Bleacher Report - Articles by Dann Khan

The Coin, the Woman, and the Great Game Of Cricket

Dann Khan — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:35:02 -0400

The Coin

The story behind this is that the coin often decides the match. Especially in the 50-over format. Statistics agree with this as well. In fact the toss favouring the winner has become such a common phenomenon, that the very existence of this ODI format is in danger as the matches have become so predictable.

The thing is, match conditions (including both weather and pitch condition) can change over the match. Especially in day and night match where the dew factor comes in the second innings. So often the toss winning captain gets to do the bowling or batting(whichever is the better option) in the best possible conditions.

In t20 cricket, the whole game is so short that there is usually not much change. And also, the aim of the game is very much to attack so teams, end up scoring high in any case.

Test cricket can allow both the teams to face the conditions over five days. So it isn't much of a problem.

It is basically the 50 over game that is being hugely affected.

So some of the great thinkers think that some new rules should be made to help counter this over favouring.

The great Indian Batsman Sachin Tendulkar, a person who is supposed to be a genius when it comes to the game, feels that to counter this problem, the one day game should be broken into four innings of 25 overs each. This would result in both the teams having a fair share of the good and bad conditions. Also, a team lagging behind can make up in it's second innings. So matches would be more competitive.

I have great respect for you Mr. Tendulkar, and I am one of your biggest fans, but I disagree. What is the point of having twenty five-over innings when we already have the T20 or the twenty over game?

But I have another reason for not wanting this t25.

Isn't the toss supposed to give an advantage to one team? Isn't that what it is meant for.

Not just in Cricket, but in all the games in the world, there is something called luck, which often makes the game so much more interesting. And almost all the games in this world have some system through which one team, or player gets an advantage. Take a look at chess, one person moves first and the other moves second. Either can be an advantage situation depending on what you prefer. So in each match someone gets an advantage. And when one wants to play first while the other wants to play second, both get the advantage.

Similarly in cricket, when one team wants to bat and the other wants to bowl then it sets up a cracking game! The toss doesn't matter, and still it matters. Because if you take the coin away from the game, such a brilliant setup will never occur.

Also, the art of reading the pitch will die.

So why do you want to make the game 'fairer'?

The Woman

The lady up in the photograph is Claire Taylor. ICC woman player of the year 2009. A fine batsman. Averages 40-plus in both ODIs and Tests. She is also a good glovewoman and keeps wickets some times. She also ended up as the highest scorer in the Women's World Cup and was the player of the series. To add to her resume, her team England' were crowned the world champs after the tournament.

Shows we have so much female talent along with all the male talent. Shows how cricket is not only a man's game.

I salute you Clair Taylor. You have really made the the the female sex proud. You have made them feel that they can compete despite being the two X chromosomes version of the homo sapiens and they don't require the X and Y chromosomes.

But I think the ICC doesn't like it like that. The ICC, along with all it's other faults is highly male chauvinist. The sad part is, this one "Female Player of The Year" award hides this fact.

Why don't we have The Female Test Player of the Year, The Female ODI player of the year, Female t20 Performance of the year, The Female Emerging player of the year...

The ICC also has only one award for the associate countries (Associate Player of the year). So it seems the women teams like associate teams!

Also, Women world cups don't have semi finals. The Top Four of the Super eight, or Super six stage are the Top Four teams of the world. The Top Two play the final and the next two play a third place of. This does make the game less competitive. The fourth best team could have beaten the No.1 team from if you had proper Semis.

Here again 'luck' factor is being taken away from the game. But look at the difference in the situation. In case one, everyone wants to remove this factor, in case two, no one cares. And this is what we call Cricket. The game is moving forward but is leaving half the world behind.

Women commentators also face this chauvinism. In fact, women face discrimination in all the ways they can. Isn't sport supposed to be a way to bring hearts together? Then how can we break so many hearts?

Cricket is called a great leveler. But the way things are going, I think this saying will have to be changed

Cricket is not only unfair to the bowlers these days. There is another huge group.

I think all of us are also at fault. When, we analyzed the ICC awards, no one looked at this. Everyone was concerned with important things. But all about the masculine sex.

I am forewarning you all, whether cricket dies, or not is another matter. But woman support will die for sure

Award Ceremony No. 2: When Expectations Increase

Dann Khan — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:42:23 -0400

And finally, we reach the time when we declare the awards. For those who do not know, awards were introduced for cricket writers by me a couple of months ago. You can check it out here.

I am not overly impressed with this month's performance. If this was the first month, everything would have been great...but it isn't. We still aren't gelling very well as a community. Repetition of topics is still happening a lot. We should allow others a chance, too.

We cannot grow so selfish that we write on everything. This was seen when assignments were given to various writers for the Champions trophy. This meant that you only wrote on your own team and not on any other. This rule was happily broken by some of our friends by finding ways out like experienced law-breakers.

I don't want to write a law book here and make everything very professional, so don't force me to do so. I take it for granted that things would be done in the proper spirit.

Also, we still haven't started to read and comment on other pieces. Believe me, doing this would help you get a greater number of comments and reads, too. Please work in these areas.

I am very disappointed about the fact that we are only having a small group of people excelling. We require everyone to shine and not just a few names. We also require some women writers to come up and don't make it a "malewashed" award function.

We are still learning, but we require to do so fast.

And now, we come to the Awards.

We start with the Most Read Piece of the Month. I am not going to go on and on about this one. It was a fairly easy choice. It goes to Sam Hampson! For his slide show Sri Lanka: Small Nation, Big Team

Congratulations to Sam. Well done.

The next one in the line is the Most Commented Piece of the Month. This goes to Gautham Chakravarthi! Another person who made his debut this month.

Gautham got this award for his Putting the Cricketer Under Microscope. Thanks for raising this debate, mate. The article stands at 44 comments.

We move on to the next award. The Comment Maker of the Month. This is something I will always value a lot. Good inputs as a writer is an easier job than good inputs as a commenter. You have to think about the topic from the other person's view and then intelligently comment.

Gautam Chakravarthi, who by now is an expert at winning awards, won this one, too.

I have used up all my vocabulary already for this man and his great contribution, so I will not waste time congratulating him again. I would just say thanks to him for being such a good mate.

After this, the next category is the Most Interactive Person. Anyone who has been an all-rounder. He has commented a bit, written a bit, and has been good. And this has gone to Gautham Chakravarthi again!

Gautam's contribution has also been given in the form of highlighting some particularly brilliant pieces of work for me. So the person who has won the Best Writer award also has Gautam to thank. Thanks for bringing the best pieces to my attention and making my job easier.

The next award is the Most Prolific Writer of the Month. I will just leave it by declaring that Gautam Chakravarthi won! Our Gautam is having a purple patch just like Gautam Gambhir had.

I would like to add that there were people who wrote more. But their content was below standard level.

After this, we come to the Best Debut into Cricket Section. We've already seen the new writers getting various awards, but let's now come to the award made specially for them. For this award, again we have a tie.

It went to Sam Hampson. Sam has shown great skill. Both his articles this month reflected a clear thinking within the mind and a good use of vocabulary. Well done, Sam. I am very pleased to have you around.

Now, we come to the Article of the Month. There were some fantastic pieces written during this period. Some pieces with emotion, some with absolute thought, some with innovation, but all with good skill. It was very difficult for me to decide. Almost impossible to do it.

But finally, after thoroughly going through the eight shortlisted pieces two or three times, I selected Of Cricket, Controversies, and Change Management by Chandra Jayaramakrishnan! So now Chandra has won this award twice in a row. It is unfortunate he doesn't find time to write more than just one piece. Otherwise, who knows where he would have been?

Along with him, Dave Harris got the award for his series of articles under "Diary of a Club Cricketer." I know I am giving it to him for more than one article, but these pieces are incomplete without one another, so it is important all of them get recognition. I am leaving the link to the first part only, but the rest should also be looked at. Diary of a Club Cricketer: Part One.

Lastly, and one of the most prestigious awards, the Best Writer of the Month goes to...a very good writer. I will not waste our precious time. It is once again...Gautam Chakravarthi!

Getting four awards is simply fantastic. I had decided not to give more than three to a person. But sometimes you just can't help it.

Congratulations to all the award holders.

I would like to mention Vishrut Aggarwal, my fellow Jury member's name. He selected the Best Writer, Most Commented Piece, and Most Prolific writer. Thank you, Vishrut, for your contributions.

For the next month, we will not allow Gautam Chakravarthi to get anything for a change. He is this month's jury member alongside me.

Thank you all.

Tamim Iqbal and the Hopes Of Bangladeshi Cricket

Dann Khan — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:19:31 -0400

I know that the Champions Trophy is going on right now and, therefore, this article might seem a bit irrelevant given that it is about a player from a team that did not even play in the tournament.

But still, I think he has to be mentioned here. I think this is the time to discuss him, too, basically because no one else has mentioned him so far and when I saw highlights of a match in which he was playing, I felt it was not fair to him.

Tamim Iqbal, the young opening batsman from Bangladesh is so un-Bangladeshi and yet so Bangladeshi.

I know I am starting with this contradiction. But this is the truth.

Iqbal, like many of the other players from Bangladesh, is talented.

But unlike the others, he is a lot more consistent. Unlike the others, he exhibits a lot more patience when he bats. And unlike the others he does not get too overwhelmed by the situation and lose his head.

His figures, though fast catching up to the way he is playing currently, are not something you want to go by right now. You just have to see him to feel the greatness inside him.

Some time back, we saw his brilliance against Zimbabwe in the bilateral series between the two teams. The most memorable knock was that match winning 154, through which he showed us that he is an accumulator as well as a big hitter.

On the other hand, these are the same things that have been said about most of young and talented cricketers from Bangladesh in the past. Be it Mohammad Ashraful or Habibul Bashar or Aftab Ahmad. So we are yet to know fully whether the trend will continue or a new era will begin.

But still, when I look at the Bangla team today, I find it incomplete without the 20-year-old Tamim. I have seen him grow into a proper batsman over the last two years. He is no longer the overly flashy 18-year-old boy who just wanted to smash the ball.

He has fast realized that he has to learn how to build innings and look to stay at the crease for a long time. He has understood that if he manages to do this, the runs will come.

Still, he hasn't learned the art perfectly yet. He often throws away his innings after getting a good 30, 40, or a 50. And that is one of the reasons why I call him so Bangladeshi.

The Batsman has also yet to establish himself into the test arena—so that is one area he has to work on. But once he manages this bit, Iqbal will be well on his way to becoming a world beater.

Iqbal is also someone who is not scared of any opposition. This is a fact that can be verified by looking at the fifties he has got against the top test playing nations. Be it India, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, or Pakistan.

Many years ago, a man called Sunil Gavaskar had come to the Indian team. He was one man who did not care who the bowler was—if the ball was there to be hit, he hit it.

Today, a lot of what the Indian cricket team has become is because of him.

Now, why do I talk about the hopes of Bangladesh here?

Of course, because he is capable pulling them out of their current state in the world of cricket. But also because his countrymen finally may find their Sachin (Tendulkar). The man who can produce the goods again and again. The man who can be imitated by the children playing on the streets.

And let me tell you, if you are able to find an idol for yourself, life becomes a lot easier to live. The person becomes your Sports God.

God might exist or might not exist, but the idea of him being there to look after us is what matters. All the mythological stories about gods and goddesses only serve the purpose of a lesson. The lesson is to have a never-say-die attitude.

So if Tamim Iqbal does not end up like many of the previous Bangla talents, then there is great news for the world and this tiny country called Bangladesh.

There is only one thing I fear now—the Andy Flower phenomenon, which is the phenomenon of a great player getting stuck on a team that cannot match his skill.

And with the team that Bangladesh is, that is very likely.

The Rather Interesting Case of Fielding

Dann Khan — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:21:04 -0400

Coming to think of it, fielding is something that is massively important in cricket. It is often the part of the game which makes the difference between a winning unit and a decent unit. Fielding is not that complicated to learn, but at the same time is very difficult to cover the basics well.

I have been thinking about this topic for a few days now. And these are the various thoughts that came to my mind. Some of them are not connected at all, but are still there.

Cricket before the '90s was not too worried about this fielding though. During this period, it considered proper to let the ball roll down to the boundary if it could not be saved without a dive. You could say it was considered gentlemanly. That makes me wonder, wasn't this game favoring the batsmen even then?

