Tendulkar gets past Lara, and makes yet another debutant's day

In November 2005, the record for the most individual runs passed from Allan Border to Brian Lara. Today, Sachin Tendulkar became the holder of the record (and the first to get 12000 runs), as was probably ordained from the time he burst onto the Indian cricket scene 20+ years ago. The apocryphal story is that Sunil Gavaskar had told him soon after his debut that if he didn't get the most centuries and most runs, he would twist his arm. To that, Sachin replied that Sunny would be a very old and weak man by then. Well, at least we can now be spared of testing out Gavaskar's arm strength.

Tendulkar has been one of the all-time greats of Indian cricket, and indeed world cricket, for easily over a decade now. I've been a critic and a fan. I am in total awe of his shotmaking (the punch through cover, the straight drive, the paddle sweep, the upper cut through third man, the ferociously hit reverse 'sweep', the flick over midwicket, etc.). In fact, I am in awe of the enormous poise that he has by and large (the Multan outburst excepted perhaps) maintained over two decades, as well as the art of batsmanship that he portrays almost everytime he bats.

Sure, over the past 2-3 years his batting style has changed, but that doesn't bother me too much. In the past he had three roles to play - make a lot of runs, make them reasonably quickly, and ensure there's no collapse. Now, there is Sehwag to do the quick scoring, and in the past 6-7 years Laxman and Dravid have done the job of putting up a score through partnerships. So, Tendulkar can just be a run accumulator. So what if he doesn't evoke fear? Bowlers would much rather that Tendulkar attack them and get out for 24(30) than pile them up with a century made at a strike rate of 55. I know what I'd prefer.

My criticism isn't about how he doesn't make runs when it counts, or him averaging 35 against South Africa. The first thing that I don't really like is the way he decides when he's fit and when he isn't, resulting in far too many aborted returns from injury. The second is the way his batting slot is always #4 (unless a nightwatchman had gone in). Everyone else moves around. Tendulkar has played 81% of his innings from #4. The corresponding numbers for the rest of India's middle order galacticos are 73% @ #3 for Dravid, 54% @ #5 for Ganguly & 37% @ #6 for Laxman. There have been so many occasions when others have been in much better form, presenting a valid case for moving him down the order. But he always comes out at #4. The only occasion where he was shielded was when Ganguly came in ahead of him at Melbourne in 2003.

Oh, and there's one more thing about him that is downright irritating. It is the way he makes debutant bowlers so happy by becoming their first test wicket. The list is long, and some of the names are downright anonymous now. Ujesh Ranchod, Ruwan Kalpage, Mark Ealham, Adam Dale, Neil Johnson, Jacob Oram, Monty Panesar, Cameron White and now Peter Siddle.

Would there be any other batsman who has been so generous to debutant bowlers?

Labels: 12000, aus v ind 2008, debut, india, lara, record, tendulkar

Thus spake Jagadish @ 7:45 pm | Sledge/Read 2 sledge(s)
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Brian Lara is the ICL's first star signing

I thought I had found the Indian Cricket League's website, but neither indiancricketleagueonline.com nor indiancricketleague.com work!

The league has snapped up its first major signing, Brian Lara who quit international cricket after the World Cup game against England.

Watch out for Warne & McGrath signing up as well, going by reports from Australia.

There's no confirmation yet about Inzamam. He was not offered a PCB contract, but has now been called up for fitness trials.

There's an enormous opportunity for the ICL to attract other recently retired cricketers as players. Just look at this list: Nathan Astle, Andy Flower, Michael Bevan, Nicky Boje, Damien Martyn, Chris Cairns, Heath Streak and Graham Thorpe.

The penny drops! The ICL is a book cricket league!

Labels: indian cricket league, lara, twenty20

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:04 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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KP Spoils Lara's Day

Or better put, Marlon Samuels spoiled Lara's day.

In front of the largest crowd of the World Cup so far, Chris Gayle and Devon Smith, gave the West Indies a solid platform. They put on 131 for the first wicket, with Gayle, who seemed out of sorts at the start of his innings, finding his form to make a brisk 79 off 58 balls. Smith played fairly well for his 61, but too often failed to give the strike back to the dashing Gayle and consumed all of 106 deliveries.

