Indian cricket players - Broken Arrows? Crock watch!

[Chandan]

LINK BROKEN ARROWS? K Shriniwas Rao Posted online: Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 1231 hrs They had returned from Australia counting their bruises. And once they’re done with the non-stop madness of the IPL, India’s cricketers will not get a breather. Our correspondent looks at the tough road ahead What do you call someone who talks about his messy house and dish-washing chores just when the party is warming up? Answer: A kill-joy alarmist. But even if one gets such an unflattering tag, speaking about what could be India’s post-IPL blues isn’t out of place at this stage. Fans will eventually find a way to deal with their evenings without fours and sixes. The ICC, too, is confident that regular use of the T20 recreational drug isn’t a cause of concern. Cricket, it seems, is in the pink of health. But what about the cricketers? As of today, the last 38 days have had a total of 81 Indian cricketers — 24 of who are in the scheme of things of the national selectors — having taken 14 flights each, lived out of suitcases and spent each day either on the field or in the air. The fitness report of former physio John Gloster after the Australia series and the post-IPL international itinerary of Team India (see boxes) is an indicators of how jaded the bodies in those trendy coloured clothing have been, and what their workload will be in the days to follow. It could be the numbing effect of the over-flowing adrenalin within that the players, for a change, haven’t complained. Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who is enjoying a memorable IPL stint with Kings XI Punjab, even jokes about the seemingly never-ending travel schedule. “Preity Zinta has been travelling with us to every match and she’s enjoying it too,” he says while speaking about the most-visible franchise owner on the circuit. On a serious note, he confesses that it has been hectic but this isn’t a moan as he is quick to add, “In today’s competitive cricket, one has to adhere to such tight calendars. I don’t think fitness will suffer, these are demands of modern-day cricket.” Another new kid on the block, Ishant Sharma, too, isn’t a nervous traveller. Nor does he complain about too much cricket. “All the teams in the tournament have hired good support staff. In Kolkata, we have fitness and strength trainers to take care of us,” says the bowler from Delhi, who has bowled non-stop for Kolkata Knight Riders. Sharma says he is in great shape for the international games ahead. “Cricket toh ab itna zyaada ho gaya hai, what to do? (there is so much cricket these days, what can one do?)” he says. But there is another school of thought that says this non-complaining attitude of the players is because of the pro-rata payments of the IPL. For example, if Ishant — who was bought by Kolkata for a whopping US $ 900,000 (approx Rs 3.6 crore) — would have played half his quota of matches, he would have been paid just half the amount due to him. And there are some who add that once international games start, the injury complaints will start again. The reason: BCCI’s contracted players get their retainer-money in full regardless of them missing games due to injury or loss of form. There are also dangers that players who have taken the field for IPL games despite niggles or minor injuries might suffer breakdown during international series. In contrast to the views expressed by the youngsters, Team India coach Gary Kirsten is a worried man. Besides being constantly in touch with the India internationals, he is also concerned about the condition in which he will get them after the IPL stint. The Sunday Express has now learnt that Kirsten, who is arriving in India on May 30, the day of the selection, has asked for a comprehensive fitness report of all the players. The priority, informs a member of Kirsten’s support staff, is to have a pool of players who are fit enough to endure the full season ahead. The coach is keen to have an interaction with India’s bench-strength and take a stock of the arsenal at his disposal. May the devil get its due, the IPL has done its bit for the pool that Kirsten is keen on. A few new faces have cropped up during the last month and some forgotten faces have managed to get back into the spotlight. MS Gony and Ashoke Dinda can be part of the pace bench which seemed vacant some time back due to injuries and burnouts. And with old-timers like Ashish Nehra and L Balaji too getting their rhythm back after injuries, the selectors won’t be tongue-tied when it comes to naming fast bowlers. As for the batting department, names such as S Badrinath, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina and Venugopal Rao might once again figure in selection committee meetings. But does this pool have depth? And do T20 performances really qualify players for the Test and ODI bench? The jury is out, or like most in the country, it has been too busy figuring which teams will reach the last four of the IPL. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Is the non-stop cricket since last June going to claim many victims for the coming international tours? Rohit Sharma is injured, Dhoni is unable to keep because of a finger injury, Zaheer is nursing another injury, Pathan was rested for a match and when he came back he was not effective, Laxman has been sitting out because of a broken wrist, the captains of all the teams have been carrying on with niggles here or there. In the above scenario, should we keep the injured players out of the team for a while to give them tim for bigger battles coming up? We have a terribly hectic schedule ahead: TRI SERIES: from 8th June

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ASIA CUP : from 24th June

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INDIA TOUR OF SL: from 18th July

