Bleacher Report - Articles by Ruschil Aggarwal

10 Things I'd Like to Change About Cricket

Ruschil Aggarwal — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:00:54 -0400

Here are my suggestions for making the game more challenging, invigorating & appealing.

1) Test Matches:

Each day should comprise of 75 overs with three sessions of 25 overs each. The game must begin at 3 p.m. and last for approximately five hours, allowing for better viewership both at the ground, and on television. Matches must be played from Wednesday through Sunday, making the weekends all the more exciting. The new ball should be due after 60 overs, instead of 80, making for an intriguing last one hour under floodlights.

I'm not one to undermine the supremacy of the longest form, but there is an urgent need for it to compete with the new versions of cricket. Lets get over the nostalgia associated with "the good ol' days," or "the original version must not be tampered."

2) Teams chasing in ODIs & T20s should win by the no. of overs remaining:

The "won by x number of wickets" is a legacy of the days when Tests were the only form of cricket. In a tight chase—12 required of the last over, and the winning runs are hit of the penultimate ball—the result "Won by 3 wickets" sounds grossly incongruous.

3) Batting statistics must include a component for "deviation" from the average, to provide an indication of the number of times a batsman has scored above or below his mean number of runs per dismissal.

4) The LBW rule relating to the ball pitching outside the leg-stump should be relaxed for left-arm bowlers bowling over-the-wicket to the right-hander and right-arm bowlers bowling over-the-wicket to left-handed batsmen.

5) Wicket-keepers' statistics must be expanded to include a measure of the number of runs saved doing the normal job of collecting the ball left alone by the batsman. This will provide a better means to evaluate the contribution of the neglected breed. Bonus points may be provided for takes down the leg-side, which are by far the hardest.

6) Anil Kumble has often lauded the contributions of Venkatpathy Raju & Rajesh Chauhan from the mid-to-late 90s. The former was a slow left-hander while the latter, an off-spinner. Together they comprised the spinning trio, and were a throwback to the days of Bedi-Prasanna-Chandra. Kumble has suggested a means of recording bowling partnerships, in a way similar to batting partnerships—the key stats being the obvious ones of runs conceded and wickets taken.

7) Fielding points for runs saved. Of course outfielders in Test matches will end up saving a lot of runs, since a single upon a mis-field turns into a boundary—but there can be a denominator implying whether the fielder is standing within the 30-yard circle or outside it. This measure should help evaluate a player's fielding skills, and also give more incentive for them to focus more on this aspect of the game.

8)The role of the television umpire be expanded. I'd go as far as to suggest that they completely replace the on-field umpires. The men-in-white were the best means to obtain fair judgments when the sport began. At the end of the day, they are only ancillary to the contest between bat and ball. If better technology is available to ensure accurate decisions, it must be utilized. It does make for a humorous situation though, when the bowler will instinctively turn around to appeal for an LBW! And whom does he hand his cap, glasses and watch to?

9) Just as the captain, and key performer, ritually head-off to the press room after each day's play, they must also cater to their fanatical supporters by spending some time signing bats, shirts and clicking pics with them. For this, it is necessary to make a provision for a Fan Room wherein they must head-to after the presentation ceremony. Public entry into the room can be regulated by factoring it into the match tickets. For instance, a limited number of Fan room coupons can be made optional to purchase with every ticket.

10) Any-one remember the Super-sub rule of the 2005-06 ODI season. I thought it added a dimension to the game by allowing sides to play an extra batsman/bowler depending on their circumstances. Teams should be allowed to name their super-sub after the toss, rather than before it to permit flexibility.

An Adamantine Odyssey!!

Ruschil Aggarwal — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:14:23 -0400

An Adamantine Odyssey!!

A lazy Sunday meanders away in the dying moments of a Test Match. Two super-powers are rambling to the end of an encounter that has petered out to a dead end, as the audience begins drifting towards more worthwhile pursuits...Before a news-flash makes us stop dead in the tracks!

It was the same old story! Seemingly, the nonchalant batsman thrust his left leg forward, only to be rapped on the pads by the straighter one. Only this time, it wasn’t one bloke with a bat in hand whose professional endeavours were being thwarted.

There was to be no further addition to the tally of 956. Instead thousands, millions, billions had been caught napping. Before the magnitude of the loss had sunken in, a hero was revelling in his last hurrah. The 38 year old grabbed the spotlight, while his colleagues toasted him. As the opponents conveyed their regards and the cricketing fraternity rose to pay tribute, tears welled up in the eyes of his adoring fans. The Grand Old Man of Indian Cricket had had enough!

The Nascent Stages...

The convoluted journey commenced when a bespectacled 19 yr old engineering student first donned national colours in the dust-bowls of the middle-east.

An award winning performance in his third outing augured well, but he emphatically made headlines only in 1992 by condemning the international cricket comebacks to slow torture in a bowling analysis of 44-22-53-6 on their home turf.

It was the don of a new era!

