Badri hits winning runs on his debut!...And dropped after 3 ODIs

[flamy]

So, finally after months and months of pining by people here and probably many out there, the man relegated to the sidelines for reasons Watson would do well to take a healthy interest in. It is almost like the collective consciousness of a lot of desperate fans has physically manifested in to the real world. Fans desperate to find some source of hope for the Indian team with it's rapidly depleting Middle Order. Now, whatever may be the arguments of the fickleness of the Desi Cricket Fan - the enthusiastic shifting of the blame, prophetizing a messiah who would be invariably out of the national squad, the incredible Lasik-proof myopia to be completely blind beyond 22-yards to look at a true prodigy of a bowler but rather focusing on the struggles of rookie batsmen (who albeit have surprised many by doing well in the recent past) - whatever the shortcomings of these fans, we did recognize the talent, the potential and most importantly - the CLASS of Subramaniam Badrinath. The story of Badrinath is almost mythical. I'd always heard his name come up incessantly on the forums as a prolific scorer in the First Class local tourneys, people on the forums touted him again and again, and I held myself aloof of all the hype for I reasoned that Domestic Giants were almost always International Wimps. Also, he was mainly regarded as a replacement in the TESTs. Then, I saw him in the IPL. The first thing I noticed was an absence of any jitters and a calm sense of belonged presence. He wasn't overwhelmed to be playing BIG. The statistical superhero had a face, a technique and the ever ethereal "class" that can only be recognized by a human rather than a StatsGuru. Most surprising, of course, was this Test specialist seemed to have no problem to hit the ground running and scoring above 100 SR. The fact that he is an excellent fielder and runs brilliantly between the wickets is just icing on the icing. The cake, of course, is his work ethic. It is the rare beauty of acute stupidity that a batsman who has been performing consistently in the domestic circuit and has followed the time-tested path to international arena had to literally beg to be given "the chance to fail". Badri's own words spell out the frustration that wasn't just felt by him but by all of us here working out conspiracies of a North-South divide. Be as it may, Badri has found a place in the team. And he has again shown that "The Big Games" have no effect on him. He took one excellent catch and had a decent stint at the middle facing the M&Ms. It was just a 27*, but I'm sure you'll understand the emotional outburst of us fans - who have been waiting so long for Badri to make his international debut - when we hit the streets and proclaim inebriated: Badrinath hits winning runs on his debut! :yay:

[cowboysfan]

"collective conscious" is copyrighted by me and Ayn rand-you should have asked my permission before using it.but a good read nonetheless:winky:

[satishg]

awesome write up flamy..hmm guess u got truly emotional seeing Badri hit the winning runs..i guess most ppl here feel happy for him..because he deserved this chance..he did all a domestic player could ever do..score score and keep scoring but still couldnt find a spot in the squad..now that he has it im pretty sure he is not going to let it go..it is just a 27* there is still a long way to go but the signs are definitely there..its not like he is a rookie..he has played good first class cricket for a long time and this is evident in his temperament..he has a solid technique and as he has shown in IPL he can really motor along also if needed..hope he gets a long run and heres to a successful career in international cricket for SUBRAMANIAM BADRINATH :two_thumbs_up::yay::icflove:

[Kumar]

i like him

[fineleg]

good luck to S.B. - He'll face sterner tests ahead.

[punjabi_khota]

"The first thing I noticed was an absence of any jitters and a calm sense of belonged presence. He wasn't overwhelmed to be playing BIG. The statistical superhero had a face, a technique and the ever ethereal "class" that can only be recognized by a human rather than a StatsGuru." Exact same words were used for Rohit too. Lets wait and watch.

[DomainK]

I remember Kanitkar was once known for hitting the winning runs. He scored the winning runs for India in several matches and some people even considered him lucky for India.

[flamy]

"The first thing I noticed was an absence of any jitters and a calm sense of belonged presence. He wasn't overwhelmed to be playing BIG. The statistical superhero had a face, a technique and the ever ethereal "class" that can only be recognized by a human rather than a StatsGuru." Exact same words were used for Rohit too. Lets wait and watch.

Let's begin with Hope. :two_thumbs_up: But, Rohit doesn't have a significant First Class record. Rohit must be given some more time. Too bad he has the weight of "the next Tendulkar" on his shoulders...

[SachDan]

Excellent write up Flamy :two_thumbs_up: concentrate more on these kind of stuffs than those unnecessary smileys and tit for tats :D

[h4te]

Excellent write up Flamy :two_thumbs_up: concentrate more on these kind of stuffs than those unnecessary smileys and tit for tats :D

leave the trolling to the bests...h4te for presdient!