Well this of course has the obvious answer. It is true, as there used to be the gentlemen and the workers who used to play cricket. The gentlemen were rich upper class people while the workers were the opposite. And the gentlemen did most of the batting (Quite obviously as it is easier to bat on a hot day than bowl) while the workers did most of the bowling. So batting was considered more important.

So just by the example of fielding we are able to see how cricket has worked. We can see how time has changed cricket and how we don't have this upper and lower class any more (at least on the field). We also see that it is not a modern day idea that the bat dominates the ball.

Another reason why fielding was not given as much attention was possibly because it was the least stylish of all the cricketing arts. Purist ideology has got some serious problems with the not-so-good looking aspects. For some reason they lack "purity" and panache.

I agree, maybe it is not stylish but it is more substance. So fielding is directly proportional to substance and inversely proportional to style. The proportionality constant is the player who keeps on looking to balance between the two. And let me tell you, this constant is hardly constant.

Cricket was also not a well paying profession for quite some time. All the cricketers worked somewhere or the other to take care of their needs. So in such a situation was it worth risking an injury and field the ball which might win you the match but not your meal?

So it can be said that fielding is one of the reasons why cricket has evolved. If boards would not have paid for better fielders, we would have never reached these heights in cricket. Even test cricket would have died. So as competitiveness increased due to better fielding, resulting in better payments as cricket got better. So fielding is directly proportional to cricketing money.

Coming to today's game, fielding is the key to being a great side. All numero uno sides have fielded well. West Indies were very good by the standards of the time when they dominated. They were not stuck with notions of gentlemanism and looked to field the ball. Australia and South Africa have also been some very good fielding sides. India were also brilliant when they won the 1983 world cup.

But though we see a direct link with best team and great fielding, there is no such link as good team and average fielding or bad team and bad fielding. Good teams also have very good fielding, but for other reasons are not good enough. There are some good teams with very mediocre fielding. It is just that their other departments are exceptional or very good.

When it comes to the bad or rather the poor performing teams, it becomes very confusing. Some of them have excellent fielders, but for some reason they do not always field well and on other occasions they are like champions. It is surprising why it is like this, as fielding is not that much dominated by the technique as much as by athleticism. So where does it disappear on some occasions?

I think this shows that fielding is also very much influenced by form. Unlike the general belief. It gets hugely affected by the situation and your mental peace.

So these were my thoughts. Highly unstructured, but a lot of what I think about cricket.

The True Fans Found In India

Dann Khan — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 04:32:16 -0400

It said often, that India only has two passions, Cricket and Bollywood (Indian film industry). And now that so many of our movie stars are getting connected to cricket as team owners, mascots for teams, team ambassadors etc., I don't think I would be wrong in saying that India is ruled by the sport called cricket.

Currently, India are doing fairly well at cricket. We have just reached the number one spot in the rankings (it is another matter, it was only for a day and few minutes) and we also just won the tri-series event.

Currently everything is nice about Indian cricket. But thing were not so good, when India did not do very well in the world t20 championship (20-20 is a form of cricket) and lost the title which they had earned two years ago.

People were very upset with the team's poor performance. Everything that was done well, before the tournament notwithstanding.

This is when I, for the first time, thought about Indian football. Football is a sport hardly recognized in India. There are many football fans, but most of them support Manchester United, AC Milan, Chelsea and other European teams.

There aren't many who care about the teams from Bengal, Punjab, Hyderabad etc. I don't know the teams myself, and that too shows how little we care about Indian football (I of course don't watch much football anyway).

This is basically because we Indians are people who look to succeed; we look for places where we can succeed. We don't look for passions; we look passions that can make us happy without too much work.

And this nature is only very recently developed, earlier when India were minnows in cricket, we still found the backing. This has only started after the ascent of cricket.

Loving football in India would make you just the opposite of this nature. It would make you a minnow lover. And loving minnows doesn't reap fruits very often.

That is why, I salute my school mate and friend Shreyas Chitnis, a person who used to write on football some time back. You could see the glow in his eyes when India won the Nehru cup, you could see it mattered.

He is one of the few fans in India, who has had to repeatedly face smatterings as the Indian team often makes an early exit, from tournaments. You finally realize how much those wins, which come few and far between, matter.

For the first time, I respected the players of Bangladesh, who are trying so hard to become a better cricketing nation. They try to be positive but often fail and the critics call them a side that isn't willing to learn.

These Indian football fans hear this kind of criticism all the time. It is very hard to be positive and follow a sport in such a situation.

Shreyas and others like him are doing a fantastic job and are holding a candle that has almost burnt out on their palms. Thinking of ways to make the candle grow back to it's full height. And all this, when their hands are burnt and burdened with the losses.

I, Dann Khan or Anushrut (my real name), openly admit that Indian football fans are a the Ideal fans. They are people following the sport and not the winners. It is one of the reasons why their understanding of the game is much better than ours.

ps-I also, admire fans of any other sport which India plays as a minnow( almost everything other than cricket). It is just that India's Nehru cup victory made me write this piece on football.

Pitch Perfect: The First Cricket Writers Awards Ceremony

Dann Khan — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:15:05 -0400

And finally we reach the time when we declare the awards. For those who do not know, awards were introduced for cricket writers by me a month ago. You can check it out here.

But before I finally announce the winners, I would ask you all to read patiently and not go and look at the results immediately.

It is because I want to give you a small report about the month that has just gone by. I think it is very important we look at how we have fared.

Our community had over 50 articles releasing between Aug. 15 and Sept. 9, the period during which the articles were considered. Most of them were fairly well-written and had decent content. But there were a few problems.

1) A very good number of them were about the Ashes, and we often ended up reading the same thing 10 times. So it is important that we do not get so carried away by one big series and look to give in our inputs about things that are less popular too.

2) Many of us just started reporting matches. I think it should be clear that we do not look to only report. We are not cricinfo, which tells you what happened every match. We are all intelligent minds who think about cricket.

So it is important that we also look to write about broader issues of cricket and what we think of the game. But we can report at the same time. That is also important. So a balance has to be struck.

3) We still are not doing too well on the reading and commenting front. We have had a few guys trying, but all of us need to read what others write and share our thoughts with them. This is the only way we actually grow.

I do not mean to tell anyone that you are bad. But it is important that we look at a few crucial things.

Other then this......I AM REALLY HAPPY!

Life is back into this section and all for you have worked very hard and have looked to take the section to new heights with sound bases. Keep up the good work. It is very encouraging to see writers responding so well to a call I made last month.

It is always nice to know that people back you, and I am very happy that my first step as a Community Leader has led to some success.

And now, we come to the Awards.

We start with the Most read piece of the month. I am not going to go on and on about this one. It was a fairly easy choice. It goes to Kaustubh Chaturvedi! For his slide show The 10 Greatest Run Machines of All Time.

What all of you don't know, is that this is Kaustubh's very first piece on Bleacher Report. Well done, Kaustubh, we wish you a great time on BR. The article stands at 427 reads.

The next one in the line is The most commented piece on the month. This goes to Goutham Chakravarthi! Another person who made his debut this month.

Goutham got this award for his Shane Warne: A Phenomenal Leader. Thanks for raising this debate, mate. The article stands at 40 comments.

We move on to the next award. The Comment maker of the month. This was something that I personally valued a lot. It was tough to choose, not only because of what I have mentioned in the beginning of the this article, but also because the the people who would be considered, were very closely in competition.

Finally, it had to go to both of the main contenders: Mark Bateman and Adam Dennehey! Both of them have given some very good inputs to other writers and there comments show that they have look to learn from others and help others learn too. Thanks a lot guys. We just hope we get a lot more comments from you. Mark has also made his debut this month.

After this, the next category is The most interactive person. Anyone who has been an all-rounder. He has commented a bit, written a bit and has been good. And this has gone to Goutham Chakravarthi again!

Very well done. Within his first month, he has really looked to get into the the thick of things and has been helpful in every possible way. Congratulations, mate!

The next Award is The most prolific writer of the month. For this awards, quantity was the main criterion but quality was given a some consideration. Finally we had Vishrut Aggarwal and Omer Jawed. Vishrut wrote one more article than Omer.

But I thought Omer also had to be given recognition for some very good writing. And since both the writers were on par when it came to writing skill, the difference of one mattered little. Omer is another debutant this month.

After this, we come to the Best debut into cricket section. We already seen the new writers getting various awards but lets now come to the Award made specially for them. For this award again we have a tie.

It went to Mark Bateman and Kaustubh Chaturvedi! Both of them, have done a very good job. Mark wrote pieces bringing in his experienced writing skill from the other BR domains, while Kaustubh showed great potential in his only piece on cricket. He regularly responded to the comments he receive and was very enthusiastic.

Kaustubh may currently be the youngest member of our Community who is writing, but he seems ready to develop quickly. Mark is always a great guy to read.

Now we come to to the Article of the month. There were some fantastic pieces written during this period. Some pieces with emotion, some with absolute thought, some with innovation but all with good skill. It was very difficult for me to decide. Almost impossible to do it.

But finally, after thoroughly going through the eight shortlisted pieces 2-3 times. I selected Great Expectations: The Fall and Rise of Mr. Cricket by Chandra Jayaramakrishnan! A very well-written piece, whose beauty was unfortunately not understood by me in the very first go, but giving it that second look has really helped. Read it!

It is brilliant when it comes to language and the use of it. It is innovative in its own way and also has very good content. We just hope that Chandra can give us more pieces of this kind.

And last and the one of the most prestigious awards, The best writer of the month goes to...a very good writer.

Someone who has looked to improve and has learnt very quickly. Someone who has shown great skill and is also great help when it comes to other writers in the form of comments. But since we are only concerned with the writing part, we will stick to that.

I from the very first day said, that a good writer has to respond to his comments, he has also done that.

So finally, to conclude this ceremony and finish this last bit of suspense, we call the person who has made great strides in this very first month of his, Gautam Chakravarthi!

Getting three awards during your debut month is simply fantastic.

Congratulations to all the award holders. And I am very happy to see that there are so many debutantes in the list. So it is time for us veterans to pull up our socks and work hard.

And for those who did not make it this time, there is no such thing as a free lunch, so now instead of working hard, work the hardest. Good luck and don't forget, it was just that you were not the best it is not that you weren't good.

We will have the same Awards for the coming month. The articles written after Sept. 9 will also be considered for this.

Later during this month or maybe the month after that, I will look to bring in more interesting things.

Special thanks to Rocky Getters and the secret Jury member for helping. For this month, we will have Vishrut Aggarwaal also in the Jury, next month, it can be you. I want all of you to get a chance to be at the other end of the table, too.

Thank you all.

If Arrogance Were Taught Properly...

Dann Khan — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:25:05 -0400

Given as the reason for all the problems,

Accused of tampering with perfectly good brains,

I cry and hide from thou

Yes, I am scared of thy fury,

I am scared.

Not cause I can't faceth thy fiery mouth,

But cause I cannot bare lies

Lies. Or rather combination of lies and ignorance

Ignorance of my truth

Truth, which is like a ambrosia if taken in right quantity

But, ambrosia along with pain if taken out of proportion

If you ask me what I think of arrogance, this is what I will say.

You may think I myself must be a very arrogant person to advocate arrogance. But let me tell you, no person who is arrogant would admit he or she is arrogant. It is because arrogant people don't realize this fact about themselves. So how can they advocate something without realizing that they follow it.

I may or may not be arrogant. I do not know.

But I think I do know what it actually means.

This is the dictionary meaning of the word- an offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.

It is very correct. Just that you have to take it at its face value and nothing else. This is the mistake we have all made when we call people arrogant.

Sportspeople need to be offensive, overbearing and try to show that they are superior. It is a mind game before the physical one and there is nothing wrong with it. Games are often in the mind. It is precisely the reason why underdogs fail to face the top stars despite having such a high level of talent.

But nowhere is it written that games are won only in the mind. Nowhere is this fact mentioned that the low level of skill can be made up for by being overly haughty. Thinking that can only lead to one place, the bottom of the pile. If you take your haughty behaviour which is hollow from inside, the opposition will thrash you and then laugh at the haughtiness.

So how is arrogance the only reason why you fell down?

