Ibsen, K P Kumaran and Akashagopuram

By John Cheeran
If you decide to read one book this year, let it be Henrik Ibsen’s Master Builder. I read this brilliant, psychological thriller of a play recently.
The Norwegian playwright Ibsen wrote Master Builder in his twilight. The play deals with the battles the Master has to fight with different demons in his mind.
The Master’s stubborn approach to issues --- for example he is not ready to pave the way for the young generation – forms the core of the play. This reluctance to accept young talent one can see in today’s Indian cricket, where seniors had ganged up against the young Turks. Well, not just in cricket. But the refusal to give way to the young is so prevalent in all spheres of our life.
I suggest the Board of Control for Indian Cricket, instead of running after cheap shrinks such as Sandy Gordon and thinking hats, give copies of Ibsen’s Master Builder to all its chosen players at the international level.
Ibsen also comes into my mind for reasons other than cricket.
K.P. Kumaran is directing a movie called “Akasha Gopuram” which is based by Ibsen’s Master Builder. K.P. Kumaran is one of the finest Indian filmmaker but remains largely unsung by the usual claptrap of movie critics.
I’m sure Kumaran is capable of handling the subtleties and complexities of handling a subject such as the Master Builder.
I have only watched Kumaran’s Neram Pularumbol (At the time of the dawn, which starred Mammooty, Mohanlal) and Rugmini.
And who can forget Neram Pularumbol, for it brought out the biting beauty of Ramya Krishnan. That was Ramya’s debut movie. She never appeared more beautiful in another movie though she revealed more of herself. But Kumaran had that rare ability that helped Ramya to reveal her heart in Neram Pularumbol.
Kumaran himself in a recent interview pointed out that his best movie was Athithi (Guest) made in 1974. A political film with gravitas, Athithi did not had to compete with G Aravindan’s Utharayanam for the award sweepstakes. But Athithi is still talked about and never parts away from our consciousness.May be ‘Akashagopuram’, which stars Mohanlal will manage to please critics and commoner. I hope Kumaran’s commitment to serious filmmaking will find its deserving recognition through Akashagopuram.
After all a Master Builder deserves his deserts!

India's Dwaitham: Cricket and Beyond

By John Cheeran
There are two Indias.
Political pundits have often stressed this point, an India of the urban middle class and another of toiling masses on shop floors and farm fields. It is always a sobering thought that there is a Nigeria within India. Now another sobering thought. There are two Indian cricket teams to mirror the nation’s unique Dwaitham.
The BCCI has finally yielded itself to the idea of having separate teams for one-dayers and Tests. Well, with the move to name Mahendra Singh Dhoni the captain for the Twenty20 World Cup such intentions were clear.
Now keeping Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble from the one-day squad for the triangular series in Australia, that division is complete.
Only Sachin Tendulkar has escaped the stigma of being senile.
Well, I have been a strong believer in the Greg Chappell’s philosophy of young minds and younger feet, but the national selection committee has made its progressive cut and thrust at a wrong turn.
Form too counts in choosing an XI. To take out Dravid and VVS Laxman from the vanguard of Indian batting just when they had drilled gaping holes in the Aussie armoury of arrogance and accurate pace bowling amounts waving the white flag at our formidable rivals.
And after his repeated failures in four Test innings on the current tour what’s the point of keeping Yuvraj Singh in the squad, leave alone retaining as the vice-captain of the side.
Unflinching faith, you might say. Meanwhile MS Dhoni too had a patchy tour so far. No doubt the skirmishes against two of the finest one-day sides – Sri Lanka and Australia – will help us to find out whether all that glitters (hitters) is gold.
India’s one-day squad for the triangular against Australia and Sri Lanka:
MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, S Shreesanth, RP Singh Ishant Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla and Pravin Kumar.

