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NZ already feeling for the Fab Four missing the tour of NZ next year

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Cricket: Kiwi fans will miss Fab Four's final fling 4:00AM Wednesday Oct 15, 2008 By David Leggat Batting great Sachin Tendulkar may retire before India's tour of New Zealand in March. Photo / Getty Images Batting great Sachin Tendulkar may retire before India's tour of New Zealand in March. Photo / Getty Images Those hoping for a final sighting of one of cricket's most celebrated batting quartets when India arrive in New Zealand in March are out of luck. India's Fab Four won't be together for the trip, with Sourav Ganguly announcing the current Australian series will be his last. But the odds on the other three, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, all being on the plane are in serious doubt. Lefthander Ganguly, at 36 the oldest of the four, got the *****er with the Indian selectors before the Australian series began, and vented his displeasure in a newspaper interview he subsequently claimed to be inaccurate. In it, he claimed he had been made the scapegoat for India when others have performed poorly, "yet every Tom, Dick and Harry is playing in the team. There are some [players] who have changed their hairstyle more than they have scored for India," he was quoted as saying. The four are all among India's eight biggest test runscorers. But now graceful exits, rather than graceful runs, are the talk in the wake of a poor tour of Sri Lanka, both for the four and the team. The Indian selectors have apparently been dropping hints it's time they started planning for their post-cricket years. The elegant Laxman - best remembered for his stunning 281 against Australia in Kolkata seven years ago which turned that series on its head - is probably the most vulnerable. Yet he is the youngest of the four, at 33. Dravid, nicknamed "The Wall" for his obduracy at the crease, is the fifth highest runmaker in tests. Tendulkar is the only Indian above him and is 15 runs short of overtaking Brian Lara as cricket's greatest scorer. His 39 hundreds are a world record, but injuries and the sheer toll of 19 years in the international game are wearing down a once magnificent batsman. In the drawn first test against Australia, Dravid made a half century, the others 40 apiece. They could make those suggesting they move on look foolish in the next three tests but time doesn't wait. So it's when, not if, they depart. The four have scored a combined 35,244 test runs, played 484 matches and been rocks during often turbulent times. Removing them as a job lot would be stupid. Tendulkar, certainly, and Dravid deserve to have their departures handled with respect. India's wicketkeeper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, opined that the pressure is more from themselves owing to their own high expectations, but his words had a touch of the double-edged sword. "I don't think you can really write them off, they have plenty in them," he said. "But at the same time you have to look into the future. It's all about transition. We definitely have players who are talented and can make it big." Anil Kumble, India's durable legspinner and captain, is himself under the spotlight for similar reasons. "In India it really doesn't matter whether you are 31 or 32," he said. "As soon as you cross 30, I think people start talking." The fab four * Sachin Tendulkar (age 35) Tests: 151 Runs: 11,939 (average 54.02) 39 100s/49 50s * Rahul Dravid (35) Tests: 126 Runs: 10,302 (53.65) 25/53 * VVS Laxman (33) Tests: 97 Runs: 6042 (43.78) 12/35 * Sourav Ganguly (36) Tests: 110 Runs: 6961 (41.93) 15/34
Not just the author but I'll miss watching the four as well. Pity Ganguly had to call it off prior visiting NZ. Here's hoping we will see a good talented youngster step in. The team hasn't changed much since the last tour to NZ in 2002-03. At least the batting has been pretty much the same. Zaheer, Nehra and Srinath were around last time around but this time we will get to watch Ishant (if he keeps fit that is). Looking forward to Indians visiting NZ this summer. Hopefully things work out with ICL and here's hoping to see the likes of Bondy, McMillan make a come back for NZ.
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Cricket: ICL sanction is unlikely to see Bond return Any peace deal brokered between Indian cricket's board of control and the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) is unlikely to see Shane Bond back for the Black Caps More... ICL sanction unlikely to bring back Bond Oct 16, 2008 Any peace deal brokered between Indian cricket's board of control and the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL) is unlikely to see Shane Bond resurrect his international career with New Zealand. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) intends to hold talks with the country's unofficial Twenty20 league, whose players are now banned from all official cricket. The BCCI took the decision after International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan last week met officials of the ICL, which is seeking approval from the ruling body. The BCCI outlawed the ICL and promptly set up its own Twenty20 competition -- the Indian Premier League (IPL). Launched in 2007, the ICL has signed up many former internationals, including Bond, and is proving to be drain on the talent of smaller nations. It stunned the Bangladesh Cricket Board last month when 13 players, led by former skipper Habibul Bashar, joined the ICL. An ICC sub-committee is working on a final draft on new regulations on official and unofficial cricket. Bond, who is still ranked as the fourth best one-day international bowler on the ICC rankings despite not having played since April last year, was hopeful "commonsense" would prevail and the ICL would ultimately be sanctioned by the ICC. However, if ICL players were eventually allowed to play international cricket it is unlikely Bond would reprise a career marked by stunning spells -- and frustrating injuries. Bond, who was released from his New Zealand Cricket contract late last year after signing with the ICL, erred on the side of caution when the prospect of a comeback was raised today. "I don't know. It's a chapter I've sort of shut in some respects," he told RadioSport. "I'm not getting any younger, I'm 33 now ... the grind of international cricket is hard work. "If a decision is made in the near future I'll sit down with Trace (wife Tracy) and have a chat about it ... but I've got a pretty good lifestyle now. "I can play in India for four months, the rest of the time I'm at home with my three kids -- it's worked out pretty good," Bond said. If the player ban was lifted and Bond decided to be available for New Zealand again it would only be for the one-day and Twenty20 formats. Test cricket was no longer part of his plans before he signed with the ICL. New Zealand Cricket chief executive Justin Vaughan said talk of Bond's return and a thawing of the relationship between the BCCI and ICL was premature. "It's good to see a slight thawing in the relationship ... but how long it takes to happen is anybody's guess," he said. Bond, who plays for Delhi Giants in the ICL, took 79 wickets at an average of 22.39 in 17 tests and 125 wickets at 19.32 in 67 one-day internationals. Former internationals Lou Vincent, Chris Cairns, Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Darryl Tuffey, Chris Harris and Hamish Marshall are also contracted to the ICL. Vincent and Marshall are the two most recent internationals but are unlikely to be required if and when the ban is lifted.

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