That photograph up there says "Arrogance and Envy." It is because when you envy the opposition as they are more skilled, you put up a fake attitude which is again fake arrogance or fake haughtiness to counter a fear that might prop up in your mind due to that envy.

So here again, how is it only arrogance that led to your downfall?

There is an old saying "United we stand, divided we fall".

When we work hard, we concentrate hard, we don't get distracted by lesser things, we stick to a discipline and when everything goes right, we become arrogant to put an extra fear in the opponent's mind.

But when we don't work hard, we don't concentrate; we get distracted, we leave our discipline and remain arrogant. Now how is arrogance going to do the work four things did earlier to get us success?

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both have understood it and experienced this phrase of everything else and the "A" word and nothing and the "A" word.

The Australians in cricket have experienced this. When they were all strong and up with a good team with a high level of skill which was maintained by the players the arrogance worked. The moment they lost the player and tried to keep haughty temper without rebuilding the team, they fell like the Empire States building.

And now, before I conclude, I would like you all to think and tell me, is there ever a situation where everything else was done right and still arrogance let you down? Is there?

In fact, you will realize that this domineering behavior is quite effective if you have got the basics right. This is the reason why underdogs beat the top dogs

So, this is where the problem arises. Arrogance is not taught properly.

So all of us have a role to teach this fact to others after we learn it ourselves. So that never in the future is there a time where this very interesting word is only left with it's negative aspect a it was not taught properly.

Please tell me your views.

The Forgotten Kiwis and Lankans Series

Dann Khan — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:51:08 -0400

The guy up their in that picture is Ross Taylor. I am sure this picture somewhat tells you the way the New Zealand cricket team might be feeling. But I am sure the Sri Lankans who won the first test match of the series between these two teams are in a similar pose. It is because this series in Sri Lanka has hardly been paid attention to because of the Ashes going on. The media might be their biggest enemies right now.

I am also not very happy that the cricket community on Bleacher Report wrote tens of articles on the ongoing Ashes. Most of them repeated the same things with just the words being shifted. I know the Ashes was extremely exciting, but still, we report cricket and not any particular game or series only.

So before I talk about the Kiwis and the Sri Lankans, I as the community leader of Cricket Bleacher Report, apologize to Sri Lanka and New Zealand for being indifferent towards them. I will try to make sure this doesn't happen in the future.

In Sri Lanka, we have seen the hosts once again stamping their Authority.

The Lankans have always been very difficulty to beat in their backyard. In fact, they haven't lost a series at home for over two years. Well done Sri Lanka.

However, even they know the team they were facing had been below par for quite some time. Again and again their batsmen failed to play a long innings and usual they fell for not such a big score.

They always have one or two of the batsmen performing, but these batsmen keep on changing and no one batsman plays can be depended upon for consistency or for a long innings.

The Kiwi bowling has also been ordinary. I know they don't have the most talented bowling lineup so they end up looking like a non-lethal unit. But even if we accept that, it is very hard to understand why they are so wayward. Vettori, was better than the rest of them, but still, even he just toiled and toiled. The end result was the same for all. Many runs and no wickets.

The proof of this are those three Sri Lankan hundreds scored. Also, the many hundreds scored by the Kiwi bowlers while bowling. If someone was not very good at reading the cricket score cards he would have mistaken Ian 'O' Brian and Jeetan Patel to be very good batsmen!

But what really must be hurting them is the rate at which Sri Lanka has scored runs. Dilshan is the biggest proof of that. In the whole test he is having a strike rate of over 100.

Sril Lanka have both a great batting lineup and a good bowling unit. Tilakaratne Dilshan was the man of the match, but Jaywardene, Samarweera, Muralitharan, and Thilan Thushara, also gave performances which on other days would have received the Award.

The whole test has been a joke for them. Just go out get wickets, then go out get runs, then repeat the procedure, and then celebrate an victory by 202 runs.

The only good thing that has happened for New Zealand is, that from now on, the captain and the coach of the team will be also have a vote in the selection of players. This is something a struggling team should always do, allow the captain to give his inputs at the top level.

The coach also works at the grass root level with the players, so he has to have a say. I think all countries should at least have their coaches in the selection panel.

But these are things that never happen and I never understand why.

So let's hope this boring series ends up having some fun moments too. I really hope. And don't worry, we will report about you from next time onwards.

Won't we Guys?

Announcing Cricket Awards

Dann Khan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 13:55:03 -0400

Hello friends,

Not only is this the announcement of awards, it is also my way of communicating to you all that I am your new cricket community leader at Bleacher Report.

Some of you may think I am boasting and advertising myself a bit to much, but I am basically trying to say hi to a large audience. And of course, it goes without saying that I am at your disposal 24/7.

So at any point if you need help (which I think should be a rarity given the amount of talent we have here) I am there.

Now let's move on to how the system works

The Awards

1) The best writer of the month

2) The most prolific writer of the month

3) The article of the month

4) The most read piece of the month

5) Most commented piece

6) The comment maker of the month

7) The most interactive person of the month

8) Best debut into cricket section

Criterion for selection

The best writer of the month.

So what would be looked at will be; the clarity of thought, content, quality of English, and variety you provide when you write your articles. Pick of the day votes will also be considered but will not be the main selection criterion. Comments by other people on your pieces will also be taken into consideration

Another factor will be your ability to answer the questions regarding your articles in the comment threads. It is very important for a writer to be able defend his position. So replying to comments also has a part to play.

Also, a minimum of three articles have to be written per month by you or else you will not be considered for this award. This is for a simple reason, a good writer also has to be regular. I say that because his regularity would also help the cricket section improve.

All these awards are also there to help the cricket section improve along with you getting recognised for your work.

The most prolific writer of the month

The most prolific writer, is the writer who writes the most number of pieces in a month. But wait, that does not mean you get the award if you write five articles a day. Your pieces also have to have some decent quality material in them. Material makes a huge difference here.

We don't want articles being posted by the dozen without a solid content. This might affect the quality of the cricket domain. So keep this in mind when you write.

The article of the month

This award just requires one good submission by you. If your article passes all the criterion I have mentioned for becoming the best writer, plus it shows these qualities in a greater measure than any other article, then you win the award.

Innovation and originality will also be one of the main criteria when articles are looked at in this category

The most read piece of the month

I think this is the most self explanatory award. Winning this award might be very easy, just write on one of the popular topics.

But still, I have kept this category because it reflects your popularity levels as a writer, and your capability to pick the popular topics. So you should be recognised for that.

Most commented piece

Most commented piece is one which raises a big debate. And one of the ways to be a good writer is to raise such debates. So again I will make sure you are recognised for that. Though a certain attention will also be paid to the kind of comments written.

A small amount of attention would also be paid to the number of comment maker. At times there are only two people having a very long conversation. So it is important we look into that too.

The comment maker of the month

Best comment maker of the month would be given to someone who not only comments a lot, but puts a lot of thought into them. People who comment a lot are very important. They keep the discussions going and help writers learn. They also give us some crucial points. These points are often the basis for new articles.

The most interactive person of the month

Any person who reads, writes and comments well, will be considered as a candidate to become the most interactive person. Also, how friendly you are with he other members and how much you help them grow is something that I will be looking into.

Interaction covers all this. The person would be some kind of an all-rounder. He is someone who can really take the cricket section far.

Best debut into cricket section

This is the last category. And is only for the the writers who write for the first time on bleacher or write for the first time on cricket. This is to encourage them to write more and help them feel at home.

The Jury

So far there is me and there is Rocky Getters. Anothe rperson is being talked to but is not confirmed yet.

Members of the jury will not be looked at for any of the awards.

Things to keep in mind

In order to help yourself win an award, don't unnecessarily show another person in bad light—it will affect your chances. But I am very sure that none of you will look to get into these kind of politics.

Also, these awards are only incentives to perform. You do not have win an award to prove that you are extremely good. And consistency over a long period of time will be acknowledged even if you don't win anything, so don't worry.

When does the month start?

The 15th of every month—so this month will start on the Aug. 15th.

On the 13th of every month I would be declaring the results on my Community Leader Bulletin board. But for the next two months—so that we get used to this—I will be launching the result in the form of an article too.

Disclaimer

These awards are unofficial and are only for our own use and to improve quality. They do not count with Bleacher Report (but I would still advice you not to take them lightly, recognition within the section is not a bad thing)

Also, this does not mean that the regular Bleacher writer ranking for the section does not count. But these awards will count as much within the section.

Any question you have can be posted as comments. Also make sure you post a link of each article on my bulletin board. So that I don't miss it.

The Not Out Batsman and Cricket

Dann Khan — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:47:15 -0400

In cricket, there are plenty of emotions. In fact, in any sport there are plenty of emotions. But since I am writing on cricket, I will concern myself with nothing else.

So as I was saying, cricket has plenty of emotions. But within the game, there is something which shows you a lot of emotions, too.

It is the "not out batsman."

Think about it for a minute...and now continue to read.

Sometimes, there is just one not outer, and sometimes there are two. And in the cases when there is a lone person, you never see a happy face.

It is because the batsman knows, he is still not out, but he cannot do anything to take his team to victory. He may be angry with the other batsmen for not doing anything to get their team a victory. Though, in such situations, the batsman often blames himself.

If the person is a tailender, he can not be blamed. Batting is not his main job. But the game is so bat-chauvinist these days that the person would still be blamed.

It's very possible that the poor tailender may feel that is was he inability to bat which slowed the scoring. This finally resulted in his partner trying to push things and getting out.

Of course, if it's a top order batsman, it is very difficult to not find fault. He will not feel good about it. Blaming yourself would be the first step.

"Why did I not play more strokes and get my team past the line?" "Could I not have shielded the weaker batsmen?"

Looking at the team inside the dressing room would also give very interesting sights. Some players would try to ease their guilt by blaming the guy. Though, the captain and the coach along with some of the other players would be thinking that it was the whole team that let them down.

I am not saying which is right which is wrong. Because emotions can never be judged.

Taking a look at the situation where two batsmen are left, you feel better at first, but I think it is worse.

Yes, many times the pair of batsmen do return victorious. Happy, that they were able to stick it out and score the winning runs. The captain also feels great.

Maybe the rest of the batsmen did nothing and still they managed to win. But a victory is a victory.

When two return, it can also mean the match is drawn. Which in itself can bring emotions such as happiness, thrill, extreme sadness, dullness, etc., depending on how great this drawn match was.

But what really hurts is when you lose in this situation. It just means that your team could not reach the finish line despite the fact that your runners made it all the way. It means that your guys are not good finishers.

It means that the other team is clearly better than you. If your batsmen are unable to reach the target in the given amount of time, it just means they really need to work hard.

The two guys who are walking back would be blaming each other for every mistake they made on other while playing. Like all other cases, they may also be blaming themselves.

So two things might happen, either, they might be staring at each other or they might not even be in a position to look into each other's eyes

So this is a great position in cricket which often boosts the average of a batsmen but still in some cases it is better to be avoided.

It is a position, from which you may return after the last wicket resulted just like the last straw did on the camel's back. Making it fall.

It is a position, from which you may return like a wounded soldier who held on.

It is a position, from which you returned not bothered by the fact that you lost, but bothered about the burden of the loss the teammates are going to put on your back.

It is a position...

Form and Confidence: Two Words That Really Confuse Me

Dann Khan — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:45:38 -0400

Form is temporary, class is permanent. This is a very old saying. Sports are one area where it is used the most. It is as if the sports fraternity has a monopoly over this word.

The reason for this is quite clear to us, and thus, I will not waste my time explaining it.

I think we also agree that the statement's truth hasn't rusted over the years. It still shines bright.

The reason for this is quite clear too. We all know that losing form is a part of sports and there is almost no way of escaping it. Of course, we get really upset when our favourite player goes through this period, and we really get angry with him but still somewhere inside us we all know that it has to happen some day.

Now, moving on from the well established fact that almost all the players in this world (I say almost to be on the safer side and not encounter any person who would look to point out an exception) lose form at some point in their career, let's look at why a person loses form.

There can be plenty of reasons for this: arrogance, a technical error creeping in, your body tiring as it is getting overworked, just plane and simple anxiety about the fact whether or not you would be able to continue your purple patch etc.

All these points have another link between them. Confidence or rather the loss of it.

