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The series that exposed Kambli's weakness against short balls.


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Since i started watching cricket post 96, never had the real answer to what led to downfall of kambli and well this seams like a good one. People who followed his career can they tell what happened post this ? Was it a total regression or it grew on and started affecting his whole batting like in case of raina. 

 

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3 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

 

 

Since i started watching cricket post 96, never had the real answer to what led to downfall of kambli and well this seams like a good one. People who followed his career can they tell what happened post this ? Was it a total regression or it grew on and started affecting his whole batting like in case of raina. 

 

Yes, this was the beginning of the end for his test career. He had actually played okay in the ODIs preceding the test series against the WI but couldn't withstand the short ball barrage in the tests. Actually, the entire batting line up crumbled in the final test as the WI bowlers bowled fast and furious to help their team come back from a 0-1 series deficit to make it 1-1. Other batters also flopped but Kambli was the most brutally exposed for his failure. He featured in a test series against NZ in 1995 but didn't do much. After this came the 96 world cup with that disaster of a semifinal against SL. After the WC, he was dropped from the ODI squad even though his numbers weren't too shabby. It seems he had off field issues like drunken meltdowns at team hotel which led to his ouster. Just months later, Ganguly and Dravid made impresive debuts on the England tour. This meant Kambli and Manjrekar were both out of contention for middle order spots, at-least for a while. Manjrekar retired in 97. Kambli made sporadic comebacks to ODIs as late as 2000 but he had put on weight and didnt seem to have the earlier spark. He played first class cricket in South Africa around 2002-2003 but by then the ship had already sailed. 

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Kambli, who was a MO batsmen, was asked to open the batting iirc, then the short ball stuff used to drop him. 
 

There are not too many Indian batsmen good against hostile short bowling. Afterwards, the team was bundled out for nothing chasing 120 odd in a test in WI (pitch also got tougher in that game) 
 

 

Edited by zen
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His issues were not technical but more off field issues. 
 

Kohli looked poor against WI in his first series vs short pitch bowling.

 

Ganguly who ironically replaced him was poor against short pitch throughout his career.

 

Raina will be  considered an Indian LOI legend, looks like a tailender against short pitch.

 

Also remember he did have enough backing from Sachin and powerful Mumbai board behind him.

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1 minute ago, coffee_rules said:

There are many who defend Kambli on cricketing grounds, but this guy takes it far down the caste debate and says Laxman was given too many chances because of his Upper caste. Aise bhi hote hain.

 

 

Laxman was shunted up and down the order until he proved with 167 in Sydney

While clearly ignoring Kambli’s off field shenanigans and the fact that Laxman is one of the most disciplined and nicest guys around.

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31 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

There are many who defend Kambli on cricketing grounds, but this guy takes it far down the caste debate and says Laxman was given too many chances because of his Upper caste. Aise bhi hote hain.

 

 

Laxman was shunted up and down the order until he proved with 167 in Sydney

Looks like after polluting movies, Varun Gobar/Nirodh Kashyap gang have now set their eyes on kirkut. 

 

Vinod Kambli was reduced to his assumed (‘lowest’) caste identity

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1 hour ago, coffee_rules said:

There are many who defend Kambli on cricketing grounds, but this guy takes it far down the caste debate and says Laxman was given too many chances because of his Upper caste. Aise bhi hote hain.

 

 

Laxman was shunted up and down the order until he proved with 167 in Sydney

Varun Grover might be wrong, but it's a fact that cricket is too much upper caste dominated game (or at least used to be).

 

You can say that cricket is merit based, but somehow larger sections of society have missed out. How is it possible that cricketers come from smaller section of society mostly. Either those section are somehow toot talented and have some sort for genetic advantage or Indian cricket somehow has failed to be inclusive.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/why-no-dalit-cricketers-in-india-20180531-p4zim6.html

 

There was a time when Indian cricket had 7 Brahmin players - Brahmins who constitute 4-5% of Indian population.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-class-act-opinions-differ-20080105-gdrvmw.html

 

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The Brahmin caste, which forms only a tiny fraction of India's population, has always dominated the national cricket side.

Even today, with the game reaching further and further into the countryside, and the so-called lower orders, the Indian team has a decided flavour with Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, R.P. Singh and Ishant Sharma all Brahmins.

 

 

Ravi Shastri thinks it's just a coinicidence 

 

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Similarly, Ravi Shastri, a former Indian Test captain and now the chairman of the national cricket academy. The preponderance of Brahmin players, especially batsmen, "is just coincidence". 

 

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Not all agree. Siriyavan Anand, a Dalit (the caste formerly called untouchables), has written provocatively and critically of the Brahmin domination, suggesting it was easy to "infer that cricket is a game that best suits Brahmanical tastes and bodies, and that there has been a preponderance of Brahman cricket players at the national level".