[flamy]

Excellent write up Flamy :two_thumbs_up: concentrate more on these kind of stuffs than those unnecessary smileys and tit for tats :D

but...but.. I like tits!! and my tat too :icflove: :--D:--D:--D thx da..:two_thumbs_up:

[flamy]

leave the trolling to the bests...h4te for presdient!

no sexy.

[satishg]

but...but.. I like tits!! and my tat too :icflove: :--D:--D:--D thx da..:two_thumbs_up:

:hysterical: who doesnt :winky:

[Ram]

Good round-up of Badri's performance. But honestly, me thinks too much is being made out too little, atleast at this moment. Lets wait and watch a few games more, before pronouncing big judgements.

[Dravid]

amazing.. good work bandri

[Feed]

How Kohli, Badri make it to the XI? There is always more than one way to reach any destination. If you need proof of that axiom, look no further than the second ODI against Sri Lanka, which India won by a slender yet reassuring margin. More... How Kohli, Badri make it to the XI? Anand Vasu, Hindustan Times Colombo, August 21, 2008 First Published: 22:53 IST(21/8/2008) Last Updated: 22:55 IST(21/8/2008) Print There is always more than one way to reach any destination. If you need proof of that axiom, look no further than the second ODI against Sri Lanka, which India won by a slender yet reassuring margin. The struggle to score 143 notwithstanding, India can now look their opponents in the eye and say, "if we play good cricket we can definitely beat you," as M. S. Dhoni rightly pointed out. While Zaheer Khan and Dhoni did what was expected of them as senior pros, India's win was book-ended by two of the newest owners of the India cap — Virat Kohli and S Badrinath. Kohli, almost representative of the new India, spiked hair and flashy diamond earring, played a brand of aggressive yet efficient cricket that showed him a way to stay at the crease and still score at an acceptable rate. His stroke-play evokes shades of Robin Uthappa, the face of the bat open when driving to the off, sending the ball square rather than straight and contrastingly, the bat face closed when whipping the ball through on around the front pad. Badrinath is more a throwback to the past. Already 28, with a wealth of domestic and India A cricket under the belt, he began as a batsman who played straight and grafted for runs. Often a century was chanceless, but it took a long time coming. Over the years, though, Badri has reinvented himself, matching the demands of the times. He not only has a wide array of shots, he runs hard between the wickets and is capable of innovation, as success in the IPL shows. While Kohli set things up with a crucial 37, Badri sealed the deal, with an unbeaten 27. The two could not have chosen more differing paths in their journey to the top of the cricketing ladder. Kohli has played a mere 11 first-class matches, and even leading the Under-19 team to World Cup triumph did not persuade his home state, Delhi, into picking him for the IPL. He had a torrid time with the Bangalore IPL team, scoring just 165 runs from 13 matches. As luck would have it, though, when he was playing in the Emerging Nations tournament, chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar was present to witness his unbeaten 120 against New Zealand Emerging Players' XI. Sometimes, all it takes is for one influential person, and who more than the Chairman of Selectors, to watch a special innings, and you are pitchforked into the limelight. This is not to say that Kohli has not worked hard at his cricket over the years, but certainly others have worked harder, with better results. Badri's route has been a more tried-and-tested one, in many ways. Heavy scoring in age-group cricket won him a Tamil Nadu spot. From there, season after season at the top of the charts, or very close, prompted selection in the India A team. Badri then piled on the runs there as well, only to find, to his mounting frustration, that an India call-up was elusive. The closest Badri came to playing for India was when he was in the squad for the ODIs against Australia in 2007, when Gautam Gambhir was injured, but he never played and soon found others passing him by, even though he was scoring consistently. It was in this context that the ICL hoped to capitalise on Badri's frustration, offering him Rs 1.5 crore for a three-year contract. To his credit, Badri refused, and told his close friends that he could never throw away that chance to play for India, no matter how much money was involved. "I was part of the dressing-room once, and Sachin Tendulkar was pulling my leg and making me feel at home. I wanted to experience that feeling again," he had said then. It turned out to be a wise decision as Lady Luck, who had seemingly turned her back on Badri, had a twist in store. With Sachin Tendulkar injuring his elbow in the final Test, Badri made it to the squad. When Virender Sehwag turned his ankle, he won a place in the eleven. Kohli has age on his side, while Badri has experience under the belt, and the journeys they have travelled are distinctly different. But now that they have fulfilled that burning ambition — to play for India — what they do from here on, will determine if they're just another in the long line of people to play a handful of ODIs for India, or something far more substantial.