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ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY : from 11th September The following are the two groups (with seedings in brackets): Group A: Australia (1), India (4), Pakistan (5), West Indies (8) Group B: South Africa (2), New Zealand (3), Sri Lanka (6), England (7) Schedule: September 11 - Pakistan v West Indies, Lahore. September 12 - New Zealand v Sri Lanka, Karachi. September 13 - Australia v India, Lahore. September 14 - England v Sri Lanka, Karachi. September 15 - South Africa v New Zealand, Rawalpindi. September 16 - West Indies v India, Karachi. September 17 - Pakistan v Australia, Rawalpindi September 18 - South Africa v Sri Lanka, Lahore. September 19 - England v New Zealand, Rawalpindi. September 20 - Pakistan v India, Lahore. September 21 - Australia v West Indies, Karachi; England v South Africa, Rawalpindi. September 24 - 1st semi-final, Karachi. September 25 - 2nd semi-final, Rawalpindi. September 28 - final, Lahore. Former winners: 1998 - South Africa 2000 - New Zealand 2002 - India and Sri Lanka (joint winners) 2004 - West Indies 2006 - Australia AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA: from 2nd October

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So keeping such a packed schedule in mind, who should we choose for the triseries starting from 8th next month?

[Zakhmi]

just to inform you... ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY AUSTRALIA TOUR OF INDIA: from 2nd October is showing repeat of Srilankan tour details only... Other than this one, about the hectic schedule of Indian cricketers...this is going to do more harm than ever...players do need rest and need to make their mindset according to the tours and teams. They need to rectify their recent past mistakes and wrong tendencies in their techniques through workouts and net practice with their coaches...all these things are missing on the part of players due to tight schedule and IPL. We need to prepare ourselves to bear the effects, now.

[Gambit]

Chandan, I don't think this is something new. In the last 10 years, such schedules have become pretty commonplace and the competition for spots is so intense that no cricketer is going to admit in public of being jaded and tired.

[Bumper]

Good compilation Chandan. Unfortunately all upcoming tours are BIG (Asia cup, ICC CT, Ind-SL, Ind-Aus). Cant take the foot of the pedal, resting our prime assets. Rotation is the only way to go.

[graphic23]

Apparently Sachin will NOT be participating in the Tri-Series against Bangladesh & Pakistan. But I really hope they rest Dhoni - he's been playing pretty much every single match since the Bangladesh Series last year.

[Guest HariSampath]

I dont think this hectic cricket schedule is unique to Indian cricketers. If we take a look at the Aussies or Sri Lankans they have been on the road continuously as well for the past 10 months and they too came in for the IPL games. South Africa has been more in the subcontinent than home past few months; most of the cricket playing nations have been on the road since WC 2007, that is 13 months on the trot. The facts are that however much of cricket is played no player will want to sit out. Javagal Srinath put it perfectly in perspective 10 years back when asked about the hectic scheduling. "yes the cricket calendar is very very crowded". Should there be a reduction in games " Oh no, not at all, we are all professional cricketers and we would be able to cope with this". Should there be more games " Yes of course, It is the players who almost always insist with the BCCI to schedule more tours and games"

[graphic23]

Hari, but Australia got a break between April and September last year, when they didn't play any games. Even since September, they haven't played as many games as we did.

[The Outsider]

If India stick the ICC future tours program, then it's not all that bad - that's a manageable amount of cricket. It's the random masala nonsense like IPL, some Abu Dhabi tour here, some Malaysia tour there, some triangular series here, some bilateral series there which leads to the excess workload. Australia, for their part stick to the FTP more or less.

[Chandan]

If India stick the ICC future tours program' date=' then it's not all that bad - that's a manageable amount of cricket. It's the random masala nonsense like IPL, some Abu Dhabi tour here, some Malaysia tour there, some triangular series here, some bilateral series there which leads to the excess workload. Australia, for their part stick to the FTP more or less.[/quote'] I agree that it is the meaningless ODIs which are putting undue pressure on the players. And in that matter I'm glad that most of the test players are not playing ODIs. It is the pace bowlers who are common for both formats and they are the only worry. It is the pace bowlers who need to manage workload carefully because they are the most injury-prone breed. As it is,: Zaheer pulls out of the tri-series Sachin is uncertain: No word on Sachin yet Even Rohit Sharma is under injury cloud: Kaif to replace Rohit? In the above scenario, which 14 should be chosen for Bangladesh? I think we must rest Dhoni at least for 3 weeks so that he recovers from the finger injury completely. Hence I'll choose the following players (not in this batting order of course): 1.Sehwag 2.Gambhir 3.Raina 4.Dhawan 5.Yuvraj (captain) 6.Badrinath 7.Pathan 8.Piyush Chawla 9. Dinesh Karthik 10.Sreeshanth 11.Ishant Sharma(with a heavy heart) 12.RP Singh or Munaf Patel 13.Yusuf Pathan 14.Amit Misra 6 batsmen, a keeper, 4 seamers and 2 spinners. I didn't include Uthappa knowingly, though he might get selected ahead of Dhawan or Badri ot Yusuf. Did I miss anyone?