 

"Why do their fielders not chase the ball to the boundary? Why do Indian batsmen rarely run for singles, apparently preferring to hit the ball to the fence or amble through for two runs in no obvious haste?" Anand wrote. "Having too many Brahmans means that you play the game a little too softly, and mostly for yourself."

 
 
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Despite his talents, Kambli was always booed and mocked at his home ground, Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Observers believed it was because of the dark colour of his skin. Not so, says Kambli. "I think it's because of my caste."

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Siddhartha can see caste as a possible explanation for the Brahmin dominance, particularly in batting. "Traditionally, cricket has been an elitist sport, and in terms of the physique and what you need as a batsman, it's more skill, wrist and angles than what you need as a fast bowler or fielder," he says. "That probably explains it in a way. If you look at the body structure of the higher castes, you would find they aren't as athletic as they are deft."

 
 

 

 

https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-retreat-of-the-brahmin/218913

 

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In a nation that has produced eight Brahmin prime ministers out of 13 (with non-Brahmins accounting for six years of rule in 55 years of Independence), a nation where despite decades of affirmative action and Mandalisation the top echelons of bureaucracy continue to be dominated by Brahmins, it should perhaps not be surprising that cricket, another national obsession, should also suffer from a similar statistical truth.

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There's no escaping the facts (see box). Through the 1960s till the 1990s, Test-playing Indian teams have averaged at least six Brahmins, sometimes even nine.

 

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2 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

Varun Grover might be wrong, but it's a fact that cricket is too much upper caste dominated game (or at least used to be).

 

You can say that cricket is merit based, but somehow larger sections of society have missed out. How is it possible that cricketers come from smaller section of society mostly. Either those section are somehow toot talented and have some sort for genetic advantage or Indian cricket somehow has failed to be inclusive.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/why-no-dalit-cricketers-in-india-20180531-p4zim6.html

 

There was a time when Indian cricket had 7 Brahmin players - Brahmins who constitute 4-5% of Indian population.

 

https://www.smh.com.au/sport/a-class-act-opinions-differ-20080105-gdrvmw.html

 

 

 

Ravi Shastri thinks it's just a coinicidence 

 

 

 

 

https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/the-retreat-of-the-brahmin/218913

 

 

I rest my case, if you want to debate casteism on kirkut, and not about class, nepotism, regionalistic groupism, you are welcome. But casteism in kirkut selection is political witch-hunt which I will oppose. How do you think Binny, Kirti Azad. Amarnaths got prioritized selections over others? There is no casteism, but nepotism or favoritisms. Don’t equate the two and add to the political debates 

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7 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

You can say that cricket is merit based, but somehow larger sections of society have missed out. How is it possible that cricketers come from smaller section of society mostly. Either those section are somehow toot talented and have some sort for genetic advantage or Indian cricket somehow has failed to be inclusive.

It shouldn't be too hard then to list examples of deserving cricketers who couldn't make the national side because of their caste/religion/ethnicity etc. How many such cricketers can you come up with? 

Edited by Jimmy Cliff
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1 minute ago, coffee_rules said:

I rest my case, if you want to debate casteism on kirkut, and not about class, nepotism, regionalistic groupism, you are welcome. But casteism in kirkut selection is political witch-hunt which I will oppose. How do you think Binny, Kirti Azad. Amarnaths got prioritized selections over others? There is no casteism, but nepotism or favoritisms. Don’t equate the two and add to the political debates 

I think you didn't read my post completely. Adding part of it again.

 

Quote

You can say that cricket is merit based, but somehow larger sections of society have missed out. How is it possible that cricketers come from smaller section of society mostly. Either those section are somehow toot talented and have some sort for genetic advantage or Indian cricket somehow has failed to be inclusive.

How do you explain Brahmins who constitute 5% of Indian population had 6 players on average in Indian test team from 1960-1990s. Sometimes this number could go as high as 9? 

 

There has to be some reason. It's not a small difference which can't be explained.

 

It's a fact and opposing it won't change the fact.

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10 minutes ago, Jimmy Cliff said:

It shouldn't be too hard then to list examples of deserving cricketers who couldn't make the national side because of their caste/religion/ethnicity etc. How many such cricketers can you come up with? 

System didn't discriminate at higher levels. For lower levels, I have no clue. 

 

If you already have to pick among a pool of 100 players out which 70% are already Brahmins at say FC level, then how will find discrimination at test level. Test cricket has been mostly merit based apart from regional and personal preferences.

 

I just pointed that if 4% of population has 60-70% of cricketers then there has to be a reason, right?

 

Blacks dominate athletics - there is a reason for that - it's not discrimination, rather genetics.

 

What's the reason for Brahmin's dominance in this case? It may not be discrimination, but there would be something. This ia cricket forum where probably we should into all aspects/factors - political, social, economical, historical, techonological, environment.

