Now who will go beyond Muralitharan’s 800?

By John Cheeran
When I began to pay attention to cricket, Dennis Lillee was the ultimate bowler. The Australian fast bowler had 355 wickets when he bowed out of Test cricket. At that time, it appeared such an impossible task for anyone to overcome those numbers. Or in any case, the man would have been bloody tired to do that, as the English fast bowler Fred Trueman said when he became the first bowler to cross the 300 threshold in Tests.
On July 22, 2010, Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lankan wrist-spinning off-spinner retired from Test cricket in Galle, completing 800 Test wickets, with the last ball of his illustrious career. 800 wickets in 133 Tests!
But in Galle, on Friday, there were no traces of Muralitharan being bloody tired. He still sported his winsome smile as Mahela Jayawardene completed the catch to dismiss Indian rabbit Pragyan Ojha.
Even Lillee, the unabashedly aggressive Aussie, would not have dreamed about such a fantastic figure during his playing days. For a cricket fan, 800 wickets, anyway, was a mind boggling thought in the early 1980s.
Now the question is that will anyone in the future of the game go beyond the mark of 800? Shane Warne, may be the complete spin bowler, the one with prodigious turn and classical action and aggression, in the history of the game, left his pursuit with an awe-inspiring tally of 708 wickets. India’s own Anil Kumble finished, far too away, with 619 wickets in 132 Tests.
Before Lillee rushed through international batting line-ups, the bowling record for the maximum number of wickets was with the West Indian off-spinner Lance Gibbs (309). I wonder whether anyone remembers Gibbs in the glut of wickets now?
Yes, Sharad Pawar is determined to spread cricket into Russia, USA and many other European countries. There could come a time when India would be playing Tests against Latvia, Serbia and Ghana. When Lillee was playing Sri Lanka was taking baby steps in Test cricket. There was no opposition called Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.
You cannot say with certainty that no bowler will overcome Muralitharan’s 800. Yes, Muralitharan had some unfair advantage thanks to his freakish action. He was the only wrist-spinning off-spinner in the history of the game. The Sri Lankan was a bowler with a freak action much to the chagrin of not only the irascible Australian umpire Darrell Hair, who no-balled him repeatedly during a Test Down Under, but India’s pristine practitioner of the craft, Bishan Singh Bedi too. Bedi who called Muralitharan a thief, however, saluted Muralitharan as a man of great qualities when the Sri Lankan Tamil retired after inflicting an embarrassing 10-wicket defeat on Indians and ruined captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s honey moon trip.
But to argue that Muralitharan’s success sprang from his action would be a denial of reality. Remember, Shane Warne, too, had taken an astonishing tally of 708 wickets without the benevolence of nature’s freakish side. But make no mistake, if anyone would scale the Mount of 800, it has to be a slow bowler with an appetite huge enough to scare away batsmen from the crease.

Colombo Collapse: Muralitharan and Mendis strip India bare

By John Cheeran
India lost the first Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo by an innings and 239 runs on Saturday, on the fourth day of the match.
Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka always have been formidable opponents but Indian batting's inability to offer even token resistance to spinners Muttaih Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis and take the match into the final day is total disgrace. And that includes celebrated men such as Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. It is a pity that in the first innings almost all of the front line batsmen got onto a decent start but none succeeded in playing a big innings, without which you cannot survive in Test cricket.
In fact in the Indian first innings, it was the last wicket partnership between VVS Laxman and Ishant Sharma that emerged as the biggest in terms of the number of balls played. So there were some good balls sent down by Muralitharan and Mendis but lack of application played a significant role in Indian batting's failure.
You go to South Africa, you struggle against pace.
You go to Sri Lanka, you struggle against spin, a diet as staple as rice and curry for an Indian.
India is the economic engine of world cricket, there is no doubt on that. But do we have quality batsmen and bowlers who can perform on all sorts of wickets and all sorts of climes?
Yes, winning the toss would have held its own advantages on tracks such as in Colombo but can't we expect some good old hard grind at the wicket from some of India's famed batsmen?
I know that it was not Tendulkar alone who failed with bat, but his failure to rise above the ruins once again will make his eventual tally of runs in Test cricket less brighter.
So the wait goes on for another moment of record as Indian cricket covers its shame with the fig leaf of Twenty20.