Arrogance may be the resultant shield against the thoughts a player sometimes gets. Thoughts about whether he is good enough to continue to face the other top level guys. This may come irrespective of his form. It may just be a random thought that somehow entered his/her mind and seeded itself.

Faults in technique may also arise as a result of trying to correct yourself too much. Because of these very thoughts. Over working your body is may very well be for this reason too.

These last two paragraphs show the anxiety I talked about earlier in the article. So that covers all the points

Of course, bad form can also be a result of aging and your reflexes slowing down which has very little to do with confidence. But all bad patches do not start due to aging.

Something that you must have noticed by now is that loss of form and loss of confidence both lead to one another.

So this raises the question which my head keeps on asking me. Which is lost first—form or confidence?

Some will tell me that it varies from case to case. Some of the others will tell me that it is a mixture of both that puts the player through that lean patch from where recovering is very difficult.

But how can we just accept these answers without thinking about them. Even if they are true, we have to think.

I know I might be doing a futile exercise here. As it doesn't really matter. We cannot stop this process. But then the fact remains, how are we to continue thinking about sports in more than just physical terms if we do not ask these questions?

The one argument in to prove that form is lost first is simply the fact that these lean patches are a phenomenon only professionals deal with. When we play cricket, tennis, golf, football, rugby, baseball, or any other game with our friends just for fun, there is no concept of form. We just play, some days well, some days badly. But neither state is consistent.

But the counter argument to this is that there is no concept of confidence either. The whole thing is for fun and you depend very much on your luck. There is not anxiety.

Another area where this dilemma is very interestingly projected, is when a player performs very well at the lower levels and reaches the top level. And here he performs very badly.

Is it the fact that he was so overwhelmed by the enormity of the level he was playing at or was it just that his level of form was only good for the lower levels? There are varying levels of form depending on your capability and your talent.

Taking another turn, we can come to the point when the players recover from this period of low output. Here as well, what returns first—form or confidence?

I know with each and every step, the main road is dividing just like the aorta divides into capillaries inside our body. But let's not forget these capillaries join back and form the Vena Cava.

All the debate here is so complex that it makes me feel that the two words in question have almost the same meaning. But I suspect it is more because we think of it like that rather than it being like that. But I do not rule out the possibility that it is true.

I think this has to be debated and reactions have to come. And maybe then we reach a conclusion that may just work for some time.

So one again, I open a can of worms. On which I am thinking and hope that you all think too.

Let's try and figure our way out of this puzzle and understand this psychological part part of sports.

Farokh Engineer: A Man Forgotten in Indian Cricket

Dann Khan — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 12:53:45 -0400

Engineer was probably India's first dasher. It is unfortunate that he was stuck with a team which lacked confidence and often looked out of sorts.

I often heard people say that Sunil Gavaskar was the first Indian who was ready to take on the Windies pace battery consisting of Andy Roberts, Micheal Holding, Malcolm Marshall, and Joel Garner.

But Engineer was the first. The only difference was that he was not the most brilliant of batsmen and that is why he did not succeed as often as Gavaskar did.

Engineer, for me, was also a very important person in the team as he had arrogance. And not of the fake kind that many of the current players possess. Nor was it hollow.

I am sure that Gavaskar grew in confidence very much because of this. In fact, I think almost everyone grew in the team grew in confidence because of this.

This arrogance was good enough to match the haughtiness of the white-skinned players. Unlike today, they were times when there was definite element of racism in many of the whites.

But no one would mess with Engineer. They knew he was not going to get pressed easily like the rest of them. In fact, there was a very high possibility that they themselves would have got pressed by him.

Engineer's batting was also something that was quite remarkable. He usually played in the lower order but was often asked to open.

He was quite successful at the top of the order, scoring both his centuries at this position. He was also the opener for India in the very first cricket world cup that was played. And he scored India's first ODI fifty.

Talking about his arrogance and his batting, I forgot to mention about his keeping skills.

Yes, he was a keeper. A fine keeper.

He was a big built person, but he was as agile as anyone today. Take a look at Mark Boucher, the South African wicketkeeper; he is the closest to what Farokh was in built.

The biggest proof of his quality is that he kept well to the Indian spin quartet—Bedi, Prassana, Chandrashekhar and Venkatraghavan. And mind you, they weren't easy to pick. None of the modern greats(as keepers) have not do manged this feat.

So overall, Farokh Engineer was the Mahendra Singh Dhoni of his times. Which is a very sad way of explaining things, as in reality, I think Dhoni is the Farokh Engineer of today. But I can't help it, so many people don't know his value. His figures, though decent, do not make him "comparable" to Dhoni.

Maybe, if he would have played today, we would have realised how well he could bat with these big bats we have today. And given the way he used to bat, I am sure he would have been one of the best and the most expensive buys in the IPL.

Along with playing for India, Engineer also played for Lancashire, the English county team, and was a crucial player in their lineup as well. Later Farokh settled in England.

Despite his flamboyant batting skill, spot on keeping skill, high-quality arrogance, and dashing looks, he is still not known as well as Syed Kirmani, the keeper who succeeded him. Just because Kirmani was a part of the winning side in the 1983 World Cup.

It is not that Kirmani does not deserve the fame. He was a fine keeper too. But just not as much as Farokh deserved it.

What a great 14 year career (1961-75). What a great Farokh.

Andrew Flintoff's Decision To Quit Test Cricket Highlights a Wider Problem

Dann Khan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:53:30 -0400

Yesterday, one of England's greatest assets decided to retire from test cricket. He said that his body could not cope anymore.

England might never recover from losing Andrew Flintoff. He was a batsman who could bludgeon any opposition, and opponents feared his bowling. He was not always able to fulfill his potential as a player, but his mere presence was enough to intimidate the opposition.

Instead of discussing his talent, I want to understand what has caused this new kind of retirement. Bowing out from one format of the game to give your body a rest so you can last longer in another.

This is one ball that Flintoff could not avoid.

There is something quite interesting about this. A few months ago Jacob Oram, the Kiwi all-rounder, said he will give up either his batting or his bowling to continue to play the game in all three formats.

Is it almost impossible for a player to bat and bowl and enjoy a long career in all forms of the game? It comes down to the amount of cricket being played.

So, what are we doing to cricket? Rid it of all-rounders? Maybe soon we could rid it of some of the batsmen and bowlers as well.

What are we getting by playing so much cricket?

Don't worry though, things will even out. To compensate for the amount of cricket played today, we can look forward to a future where there is no cricket at all. All the players would be incapacitated due to an injury, or would have abandoned the sport.

To be a sportsperson, high fitness levels and stamina are required, but this is getting a bit crazy. You have a domestic tournament like the IPL, which has quasi-top level cricket being played for a month. This increases the risk of players getting injured.

They could also get hurt in the domestic season, but the IPL requires higher levels of energy, so the chances are less.

These are the long-term consequences:

1) Limited overs cricket gaining the upper hand over test cricket. Most players think that test cricket is the ultimate game. But if so many of them decide to quit, as their bodies are unable to withstand the rigours of the game, then it doesn't make a difference what the players think.

The way the ICC is going, I'm sure they would capitalise on this by adding a few more T20 tournaments.

2) The quality of cricket is going to drop. The most talented players are the most adversely affected by a greater amount of cricket. Their team depends on them for good performances. If they are the guys moving out of the game, cricket is not going to be worth watching.

We will start seeing more second-string teams playing at the top level. Not because boards were unable to pay the the top players, but because the first string were unfit.

Another very interesting point is raised: Are players match fit?

These guys go to the gym and work out for hours, then they break down on the field. Is this fitness training really beneficial?

Geoffrey Boycott once said, "Players today are gym fit. Not match fit."

This sums up the entire problem.

Cricket is not growing in the right direction. All boards these days want their players to have great muscles, and that's all. They forget that this move can really prove dangerous.

First of all, spending longer in the gym means less time to work on a players individual game.

Secondly, if players give the proper time to practice, along with working overtime in the gym, then he they are bound to end up like Freddie did.

If things continue as they are, the future of cricket is not very bright. Meaning our future is not very bright, as we will not have anything to write about! It is important we raise such issues. Not only because we love the sport, but also because we will lose our jobs.

This Ashes Guarantees a Rise Of Lot More Than Just a Team

Dann Khan — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:04:06 -0400

As we all know, Ashes is the oldest rivalries in cricket. According to me, it is the biggest one too. These days people do think that India-Pakistan, India-Australia and Australia-South Africa have overtaken it, but I disagree. Maybe these have been more competitive over the last few years, but nothing matches this when it comes to the enormity of the occasion.

Another thing that makes this rivalry so interesting is that it has not come up because there was a very competitive series between the two teams. Nor was it because the two teams had a series in which a battle of abuses was running parallel to the test match. The series is a result of the humiliation the Englishmen felt after their first loss to the Australians.

The English papers called the defeat the death of English cricket. After that, the English went down to the southern hemisphere to take their own back. It was called the quest to regain the Ashes. When England won, they were given an urn which contained the ashes of burnt wood. I am not sure if they were burnt stumps, bails or a ball.

The tiny urn, still reveals this story. To a keen observer, it also shows the story Harold Larwood, and the criticism he faced for bodyline bowling while Douglas Jardine. The mastermind of this act was let go because he belonged to the bourgeois. At the same time it also brings memories of Botham's Ashes, where Iam Botham, the greatest English allrounder ever to have existed, won his nation the Ashes almost single-handedly. These are the stories that just came to my mind right now. There are plenty more.

For quite some time, even though Australia won the urn more times, usually the series gave you some great spectacles and some highly competitive cricket. However, this reduced as the years have gone by. Australia, as we all know dominated cricket like anything for over a decade. England on the other had, took the opposite direction. They became one of the teams that always remained in the middle of the table and went to the lower part quite often.

After the 2005 Ashes, it seemed like things would change. But unfortunately the only thing it did was make Australia stronger. And this was proved by them in the 2007 Ashes when the won 5-0.

But the last year has been terrible for the the Aussies and England have maintained their average standards.

So this is a most even contest which has taken place between them in quite some time. Maybe the baggy green wearers are still stronger but still, this time both the teams have to get up.

Both the teams have to rise from the Ashes.

And this is what sets us for a great Ashes. Finally a fight when both teams will be forced to give their best as they know losing this would really put them down. Maybe not in the rankings, but definitely in their own eyes. It is for you to decide which you think is worse.

And if you ask me, they head to head series wins and losses record don't shouldn't even be talked about. This is an opportunity to reinvent the whole rivalry. Give the whole thing a new base.

And this is crucial at this point of time. Because if this happens, test cricket gets a new life. And if test cricket gets a new life, ICC will be forced to forget about the at the 'reforms' they were thinking of to improve test cricket.

It will also be slap on t20 cricket's face. An answer to the prayers of so many true cricket fans who are tired of this the compromises made with test cricket to include the twenty over format.

But most importantly, it will bring the fans back. And that would solve many of the problems.

So this Ashes, is the most crucial moment in the history of cricket in a very very long time. It will provide it will almost double the force of test cricket. And this is a power only Ashes has. No other rivalry can do this.

The urn fired from the test cricket cannon will turns out to be stronger than the cannon balls.

We may see the end of a painful era where we lose what actually is cricket.

But unlike this t20 cricket era, the new one will not kill other forms. Because test cricket is not a killer. It is a saint who has come to our rescue in the form of the Ashes.

This Ashes guarantees a rise of lot more than just a team.

So at this point, the least we can do is watch the Ashes leaving all other cricket matches. And also hope the following prophesy turns out to be true.

When the land of the originator would meet welcome it's rival,

For something that has no price but is priceless,

And niethe rof them hae anything to lose,

Whites would rise once again from the black Ashes.

Old seeds will be sown again,

But in a new soil this time.

Test Cricket Discussions: ICC Talking About Four-Day Matches

Dann Khan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:05:46 -0400

Some time back today, I got to know that ICC is thinking about four-day test matches from five-day test matches so that this oldest format of the game does not die because of the huge rise of T20 cricket.

The ICC chief recently talked about this in any interview. He said this is one of the things they are considering.

If you ask me, this move is highly NOT recommended.

The main reason given behind this is that it may reduce the number of draws. Which would result in a greater audience. Maybe David Morgan, the ICC chief, has no knowledge of this game of cricket.

I will start with proof that is visible to all. Most of the first-class matches are draws. And I know it for a fact that 99 percent of these games are four-dayers.