India humble Aussies in Perth Test

By John Cheeran
David defeated Goliath not because how well David fought, but how well he believed he could defeat his enemy.
Just the same is true in the case of Anil-Kumble inspired India’s historic 72-run win over world champions Australia.
Yes, India played well. But after two morally and physically draining defeats at Melbourne and Sydney, to believe that they could outclass those arrogant Aussies at their strongest turf, you needed to believe as well as David.
And it has more than trivia value that Sourav Ganguly had little role to play in this refulgent win.
India’s victory was the result of a team effort. Still Rahul Dravid’s (first innings) and VVS Laxman’s (second innings) batting contributions bring back the memories of that celebrated win at the Eden Gardens against Steve Waugh’s Aussies.
Why is it that Ganguly, and to a certain extent, Tendulkar were pushed into the background by those mysterious powers sweeping through the pitch at Perth for the last four days?
Nobody knows. Or everyone knows.
May be those selfish giants were put to sleep by an unknown raga.
It was certainly a victory for Harbhajan. It was a victory that proved being gentle is not exactly as being feckless.
Here again, India has snapped Australia’s 16-Test winning streak. This win is all the more sweeter, considering the bitter and sordid experiences that the team went through thanks to the stupid umpiring of Steve Bucknor and Benson.
The way the young and inexperienced seam attack – RP Singh, Ishant Sharma and Irfan Pathan – hammered those nails into the coffins of Ricky Ponting and cohorts, augurs well for the future of Indian cricket.
Play on, India.

India poised to spoil Aussies' Sweet 17 party at Perth

By John Cheeran
Getting the basics right makes a lot of things easier. Like Indian captain Anil Kumble has found out in the third Test against at Perth.
Going into the fourth day of the Test on Saturday, India has a realistic chance of recording a historic win over the world champions of cricket and cussedness.
But how have the losers of Melbourne and Sydney bounced back in Perth, arguably the toughest turf for any touring side in Australia?
Crucially, Rahul Dravid was given his deserved slot, the No.3. Though opener Wasim Jaffer’s miserable form continued, Virender Sehwag clobbered some runs. Indian batting recovered some of its poise.
The last two Tests have contributed substantially to reduce the hype around Yuvraj Singh who has been hailed by Indian cricket writers as the best batsman in living memory after his
Sixer Show in the Twenty20 World Cup.
Kumble was under pressure to include Yuvraj in the playing XI for the first two Tests. He succumbed to that, (and naturally so) and India suffered.
Despite the brouhaha over Harbhajan Singh’s ban, the spinner was wisely left out in favour of Irfan Pathan. And those who were laying into Greg Chappell for teaching Irfan the basics of batting must be now eating their attitudes and words after the youngster proved himself as an all rounder.
Some things must be emphasized. You cannot pick a cricket XI based on TV channels’ oracles and so called SMS surveys. Yuvraj has great attitude, has expansive strokes but he should be given his chance without sacrificing the overall balance of the XI. Lesson learnt, and time for Kumble and company to finish the job at Perth.

