PRG's Thoughts

Somewhere in a hotel room in England, 11 Indian cricketers and a Zimbabwean coach gather around in a dark room. The mood is serious. Player 1: “I’ve called this meeting today in urgent circumstances. So far we have blamed our horrific performance on the BCCI and their planning. While they’re usually an easy target I think we may be passed the expiration date on this particular blame game.” Player 2: “Why? Just blame it on them. Always works and right now the media is supporting us.” Player 1: “Look, we’ve played two tests and two side games. The public realizes that we should have gotten used to the conditions by now. It just won’t fly. Plus we had this stupid number one ranking on our heads. Thank god that’s over.” Player 3: “Chill out, ya. Just blame it on injuries. Can’t argue with that.” Player 4: “Player 3, you’re a Moron, only ONE player is injured. You can’t count the two boys from Punjab. One hasn’t taken a wicket since before Chayageet aired on DD and the other is not even

Ian Bell was out and MS Dhoni should not have withdrawn his appeal. The law of the game is clear, as was established by the umpire’s decision to give him out. There is no argument there. So now the debate goes to the spirit of the game. I see nothing against the spirit of the game in letting the umpire’s decision stand. There are questions to be asked, though. Was Bell attempting a run? Or was he just careless in the way he handled himself? Like most of you, I watched that replay over a dozen times. It was clear to me that Ian Bell was not jogging off the field but rather was trying to get a fourth run in. As he jogged half way down the pitch he noticed Eion Morgan well grounded in his crease. Instead of running back and grounding his bat, Bell stopped jogging and continued to walk toward the bowlers end. There are two possible things that went through Bell’s mind. If he thought it was a four (I don’t think he did) then he violated cricket 101 by assuming it was a boundary. If on the

While selecting my dream eleven, I took the approach of having the best side rather than just listing the best players. Thus the focus became the balance of the side. A decision to take Steve Waugh over Brian Lara was one such call.With the 2000 th Test almost upon us, there are dream Test teams being created by cricket fans and experts. I also felt it was also important to see how players would fare in a particular position in the lineup. The elimination of Sir Viv Richards from the starting 11 was because of this reason. There obviously is no correct combination, as it is all based on personal opinion, but here is my dream 11: in order of batting position. Let the debating begin. Sunil Gavaskar: Probably the greatest opening Test batsman of all time. His technique was flawless and his patience unmatched. Consistently dominating the greatest bowling attack of all time in hostile conditions differentiates him from everyone else. He was the best. Virender Sehwag: This was a tough ca