You can go to Asia, Australia, and its neighbor New Zealand, or to Europe. or the the Africas, the situation remains the same.

I think David Morgan also does not have any common sense. Five days allow the players to play more. So the chances of a result are more.

Maybe the cricketers might start playing a bit quicker and the whole pace of the game might increase, but a huge increase needs to happen if we want more results in a four-day and I don't think players can up the pace so soon.

Also, if weather plays spoil sport, then the chances to get a result remain more in a five-day game.

And if this is the case, then there will definitely be more draws till the players adapt. Which would lead to an instant loss of audience. It might just be too late to bring the audiences by the time players finally adapt.

And even if draws do reduce drastically, then we lose those closely fought draws that we all enjoy. Sometimes the whole match turns out to be so good that we don't really want to see a winner.

These are occasions when we don't want one team to get lucky and win. And four-day matches will definitely reduce this. And this will result in a reduction of interest as well.

And even if the we see more draws, in four days, the draws will not be that close (but this is an assumption I make on the basis of my understanding).

And even if all this is taken care of, the audiences may really not come. In a time when just twenty overs of cricket seems so long to people, reducing a day will not make any huge impact.

Having four day games will also be unfair to players. These guys have been having five days a match for such a long time, think how they will react to this. It will take time for them to adjust.

And today boards are so intolerant and competition is so great, that these guys will get replaced very quickly. This will lead to instability within teams.

Also such a move is not fair to the great players. Even they will take time to adjust. Maybe a bit less than others, but still the will. So are we talking of replacing them, too?

If you ask any player, the person will agree that five days of cricket are a lot tougher than four. So we will also be making the sport easier for the cricketers. The final result to this would be a drop in the player quality across the world.

I am not saying that making things easier for these guys is not right. But this can be done by reducing the amount of cricket played by them. Even a 10 percent decrease will make a difference.

Four-dayers, can clearly be seen as the main enemy of slow batting too. With time reducing, the batters have to score at a greater rate than they do today. So slow batters, no matter how high their averages might be, will have to be dropped.

Slow batting is an art of test cricket which can be crucial at times. So looking to eradicate it is to insult cricketing skill.

A similar situation will be for bowlers with good averages but average strike rates.

All these things clearly highlight the most important point: how the basic game structure is going to get destroyed.

ICC has not understood the fact that changes are very useful in improving the game for today's generation, but it is not good to shake the basic roots of the game.

Modifications have to be made. But shaking the fundamentals is blasphemous. And this new rule can shake of one of the main fundamentals: patience.

Some of the best moments in the game are based on patience and some of the worst are based on the lack of it.

Having day and night matches is such a good idea. Work on that. Work on these good ideas which would help the cricket fans see matches when they are actually free.

Change balls to facilitate this. Or do anything else that helps. But work on good.

Also, having four-day matches at first-class level makes more sense. The young guys are being prepared for tougher stages. Though if possible, I don't mind having at this level too.

So why is this being done?

Why doesn't the ICC realise that they have gain some popularity among real cricket enthusiasts (I don't think the 'fans' who just waste their time arguing when they have no basis for them are any threat to the ICC)?

And most importantly, ICC is there to protect the game and not to try and destroy its basic body because the beard wasn't matching with it.

I would much rather have the beard (t20 cricket) destroyed. But wanting this requires common sense.

Indian Cricket Fans: We Just Want to Bully Someone, Even if We Also Lose

Dann Khan — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:00:45 -0400

Today, I am a die-hard cricket fan. But it all started when I became a die-hard fan of team India.

It was so nice when India won. I used to forget my issues in school and how badly I had been doing there. It was some kind of an escape for me.

But it were the losses that really made the difference to my mind. It left me with no happiness and only sorrow. Both, at home while watching cricket, and in school when I was bullied by fellow mates and scolded by teachers.

Today, I have a lot of knowledge about the game (and I am not boasting). I also have a general keenness to watch any match that's going on.

In school, I have a good equation with most students and teachers are now like slightly senior pals of mine who usually don't really find anything worth scolding me about. They just chat a few times and inquire about my well being.

Any more information about me can be got by posting a note on my bulletin board or by e-mailing me. I have just told you enough so that I can guide you further into my article.

The Indian cricket team is also going through what I went through. A period of bullying.

Being bullied because you performed badly in the t20 World Cup. Being bullied because your captain had not been at his best this time around. And being bullied because of a hundred other reasons I don't know about.

Oh. I forgot to tell you who is the bully—the Indian Audience. Always behind the team when bad performances start to creep in.

But the thing is, unlike the school bullies, these people never stop. So the Indian team can never rise to the level I managed to.

They always have to be on their toes and live to please the bully. Live with a very high level of tension, but always please. And the moment you don't, then you are bullied again.

M.S. Dhoni, the Indian skipper, is being criticized for every move he makes now. His effigies are being burnt along with the other players. He is also being accused of scoring slowly and leaving his old bang-bang style.

But even a few months ago this man was praised for changing his game to suite the team. I agree that he is a bit out of form too (though his 95 in the second ODI against the Windies should help him), but for other reasons.

Isn't it just picking on a person and bullying him? And on something that helped team India some time back.

Also there are many other players in the team who are not doing their job well. But Dhoni is being criticized for all that in the name of bad captaincy. Maybe his captaincy was not as good as it should be, but the reaction is as if he has been performing poorly for over 10 seasons.

Also, the whole team is being sent the wrong signals. Earlier this year when the team lost to New Zealand in the final ODI of their tour to the country, no one really raised questions about how badly the team played.

In that match as well, India got out to a very ordinary score and then lost the match with ease. But India had already won the series.

If they actually had to be criticized then it should have been back then. They were guilty of being arrogant at that point.

At this point, after a bad tourney, all the players are at least trying to improve their game and play better.

But no, we have to discourage them. And the effects will show soon.

In fact, it is already showing. Bullying makes a person lose his self-confidence. And this is exactly what is happening with the party in question. They have been given such a hammering by their country that now they are actually believing that the t20 loss has marked the start of the low for them.

And when a person believes that he or she is on a low, then he is definitely on a low.

The result of this is being seen in the current series India is having with West Indies. The players are actually finding it difficult to regain the same confidence that they had a few months earlier.

Another example of the stupid bullying is talking about how Indian players should not have played the IPL.

Tell me something, would even half of India have watched the matches if the likes of Dhoni and Yuvraj would not have played? And don't say "then they should not have held the tournament" because you yourself would have then complained that such a lovely thing is not happening.

So the whole idea is to enjoy something done more or less exclusively for you and later complain because soon after that, things did not go our way. If nothing else, I thought life has at least taught people that you don't get everything.

But I cannot complain. This is the whole idea behind bullying. Get the pleasures of everything. And enjoy the pleasures of nothing so that you get more.

It does not help anyone in the end, but still no one understands.

All this is the reason why India are still not regarded as world beaters for more than a year or so.

But I think bullying has become a sport more popular than cricket in the country. Thank God I only follow the second-most popular sport of the country.

Cricket These Days:The Value of the Single Has Gone Down

Dann Khan — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 11:01:28 -0400

Running between the wickets has been a very important feature of cricket in recent times. Drop the ball and run. Don't fear anything and run. If you are clever and quick, you cannot be stopped.

Because of this, we have also seen a new term: "intelligent runner." It is a term for a person who may not be the quickest (though not slow, by any means) but knows when the single is available.

And these days, each team has at least one player who can do this job. And the better teams usually have half their team who can be given this title.

Along with this, a new term also should be coined for fielding: "intelligent fielder"—a person who knows which are the balls to be fielded and which are the balls you have to go easy on.

But if I tell you this definition, most people will come under this category. And the thing is, most people do not really make it as intelligent fielder in all formats. In fact, most people are only intelligent fielders in t20 cricket, maybe because it is the easiest to do it in there.

The thing is, t20 cricket requires the stopping of boundaries. So singles are not stopped that much. But fifty over cricket and test cricket require these singles to be stiffened. There these ones are very much involved in forming partnerships. And this is where fielders make a mistake.

And that's why I say a single is less important these days.

The game has become something where batsmen are looking to cross those ropes for fours and sixes. And if they don't get that, then twos and threes. And if they don't get that, then ones. Due to this, singles are often ignored. I agree batsmen have to look for runs, but such an approach can make you look for more runs where only one exists.

And as I mentioned above. Fielders, as well, are basically looking to stop the ball from crossing the ropes. ODI's singles can only be let easily in the slog overs. In test cricket they should never be let easily.

Another proof of this is that many times an intelligent runner is sacrificed for a boundary hitter.

This raises a very important question in my mind: How can we say that, in the old days, batting and fielding were a lot more relaxed?

Fielders back then weren't that good and so they often let the boundaries go through. They did not bother diving and chasing the ball around. Today fielders stop the boundaries but don't really look to stop the singles.

Batsmen back then were more concerned about taking these singles. They had to stay long at the crease and bat. A four or a six once in a while would do.

Today batsmen are more concerned about getting a ball four four or a six, because they know they have to take a risk and get a quick fire fifty or a hundred. That would help them stay longer, as well. A single once in a while will do.

Bowlers then were also keen on saving singles. It helped them bowl more at one batsmen. Today things are so batsmen friendly that bowlers have to look to save big runs.

The priorities have changed, but the basic attitude and structure remains the same.

This article is not contradicting that quick singles are taken, but it is saying that for the better part of the matches, singles are not stopped wholeheartedly. And I can say this because if this were not true, so many quick singes were not possible with today's level of fielding.

A few times this does happen, though. And whenever it happens, we see the team look double dangerous. This is often the reason why minnows manage to beat the top teams. They stop the singles.

If the current ways continue, then it is not doing cricket any good. It's soon going to result in a quality drop in fielding inside the ring. It will also result in becoming tougher for bowlers as easy singles will be given away, which would make it difficult for them to bowl at one person for long. So, we see an increase in the amount of favouring the batsmen gets in this game.

Batsmen also care care about singles less and less now, but, the thing is, no one declines an easy single.

But, most important of all, this attitude will bring a general amount of lethargy that would come to the game, which is the most dangerous, as cricket quality will really drop.

The old way was better in this respect. At least people did not give the easier thing away in search of tougher things.

In the end I would like to say that, more than anything else, what disappoints me is the root cause of all this, the audience who cannot bare those small runs. All that matters are the boundaries. And since cricket has become a game that has to entertain at all times (The credit of this going to IPL), players have been forced to obey the public's request.

So how can we call todays's game modern? Think about it and tell me what you think.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

This is also the first article in a series I am starting called "Cricket these Days." The official announcement will be done tomorrow. But if you are interested, tell me.

Painting My Sports Idol

Dann Khan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 06:38:12 -0400

There was a day in my life when I existed. But the strange part is I don’t know where I was. I can’t even describe it properly; it seems so long ago. The whole area seemed very similar to a dream, but I know it wasn’t. It just couldn’t be that for some reason I do not remember.

The only thing I am sure of is that the world was timeless. I know that, because this fact provided me with a certain amount of calmness. It put me in a state where I lived without any pressure. I think that’s why it seems so long a time since I was there.

But I did not care where I was. It was something much more important I cared about. What was I there for?

Was God just giving me some time off from life? I doubt it. Why would he do that when he knows I do not even respect his rituals so often? I am sure he has a grudge against me.

But then, why was I there? The question was bothering me a lot.

Suddenly, I came across some letters glowing and saying IDOLS TO BE FOUND.

I read the board about ten times and still could not make complete sense of how that was going to happen. How was I going to find an idol for myself in a place which did not make sense itself?

I just sat down for a few minutes, trying to deal with the new pressure put on me in a world that relieved me of all other pressures. It was a strange place with no one else and I was asked to find an idol.

But right then, some new letters were glowing. PAINT HIM. A small note was given at the end of this message “He is into sports”

First of all, I read it as something very male chauvinist. Paint him. But there was also a lot of help by the fact that, that he was from sports.

In any case, I started on my job. But first I had to find some brushes and acrylics and also a canvas to paint on. I turned around and found them.

Whoever made this place was ready with all the requirements. I didn’t know why he brought me here, and hated the person for not telling me that, but I still admired his style of keeping everything ready.

He made sure I did not have excuses to make, simply because I could not find something.

