Bleacher Report - Articles by Ankit Mishra

Cricket: Looking Back

Ankit Mishra — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:34:58 -0500

Growing up with Cricket

The love for any sport has to begin somewhere. For me, the love of cricket began when I was nine years old. Too late, some of you might quip. But there is nothing you can do to change facts. To make it more interesting, I played cricket even before I watched it for the first time, and it had nothing to do with India’s technological backwardness then.

One memory that is strongly etched in my mind is that of rain. Aarghh! RAIN! Damn rain!

If ever there was something that could stop a cricket match most often, it was the rains. Often, on summer days, when the cricket match would be at its best, or I would be on the verge of a milestone, it would pour.

Poor me, I did not even knew how to swear back then!

Post summer, came the monsoons. Living in a monsoon-affected country can have its disadvantages too. For over a month, water and algae would submerge the ground that we played on.

Grounds

People in India who played cricket in their childhood would relate to it. Sometimes, when the water had not fully receded, we would still go out and play. Diving in the puddles to take a really simple catch was one of my favorite actions. Returning home with bruises and stained clothes, was however not one of them.

Mom used to be furious. But then, those were the days. These days, practicing in the university’s lush outfields sometimes brings nostalgic tears in my eyes. I get a feeling of where I was and where I have reached.

Such is life. A corner of my mind still tells me that those were the better days.

We played for fun. Today, we play to win. The skills are the same but the attitude has changed. These days, playing a four-day match, sometimes we relish some rain, something that would have been criminal during the formative years.

I really miss and admire the way I started my cricket. This is a tribute to the time that taught me the game I am so passionate about.

The love for anything depends a lot on the origins of the love, and I love the origins of my love for cricket.

Analysis of Indian Squad to Sri Lanka

Ankit Mishra — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:28:53 -0500

India squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Irfan Pathan, Pragyan Ojha.

What does one have to do to earn a call up to the Indian Cricket Team? Well there is one sure-fire way—performance! But where? In the rotten by lanes of Ranji Trophy cricket? Or in the Junior International Circuit? Or both?

One person who satisfies both is Ravindra Jadeja. So it was good news for him when Srikkant and co. decided to select him for the good-for-nothing tour of Sri Lanka next month. Fair enough.

The story doesn't end here. The person who he has replaced goes by the name of Virat Kohli. He too satisfied both prerequisites. The chances he got were very limited.

Take the case of Badrinath. He did nothing wrong to be omitted from this tour. This must be demoralising for the 29-year-old.

Let us analyse the team. Dhoni, Sachin, Viru, Gauti, Rohit, Yuvi, Zak and Ishant select themselves. Considering the other players:

Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan: They have performed well in the recent past and deserve a look in.

Yusuf Pathan: this guy is a future star and this is the right time to give him sustained backing.

Munaf Patel: now this one is controversial. But he is a talent and puts the ball in the right places.

Praveen Kumar: Consistent performer, but too many fast bowlers in the squad could influence the final XI selections of either him or Munaf.

Pragyan Ojha: A mistake. Piyush Chawla and Amit Mishra rank way above him. Jadeja is a left arm spinner and another one was not needed. But who cares about this tour anyway.

That's it. Apart from Ojha, all other selections are justified. Maybe there should have been another spinner in place of either Munaf or Praveen.

My First XI (ODIs)
Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Yusuf, Yuvi, Rohit, MSD, Irfan, Praveen, Zaheer, Ishant

My First XI (T20)
Sehwag, Gambhir, Yusuf, Yuvi, Raina, Rohit, MSD, Irfan, Praveen, Zaheer, Ishant

India to Tour Sri Lanka... Again!

Ankit Mishra — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 16:09:54 -0500

I know this sounds crazy but when in the world of modern cricket, returning favors is all a board thinks about, there is little critics like me can do. India had just toured Sri Lanka before the South Africans came visiting last year, and now they are going again in February for 5 ODIs and 1 T20I.

I don't want to see MS Dhoni smothering the carom ball from Mendis while every other batsman struggles to find his feet. Hell no! Not so soon.

I don't want to see India thrashing the guts out of the Lankans, with only King Kumar providing some boring resistance. Murali has by now is easily milked for singles and no other howler, I mean bowler is mean enough to provide a real threat.

All of the above lead to these things:

The series is going to be boring, with India winning and everybody concerned becoming richer, except me that is.
All the matches will be played in Colombo, so there goes another chapter in the book of variety.
This is too soon to be having another series. For God Sake, let India go to Bangladesh.