Cricket controversies: When Rameez Raja reads too much into the game

By John Cheeran
When teams meet each other quite often, twice every month, as is the case with cricket, it is difficult to keep the intensity intact.
Today’s Asia Cup final between Indian and Sri Lanka in Pakistan will be a tired show in every respect. In that case only your interpretation of the action on the field can leaven the encounters.
A foolish comment from former Pakistan cricketer, and now a television commentator, Rameez Raja, has given desperate sports journalists some talking point. I had heard Raja’s observation during the Super Four match between Indian and Sri Lanka on Sri Lankan cricketers lack of will to come ‘hard on India and defeat them,” and thought that here is a worthy who could be paired with Arun Lal and banished to hell for ever.
Raja had a really interesting theory to tell and sell. He reasoned that Sri Lanka should defeat India in that match, which was crucial for both India and Pakistan’s entry into the final of the Asia Cup, so that they will have a weaker rival in Pakistan in the final. India is a tough side, so if Sri Lanka let India win and enter the final, they will be making their own lives tougher in the final. By saying so, Raja was admitting that Pakistan was an inferior side compared to India. High treason, to say that in front of a Karachi crowed.
But what Raja did not tell at that time was that the host nation’s entry into the final solely depended on India’s defeat. So clearly Raja, as a Pakistani, was making a case for his nation and his team, though he claims to be a professional commentator.

And I was shocked to find out later that Raja’s observation was trotted by a section of desperate Indian cricket media as an insinuation for a staged match between India and Sri Lanka. So what do you do? You ask for a quote from any of the BCCI official available on Raja’s comment. And there you have another cricket controversy.
Sri Lanka, of course, had rested its experienced seamer Chaminda Vaas and emerging spin star Ajantha Mendis.
That’s part of the Sri Lankan strategy and none can quarrel with that after they moved into the final with a consistent show of strength in all departments of the game. So how can Rameez Raja cast doubts on the attitude and approach of Sri Lankan side? And consider that this Asia Cup had been criticized for its poor scheduling that made for back-to-back matches in searing heat with pitches offering little support for bowlers.
So can any one, who knows his cricket, blame Sri Lankans for giving some rest to their key bowlers ahead of the final?
The fact that Raja, a former cricketer, could do that and tick off the hungry media tells a story about the quality of contemporary cricket reportage.
Read the game, as they say.

India has better chances to win Asia Cup

By John Cheeran
Sri Lanka is the stronger team, but I’m putting my money on India to win today’s Asia Cup final.
Why?
Well, it is a long time since India won the Asia Cup.
Last time India won the Asia Cup was in 1995 when it beat Sri Lanka in final.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s side has the batting resources to chase down a total, so that represents a bright chance for India to correct the record books.
Sri Lanka has two crafty bowlers in off spinners Muttaiah Muralitharan and the relative newcomer Ajantha Mendis. These two could trouble Indian big hitters.
But this India is capable of overcoming all odds, despite its apparent weakness in bowling.
And winning the Asia Cup when the nation is celebrating the silver jubilee of its 1983 World Cup will be a true tribute to Kapil’s Devils.
I may sound foolish, but folks put your money on India to lift Asia Cup.

A back breaking match for India and Dhoni against Sri Lanka

By John Cheeran
India and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have a match on their hands against Sri Lanka today. It is a back-breaking back-to-back match for Dhoni.
And India must win today’s clash to progress into the final of Asia Cup. Sri Lanka has already reached the final and is free to try out a few tricks on the Indians.
Basics remain the same for India.
Its batsmen are among runs but bowlers are struggling on wickets that lend little support. The question is how deep, how big, the Indian batsmen can perform on the big day.
Sri Lanka is a side that Indians respect, and to a certain extent, fear.
Pacers will not trouble batsmen on the sort of wickets Pakistan has prepared for this tournament, and hence, spinners Muttaiah Muralithran and Ajantha Mendis will have a great impact against Indian batsmen, provided the Sri Lankan team management decides to play both bowlers today.
In the context of the tournament, today’s match is inconsequential for the Sri Lankans since they have already reached the final.
But any chance to hurt India, and in this case, an opportunity to shut the doors of Asia Cup on the rich men of the cricket, will be pounced on by the world cup finalists.
And, a last word.
If Dhoni wins the toss, as he did against Pakistan on Wednesday, the Indian skipper would do well to chase so as to have the best chance to beat the Sri Lankans.
Good luck.