So I started painting. But wait, I did not know whom to paint? I never bothered forming idols or ideals. I always thought of them as a waste of time and now I was stuck because of that.

Shall it be Mr. Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal. Two champion tennis players of today’s’ era. Both of them I admire. They both have unique styles. The both have worked hard to reach where they are.

But so has Michael Schumacher. And whenever he rides he makes things look brilliant. But Lewis Hamilton is today’s guy, and I think highly of him, too.

I thought for some time, but it didn’t take me too long. It had to be Rahul Dravid, my favorite cricketer. A true Idol.

He always maintained his dignity, took criticism in the right spirit and, well, was a champion player.

I really want to be like him. After all, most people want to be like their Ideal person.

So I finally started painting.

I coloured the whole canvas with a dark shade of red. It looked beautiful. Very pure. I did not want to spoil it. I knew with the poor painting skills I have, my idol would look like a cartoon. That’s not why I was there.

But in any case I tried to act like a professional painter, and started on what seemed like quite an impossible task.

Try. A few fine strokes here and a few deeper strokes there and you are done.

I could feel the skill of a veteran at this job, I was enjoying it too, but somehow my feelings were not shared by the canvas in front. It looked awful. Least like Dravid and most like some cartoon with no shape or size. Just as expected. But it still hurt.

I could not bear looking at it. I tore it apart and started on a new canvas.

This time I closed my eyes and painted. I thought my inner eye would do a better job.

Again those fine strokes here and those deep strokes there. I felt the peach colour of the skin I had painted. It felt so nice. The energy and expectations again rising inside me. So nice. So nice.

But the rise of that energy and expectation were more like the rise of a volcano which bursts and scatters lava everywhere.

Scattered lava, which was exactly what the painting looked like. And the red lava was mixed with the peach colour, which felt so nice with the eyes closed, but looked awful now. Green and black were also a part of the mixture.

I know it was the turn of anger to rise. I destroyed everything. I started to scream. I felt as if my heat had made my brain boil.

To hell with the painting. I want to get back to my old life and live it.

But I did not know how to escape. I just had to sit and wait for some door to open and let me out.

I don’t know how long I was there for, but it was long. My patience was being tested and I wasn’t anywhere close to the calm I had felt in the beginning.

I started to scream again. I wanted to destroy the world. But the world could be created again. So I had to take a stronger revenge?

I picked up a new canvas and closed my eyes again. But this time all I was going to do was just let the paint brush fly anywhere. Make something as ugly as possible. Make a mockery of the person who wanted me to paint my idol.

I was also sure that my idol would not approve of it if he knew. But that was not my problem. I did not care. I had no idol; just me and my anger.

I did exactly what I thought. Let the brush fly. No control; just ugliness.

My anger was fueling me to do this act. And even when I wanted to stop, it kept on making me go.

But finally it had to die down. And when it did, I felt a lot better. Calmness returned. Peace followed.

I opened my eyes again. But what I saw really stunned me.

I felt as if I was standing in front of a mirror. It was me smiling. I had painted myself!

How can I be my Ideal person? I destroy things. How can it be me?

I look for other people all around the world and it turns out to be me?

I was sure the person who owns this place was now mocking me. I can’t be my idol. I just can’t.

I was scared. I was imagining ghosts.

I was happy without any person to look up too. I want to return to my old world and just want to return.

But things just got spookier. Some heavenly voice started speaking. I was sweating like anything.

YOU ARE THE ONE WHO FINDS YOURSELF THE IDOL. IF IT WEREN’T FOR YOU, THEN YOU WOULD NOT BE HERE. YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS ACTUALLY INTO SPORTS. WHAT IS THE POINT OF SOMEONE ELSE TO LOOK UP TO IF YOU CANT THINK OF YOURSELF AS A PERSON CAPABLE OF LOOKING UP TO?

YOU ARE YOUR IDOL AND THEN YOU HAVE OTHER PEOPLE. BE YOU AND LIVE WITH PEACE. BECAUSE IF IT WEREN' FOR YOU, THEN NO ONE WOULD HAVE BEEN AN IDOL.

I woke up from my dream.

Looked at few posters from Sports star magazine on the wall opposite my bed. I removed them carefully and put them a bit lower. The I brought a small mirror and put it up.

A Deep Analysis After India's T20 World Cup Exit

Dann Khan — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 18:15:20 -0400

Yesterday India crashed out of the t20 world cup. This was after they were tagged favourites this year. It is particularly sad to see this as the team was world champions last time and could not even make it to the semi-finals this tournament..

Dhoni clearly made some errors. The biggest of them according to me, was to bowl Mr. Yuvraj Singh. Maybe Yuvraj was the person who had got Pietersen out quite a few times, but still it was not really necessary to bowl him in a must win match when you cannot take avoidable risks.

Also, the move to promote Ravindra Jadeja over Yuvraj Singh, the man in form with the bat was also not a very clever one and it clearly showed.

But the saddest part which I saw, was Dhoni's inability to bat in his old aggressive style. He was using plenty of bottom hand like he always does. But the whip he gives the ball was missing.

And yeah one more thing and yeah another thing, India did not play the shorter ball very well and....

Oh wait.

I am not here to talk about all this. Because I don't want to ponder over what went wrong. I want to move on. But the problem is, I cannot want to move on after any match until I look and re-look at the match and understand a few things. And this time as well, I understood a few things.

The game officially beginning a new era of cricket. Yes, finally a new era after talks about the changing times in cricket for half a decade. After hundreds of experts discussed exactly how and when the t20 game will finally be recognised as more than just entertainment.

Why I call this the starting of the new era, because for the first time a serious debate has heated up due to a team's ordinary performance in 20 over cricket. Today, all the experts all over the world, news channels, and many households are just now talking about how India has hit some kind of a low.

This is the new era. When a 20 over game decides whether a team is on a high or on a low.

A similar situation happened when Australia got out in the very first round on the tournament. Experts came together, media wrote the Aussie team of as a world champion in the next decade, households in Australia started to come to terms with the fact that their home team is no clear winner.

Of course the level of media attention was less, But that is to be expected as India is the most passionate country about cricket. So media attention will be most there. That is exactly why I call the India match the official beginning.

Usually I don't really worry about changes like this but this time I cannot hide my shock and anger. If the Indian team can be called on a low and Dhoni's captaincy can be put under immense scrutiny with all his good work in test and ODI series before this not withstanding because of t20 cricket, then there is a serious problem.

The problematic thing is the "experts" are discussing these things in great detail. These people often shape the attitude of the general public. So this can be very dangerous.

I agree t20 cricket is not easy and all that, but forty over in total are too little to judge how well a player can perform. After all, a player needs some time and 20-20 cannot give it.

Yes, I do agree some basic things needed to be brought into light. Such as so many of the Indian players not being able to play the short ball. But the whole thing need to get a bit more basic.

Because if it continues on this track, there is no point trying to save test cricket. Whe the experts are trying to judge players on the basis of whether they can play pacy cricket or not, then it contradicts with some values of test cricket. Because tests are often about steady and slow play.

Along with this, It was again proved that cricket needed to mature. coming back to Dhoni's captaincy. Dhoni's one tournament not successful as a captain came under so much scrutiny. Don't people go through bad patches? Though this is more a fault of the Indian obsession rather than cricket.

But the issue with Sehwag not going to find a spot because of Rohit Sharma's good performances as an opener is a good example to illustrate the general lack of knowledge about the game. Any person who has even a decent idea about the sport would know that it would be stupid to remove Sehwag from the team right now. Even if he did not have a great IPL, he is currently capable of bashing up any kind of bowling.

I am sure some may say, why I am raising this point right now. But I think it is the time to raise this too, as by the time the world cup comes to an end, the whole situation would have been forgotten.

Along with all this though, one good thing might happen in cricket. The crazy fans following the young managed to generate after India won the first t20 world cup two years ago, might die down a bit. People will get more realistic and understand that some technique is required along with being young. This is basically true for India, but along with that it does indirectly send a warning signal to other countries.

So the bottom line is, all this doesn't matter at the end of the day. Because cricket may take a u-turn.

All the speculation about why India did badly and why which team is where is not required to be done the moment a team loses a match. Time has to be given. Only then will sense enter the talks.

But the funny thing is I myself am forced to speculate by writing this piece. Which is quite soon after India's defeat

Looking at Sports: When It Sickens Me

Dann Khan — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 08:07:29 -0400

Sports has been touching all our lives, but it is imortant we don't get to soapy about how sports helps us learn this and how it helps us do that etc. And I say this because it really iritates the hell out of me. Especially when my mother tells me to go out and play when I am watchin TV. It also irritates me when I am asked to watch a match when I am watching a movie. And when this happens, this is how I see sports

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New Bats For You Andy: Answers Some Problems of Cricket Australia

Dann Khan — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 03:28:59 -0400

Cricket Australia is currently having a torrid time taking care of its affairs.

They have had their team just crash out in the very first round of the tournament. And even before that they have been nowhere near to the world champions' standard that they have set.

Along with this they have a certain Andrew Symonds who is not making things any easier for them. Each and every time when the team requires his power hitting the most, he ends up doing something or the other to get himself thrown out of the team. Drinking being one of those activities.

So in such a case what should Cricket Australia do?

I have the answer for you. Get Symonds some new bats. Yeah, you heard me right, get him some new bats.

A carefully designed bat made out of glass which is strong enough to to hit those big sixes.

But that is not all—make the bat hollow and fill it with beer.

I'll tell you how it will work. First, of all Andrew Symonds can be kept away from pubs. Why would he want to go to a pub if his own board is ready to provide him liquor during the match?

Yes, that does mean that CA has to allow him to drink while on a tour. But it's better if he drinks in front of you as you you can monitor him.

Second, since he will not want to lose the precious beer stored in his bat, he will try his best not to break the bat by playing foolish shots. So that would provide you with a lot of consistency.

Yes, there is a very good chance that he will stop playing any hard-hitting shots, but that is a risk worth taking. And maybe is sometime when he gains more confidence he will start playing those ones as well.

Besides, the bat has to be made strong enough to take the load or the whole experiment is a waste

Third, there has to be rule that he does not drink in the middle of the match or in the dressing room if he is out so he can play in a fairly sober state. He should only be allowed to drink from his bat cum bottle after the day's play is over.

But if the Aussie board agrees to let him have a sip or two secretly during the drinks break, then he will look to stay at the crease for as many drinks breaks as possible. Also helping in greater consistency. The sips will also relax Symo which would allow him to play better.

But just in case our dear friend gets drunk you should always be ready with a duplicate Symonds. I am sure the duplicate will get out quickly, which may lead to the Aussies losing the match, but in the long run it will help them. But say the situation really gets bad, then god help you Cricket Australia and god help dear Symo.

I know this is tough for you CA but if you can't do this, then kiss any chances of having a four-trick of ODI World Cups goodbye and the No.1 Test ranking and those countless number of series you used to win.

Besides all this, the Aussie board may well become a trendsetter. They can also have a deal with Mr. Lalit Modi to have these bats in the IPL. Making friends with the BCCI and helping them out always helps.

Also the board will earn a lot of money through this scheme.

Soon, the rest of the Aussie team may use these bats too. So maybe the whole team will play whacky cricket.

So all in all it a completely profitable situation for Cricket Australia

And aah... just as I am writing this article another point came to my mind. In case someone wants to ease his bladder, he take one of these bats which haven't been filled with beer and ease his body of the pressure.

Maybe once these bats are made, people will try to make similar ball too. With the liquid inside changing the whole mechanics of bowling.

BCCI The Superpower: Its Greatness, Its Mistake, and Its Potential

Dann Khan — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 06:26:19 -0400

I do not like the BCCI. My stance is very clear about this.

Overall, the board has become something to be scared of. It treats the ICC as it's subordinate. It has almost destroyed ICL and has managed to force so many of the players to come back to their system. And this move clearly shows how badly the BCCI has used it money and clout.

Other boards have complained about other issues where the BCCI became a dictator. But the problem is enough hasn't been spoken about it. But how can the other boards speak more, after all it is no secret that they are all somewhere dependent on this board. So they either obey, or they suffer and get out of cricket for ever.

But isn't there an a country called USA which is in the same position as the BCCI and at a much larger scale? All countries dependent on it for some reason or the other. The UN very much a subordinate of it. Also, isn't their a whole west which which has treated India and other Asian and African countries in a very similar way in the past?