His overwhelming impact was evident in the Indians gathering the epithet of “Tigers at home.” The dried, dusty, grimy, broken, cracked pitches on the sub-continent were the best avenues to showcase his art. The lackadaisical Poms’ of 1993 were brought down by deliveries that unrelentingly pitched on unplayable lengths and then bounced, spun, skidded on, or zipped through. Thereafter, throughout the 1990s, every touring party returned empty-handed, after having Krumbled to a mixed bag of top-spinners, leg-breaks, googlies or straighter-ones.

Equally potent was his bag of tricks in One-Day-Internationals, as the metronomic accuracy compelled the opposition to strain every nerve & sinew in eking out more than 40 runs of his quota. In an age which saw crash-bang-hammer & tongs batsmen of the 1996 World Cup fame create waves, the Jumbo came to be acknowledged as a miserly operator of his unique brand of slow bowling. The erstwhile world-beaters, with the Calypso brand of cricket, too had to bite the bust as he ravaged through their middle order picking up 6/12 in front of a jubilant assembly of 50,000 at Eden Gardens.

Problems....Galore...

Elsewhere, across the Trans-Tasmanian Oceans, as a beefy blond was acquiring Hollywood-star status, comparisons became inevitable. The “ball of the century” put the unpretentious straighter one in the shade, as did the ostentatious lifestyle and the penchant for news making sound-bites. That the traditional rival, the Barmy Army was dismantled, disgraced and debased many times over, accentuated the burgeoning reputation to that of a cult hero, leaving the engineer to figure out the dynamics of spinning the sphere.

The increasingly pervasive impact of the cricketing media appeared to have claimed a major victim, as the year 1998 saw poor returns for the spinner who didn’t spin the ball, while he dabbled around with his technique to emulate his more celebrated counterpart.

However, it was back to the tried and tested when neighbours and arch-rivals landed for a historic, not to mention, acrimonious & politically volatile two test series. The Ferozshah Kotla in Delhi was to enter the legions of cricketing folklore on the afternoon of 7 February 1999 when all but no.11 succumbed to his guiles sending the nation into an absolute frenzy.

Just as things take a turn for the better, calamity strikes and portends to all but terminate a flourishing career that had reaped 270+ wickets in both formats of the game. A shoulder surgery, arm in a sling and 21 months later a comeback in the blue pyjamas isn’t quite reminiscent of the Jumbo of old.

After all, a lot of water had flown under the bridge. The world champions had been humbled, and the lead spinner’s spot wasn’t quite his own by right anymore, not least due to a captain who rooted for youthful experience over grey hairs even if touring sides continued to be snared away on home pitches. Aging legs, and an innate lack of athleticism warranted being benched on ODI tours, most notably for 8 out of 11 World Cup games. Aggravating the opprobrium, was the skipper’s rather perfunctory, or insolent attitude towards the country’s most prominent bowler. Incidents like the name being cancelled from the team sheet minutes before the toss following a consensual agreement over selection, prompted the otherwise stoic character to make comments such as “Who will identify with a man who is down?”

Such events provide an interesting perspective while analysing one of the most courageous acts to be witnessed on a cricket pitch, one described by a touring journalist as “worthy of the Padma Shree.” What could have prompted him to bowl jaw-strapped under scathing heat on a dead track against the world’s greatest batsman?

In the midst of this mid-career crisis, the Border-Gavaskar series of 2003-04 marked a watershed moment, for both the individual and the team. The previous edition of the series had yielded five wickets @90 and being benched yet again for the first Test could not have done wonders to the confidence, nor could have the first day returns of the second Test (29-0-116-1).

The Emperor Strikes Back...

What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger! By perseverance, the snal reached the ark! When the going gets tough, the tough get going. To me these would have remained proverbial jargon suited just to make impressive talk, had i not observed the relentless practitioner at work.

Fast-forward four years to January 2008! The dogged fringe player is now shepherding the troops down-under while commanding respect from team-mates and opposition alike. The beefy blonde, now a cricketing media expert, desires that his country's up and coming emulate the Indian, after a 5w-haul on the first day of the first Test.

The cricketing fraternity comes to a standstill when he puts his foot down, with the words, "Only 1 team played in the spirit of the game". Boisterous and boorish behaviour from unscrupulous oppositions is presented in stark contrast to the tough-as-nails but dignified demeanour of the third man to scale 600 wickets. And if the 24 wickets of 2003-04 were a hurdle in the path of the all conquering world champions, the 20 wickets of 2007-08, allied with some obstinate batting and astute captaincy signalled the beginning of the end, and the establishment of a new world order!

The stupendous achievements of the intervening period (246 wickets, 15 five-wicket hauls in 47 Tests, epoch-making wins in every country of note, a test century and the Captaincy to boot) had catapulted him to the legions of stardom. The perpetual toil and tenacious efforts driven by an overwhelming desire to excel, had come to fruition. Several new tricks were on display - variations in pace, the disguised googly, the flight & loop etc. That some marginal decisions favoured the bowler, and the batsmen provided larger scores to defend must not count against him

Adios..

