuvi couldnt be kept out the test side for much longer, after his century in 2004 in Lahore.. and since his middle order slot was threatened (he is weaker than VVS, RD and SRT), Yuvi had to become an opener and thus Chopra went out... for no fault of his.

    I guess Anand Vasu, Dileep and others know these things, so it comes out in their analysis of him.

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 12:59  

  • suraj: amit mishra is considered to be good, he is a leg spinner from Haryana. but given that Bhajji and Kartik both have 6-7 years to go, is there really any need for anyone else?

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 13:00  

  • arjun....even if what you say is true...there are factual errors and misrepresentations of events in some of these articles..those are uncalled for...even if Ganguly is the villian from hell :)

    By Blogger worma, at 13:03  

  • suraj, as arjun mentioned, I know abt Mishra as one...dunno his age though. Then isnt there a Patel also?

    By Blogger worma, at 13:05  

  • worma

    i agree with you that SG inspires like and dislike among journos with nothing in between -:) whereas RD gets nothing but praise... but SG and RD and VVS and this whole drama in general MUST be viewed with board politics in mind...of which SG is a part of...

    Faisal Shariff put it right.. as long as we have different zones fighting for their players to get selected and the ensuing politics keeps happening, nothing will ever really improve in Indian cricket...

    and im sorry.. but if a captain refuses to play on a green top becos it would lead to the loss of a winning record, and sacrifices a honest, hard working player who followed instructions to save his own debatable place.. it doesnt speak too well of him.. and he wouldnt have my support..

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 13:08  

  • mark taylor once said that to succeed in international cricket, in all different conditions, one need 3 quality seamers, and 2 spinners.

    India has quality in seam in Nehra, Zaheer, Pathan,Balaji with backup in Salvi and Agarkar and RP Singh and Munaf.. the scene there looks good...

    for spin we have Kumble and Bhajji along with Mishra and Kartik for backup...

    there seem to be enough bowlers around, maybe a bowling coach like Srinath is needed to mentor these guys through the ups and down.. like what Troy Cooley did for England..

    anyway, its been nice talking to you all... im off

    By Blogger Arjun Swarup, at 13:16  

  • arjun, dunno about what exactly happened at nagpur.....maybe SG had to bow out of political pressures (of dalmiya...that he should not play the game of pawar...whatever)...frankly i dont have a clue..and yes RD may be angry with him on that one...so what...it happens....did you read Slater's article (from his book) about Waugh's treatment of him at the time of dropping him....he openly said that Waugh did not even warn him that this was coming...my point is....SG is not god...hes not a perfect model like RD, SRT....all agreed...but hes a good captain, and IMO, still not bad enough to be thrown out....

    By Blogger worma, at 13:19  

  • Shri...mate u still hanging on that one :)..ok Sehwag is a test bowler? what about Ganguly? Sachin? (he was our second highest wkt taker in the 2001 aus series :) ?????

    By Blogger worma, at 13:37  

  • no probs :)..just that point is its not necessary to have an additional bowlers at six..it can be anywhere out of top 7 (if there are 4 regular bowlers)...and diff things work for diff teams....we seem to be doing fine with 4 bowlers..if we manage to get our first choice 4 bowlers...

    By Blogger worma, at 13:43  

  • I feel there is some involvement...although it doesnt seem to be match fixing...and therefore should not be discussed at all in cricketing context. But dont know much....maybe Prem would know something...lets wait for his return

    By Blogger worma, at 13:48  

  • as i said shri...it may not be match fixing...money (even illegal money) is not a cricketing issue as long as player is honest on the field....anyways...I cant make out much more than what you also would have read.

    By Blogger worma, at 13:52  

Post a Comment

<< Home