This might be the most hateful post I will ever write about the Lankans, who I somehow find cute. They are like little midgets (did I say 'little' Midgets? Apologies) who always do good. But this is necessary. The tour is not.

The question arises? Why is the tour being held after all. Well, as I said in the first paragraph, it is a result of a favor being returned by the Indian board. Sri Lanka has allowed all its players to play in the IPL. That is the favor. As if they would not play if the board did not allowed them to. Utter nonsense that people are trying to make sense of.

Anyways, no matter how much I loathe it, I will be of course watching all the matches and reporting them. The only difference will be that I will be full of more vengeance than ever now. Watch this space.

Matt Hayden Retiring, Australia Winning

Ankit Mishra — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:27:59 -0500

It has been a long long time since my last post—a year some tell me. Technically, yes. The wait, though, is over now. The Free Hit is back and its bigger, badder and more likely to antagonise you with the rotten truth than ever.

Oh look, you dropped something. ITS YOUR JAW, you idiot. Enough reader plagiarising, lets cut to the chase.

Matty Hayden of Chennai Super Kings fame had walked silently into oblivion. But wait, there is more—he has now retired. Was that news? I call it olds! People blame the BCCI for inventing the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (referred hereon as VRS). Maybe we invented it, but the Australians are implementing it big time. Look at the curious case of Steven Waugh, or now Matthew Hayden!

Talking about Matty, I think he was great. Honestly. He was the main guinea pig in a very important experiment conducted by the almighty god. The experiment was to prove that all a cricketer had to do to find legendary form was to tour India. An experiment which was successful and was beneficial to many players.

Andy Flower and Pup Clarke would testify. Probably not so much Flower—he was really great. Anyways, good bye Hayden. Have a good life, and never go out fishing with Symmo when your wife wants to have a meeting and discuss serious marriage issues.

Meanwhile, Australia have started winning again. What if they are good for nothing T20s. They love winning and now they are doing what they love. The Warner dude choked in the second match. No. I am being too harsh! FYI, Warner has already been gobbled up by Greg Shippherd over at Delhi Daredevils, which, apparently, is the team I totally support. So dude, stop choking and start being rich.

The title of this post contains two phrases which may or may not be related. Thank You.

Saurav Ganguly: Farewell, Dada—This Blogger Loves You

Ankit Mishra — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:31:56 -0500

Goodbye, Saurav Ganguly…

My first memories of Saurav Ganguly are from a long way back. It was not his debut, as I was 8 at the time and hadn’t started following cricket. I do not even remember where the memories were from. The memories were of him stepping down the track and murdering a left arm orthodox spinner in a way which shouted: I RULE!

And rule he did. For his entire career, he acted, batted and bowled as if he owned the place. The attitude was there to see. What was amazing was that the attitude never transformed into over-confidence. Yes he was arrogant, but what he gave to Indian cricket is more the double the compensation for the arrogance. Even his arrogant behavior was well liked throughout the world.

He is not to grace the cricket pitch as a player anymore. The boy who persistently called newspaper offices for four years to see if he is in the team has finally left the world of cricket...Loyal Kolkata Knight Rider fans might see him again, but test cricket would surely miss him. He epitomized the meaning of testing his opponents, even off the field. He galvanized the unsure Indian teams to play well and win abroad. The slogan he coined for the world cup 2003 ("NOW OR NEVER"), enthused the team so much that they reached the final.

The backing he gave to talented players made them realize that they belonged. Harbhajan Singh and Yuvraj Singh owe their careers to him. Even Sehwag to an extent. He knew what being talented and left out of the team felt like. Whenever he was shunned to the domestic gallows, he scored so heavily that the selectors had to shit themselves. The confidence with which he spoke all the time gives complexes to even the best public speakers.

He was the most successful captain India ever had. He gave Sachin Tendulkar the best possible opening partner. He drew a test series in Australia. He scored a century on debut and a golden duck in his last outing.

Always a man for showmanship, he never let the media get to him. He dictated terms to the media, or for that matter anyone he dealt with. People said he could not play short pitched bowling. He played 110-plus tests for India. CAN ANY TOM, DICK, and HARRY do that?

We love you dada, you have been a great player, and an awesome human being. MY ROLE MODEL, for sure. I will miss you. As Allan Llewellynfrom Cricinfo puts it:

I will miss Ganguly for his entertainment and his spice. With each year more characters leave the game and as public life becomes increasingly sanitised, I wonder if they can be replaced by the next generation of media-managed clones.