Mid-2008 was a ‘dusky’ period for some of the country’s cricketing stalwarts. One added the 10000th brick to the Great Wall of India, another completed a 100 Very Very Special appearances while the Little Master mastered hitherto uncharted territories.

While they geared up for the slow ride into the sunset, the country’s most successful captain courted some controversy before resolving to call it quits.

None of these however, caused a furore comparable to the one surrounding the crumbling of the team’s rock of Gibraltar! A protracted dip in form, some ruthless media scrutiny, back-stabbing from some erstwhile loyalists and a brutish finger injury led to the spontaneous call from a man whose contributions were always taken to be much of given. The go-to man for the best part of two decades, could have no more. The person key to most Indian victory laps took his own final lap of honour. As some former captains would testify, - “When I looked around the field with the opposition at 250/1, there would only be one pair of eyes looking straight back!” , “He just doesn’t know what ‘give-up’ means!” - his significance was to be felt only upon his departure.

The Jumbo had landed, but in what style! One of the final acts in Test cricket constituted scampering back 30 yards to catch the ball with nine stitches in the fingers and proceeding to shatter the stumps. It is the stuff legends are made of. The incessant criticisms about ability, agility, spin, nerdy appearance all sound so hollow. That a relatively innocuous left-arm spinner was chosen ahead of him in the ICC World Test 11 (2005) now seems daft. His place in the pantheon is assured. Any further peaks scaled, be it in the IPL, as a commentator, software programmer or freelance photographer, are only incidental.

Gary Kirsten's Role

Ruschil Aggarwal — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 11:45:29 -0500

India is pushing claims for the top spot in Test Cricket, and it is hard to overlook the man who may be instrumental in the getting the team there.

Gary Kirsten, in his prime, was the resilient, if at times dour batsman, who took guard to face the fiery opening bursts of a Mcgrath, Ambrose or Akram and often came out with flying colours.

In South Africa’s second innings as a cricketing nation, his contribution was right up there with Donald’s, in catapulting his country to the status of a powerhouse. His colossal on-field performances have guaranteed him his exclusive identity, besides that as Peter Kirsten’s half-brother.

Could this introverted, soft-spoken, but tough tittie, shepherd the star-studded Indian team towards green pastures? Or rather, greener pastures after the Test victory in England and the T20 World Cup win? Someone in the BCCI certainly thought so!

However his initial foray at the helm of affairs makes for an interesting re-cap. For starters, it was announced in November ’07 his contract would commence only in March!

With high-profile and exacting contests against Pakistan and Australia scheduled from December through to February, one has to raise the question 'WHY'. When a senior pro was considered critical to lead in Tests instead of the captain-in-waiting Dhoni, why wasn’t Kirsten considered an indispensable member of the contingent?

Apparently it was the BCCI that approached him for the job, indicating that he started off with a significant bargaining power.

Then that fractious and now legendary SCG Test where cricket was no less than a full-fledged war! Captain Kumble and team-manager LS Rajput were straining their nerves to set things right as Ponting, Symonds, Clarke, Hayden were up-in-arms against an Indian off-spinner. The entire cricketing fraternity and also the media seemed to have had just one topic to chew on while opinions were filtering in across the globe from any Tom, Dick and Harry with a cricketing pedigree, as enthusiastic fans like yours truly lapped them up.

Tempers flared, as the combatants clashed to gain the moral upper hand. Quite bizarrely, the coach incumbent remained an almost non-entity for the initial days before coming out with a statement applauding the way Anil Kumble had led from the front, and handled the situation adroitly. It was almost as if Kirsten could not care less till his tenure commenced.

Upon appointment, his very first move was to make the assistant-coach and team-manager LS Rajput redundant. Robin Singh was also nearly dispensed with, as was Venkatesh Prasad until Kumble and Dravid stood up for their erstwhile team-mates.

In his inaugural test as coach, the team crashed to a humiliating innings defeat against South Africa! For a team that valiantly held its ground against the wizard of Oz, the drawn Test series and the reversals against Sri Lanka as well as the ODI defeats appeared out of character.

In the intervening period, the coach was in the news only for a comment on Kumble’s future and Dhoni’s prospects, for which he received a severe admonishment from the BCCI. I would be the first to vote for a coach who quietly does his bit behind the scenes over an in-your-face Guru Greg, but Gary has often appeared too laid-back.

Clearly he deserves his share of credit for the triumphs against Australia & England, but it is hard to suppress doubts over his role in the team.

While Kirsten was an eminent batsman of his times, Sachin, VVS and Dravid, quite blatantly, do not need him. No coaching manual can ever coach Sehwag. Kirsten’s contribution can only be judged from the performances of the younger batsmen in the team. Among the new lot, it is only Gambhir who has gained in stature.

I’m no-one to speak of his input at team-meetings and strategising, but with a headstrong, assertive and resourceful man like Dhoni as captain, and specialist staff to deal with bowling and fielding, Kirsten may end up mirroring the John Wright of the 2004-05 season, who was accorded little respect by Ganguly.