 

Like I said, it's a fact in Indian cricket and ignoring it or pretending that this statistical fact doesn't exist, doesn't mean it will cease to exist.

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4 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

I think you didn't read my post completely. Adding part of it again.

 

How do you explain Brahmins who constitute 5% of Indian population had 6 players on average in Indian test team from 1960-1990s. Sometimes this number could go as high as 9? 

 

There has to be some reason. It's not a small difference which can't be explained.

 

It's a fact and opposing it won't change the fact.

I have already answered - it is cricketing performance, nepotism, classism and regionilistic favoritisms. Nobody in the team was promoting casteism, if you are indicating with those stats. Look at how the team was comprised of urban and semi-urban cities in the teams of 60s- 90s. It was about cricketing culture that Urbans were good rather than casteism 

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6 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

I have already answered - it is cricketing performance, nepotism, classism and regionilistic favoritisms. Nobody in the team was promoting casteism, if you are indicating with those stats. Look at how the team was comprised of urban and semi-urban cities in the teams of 60s- 90s. It was about cricketing culture that Urbans were good rather than casteism 

Because cricket facilities were limited outside big centers. Not because they were equally equipped and cricketers were simply better. But now cricket has expanded and we have cricketers are coming from smaller centers.

 

Geographical limitations are understandable. Most of the changes start from bigger centers and then spread to smaller centers slowly. 

 

Still there is no explanation or reason for 4% of population forming 60% of cricketing population.

 

Are you saying that Brahmins are simply better cricketers than other people from other caste? And gulf of quality is massively deep? If yes, then what's the reason for that?

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Just now, Trichromatic said:

System didn't discriminate at higher levels. For lower levels, I have no clue. 

 

If you already have to pick among a pool of 100 players out which 70% are already Brahmins at say FC level, then how will find discrimination at test level. Test cricket has been mostly merit based apart from regional and personal preferences.

 

I just pointed that if 4% of population has 60-70% of cricketers then there has to be a reason, right?

 

Blacks dominate athletics - there is a reason for that - it's not discrimination, rather genetics.

 

What's the reason for Brahmin's dominance in this case? It may not be discrimination, but there would be something.

I can only guess too. With cricket being a relatively expensive sport and the dominant format of the game (FC/Tests) taking 4/5 days perhaps it was only the relatively well-off folks who could think of it as a career option in the first few decades. Which is why it was dominated by players from the metros (with quite a few off them being Brahmins) up until the 90s. With more money coming into the game (and India in general post "liberalization") it gradually became more "decentralized". I'd be open to other non-inane ideas too.

 

However, the likes of Gobar are suggesting something far more institutionalized and sinister at work (his own countrymen rooted for Kambli to fail? WTF?) and must be called out for their BS. You're going down an extremely slippery slope if you import US-style identity politics crap in India especially when it comes to cricket which is something that still unites the country.

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4 minutes ago, Trichromatic said:

Because cricket facilities were limited outside big centers. Not because they were equally equipped and cricketers were simply better. But now cricket has expanded and we have cricketers are coming from smaller centers.

 

Geographical limitations are understandable. Most of the changes start from bigger centers and then spread to smaller centers slowly. 

 

Still there is no explanation or reason for 4% of population forming 60% of cricketing population.

 

Are you saying that Brahmins are simply better cricketers than other people from other caste? And gulf of quality is massively deep? If yes, then what's the reason for that?

Are you thick? It is about class privilege than casteism as you and other Ambedkarites are insinuating. It is about who had access to facilities and not caste discrimination.

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2 minutes ago, coffee_rules said:

Are you thick? It is about class privilege than casteism as you and other Ambedkarites are insinuating. It is about who had access to facilities and not caste discrimination.

Forget discrimination.

 

If possible don't bring discrimination in discussion. There is no discrimination.

 

Question is very simple and nothing to do with discrimination - How Brahmins are so good cricketers that despite being 4% of population they formed over 50% of Indian test cricketers most of the time? (It's already given that they are better cricketer, hence higher numbers).

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2 hours ago, Trichromatic said:

Forget discrimination.

 

If possible don't bring discrimination in discussion. There is no discrimination.

 

Question is very simple and nothing to do with discrimination - How Brahmins are so good cricketers that despite being 4% of population they formed over 50% of Indian test cricketers most of the time? (It's already given that they are better cricketer, hence higher numbers).

I think jimmy cliff makes a valid argument. Post liberalization, cricket decentralised to more remote parts of the country. Prior to that, accessibility to cricket infra was probably easier for people in urban and sub-urban parts. Don't think there is genetics angle. 

 

So most likely reason is probably earlier access to better infrastructure for urban/sub-urban class, which is mostly upper caste.

 

Not sure if institutional discrimination is too rampant anymore because end of the day professional sport is about winning. It could have been an issue early on, but now I think it's mostly just sifarshi/nepotism at worst.

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