Seven

With the World Cup 2011 just around the corner, the largest concern for all Indian supporters is that dodgy number 7 slot. At the moment, we can probably be more sure about Afridi captaining Pakistan provided he doesn’t bite something off, doesn’t retire, doesn’t get banned and doesn’t go about making news in British tabloids. All in all, as long as these extremely unlikely scenarios does not occur, its infinitely harder to predict who will be batting at that vital spot for India. Let’s look at some of the contenders:  

Ravindra Jadeja: It is extremely hard to write this, but going by the selectors’ thinking process (assuming they do think), this guy is the incumbent and most likely to take the field when India open their World Cup campaign against Bangladesh (to every Indian supporter who watched cricket in 2007, that is a slightly scary proposition – playing Bangladesh, i.e.). Not that there is anything bad about the young man. Nothing personal. We won’t hold against him the fact that he got greedy after playing a couple of seasons of the IPL and tried to sign a deal with the Mumbai Indians for extra money. Thank God Lalit Modi and the BCCI were around to show him that money is not the most important thing in life. Young men like him need guidance from people with higher moral fiber at times. As it stands, there are only two little flaws with his game: can’t bat, can’t bowl. In other words, he is perfect captaincy material for Pakistan (remember Shoaib Malik?) in case Afridi does any of the things mentioned above. I suppose he can be called an all-rounder if you like since he does not really have a stronger suit. One can only hope that if given the chance, he can prove nearly 1 billion people wrong. Yes, going with him would be more a case of hope rather than conviction. 

Virat Kohli:  There is this other school of thought that goes: don’t try and imagine an allrounder where there isn’t one. Play a batsman at no. 7 instead. At the moment, Kohli is certainly in front of that particular queue. He does have the tendency to act like an immature brat from time to time who makes mothers all over India point to the screen and tell their children: “No matter what happens, don’t ever do that.” But if you were to overlook that, he does seem like a good bet. He can consolidate if needed, can hit the big shots when required, and can even roll the arm over (though he should only be required if Yuvraj, Sehwag, Raina and Sachin throw down donkey drops and get walloped.) Plus he is an excellent fielder and can hurl abuse with equal vigor after taking a dolly, a steepler or after diving 7 feet to pull off a blinder. Now every time I write something good about Kohli, a really cute puppy dies somewhere. With that in mind, I shall skip over to the next section. 

Rohit Sharma: Picked out of the absolute unknown, this man started off batting at no. 7 for India during that famous inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa and did it all – shored up the order when the top order had suffered from one of their occasional brain farts, landed the big hit when required and fielded like his life depended on it (remember the one handed pick up and throw from cover to run out Justin Kemp?). Everyone notices the lazy elegance with which he plays his strokes and the extra bit of time that he seems to have to play them. Then the same kid goes on to assist Sachin in a chase in Australia with a 60-odd during the finals of the last VB series and we all think this kid is destined to be the next big thing in Indian cricket. But then, he goes down the L Sivaramakrishnan path. No, he does not start annoying television viewers the world over with terrible captain-obvious commentary in a ridiculous accent – he takes the train of underachievement. My theory is that a look-alike ate Rohit Sharma and now pretends to be him. This imposter should definitely not be playing for India. If somehow the real RS manages to plan an escape and return to the fold, he should definitely play in place of Kohli. To save some puppies from dying, amongst other things. 

Irfan Pathan: It’s hard to think about trains of underachievement without thinking of Irfan Pathan. No one who watched him bowl those yorkers to Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist will be able to forget them in a hurry. He went on to take a test hat-trick against Pakistan and also score a Test century apart from a few useful ODI innings at number 3. He had the potential to be India’s next allrounder – the real deal. Not the Manoj Prabhaka/Ajit Agarkar/Sanjay Bangar kind of allrounder. That really was where the problem started. Instead of encouraging him to be a bowler who could bat a bit, people expected him to bat at no. 3 & no. 7, bowl swing as well as spin, field at 3 positions at the same time, fix the team bus when it broke down and also find a cure for cancer. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Only Daniel Vettori can do all of that and even he’s been finding it hard these days trying to cure cancer and beat Bangladesh at the same time. Back to IKP, his bowling these days is about as hostile as babe the pig. Unless he can open the bowling for India, he probably won’t make the cut. Given that he hasn’t been able to re-discover his bowling mojo in the last few seasons, it is highly unlikely that he will be able to pull out a rabbit in time for the World Cup. 

R Ashwin: This guy is one of the dark horses in the race for the no. 7 spot (and I don’t say just that because he is from South India – that would be wrong). At first glance, he seems absolutely out of place on a cricket field. He has a studious kind of face and at times he doesn’t seem to know what to do with his rather long arms and legs (a bit like Monty Panesar). His fielding has the same entertaining village cricket quality that Navjot Singh Siddhu is better known for. Where this guy impresses is with his attitude and his willingness to improve. He is capable of bowling classical offspin with a high-arm action and also has the Saqlain-style pause for the camera before delivery that every offspinner from the subcontinent seems to have these days. Dhoni has trusted him with bowling inside the powerplay in T20 (mainly because Chennai’s owners did not have any money left for fast bowlers after paying for Dhoni himself), but that has proven to be a masterstroke. He has been bowling the carom ball off late and is said to be working on a delivery that pitches behind the stumps and spins back to bowl the batsman from between the wicket-keeper’s legs. He is a more than useful batsman, but might be a bit high at no. 7. Also, given that Bhajji seems to be the first choice in one-dayers, playing two offspinners might not be the best idea. But then Ashwin should not lose hope. If Jadeja can play, anyone can. 