[Cricketics]

that squad is good chandan, but i would rather give captaincy to Sehwag, then yuvraj. Sehwag is a much sensible captain

[Chandan]

that squad is good chandan, but i would rather give captaincy to Sehwag, then yuvraj. Sehwag is a much sensible captain

Yuvraj is the vice captain of Indian ODI team, cricketics. That is why I gave him the captaincy. And I missed the following players, I suppose: 15.Manoj Tiwari 16.Praveen Kumar.

[The Outsider]

Zaheer Khan is wasting the best form of his life because of injuries caused by these masala IPL fixtures - unbelievable! Missed out on tests against Pakistan, Australia, South Africa, and now has got injured again. Let's see if he can recover for the Asia Cup and Sri Lanka tests.

[Dhondy]

I've lost interest, to be honest. Neverending cricket, neverending coverage, endless hype. They killed the goose that laid the golden eggs, as far as I am concerned. Don't give a toss about the Manpreet Gonis of this world. They have had their 5 minutes of fame, made their crore or two, and can live off that for the rest of their life. We are already seeing the effects of excessive cricket on the likes of Ishant Sharma. Anybody who has ever pushed himself to achieve anything worthwhile will know for a fact that money can never motivate you like hunger for excellence does, or gnawing insecurity does. Take away both, make millionaires out of a lot of newbies still looking for their station in life, and what are you left with? Haven't wasted a minute following IPL, won't be watching the stupid ODI fiestas that follow, and if I don't see anything special in the Test series to follow, so much the better. Can't be bothered playing cheerleader to a bunch of overpaid, underachieving spoilt brats.

[Dhondy]

Oh, and one other point while I am at it. Have you guys seen the proliferation of cricket scribes, partiucularly in India? The sureshes, dhotiwallahs, the whatshisnames? Almost anybody who has ever strung together a couple of sentences, now has an opinion on cricket. What's more, a section of them specialise in extrapolating stuff going on in the middle to broader trends in society, life, India's emerging status in the world...what utter, unmitigated tripe! There are the pseudo-scholars who go through reams and reams of cricket statistics and discover new trends, regurgitate them on Cricinfo, and start excruciating new blogs. A whole new industry is springing up- like the German industrial renaissance post world war- only this time, it's based on a nebulous, time consuming sport, where punters waste weeks and months of their life, backside glued to a couch, while a select few make merry as the sun shines on their brief career. India has fallen for this nonsense hook, line and sinker. Soon,children will stop preparing for IITs and AIIMS, and aim to be the next Sharda Ugra (dear me! I can see somebody coming in to her defence, the great cricket expert that she is), or, better still, the next Manoj Tiwari, with all of his 2 international runs, and a million quid to show for them. This isn't the real world, nor the real economy folks. It isn't even a game India is particularly good at. Don't give up your day jobs...yet.

[Chandan]

Come on Dhondy! You might not have been interested in the IPL or the coming lot of meaningless ODIs. But you simply cannot give away test cricket. At least I can't. I don't care what a cricketer earns and how, who makes money cultivating cricket gossips and what nots. I really care about cricket and most certainly if it is Indian cricket. Sharda Ugra is making money because of my interest? Let her. I never read her articles. In fact I specifically avoid reading the masala news and look only for the news I'm looking for. And I'm very sure that everyone will take that path one day after having got bored from the shallow analysis these half baked cricket reporters present. One way to go is, just look for the news: Sachin, Zaheer out of action for a month Zeecric Bureau Mumbai, May 29: India’s star batsman Sachin Tendulkar and bowling spearhead Zaheer Khan pulled out from the upcoming tri-series against Bangladesh and Pakistan due to injuries. The duo was facing fitness problems before the start of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Sachin might be out for almost a month, therefore missing out on the Asia Cup that starts from 24th June due to a groin injury. Zaheer Khan, on the other hand has been learnt to have aggravated his ankle injury that was the cause of his absence from international cricket earlier this year. --------------------------- Even this is not 100% reliable. But it'll do, till the news finally comes out tomorrow.