In today's world, the West has a lot more power than the East in almost all the fields including most of the sports. And we live with it.

So, isn't there another way to look at the BCCI?

Can't it be looked at as a hero that managed to make India more powerful that the west in it's field? A hero that warned the world that Asian countries are equally capable of doing what the rest of the world can do?

So why do we have such a huge problem with the BCCI?

Why do we bid for a equal power share for all boards when we know that such a thing will never happen? And I am sure it will never happen because there is something called human nature according to which all humans look for power. So if it is not us, then it someone else.

Can't we accept for a change accept an Asian dictatorship over the world?

I can. And I am very happy that it is there and will always be.

But yes, I do not like the BCCI. It is because it it not making use of it's power. It is just wasting it by showing it has power. BCCI has a chance to prove it's capable of doing better than the western dictatorships of the past and it's blowing it.

This board can set an example for the rest of Asia and show how to behave like a superpower. It can make the east feel that it can be better as a world leader than the west and therefore change the system. But if the present trend continues, then it doesn't make a difference as the message that the board will send across will basically be that things can't be improved so there is not point in changing them.

The Official Curtain Closer for the Indian Premier League

Dann Khan — Sun, 24 May 2009 16:40:39 -0400

I am a Bangalore Royal Challengers fan. And despite knowing that after the kind of final we had, cricket has to be the clear winner, I still feel a bit low. But that is my problem, not yours.

IPL 2 is over.

So many fans have been disappointed. But one eighth of them aren't (I hope you are in that one eighth). It's their team, Deccan, that has weaved the magic after the last place in the previous tournament.

But these are unnecessary details that none of us really want. That's why I will not give them to you. But what I am going to give to you, are my thoughts on the tournament which I am sure would be respected by all of you.

This season of the IPL would be remembered for many reasons but these are the three ones that immediately come to my mind.

Old men came to the party this time round. They proved why they are what they are. Be it the orange cap holder Mathew Hayden or Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar who scored some crucial runs for there respective teams. Symonds, Gillchrist, Jayasuriya were also quite brilliant. Gilly's 85 of 35 in the semis was something that we will never forget.

Also, Anil Kumble. Who not not only bowled quite brilliantly during the tournament, but also captained RCB after Kevin Pietersen left them in tatters and brought them back. He almost manages the final as well. Bu it's a pity his great bowling performance in this final (4-16) was not rewarded with a win.

Shane Warne also was quite a good captain and bowled fairly well though not as great as he has been.

Spin was finally the king in T20. These slow bowlers, who are thought of as easy targets because of their lack of pace, proved that they were underestimated. Not only Kumble and Warne, but those part timers and other spinners too, were very good.

IPL 2 was a tournament full of close and low scoring matches unlike the previous one. It finally gave the bowlers something to cheer about in a game which is usually batsmen dominated. Finally the time came when the batsmen had to have good technique or they failed.

But the sad part is that this is not going to happen the next year when the tourney would be shifted back to India. Back to the flat pitches which used to be spinner friendly a decade ago but now are only batsmen friendly.

Maybe we might see another IPL in more helpful conditions for the bowlers 5 years later when the general elections would again take place since elections were the reasons why security could not be provided to the players in India thus, resulting in the moving of the tournament. Maybe this tournament will help us digest the new government which is often called corrupt.

But this year a few things angered me too, we also had those strategy breaks. Another money making scheme by Mr. Lalit Modi. How can you even think of seven and a half minutes of no cricket in such a fast paced game? Plus the often ended up being momentum breakers for the batting side. Wow! let's break the momentum in a game based totally on momentum.

Over that Arun Lal says that is it good as it helps the bowling side get wickets. I half agree with that but where I disagree is that it can be bad as during that gap your body relaxes and it often becomes difficult to persuade it to play again and therefore, you have to force it. This may very much lead to injuries.

But the thing that really angered me about the IPL was the HEAT initiative to help students by donating money to schools.

Everywhere this move is being praised as being some as it is providing education to the needy.

But what I don't understand is why is there such a big fuss being made when only about 1-2% is being donated while the rest is going to the BCCI treasury. I also like the fact that it is helping the poor, but some unnecessary fuss is being made over it, which is making it seem like a publicity stunt.

Let's not advertise every deed off goodness that IPL does. So many other people do thing that are never recognised. The often give up their entire lives and fortunes to such causes. People also give up a huge part of their small salaries for these things. And that little money means a lot more to them than this huge sum meaning to BCCI.

But my likes and hates are not the only things I would like to talk about. I would like to end by talking about how the IPL was perceived by me over the past 37 days.

IPL has shown many of us the true picture of Indian cricket. It has shown us that all those Swapnil Asnodkars and Niraj Patels and Manpreet Gonys and the Yusuf Pathans who were the Indian stars of IPL 1 are still not as capable as they seemed to be. They struggle the moment tough conditions arrive.

Which clearly show that Indian domestic cricket has to rise and become still more competitive and the pitches have to improve.

At the same time it showed us that Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, R.P. Singh, Irfan Pathan, Abhiskek Nayar, Manish Pandey etc. who proved that they are people ready to adapt.

So we finally got a good Idea about who all can actually take on the high level pressure when things don't exactly go your way. So season 2 has been a true mirror of where India stands.

Something else which we saw was the fact that many team owners decided to have Indian captains replaced by foreign ones. This also highlights that we are not really seeing a promotion of Indian cricket. We are seeing the Indians reemphasising a point which I think is not good for India. The foreigners are they guys capable of leading and Asians are just supposed to follow.

Not all the foreign skippers were successful and that is a lesson to many owners. . We saw how miserably KP and Brendon McCullum failed. Choose good skippers not good foreigners.

It is of extreme importance that we do not just go after the foreign talent. It is the Indian Premiere League and let it be so.

I do not go against foreign captains but I go against blind appointment of any foreign captain when we are so care full about choosing Indian ones.

Another side of the media was seen too. It is so pro youth. Last year, the old men were given a real demoralising doze of criticism by the media. This year when they performed well, it was difficult not to praise them but the young stars were never criticised. What do they want to show? Youth cannot be shown as negative whatever they do and old can?

I really doubt if this is done so that our young talent does no get demoralized. The media does not care.

IPL this year has also shown that India has not matured. If people still complain that batsmen are not able to score enough and not enough runs are scored and not enough fours and sixes are hit, then we seriously face a problem.

This is what leads to so many bowlers not being given much importance which leads to our country never producing a long term product in that department. This has been a problem in India for quite some time. And if this continues, we will never find good back up bowlers for Zaheer and Ishant for the Indian team.

This year we have seen another fact reemphasized. Mr. Modi is a business man. To him the game matters a lot less than the advertisements, sponsors and unnecessary competitions such as Miss Bollywood South Africa

To end this long piece I would like to add that IPL has also given Bleacher cricket a boost. During this time we have seen some brilliant articles written about it. We have also seen some true cricket fans. They wrote about other stuff despite this huge tournament going on. I hail them for that. They also found good readership so I also hail the audience.

And now in the end let me just say: "Get back to some international cricket mate. It's the best cricket. After the Twenty20 World Cup, watch the all important ashes with the same enthusiasm. But yes, wait for IPL 3 and hope we do not see a repeat of those small boundaries and big scores like the first season. It will be a HUGE disappointment after this brilliant tourney in SA."

Thank you, people. Don't forget to comment and give your valuable POTDs. Also, become my fan if you are not so far.

And to Rocky: Mallaya will no longer say "@#$*%"

Sports and The "Unimportant": Half Fought Debates

Dann Khan — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:46:32 -0400

Sports like any other field encounters problems. Problems related to specific players, problems related to finances of a certain team or board or the sport in general, problems related to dynamic changes in it's structure, problems related to to dying popularity of the sport all come under this.

And when problems/issues (In this article I think the two terms are interchangeable) come, "experts" follow. We see talking heads on the television and we see thousands of articles about it on the Internet.

It is predominantly the reason why sites like Bleacher Report form.

These sites become areas where people debate about the problem.They keep on debating about it.

Is it a technical problem or a mental problem? Is it a serious problem or is it something that will take care of itself with time? Is it something that I am in favour of or is it something that would actually make me hate sport? These are the questions that plague our minds.

I personally love such debates. I often try to be a part of them. I love to see myself convincing the other person. I hate to admit the loopholes in my theories about these issues.

So I can conclude that all of us enjoy the whole process in general.

We all think about sports and want to learn more about sports.

So we learn and we teach thus, become a part of one of the most interesting schools in the world. The Debate School

But there is something missing. Something that leaves our education incomplete. Something that never allows us to become more that just a few talking heads and typing hands.

It is the fact that we leave the debates after some time. We forget about these things. We move on to something new and hot.

So we just end up becoming those fickle minded news channels who only look at what's hot, up and running.

Why does each and every debate have to end at "You keep your view point and I keep mine and let's leave it".

I agree debates are not things that end easily. But that does not mean we don't look to end it. We should always look to finish what we start. Or if that isn't possible, then never stop. Start new debates but keep the old ones alive.

We have debates not only to show our knowledge but to also see if there is a proper solution. But leaving things in the middle never bring solutions.

More than anything else, it does not make sense to start something and not finish it. Why did we start it the?

So far the things we have discussed in the series, are things that people in general think of as unimportant. But this is something we knowledgeable people think of as unimportant.

Do we just want to be guys who speak for sometime and then forget, or guys who speak so that a result is possible.

I am sure that there would be a few people waiting to tell me that this does not fit the series. But I would like them all to think for a minute and then speak

People may also say that it is a necessary euthanasia so that sports moves on. But euthanasia is when we mercy kill due to the being suffering from something incurable. But the being here in question, debate is not suffering. The only thing suffering is the sport itself.

Why do we have to leave this like some Mensa puzzle we could not solve? Do we have only have the strenght to start the puzzle? Are we not capable of going on and on till we don't get it right.

Of course there is not right and wrong here, but can't we fight for our right (pardon the pun)?

We like people who can be good finishers in a game. Be it Cricket, Football, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, American football, Hockey or any other sport. So why can't we ourselves look to be good finishers too?

Please think hard and comment.

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I am so far very happy with the Sports and the "Unimportant" series. Especially because I was lucky enough to start it and then get a tag for it too.

Thank you everyone. Please contact me if anyone is still interested in joining in.

The Sports and The Unimportant tag will only be put on the article after it goes of the main page of the tag you initially put it under. This would be done so that our article would get a good amount of exposure.

Cricket and the Machine-Made Product Phenomenon

Dann Khan — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:32:32 -0400

Life that we lead is a very interesting. Full of new technology. Full of manufactured stuff. And of course, where manufacturing comes in you have the use of machines.

These days everything is completely machine made. From the beds we use to car we use to even the toothbrushes we use. Machine made life is the life we lead.

So in such a case how can sports be left behind. It has got all the techie material that helps a player in every possible way.

And since cricket is a sport, it has also been influenced by technology. Bowling machines, speed guns, snickometer, hawk-eye are only a few examples.

But the machine I want to talk about is the one that has been developed recently. The Player Churner. Well it is not actually a machine, but you can imagine it to be one. Every day we see so many new players coming into the game and perform so well.

Young boys that are spotted as potential replacements for our current legends are seen. It is quite encouraging to see so many of them play so well.

So that is why everyone is happy with the machine. It produces good talent regularly which performs. Unlike the old days when some were good while others were so so. So the machine has raised the performance level.

So far so good.

But then why am I writing an article about it? Why is a good writer and a good cricket thinker (there is nothing wrong in feeling like that even if I am not) wasting his time when everything is fine(as we sports analysts tend to often look at the negative side of things)?

The thing is that no product can last very long as the best in the market. Because if that happened, then there would be a fall in daily demand and thus, the market will crash.

So a constant upgrading of products has to be done. Better models have to be brought in and the older ones have to be discarded. These days there is so much competition among different companies that newer products come out daily.

Products also break down pretty quickly. They are made to break down quickly. It's a clever thing to do. A person fulfills his needs through these things. So it is guaranteed that he will come back to buy the moment the product breaks down.

Also, rival sellers find weaknesses in the other person's product and make sure their product does not have it.

So these are the three factors that ensure that people keep on discarding the old and buying the new.