Dubai newspapers (and the Middle East): An Inside Story

By John Cheeran
The most attractive media destination in the Middle East is Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE (United Arab Emirates). A major reason for this is Dubai's liberal approach to life in general. This is very important for media professionals who mainly move in from India, Pakistan and the UK to bring out the city-state's various newspapers.
Dubai Media City is home to a host of medium range publications which thrive by producing in house journals and freemailers for the city's shopping malls. Most of these publications do not last for more than three or four issues.
The key players in the UAE media scene are Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Emirates Business 24x7 and Gulf Today. 7 Days, the daily tabloid, is distributed free and is the bravest in reporting local trends and developments.
For a tiny nation such as the UAE four mainstream newspapers and a tabloid in English is a little too much. These English language newspapers target mainly Indian and Pakistani expatriates and now a growing population of Caucasians.
Khaleej Times is the oldest newspaper in the UAE but Gulf News enjoys the financial muscle to bring out what is considered as a slick newspaper.
Both Khaleej Times and Gulf News bring out a 72-page broadsheet edition daily. Classifieds, supplements and weekend magazines add to the girth of the papers.
For an average Indian journalist intent to earn quick bucks, this is great news -- a whole lot of pages to be made and vast spaces to be filled with news and views.
And more great news is in store. Abu Dhabi, Dubai's rival emirate and the UAE's capital, is launching its own newspaper by the end of April. Recruitment for the yet to be named paper is almost over and former Daily Telegraph, London, editor Martin Newland is the editor-in-chief.Four English language newspapers make Dubai print media an overcrowded place.
Financial Times, London, has a Dubai edition; it is printed and distributed in Dubai.
There are three Arabic newspapers -- Al Bayan, Al Khaleej and Al Ittihad -- that cater to local readership. Apart from this, a host of Malayalam newspapers are being edited and printed in Dubai. Malayala Manorama boasts of a Dubai edition, which is considered to be huge success in terms of locally generated advertising revenue.
And to consider that there was an evening daily -- Emirates Evening Post -- which folded within a year of its launch. ITP, another media group that has base in the Dubai Media City, had plans to launch a business broadsheet, but failed to get the required license from the Federal Ministry of Information.
How vibrant is the journalism in Dubai, and in the Middle East
Khaleej Times and Gulf News are undoubtedly success stories when you look at their revenue. Emirates Business 24x7 is backed by a division of the Dubai Government, but this paper has just survived an identity crisis. It was launched as a quality compact newspaper in 2006 but a few months ago it was redesigned and relaunched as Middle East's first business newspaper.
Gulf Today is being published from Sharjah, the third significant emirate in the UAE. But is just there. You could call it the Free Press Journal of the UAE.
In all these newspapers, local reporting is nothing but a PR exercise. Front pages are always dominated by happenings elsewhere and the most preferred headlines are disaster stories from Baghdad and Lebanon. Railing against the United States and Israel are a must to prove your gravitas.
The majority of the editorial team in the UAE newspapers comes from the Asian subcontinent. So, the quality of the editorial team is as good as you may get in India. Though admitting that all newspapers make mistakes, Gulf News seems to make a few more than others. It comes up with headlines such as Its kick off time instead of It's kick off time, and Tendulkar Celebrates A Quite Birthday instead of Tendulkar Celebrates A Quiet Birthday.
Gulf News was redesigned by Mario Garcia of the Garcia Media in 2004. And it gives Gulf News the cutting edge among the competitors.As for career opportunities you can grow within the organization but the attrition rate is one of the lowest. That reduces your chances of moving up.
Also unlike India, you cannot switch your jobs easily in the Middle East. Your organization has the rights to impose a two-year ban on you from working for any of the competitors within the UAE, whenever you quit. You can work around these rules, but most often it is not worth the effort.
Also, several employers in the UAE keep the passports of their employees though this is against the UAE Federal Law. Gulf News a few years ago wrote against this flouting of the Federal Law but still the practice continues.In the newsroom, attention is paid to getting the protocol of the rulers right.
You can get your facts wrong, grammar wrong, but not the names of rulers or their titles.
How much money you must ask
If you are getting an offer from any of the UAE-based newspapers, you must ask for a monthly salary of Dh 12,000. Converted into Indian Rupees, this may sound a huge amount.
But beware. Dirham is pegged to the US dollar and these days 1 Dirham fetches you Rs 10.6. In 2001, 1 Dirham made you richer by Rs 13. Dollar is predicted to fall further and the UAE is in no mood to break free from the dollar shackles.
And inflation is raging in the UAE.With Dh 12,000 as monthly salary you will have a family visa. But any newcomer to Dubai will have to shell out to the tune of Dh80,000 as annual rent for a one bedroom kitchen flat (1 BHK).
Most of them move to the neighbouring emirate Sharjah where real estate prices are cheaper compared to Dubai. In Sharjah the rent for a 1BHK is Dh 40,000.
To live in Sharjah and work in Dubai you need to drive or rely on patchy public transport system. Buying a car is easy in the UAE but getting a driving license is next to impossible.
Even if you manage to get the driving license, your progress will be stalled by traffic congestion. It takes roughly two and half hours to reach Dubai from Sharjah, which is 30 kilometers.
Your minimum grocery bill will be around Dh 2000. A cylinder of gas costs you Dh 92. Till six months, it was only Dh 76.You will have to pay extra for your water and electricity and which are highly reliable. (on an average Dh 200 per month).
Thank god, there are no power shortages.
Healthcare is highly expensive if you have no family insurance coverage. Sharjah does not have nightclubs and it is no liquor zone. You can rely on your apartment's watchman to get your booze.You can enjoy your life in Dubai with its hundreds of nightclubs and bars. (A mug of beer costs Dh 20.)
In Dubai, if you are a non-Muslim, you can get a liquor permit to buy the booze from official outlets.
If you have a school going child, you will have to shell out minimum Dh 500 per month.
Roughly, this is how your average monthly expenses will add up:
Monthly Salary Dirhams 12,000
Monthly Rent Dh 7,000
Water and Electricity Dh 200
Monthly Grocery Bill Dh 2000
Cable TV Connection, Internet (Monthly) Dh 350.
Phone Bills (Cell phone plus landline) Minimum Dh 300.
School Fees Dh 500 Entertainment, Eating out Dh 1,000 per month
Expenditure Total Dh 11,350.
Income Total Dh 12,000.
(Note: These figures are based on 2007 prices)
Still, if you want to dig for gold in Dubai and the UAE, good luck to you.(Originally published at www.ocms.in)