Yusuf Pathan: Yusuf Pathan reminds you of the South Indian movie superstar who has temples made in his name in his hometown, but gets relegated to playing small time parts as the Hero’s younger brother or the scrupulous cop who dies during the third scene when acting in a Bollywood movie. He has made a habit of terrorizing spinners, but the minute even Vinay Kumar starts bowling bouncers at him, his tail gets deeply wedged between his legs and he ends up doing his best Debang Gandhi impression in terms of strokelessness combined with a general sense of fatalism. Not like his spin bowling inspires a lot of confidence either – due to this, he needs to force a place on the strength of his batting alone. Considering that he has had enough chances that he has not managed to grab, very unlikely that he will be bullying spinners into submission at this world cup. 

Honorable mentions: Robin Uthappa, KKD Karthik, Saurabh Tiwary. They all have a legitimate claim at the spot for one reason or another, but are too low in the pecking order to have a realistic shot. 

Not a lot left to be said really. It’s time to wait and watch. 

The three generations of cricket

It is a balmy Sunday afternoon at the park and I see a seven-year old batting with a bat that is at least two sizes too big for him. His middle-aged father is keeping wickets. His really, really old grandfather is the umpire. While one of his siblings runs in to bowl, I begin to muse about the game of cricket in general ...

To think of Test cricket means thinking of a grand old man of over a hundred stroking his W.G. Grace-like beard and overseeing proceedings on a village green between breaks for tea and scones and the customary end-of-the-day pint. You would think Test cricket would be a philosopher or a painter - one of those who believe in simple living and high thinking. They might be judged themselves, yet they never judge. They do what they do because they love it and there is nothing more to it. They have the ability to produce an opus that is both sublime, but almost never appreciated in it's time. Society grants them many of the highest honors but there are many that question the benefits of their existence. Just like any centenarian, there are questions being asked about how long Test cricket is going to survive. Some think it is immortal whereas there are others who are more pragmatic and propose medications in the form of Test cricket championships. Test cricket, however, has lasted through two World Wars and will probably continue to stand tall and proud on the basis of it's sheer quality alone.

One day cricket used to be the wild-child of the 70's. It was once part of a golden generation that saw the moon being tamed while the Beatles and The Rolling Stones were playing in the background. White flannels gave way to colorful and wacky clothing and even wackier hairdos. There were those that resisted it's coming, yet it captured the imagination of many. ODI cricket is, in many ways, similar to the white-collar middle-class that emerged as a result of the last three decades. They wanted results. They did not have all day (or 5 days, as it were) for that result to emerge either. ODI cricket was the form of expression that this middle class identified with more than Test cricket. Lofted cover drives as early as the 5th over were not met with scorn as before. The bits-and-pieces, street smart jack-of-all-trades had a place in this format. In many ways, this is the form of cricket that made cricket more accessible to the public. ThatWorld Cup semi-final between Australia and South Africa in 1999 was one of it's greatest moments. It started to dwindle later. It tried many forms of plastic surgery including field restrictions, power plays, free hits and the now forgotten super-sub. Yet it was undeniable that this form of the game had now reached middle-age and with it, the inevitable mid-life crisis. There are now those that are more concerned about this format of the game more than it's older and wiser predecessor and not without reason. Without any context, meaning and relevance, ODI is just meandering along and unless something drastic is done to stem this tide, it could very well suffer a cardiac arrest.

Amid footage of a bunch of players who call themselves the Chennai Super Kings (and probably will not do so ever again) winning the Champions League, it is hard to believe that T20 - that precocious man-child of cricket is but, a mere seven years old. If ODI cricket was a product of it's generation, T20 is even more so. What twitter is to blogging, T20 cricket is to ODI cricket. In many ways, T20 cricket resembles the investment banker. They are in the profession to make money and they are not apologetic about the fact. They are immaculately dressed and are generally seen typing at the speed of a million words a minute on their blackberries. They are feared and hated in equal measure. And during a recession, the masses rub their collective palms in glee and come out on the street, blaming it all on them. Yet, they have their uses - it is they who help raise vast sums of capital that are the lifeblood of all businesses. Like investment bankers, T20's are highly misunderstood. T20 cricket is thought of as being synonymous to the IPL, which is a shame. The IPL suffered because Lalit Modi defined it as an image of himself: crass, in-your-face and generally unlikeable. However, in the larger schemes of things, T20 has attracted a new type of audience - one with a shorter attention span and a certain insensitivity to some of the game's delicacies. However, cricket must find a place for them because it can ill-afford to shun away a paying customer. Also, just like Usain Bolt is not unfairly compared to a champion marathoner, so too, specialist T20 cricketers should not be compared to their other counterparts and each skill set should be celebrated for what it is.

Like everything else, cricket too has evolved and it is now an ecosystem in itself. It needs to find some common ground for it's three generations to co-exist. But there is hope yet. The seven year-old sees a juice half volley on leg-stump and manages to bring the heavy bat down in time. He does not bother to keep the ball along the ground. His father really enjoys the shot. His grandfather exclaims at the sheer impetuousness of the shot off the very first ball he's faced. Then he smiles benignly and signals a boundary. On the young man's face, there is sheer, unadulterated joy. Yes, cricket will surely find a way ...