I earlier mentioned that cricketers are also being produced like these machine made products.

We see so may new boys coming in and impressing us by putting up a great show. But within six to seven months or even less, they end up being dropped from the squad.

Even if they are not dropped from the squad, the end up being easy targets for the opposition and perform miserably at the international level and the best example for this is Ajantha Mendis, who was an absolute sensation when he came, but now is clobbered with ease.

This is the machine made product phenomenon. Players are figured out after some time. Or they are so over worked that the have injury issues and then they finally break down. Or, some one performing much better comes in and takes his place.

Unfortunately, the cricketing world has become so money minded,. Because of this players have to deliver immediately and do not have even time to breathe. So the moment they are out of form, they are out of the team.

And once you are out it is very difficult to come back. And since we humans are very complex machines, it takes a lot of time for us to upgrade or for us improve. And when we finally improve, we are to old to play.

I am not getting into whether this is right or wrong. But this is definitely the a phase where capitalism is ruling cricket and IPL is the one thing that has made it's reign complete. IPL is deciding who is good and who is not. Who was good last year is not good anymore.

So is player only is good for a year? Well, that's a fairly short career for people playing a sport where good players are usually there for at least 10 years.

We really require some "hand made" stuff. Some good some bad, but long lasting. I am not saying it will succeed, bet let's try it out again.

We want to see legends being formed again. And legends are not formed in one year

And I personally want to see fewer players come up and not a dozen churned out at a time. Let there be one long career rather than a million short ones.

Sports and the "Unimportant": The Blood in Sports

Dann Khan — Thu, 14 May 2009 03:36:18 -0400

It keeps running in the arteries and veins.

It keeps cycling our body every second, making sure our bodies get nourishment.

It works damn hard. It works harder than any of us. Also, it does not get holidays like we do. It does not even have the right to die. It's treated like a slave. What is more important is it gets this treatment despite being essential to us.

Blood is something that keeps us going all day long. It goes on a track where it has to keep on racing with itself. It does not even know how many laps or how many laps it has to complete.

Think about it. Does the blood not feel tired. Think about those white blood cells (WBC) and red blood cells (RBC) which are so tiny, but still have to work very hard to sustain us.

For all this we give the blood just a moment of an absolute sensation. When it gets purified with oxygen every time we breathe in. This is what makes the deal fair. You complete each cycle and you get a molecule of O.

But when did we humans started playing fair?

So many times we just see don't take care and we let the blood flow out. We let it clot and then rot.

And when we are talking about injuries, sports ought to come in.

Each and every time when we see injuries and blood on the playing field, all we think of is when will the player become fine again. Who care about the blood cells that just dies? We all think of it as something ugly.

We forget how it has served us so well. We think it's the blood that is responsible for the seriousness of the situation. We start looking at the life maintaining angel as a bad omen.

So first, we rob the blood of it's only pleasure (getting oxygenated) and then we give it a bad name.

I agree that sports is full of injuries, but can't we think of those moles and moles of blood molecules that flow out.

Well done human race.

Not once has someone cried for it when it died. Not once has a grave been built for it. But, still it serves us in the hope that we will learn. But little does it know about humans. We never learn.

PS. After reading this, if we still have some good left in us, we will cry for each drop of the red liquid. We will spend nights mourning for it after it died in those car crashes, punches to the human, after a cricket or a baseball ball broke a nose etc.

Announcing the Sports and the "Unimportant" Series'

Dann Khan — Tue, 12 May 2009 10:55:19 -0400

Sports is something we are all here to talk about. What is essential for a player, what is necessary for the team, etc., are our regular topics of discussion. In other words, we discuss "Important" issues related to sports

But Bleacher Report is also about innovation. It's a place where new ideas are made to take shape. So, can we just be content discussing the essential?

I think not, and I hope to find people thinking in a similar manner

This is an opportunity I would like to present to you all. Let's think about all of the so-called unimportant things. Let us all allow our imaginations to find new destinations for us. Let's make sure we find the most ordinary things and make them extraordinary through our writing skill.

So let us make our language meet our imagination and do the most amazing things.

So everyone, think of the most unimportant objects, places, ideas, anything, and make them important. Let us be the voice of unimportance.

It can be from the helmets players wear, to the glasses they wear, to a piece of clothing, to an empty stadium, to anything in this world. But the rules are clear, it has to be not important.

I would not like to lay any specific method to do it or any specific topic to do the article on. Your imagination, you control it.

I have written the first piece in the series which is:

Sports and the "Unimportant": The Tennis Net

Along with me, there have been nine other writers who have joined so far; they are Rohini, Nandhini, Glenn, Khalid Siddiqui, Siddharth Ganesh, Tanya Pal, Sulayman, Clarabella, Rocky, Robert, Hemant and Rajat. But I am waiting for you to join too.

Excluding my piece, the other pieces so far are:

Rajat Jains's Sports and The "Unimportant": An Open Letter by the Tennis Chair Umpire

Glenn's Sports and the “Unimportant”: Baseball's Home Plate

Nandhini's Sports and The "Unimportant": The Sight Screen

Rohini's Sports and The Unimportant: A Stumps and Bails Grievance

Dann's second Sports and The "Unimportant": The Blood In Sports

Robert's Sports and The Unimportant: The Alignment Of Tennis Water Bottles

Tanya's Sports and the Unimportant- Tennis Balls

Khalid's Sports and the Unimportant: A Football Fourth Official's Gripe

Glenn's second Sports and the “Unimportant”: The Bleacher Seat

Dann's third Sports and The "Unimportant": Half Fought Debates

Glenn's third Sports and the Unimportant: The Sports Statistics

Please contact me through a comment on this article or on my bulletin board.

I would be glad to include your name in this.

Thank you.

Sports and the "Unimportant": The Tennis Net

Dann Khan — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:29:10 -0400

When you look at a tennis match, you mainly look at the players playing. Then you look at the brands, shapes and sizes of different racquets. You look at the those greenish yellow balls and see them being hit from one end to the other.

Then, of course, we see the ball boys and the referee, with the first pouncing on those apple-sized balls while the second being a important figure and a person not liked by all the players at various points during their careers.

But something that is yet to be noticed is the net.

I looked at some videos of the last Wimbledon final a few days ago and somehow managed to take a glance at the net.

I thought of how it looks so innocent in positive manner. So harmless

And that's the reason why I think it got unnoticed for such a long time.

To me all the things we notice in tennis have a got a look of some mischief or anger or any other negative like look which provides them with an X-Factor. The players themselves who show all the emotions, or be it the racquet which looks a scary face with currents running through the wiring on it.

The ball also seems to be smirking when it reflects the sunlight. And of course the referee can always be seen in negative light by us as we often feel he has done wrong to our favourite player.

But think about it. Can the net be a devil in disguise? Does the net have it's own prejudices? Does the net move up and block a ball so that it's favourite player can get a point?

I am sure that everyone has heard this line, "Known devils are better than unknown ones."

Is it true in this case?

Maybe the net is just frustrated that it's hardly given attention and that's why it's trying to become an attention seeker by doing this? I would do it if I was in it's place

Who knows?

Maybe the net is what it is. Maybe it's like the mirror in Sylvia Plath (a very old English poetess) described in one of her poems. A being that has got no preconceived notions and prejudices. Something that shows us the truth.

The only difference being that it shows us our own image, but what's in front of us with stripes of black or white colour is blocking certain parts of the image.

And that's what makes me doubt it. Makes me wonder what is it's true picture. Are the stripes only a mere disability or a clue that would help us figure out it's identity?

Maybe it's just my imagination. But who knows what may be true.

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This is the first article I have written in the series 'Sports and the "Unimportant" '. I will be writing the article describing it later today. If you are interested please contact me on my bulletin board. I will definitely be glad to join you in.

Thanks.

Wasim Akram: What Cricket Commentators Shouldn't Be

Dann Khan — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:42:45 -0400

In a game like cricket, few people can be what Wasim Akram is. Few can come close to his left arm pace bowling. Few can swing the ball the way he can. Few can seem the ball the way he can. But most importantly, few can commentate the way he can.

Yes, you read it right. Few can commentate the way he can. Yes few can commentate in the idiotic way he does

For someone as successful as he is, it was natural he would become a commentator after retiring. It was natural that people will have great expectations of him, and it was natural he would try to fulfill them. But unfortunately the on field cricketing legend could not become a behind the mike star

A thing that can always be said to defend him is that his english skills are poor and thus, he has not managed to gain the same level of popularity as a Gavaskar, Shastri or even a Ramiz Raja, a former Pakistani teammate of his.

But I do not think in the same way. I understand his language skill is not the same as the names I mentioned, but still they are better than many and are good enough to help him propagate his thoughts.

So where does the problem lie?

It is basically a problem of talking to much(a problem most people have). Just like Kris Srikanth, the person a fellow writer Rohini Iyer covered.

But there is a marked difference if you asked me. Kris often doesn't talk sense and ends up just trying to come an shoot of his mouth, just like his nature.

But Wasim comes and makes his presence felt. He opens his mouth and starts talking. But ends up just blabbering every bit of sense talk he has. And that is the problem. He does not pace himself very well.

And there comes the point when his sense is over but his shift isn't. So since he has no other alternative, he starts the nonsense session.

To make matters worse, he also has put on an accent. The worst mistake Asians make. Trying to copy the west has never helped us and will never help us in the near or the future further away from near. And because of this accent, he has lost the few ears he had earned due to his cricketing brilliance.

So though it is sad, but I have to say Shaz (Ravi Shastri) turned out to be better than Waz (Wasim) despite Waz's brilliance on field overpowered everything else.

Commentry is a TOUGH job. Being a cricket great, does not gaurantee you the a "GREAT" license behind the mike.

IPL Is a Scientific Formula, While a Thought Is International Cricket

Dann Khan — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:23:00 -0400

This is another question that has really caught my attention.

What is the difference between IPL and international cricket.

A unthinking answer would be that IPL is only T20 cricket while international cricket is everything.

A good answer would be that IPL is a money making scheme while international cricket is a lot more of pure cricket

The best answer would be that IPL is the private sector of cricket and that's why is only concerned about money while international cricket is the public sector and profit is not it's sole reason.

The best answer just explains the good answer a bit better.

But I am not an unthinking person nor am I a person who has good answers and I definitely do not have great answers.

But I have answers.

Answers searched for thoroughly all over the world but found inside oneself. They are one's own truth, one's own philosophy.

And my search told me an answer that I am yet to decipher completely.

IPL seemed to me as something you have to learn to solve equations. Just like the formulas in my science books.

You have a constant here and a proportionality sign there and an equation is formed that would satisfy anything within this universe.

But the moment it is taken out of it's universe, and put in a new world of physics, it has to rework itself. It does not hold true anymore.

Not only is it my opinion, but also a scientific fact. All laws and formulae are true within certain boundaries only. The moment they cross the boundaries they have no basis

The moment Allan Stanford tried to do an IPL, it failed. He went out of the universe of working and failed.

Even IPL, it has worked well only in the universe of cricket fans of the very basic type.

The moment it has entered into the cricket thinkers arena, it has come under heavy scrutiny. Though not everyone is against it, most people are.

However, my school books did not give me an answer to the question "what is international cricket?"

Tougher answers do not come that easily when searched for. The come to you when you do not look for them but when you just want to make friends with them.

Since I wanted to know, I decided to try the 'make friends' step. I found the answer

International cricket is a thought. It does not exist in the physical world. It is there because the thought is common and more or less universal

But that, is only the reason why it followed. The real reason why it is there is that thoughts can never be wrong. It is because the truth for each person is different and thus, his thought is true to him

International cricket is different for each person. He/She perceives it in his own way. But somewhere we all agree with it is good and true.

Also, thoughtsdon't lose basis. They may modify with time and universe. But since they do not exist physically, it never dies from world to world

So, though international cricket, comes under the scanner many a time and requires to be reworked on, it never loses basis

The human brain can handle changes of universe and form new formulae. New formulae cannot form new human thoughts

So, though, both IPL and international cricket has the world's best players, it has the difference of something rigid and short lived and something changing, constant and eternal.

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I do have a clear bias towards international cricket. Though, I still enjoy the IPL.

These theories are influenced by my bias. But they do not lead to the conclusion that I dislike IPL

Thanks!