Opportunities in Dubai newspapers and the Middle East

By John Cheeran
The most attractive media destination in the Middle East is Dubai, one of the seven emirates that make up the UAE (United Arab Emirates). A major reason for this is Dubai's liberal approach to life in general. This is very important for media professionals who mainly move in from India, Pakistan and the UK to bring out the city-state's various newspapers.
Dubai Media City is home to a host of medium range publications which thrive by producing in house journals and freemailers for the city's shopping malls. Most of these publications do not last for more than three or four issues.
The key players in the UAE media scene are Khaleej Times, Gulf News, Emirates Business 24x7 and Gulf Today. 7 Days, the daily tabloid, is distributed free and is the bravest in reporting local trends and developments.
For a tiny nation such as the UAE four mainstream newspapers and a tabloid in English is a little too much. These English language newspapers target mainly Indian and Pakistani expatriates and now a growing population of Caucasians.
Khaleej Times is the oldest newspaper in the UAE but Gulf News enjoys the financial muscle to bring out what is considered as a slick newspaper.
Both Khaleej Times and Gulf News bring out a 72-page broadsheet edition daily. Classifieds, supplements and weekend magazines add to the girth of the papers.
For an average Indian journalist intent to earn quick bucks, this is great news -- a whole lot of pages to be made and vast spaces to be filled with news and views.
And more great news is in store. Abu Dhabi, Dubai's rival emirate and the UAE's capital, is launching its own newspaper by the end of April. Recruitment for the yet to be named paper is almost over and former Daily Telegraph, London, editor Martin Newland is the editor-in-chief.
Four English language newspapers make Dubai print media an overcrowded place. Financial Times, London, has a Dubai edition; it is printed and distributed in Dubai.
There are three Arabic newspapers -- Al Bayan, Al Khaleej and Al Ittihad -- that cater to local readership. Apart from this, a host of Malayalam newspapers are being edited and printed in Dubai. Malayala Manorama boasts of a Dubai edition, which is considered to be huge success in terms of locally generated advertising revenue.
And to consider that there was an evening daily -- Emirates Evening Post -- which folded within a year of its launch. ITP, another media group that has base in the Dubai Media City, had plans to launch a business broadsheet, but failed to get the required license from the Federal Ministry of Information.
How vibrant is the journalism in Dubai, and in the Middle East
Khaleej Times and Gulf News are undoubtedly success stories when you look at their revenue. Emirates Business 24x7 is backed by a division of the Dubai Government, but this paper has just survived an identity crisis. It was launched as a quality compact newspaper in 2006 but a few months ago it was redesigned and relaunched as Middle East's first business newspaper.
Gulf Today is being published from Sharjah, the third significant emirate in the UAE. But is just there. You could call it the Free Press Journal of the UAE.
In all these newspapers, local reporting is nothing but a PR exercise. Front pages are always dominated by happenings elsewhere and the most preferred headlines are disaster stories from Baghdad and Lebanon. Railing against the United States and Israel are a must to prove your gravitas.