At the fall of Gayle's wicket, caught at third man, the crowd called out for Lara, and he came out to thunderous applause. The England players saluted Lara by forming a guard of honour as he walked out to the middle for the final time in his international career. Lara played well for his 18 runs, tantalising his spellbound audience with three fours. After Smith fell to a brilliant Paul Collingwood catch, Samuels joined Lara at the crease. And then the unthinkable. Samuels hit a delivery down to mid on and called Lara for a run that was never on. When Samuels stopped and finally realised that the run was not on, it was too late for Lara as Kevin Pietersen swooped in and hit the wicket as Lara desperately tried in vain to make it back. Samuels went on to make a superb 51 off 39 deliveries, but gave it away when he hit a Michael Vaughan delivery straight to mid on's lap.

The West Indies eventually made 300 all out in 49.5 overs, but they should have had at least about 20 - 30 more. Especially when the Windies were well placed at 250/4 after 40 overs. The Windies' futility in the last 10 overs is highlighted by the fact that of the 50 runs they scored in this period, 10 came by Jerome Taylor off one Flintoff over. In fact, they lost 6 wickets for 42 runs within the last 8 overs.

On the true Kensington pitch, 300 was very gettable and England made the Windies pay for their ineptitude at the end of their innings. England started positively as Vaughan (79) and Ravi Bopara (26) batting at number 3, took England to 101 in the 16th over. Dwayne Bravo then took over in the field as after several missed attempts, he finally hit the stumps to run out Bopara. He repeated the trick and ran out Vaughan at 154/3. When Jamie Dalrymple suicidally ran himself out at 189/6 in the 36th over it looked like the Windies would send Lara off with a win.

But that was not to be as a splendid 90 ball 100 by Pietersen and a dogged 38 by keeper Paul Nixon carried England to 269 in the 47th over. Pietersen brought up his ton with a massive six off Taylor's first delivery in the 47th over. But Taylor soon had his revenge as he uprooted KP's leg stump with his very next delivery. Pietersen tried to repeat the shot but missed the ball completely. It again seemed for Windies fans that the game had been won when three balls later, Liam Plunkett picked out a fielder in the deep.

England's task of getting 30 from the final three overs with only 2 wickets left, seemed steep. However Collymore failed to bowl full and straight in the 48th over and paid the price as Nixon plundered 3 fours. England were gifted a fourth boundary in the over when keeper Randin could only parry a Collymore bouncer over his head and down to the boundary rope. England only needed 4 from the final over, but a Bravo slower ball gave the Windies some hope as he comprehensively bowled Nixon, leaving bowlers Stuart Broad and James Anderson to get 3 off 4 balls. Broad was up to the challenge and hit the winning runs over Lara's head. It was ironic that on Lara's day, he had to run after the ball as the batsmen scored the winning runs. England had won by 1 wicket with only 1 ball left. Full credit to England as both sides fought valiantly for whatever pride was at stake. Lara probably missed a trick though, as with Samuels off the field for much of the England innings, he only bowled Gayle and Sarwan (1/21 off 5 overs) for a combined 10 overs. Pacers on both sides struggled throughout the match and Vaughan's offspin (3/39 from 10) earlier in the day demonstrated that taking the pace off the ball was the way to go on this Kensington pitch.

Did I entertain?

In the on-field interview, when asked what would be his final words to his fans, Lara asked the crowd "Did I entertain?" and was greeted with rapturous approval. Lara then jogged around the outfield and hopped the advertising boards to get closer to his fans. We will miss you, Brian Charles Lara. We will miss those thunderous cover drives and those deft late cuts. We will miss the high back lift and the one-legged pulls that you made famous. We will miss your genius and yes, you did entertain.

(Cross-posted from Rain, No Play)

Labels: 2007 world cup, england, lara, pietersen, west indies, world cup

Thus spake Sean @ 8:22 am | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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Farewell, 'Prince' Lara

Today’s victory by the West Indies over Bangladesh was overshadowed by the post match press conference when Windies captain Brian Lara stunningly announced that he would be retiring from international cricket after the Windies’ final World Cup match on Saturday. That Lara would retire from ODIs after the World Cup was well known, and he reiterated that a few days ago. However, Lara had previously indicated that he wanted to tour England during the summer, citing his desire to make a Test century at Lords, so his retirement from Tests is a surprise as well. Some will read between the lines and surmise that Lara learnt that the selectors intended not to pick him for the tour to England, so he decided to go out on his own. Whatever the reason for his decision to retire from international cricket, Lara deserves to retire on his own terms.There has been two sides to Lara’s career – his brilliance with the willow and his failures as captain. There have been occasions in the past, and will be in the future, to question Lara’s tactics on the field and his behaviour off it, but now is the time to reflect on the career of a man who made a habit of breaking records.