[The Outsider]

Completely share your sentiments Dhondy and just posted my frustrations in Salil's article thread. I'll paste it here as well, as this section might still get some audience compared to an article talking about India's selection problems in the midst of HEE HAW IPL.

Very well writte, Salil though I think you are underestimating the amount of cricket coming up - after the England tour we go to Pakistan and then tour NZ as well. Our selectors and team management completely missed out on the rotation boat last season and as much as we can hope, I don't see anything changing this coming year. It won't be a surprise if we see Yomahesh, Dinda, and Gony leading our bowling attack by the time the NZ tour comes long early next year. As I remarked in another thread, it's a travesty that Zaheer is missing out on one test series after another in the best form of his life, at the peak of his career, a peak which will never come back. These two seasons could have placed him as one of the best bowlers we had, instead saw him missing tests against Pakistan, Australia, and South Africa and figure in Mallaya's team of Royal Challenge whiskey guzzlers only to get injured again! It's frustrating to see all this. The amount of cricket is one thing and fitness levels are another thing - with the millions and millions of dollars being made by IPL, the foremost thing in the BCCI's brain should be development and preservation of fast bowlers. If the last decade has shown anything, it's the fact that fast bowlers are the premier players in a test squad, unless playing on dustbowls to suit mediocre players like Harbhajan. Have we heard even a squeak out of the BCCI about our fast bowlers and their future. We keep on bandying posts and articles about how impressive our fast bowling arsenal has become recently and rattle off one name after another. I don't see them on the cricket field. All I witness is Harbhajan opening the bowling on a square turner because Zaheer's heel is worse than Achilles', or RP Singh being reduced to a caricature he was a few months back because his hamstring is too strung, or Sreesanth paying visits to his native Ayurvedic quack to get his shoulder ready. We wasted the golden years of our batting because we did not have enough firepower to bundle oppositions out and continue to do so. When will I see our two top fast bowlers run in on the 5th morning of a test match in the tropics and bowl non stop for 20 overs with unrelenting pace and accuracy? Probably never, and there are many parties to be blamed for it with the BCCI leading the pack. Where are proper fitness programs and rehabilitation programs for our pacers? How can you allow one of your countries' major fast bowling prospect to get treatment from some quack? How can RP Singh be allowed to bowl in an international test match with the abysmal match fitness he had against South Africa? How can Zaheer not be allowed to recuperate completely before playing masala IPL? It's not baffling but it's frustrating. This blind rush for money is denying the world some great cricket and this is in money flush times when BCCI can afford to give each of our fast bowlers an individual fitness staff. Sorry for the rants above but I am really disillusioned with Indian cricket at the moment and a season which could have got the pulses racing and hearts throbbing with exciting test cricket will be reduced to a retired cartoonists scribbling while sipping his coffee in Central Park - devoid of meaning an activity to fill in the last few breaths left in life. Oh and did I mention we are playing a grand TWO test match series against England?

[Dhondy]

Couldn't have put it better myself, Shwetabh.

[The Outsider]

There are the pseudo-scholars who go through reams and reams of cricket statistics and discover new trends, regurgitate them on Cricinfo, and start excruciating new blogs. A whole new industry is springing up- like the German industrial renaissance post world war- only this time, it's based on a nebulous, time consuming sport, where punters waste weeks and months of their life, backside glued to a couch, while a select few make merry as the sun shines on their brief career.

:hysterical::hysterical: Did you see the latest tripe that Anantha guy came up with on cricinfo, laden with tripe like "quantitative", "differential", "analytical", "error-prone". The two bit ch.u.tiya won't know what these words are if they are biting him in his a$$ and smacking him on the face at the same time. He claims to have found the strongest batting line up and bowling line up assembled in ODIs by playing around with averages and strike rates and concludes the best bowling line up to be from the early 80s WI and best batting early 00s Australia, without taking into account the difference in scoring rates and average scores over the past two decades! Isn't it damned obvious that the best bowling is going to be the best one from an era of low scores and best batting is going to be the best from an era of high scores using such naive calculations. I don't have a problem with it, what ticked me off was passing it off as a work rivaling Einstein's paper on relativity. If you haven't read it take a peep, you'll pull your remaining hair out of your scalp.

[Dhondy]

Yup, read that piece and the next one, word by tortuous ward. Do read some of the feedback he got- not many people were best pleased with his punditry. But if you think that was bad, try this.:hysterical: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/may/08/cricket1

[The Outsider]

Jesus! That nightwatchman piece linked in that blog has got to compare with some of Anantha's best works. What bugs be immensely is the trend to pass off this number crunching as some scientific work without adhering to the corner stone of any scientific writing - discussing the limits and scope of you work. They try to pass off their efforts as final.