The majority of the editorial team in the UAE newspapers comes from the Asian subcontinent. So, the quality of the editorial team is as good as you may get in India. Though admitting that all newspapers make mistakes, Gulf News seems to make a few more than others. It comes up with headlines such as Its kick off time instead of It's kick off time, and Tendulkar Celebrates A Quite Birthday instead of Tendulkar Celebrates A Quiet Birthday.
Gulf News was redesigned by Mario Garcia of the Garcia Media in 2004. And it gives Gulf News the cutting edge among the competitors.
As for career opportunities you can grow within the organization but the attrition rate is one of the lowest. That reduces your chances of moving up.
Also unlike India, you cannot switch your jobs easily in the Middle East. Your organization has the rights to impose a two-year ban on you from working for any of the competitors within the UAE, whenever you quit. You can work around these rules, but most often it is not worth the effort.
Also, several employers in the UAE keep the passports of their employees though this is against the UAE Federal Law. Gulf News a few years ago wrote against this flouting of the Federal Law but still the practice continues.In the newsroom, attention is paid to getting the protocol of the rulers right. You can get your facts wrong, grammar wrong, but not the names of rulers or their titles.
How much money you must ask
If you are getting an offer from any of the UAE-based newspapers, you must ask for a monthly salary of Dh 12,000. Converted into Indian Rupees, this may sound a huge amount. But beware. Dirham is pegged to the US dollar and these days 1 Dirham fetches you Rs 10.6.
In 2001, 1 Dirham made you richer by Rs 13. Dollar is predicted to fall further and the UAE is in no mood to break free from the dollar shackles. And inflation is raging in the UAE.
With Dh 12,000 as monthly salary you will have a family visa. But any newcomer to Dubai will have to shell out to the tune of Dh80,000 as annual rent for a one bedroom kitchen flat (1 BHK). Most of them move to the neighbouring emirate Sharjah where real estate prices are cheaper compared to Dubai. In Sharjah the rent for a 1BHK is Dh 40,000.
To live in Sharjah and work in Dubai you need to drive or rely on patchy public transport system. Buying a car is easy in the UAE but getting a driving license is next to impossible. Even if you manage to get the driving license, your progress will be stalled by traffic congestion. It takes roughly two and half hours to reach Dubai from Sharjah, which is 30 kilometers.Your minimum grocery bill will be around Dh 2000. A cylinder of gas costs you Dh 92. Till six months, it was only Dh 76.You will have to pay extra for your water and electricity and which are highly reliable. (on an average Dh 200 per month). Thank god, there are no power shortages.
Healthcare is highly expensive if you have no family insurance coverage. Sharjah does not have nightclubs and it is no liquor zone. You can rely on your apartment's watchman to get your booze.
You can enjoy your life in Dubai with its hundreds of nightclubs and bars. (A mug of beer costs Dh 20.) In Dubai, if you are a non-Muslim, you can get a liquor permit to buy the booze from official outlets.
If you have a school going child, you will have to shell out minimum Dh 500 per month.
Roughly, this is how your average monthly expenses will add up:Monthly Salary Dirhams 12,000Monthly Rent Dh 7,000Water and Electricity Dh 200Monthly Grocery Bill Dh 2000Cable TV Connection, Internet (Monthly) Dh 350.Phone Bills (Cell phone plus landline) Minimum Dh 300.School Fees Dh 500Entertainment, Eating out Dh 1,000 per monthExpenditure Total Dh 11,350.Income Total Dh 12,000.(Note: These figures are based on 2007 prices)Still, if you want to dig for gold in Dubai and the UAE, good luck to you.
(Originally published at www.ocms.in)