In the debate surrounding who the best batsman in the world is, many names would be frequently mentioned, but to any West Indian, there would be only one name. Especially in the Test arena, none of Lara’s contemporaries can match his appetite for runs. The only blemish on his record as a batsman was the rut that he found himself in between November 1996 and April 2001 when he saw his Test average drop by over 12 runs from just over 60 to just below 48. If Lara had the consistency of Tendulkar or Ponting, then there would be no question as to who the finest batsman of his time was.

Lara is the only man to have broken the record for the highest Test score, lost it and then regained it. At his retirement he will simultaneously hold the records for the highest Test score (400 n.o.), the highest First Class score (501n.o.) and the highest career run total in Tests (11,953). His career would have spanned 17 years and produced some of the finest moments in the history of cricket.


The fact that his record breaking Test innings of 375 and 400n.o. are not even considered by most to be his finest, speaks to the quality of career that the Prince of Port of Spain enjoyed. His splendid debut century 277 against Australia at Sydney in 1993 was a sign of things to come. That innings certainly ranks up there among his best ever, and Lara's own fondness of that innings and of that ground led him to name his daughter Sydney. Unlike many who made their debut ton a big one, Lara continued to press for runs and his seemingly insatiable appetite for runs resulted in him breaking Sir Garry Sobers' long standing world record the following year with his 375 in Antigua against England. He followed that up a mere 2 months later with his 501 n.o. for Warwickshire to set the mark for highest First Class score ever. That innings came off only 427 balls and included over 300 runs in boundaries with 62 fours and 10 sixes.

His finest Test innings, however, probably came during the extended dry spell mentioned above. In March of 1999, after being beaten by Australia by over 300 runs in the first test in Trinidad, including being bowled out for a humiliating 51 in the second innings, Lara led the fight back and almost single handedly won the series from the Aussies. His match winning 213 at Sabina Park was followed by arguably the greatest innings played by a batsman other than Don Bradman. In Barbados, with the West Indies needing 308 to win in the second innings, Lara made a magnificent 153n.o. as wickets tumbled at the other end. His 9th wicket partnership of 54 with Curtly Ambrose (12) made the difference after the Windies had been 248/8 against the likes of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.

Perhaps Lara's most remarkable Test series was in Sri Lanka in 2001, when he scored 688 runs mastering a rampant Muralitharan. Lara scored 3 centuries in the series including 221 and 130 in a losing effort in third and final test. It was only the sixth time in Test history that a batsman sored a ton and a double in the same match. So dominant was Lara when compared to the rest of his teammates, that he amassed a whopping 42% of the Windies' three match total.

In the ODI arena, his most memorable innings is probably his match-winning 111 off 97 balls against South Africa in the 1996 World Cup quarter finals. The highlight of his ODI career, according to Lara himself was the Windies improbable triumph in the 2004 Champions Trophy. In ODI cricket, he is one of 7 men to have scored more than 10,000 runs.

Lara is retiring when he still is near the top of his game. At the current World Cup, he is averaging just over 41, while in his last Test series in Pakistan, he topped the West Indies batting with 448 runs at an average of 89.60, including a glorious 216. At one stretch in that innings Lara scored 60 runs from 29 Danish Kaneria deliveries. Only Don Bradman (12) has scored more Test double centuries than Lara's 9. In fact, Lara retires either first or second on the list of most scores of 100 or more (34, 2nd to Tendulkar's 35), over 150 (19, 1st all time), over 200 (9, 2nd to Bradman's 12), over 300 (2, joint first with Bradman), and 400+ (1st, his 400n.o. is Test cricket's sole quadruple century). Among the records that Lara holds is the one for most Test runs in an over. He made 28 off one Robin Peterson over in South Africa in 2003. He also has the third highest - 26 off one Kaneria over in that final double century of his in Pakistan. With that final double century in Pakistan, Lara joined the exclusive club of 6 men who have scored a century before lunch in a Test match.

Lara was the face of West Indies cricket for the last decade and a half. He is the West Indies' most capped player in ODIs (299 after his final match) and second in Tests (131, Courtney Walsh played in 132). He holds virtually all the important West Indies batting records. While Lara is a symbolic link to the golden era of West Indies cricket, having played on the last dominant West Indies teams in the early nineties, the majority of his playing years were spent with the West Indies in decline. The fact that he has lost more Tests than any other player (63 Test losses) is a testament to the decline in talent around him.