[flamy]

S Badrinath gets his chance and he doesn't fail - Sunil Gavaskar S Badrinath gets his chance and he doesn't fail - Sunil Gavaskar by DreamCricket USA Aug 23, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subramaniam Badrinath gets his chance. And he doesn't fail. Sunil Gavaskar Times they have certainly changed. Not so long ago any player expressing disappointment at being left out of a team would probably never ever be selected for his temerity in going public. This however is a new age and a new era and unless you are 'in the face' as the popular saying goes, you are not going to get noticed. There are other benefits too apart from being seen and that can be in the endorsement business as today's advertisers are looking for those already in the public eye, be it for performance or controversy. Subramaniam Badrinath is not one for controversy but for performance and from what little has been seen of him at the domestic level as also the Indian Premier League, he is thankfully no 'show boater' either. There is not the slightest doubt that had he not expressed his bafflement at being continually ignored for national selection and not being told what he needs to do by any selector, he would not have been picked as a replacement for Virender Sehwag. By saying what he did immediately after the one-day team to Sri Lanka was announced he brought attention to the selectors wandering minds that here was a player who had done no wrong and needed to be given a chance, or as Badri himself put it, given a chance to fail. Make no mistake, if he had not given that interview the selectors would have turned to Dinesh Karthik, or the perennial standby Mohammad Kaif, to take the place of the injured Sehwag. Luckily Badrinath is still on the right side of the 20s in a youth obsessed country where performing at the under-19 level without any corresponding deeds at the domestic level, can propel a player straight to the national team. Yes, one can understand an under-19 quick bowler being pitch-forked into the international pit because he has the strength, stamina and energy and is largely injury free, but batsmen unless it is a once in a century player like Sachin Tendulkar, need a lot more time to mature and be able to face the pressures and tensions of international cricket. It is because of this awareness of a national call up being round the corner after a performance at the under-19 tournaments that one finds that ages are not always what the certificates say at that level. By speaking out Badrinath did force the selectors to pick him as a replacement and in his first game he showed just why, by keeping his cool along with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and taking India to a win after the earlier batsmen had tottered. Even here he was batting at number 7 where batsmen hardly get the opportunity to get big scores and are dumped when they sacrifice their wickets in throwing their bats in the slog overs. In dropping these lower order batsmen the selectors point to their scores seldom taking into account the circumstances in which they had sacrificed their wickets. Badrinath probably learnt from the fate that befell previous Tamil Nadu players like S. Ramesh and S. Sriram who despite scoring thousands of runs at the domestic level and then doing well in the limited chances that they got at the international level, were dropped on some pretext or the other. Why, Sriram was even dropped for the next series after having been chosen Man of the Match in the previous one-day series in Bangladesh. Ramesh was never understood by the management and was seen as a goofy character lost in his own world, never mind the fact that with the bat he still delivered and also plucked some extraordinary catches in the close-in position. Past skippers including yours truly were often accused of favouring players from their state or zone in the national team but no captain is foolish enough to cut his own feet by going for players from his state or zone and upsetting the balance of the team. The only reason he goes for them is because he has seen more of them and knows how they react to pressure than players from other zones he hasn't seen enough of. In the past decade or so the captains seem keen to get an image of being unbiased by not plumping for deserving players from their state and zones for the national teams. Badrinath's skipper for the Chennai Super Kings is Dhoni, and while he has now said after Badrinath showed not just batting skills but good temperament as well in his debut game that "he is a good player", did he discuss him at the selection meeting? Of course captains have had no vote in selection ever and are only co-opted to get their view on combination etc. In trying to keep an image of being unbiased, are captains not doing justice to players from their own states and zones? Then the best thing to do is to follow the Australian method of selection and not have the skipper as part of the selection group. By all means seek his views as also that of the coach but let the selectors then go into the meeting and pick the team. This way the skipper is not involved in picking or dropping any player and can go ahead and do the job with the players given to him. Badrinath has got in but don't be surprised if at the first failure he is left in the lurch while other failures get more chances to fail.

[flamy]

Unfortunately, hasn't done much after. Hopefully he gets another series or two.

[arkay]

Badri out of the 5th ODI Badri is out of the playing XI. While Dhoni had a lot of opportunities to rest someone else, Dhoni has decided to rest Badri and that would mean that Badri won't be in the reckoning for the next series. It is unfortunate that Badri had not been provided enough opportunities to prove himself. This match would have been ideal for him to come up the order and play a good innings. Dhoni should have rested either Yuvraj or Rohit Sharma.

[Shane]

I think he was plain unlucky, its not like he was replaced by another batsman, his replacement by the way has done pretty well, two wickets in one over and is now having a tight leash on the game