Lara's legacy will be debated for years to come. Whether or not his at times seemingly surly and aloof attitude has hurt West Indies' cricket more than his genius on the field has helped it will also be debated by cricket pundits. What is clear, however, is that Lara is one of most talented men to have ever played this game, and that the West Indies would have lost the last of their all-time great players from an era so fondly remembered.

(Cross-posted from Rain, No Play)

Labels: 2007 world cup, lara, retire, west indies, world cup

Thus spake Sean @ 10:35 am | Sledge/Read 3 sledge(s)
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The first captaincy change - Shoaib Malik is Pakistan's skipper

The Pakistan Cricket Board has announced that Shoaib Malik is the new Pakistan captain until the end of the year.

Other captains expected to be cast aside in the near future, as a result of their teams' performances in the World Cup, are Brian Lara (possibly both tests and ODIs) and Michael Vaughan (ODIs).

I do expect Stephen Fleming to quit as captain, possibly handing over to Daniel Vettori.

The one captain on thin ground would possibly be Rahul Dravid while no-one knows what would happen to Prosper Utseya.

Labels: 2007 world cup, captaincy, dravid, england, fleming, india, lara, pakistan, shoaib malik, stephen fleming, utseya, vaughan, world cup

Thus spake Jagadish @ 4:33 pm | Sledge/Read 1 sledge(s)
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R.I.P. West Indies World Cup Hopes

The party is over for West Indian fans. Yes there's still a slim chance of qualifying for the Semi-finals, but does anyone really believe that the team that played South Africa is capable of beating anyone other than maybe Bangladesh, which at this point is looking like a big maybe?

In what has become a recurring theme, against South Africa, the West Indies were out-classed in every aspect of the game. From batting to bowling to fielding to the captaincy, South Africa were vastly superior to the West Indies. The selection of the West Indies team smacked of panic. Devon Smith, Kieron Pollard, and Corey Collymore in for Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels and Jerome Taylor. In the most important game of the tournament, you bring in a teenage debutant and leave out one of the few bowlers who looked capable of taking a wicket. To explain the decision, Lara said that Collymore (1 wicket in the World Cup at that point) was brought in over Taylor for his experience. Does that also explain how Pollard, who simply is not ready for this level, got in the side?

As puzzling as the selection issues were, they pale in comparison to Lara's decision to take the second power play in the 45th over. The 45th over! Has this ever been done in international cricket? Needless to say, the South Africans enjoyed themselves to the tune of 77 runs in those 5 overs.

Now Lara did not lose this match for the West Indies. The bowlers and fielders took care of that, as there could have been 9 men on the boundary and they wouldn't have been able to stop all those sixes that flew out of the park at the end of the match. The fielders also had 4 or 5 decent run out chances, but failed to hit the stumps on every occasion. 356 was always going to be too much for the West Indies to chase. In fact 356 was the highest score conceded by a West Indian team ever. We should have seen the writing on the wall in India of this year, when the Indian team first tied the previous record with 338 and then shattered it with 341.

Lara has announced that he will retire from ODIs after the World Cup. Isn't it time that he stepped aside as captain as well? Chetram Singh, a director of the WICB, seems to think not. On Jamaican radio today, he said that if the selectors select Lara for a match (Test), then they should have him as captain as well. The implication in his statements being that Lara would be a disruptive element to the team captained by another player. Now Lara is still the best batsman in the West Indian team, but a good leader of men he is not. As long as he remains a top batsman and makes himself eligible for Test match cricket, he should have a place in the side. But will the future of the team be held captive by Lara's leadership? Or by the selectors' or (board president's) desire to have him as captain?

(Cross posted from Rain, No Play)

Labels: 2007 world cup, lara, south africa, west indies, world cup

Thus spake Sean @ 6:29 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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SA knocks out WI

This game was spectacular.

Sixes and fours, and that on a pretty big field. Gibbs's one six knocked out a reinforced window. One of Powell's (I stand to be corrected) knocked through the ICC world cup advertising. It may be made from paper though, I wouldn't know.

SA batted them out of the game (aided by the powerplay that was not taken until very late). Smith said afterwards that the game was won quite early, and I have to agree. With Chanderpaul's departure, things were looking dire. But after Gayle's run-out you kinda knew there had to be a miracle for WI to win.

I liked the selection, though Langeveldt can feel very unlucky not to have played. But who do you leave out? Bosman? You have to drop a batsman if you want to have Langeveldt and Nel. SA's batting is what wins them games at the moment.

I would've liked SA taking 10 wickets though. Smith bowled himself, and although he picked up 2 wickets, I think Pollock should have finished his spell, and maybe he should've given Kallis his full 10 as well. The commentators claimed it was because of time pressures... But if you take 10, time is a non-issue, and the Nett Run Rate is much better.

Labels: 2007 world cup, lara, south africa, west indies, world cup

Thus spake Reenen @ 1:00 pm | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Answers on a post-card please!

A high pressure game against a class opponent and Brian Lara chooses to

• Drop Jerome Taylor
  
• Give a debut to Kieron Pollard
  
• Opt for the final power play in the 45th over

I know there've been quite a few articles written about captains using power plays at different stages, and innovatively at that, in this World Cup. But this is taking it to a different level. If you take the power play that late, you leave yourself with absolutely no chance of a recovery.

Was this just another way of Lara continuing to fight his battles against the selectors? For the record, I loved it when Bravo was being tonked around. I know he's talented, but there's something about him that irritates me. Other cricketers that irritate me are Gayle, Pietersen, Hayden, Graeme Smith, Giles, Younis Khan, Nehra, Craig McMillan, Shane Watson, Langer and Maharoof. Seems like I hate someone from every major cricket playing team!

Labels: 2007 world cup, lara, south africa, west indies, world cup

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:29 am | Sledge/Read 0 sledge(s)
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Wrong award choice - part 3

It is the time for yet another post on a wrong choice of awards by administrators. In 2005, Jacques Kallis was overlooked for the man of the match award for his brilliantly relevant batting display in game five of the one-day series in India. In 2006, Kevin Pietersen's inability to play his role as his side's best one-day batsman was not rewarded either with a man of the series award.

Yesterday, as West Indies chased 339 against India at Nagpur, Marlon Samuels played the kind of innings Jacques Kallis would have been proud of. He came in with the score reading 102/1 in the 17th over, after Gayle and Chanderpaul had waded into some extremely ridiculous bowling on a superb batting track. West Indies had to get 7 an over over nearly 34 overs, certainly a tough ask. Samuels made it even tougher for his side. He did have his moments, especially with a couple of blows against Harbhajan, but West Indies were really handicapped by the fact that Samuels monopolized the strike during his partnership with Chanderpaul. When Samuels came in (102 in 16.2 overs), Chanderpaul had scored 40 in 38 balls. When Samuels left (175 in 33 overs), Chanderpaul had scored a further 27 runs in 44 balls while Samuels made 40 in 60 balls. They scored at 4.4 runs an over in those 16-odd overs. Obviously credit must be given to the bowlers (Agarkar and Harbhajan especially) when they bowled some tight overs early on in the partnership.

India maybe made a mistake by dismissing Samuels, because it allowed Lara to come in and express himself and gave West Indies a real chance of a win, which would have been a record in most other circumstances, except for the fact that they'd still have fallen short of the record by nearly 100 runs!

Ok, now lets set the snide remarks aside. But why was Chanderpaul given the man of the match award? Yes, a score of nearly 150 with his side chasing a huge total was a brilliant effort. But this was, all said and done, a great wicket for batting. In contrast, the bowlers might as well not even have turned up. Well, except for Zaheer Khan. He bowled brilliantly, except for a couple of overs early on. He finished with 2/48 in 10 overs, streets ahead of every other bowler in terms of economy rate. When West Indies needed 8.5 an over, he bowled 3 overs for 13 runs (and dismissed Samuels). The moment he finished his spell, the impact of his parsimony was felt as Chanderpaul and Lara cut loose against Sreesanth, Tendulkar and Harbhajan. When Zaheer came back for his final spell, West Indies needed 11.5 an over in 7 overs. He conceded 15 in 2 overs, and dismissed Bravo.

Why should a batsman be named man of the match when both sides scored over 325 runs? Why wasn't a bowler recognized?

Meanwhile, in other news, there's an absorbing finish in store at Port Elizabeth as Pakistan chase 191 for victory against South Africa. I'm tempted to put money on South Africa though.

Update: I really need answers in the form of comments here. What was Sourav Ganguly on when he told BBC Sport that England would fare well at the 2007 World Cup? Was he clearly inebriated by his brilliant 98 in his first one-day international for India since a triangular series final in Zimbabwe, after which Chappell's leaked email took the spotlight and Dravid was named skipper?

Labels: awards, ganguly, kallis, lara, pietersen, samuels, zaheer khan

Thus spake Jagadish @ 11:54 am | Sledge/Read 9 sledge(s)
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