Do you want to become a journalist? log on to Online Centre for Media Studies

By John Cheeran
Are journalism schools worth the hefty fees they charge?
Are you satisfied with the quality of Indian journalism? Would you like to communicate better with your colleagues?
Do you want to go beyond mere blogging?
Do you want to master the crafts of editing and reporting?
Well without leaving your desktop or laptop, now you can become a better editor or reporter.
http://www.ocms.in/ offers you the right kind of courses whether you are a student or professional of whatever background.
With a course that lasts only 12 weeks, Mr Sunil Saxena, the man behind the Online Centre for Media Studies, has ensured that what you learn is what you must.
You get all the meat, no bones.
With a course fee of Rs 15,000 one should point out that what http://www.ocms.in/ offers is value for money.
India’s first and finest online journalism college could give shape to your ambitions of a news breaker and newsmaker.
Go, log on to http://www.ocms.in/ now.

Ganguly's double century in Bangalore: All about evolution!

By John Cheeran
Yes, it is tough to swallow one’s pride, tougher still to admit defeat when your well stated position is proved wrong by your pet hate.
Sourav Ganguly has proved his critics, including me, wrong with his well-crafted double century in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Bangalore.
When facts change, I change my opinion. Sir,what do you do?
Ganguly has reinvented himself not just as a batsman but as a man too. Not only he chooses his shots carefully, he pause and prod while he chooses his words too.
His comeback has been splendid and this home series against Pakistan has been significant in terms of the number of runs the Bengal left-hander has scored. In the autumn of his career Ganguly has dug deep to carve out his first Test double century. Earlier Ganguly scored his first Test century in front of the partisan crowd at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Till this series unfolded, I had doubted whether Ganguly has it in to score a century in one-dayers, leave alone in Tests.
None can deny that Ganguly has batted without care, except when he scented the century on Saturday. Ganguly’s and Yuvraj Singh’s tons came when India was gasping for breath, after losing Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir, Dravid and VVS Laxman, well below the 100 mark on the scoreboard.
But the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium held no terrors after the morning meltdown and a dispirited Pakistan attack (Shoaib Ahtar lying in hospital) will help to put batsmen’s achievements in perspective.
Has the change in Indian captaincy has contributed to Ganguly’s refulgent batting? It has to be noted that Ganguly’s ascent has been marked by the decline in the lofty standards of Rahul Dravid.
A century in front of his friends and family, a double century at the home ground of his biggest rival in life. Ganguly, in his third coming, has surprised himself the most and surpassed a few boundaries in the process.
Certainly, the trip the chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar made to Bangalore has been worth it.

Interview with Sony Cheruvathur, Kerala's new Ranji Trophy team captain

By John Cheeran
I was calling Sony Cheruvathur on the same evening (27-10-2007) when Kerala Cricket Association selected the state Ranji squad to take on Vidharba in Nagpur on November 3.
Let me quickly share this with you all. In Kerala’s cricket history, Sony is the first Ranji Captain who hails from Kunnamkulam, a provincial town imbued with rare survival instinct. Sony, though lives in Chengannoor, with his parents, is a true blue Kunnamkulam Nasrani.
Kunnamkulam is known for its printing presses and areca nuts and basketball players.
I have over the years talked to various cricketers including Sir Gary Sobers, Sachin Tendulkar and Kapil Dev for professional reasons. Never ever had I thought I would be talking to a cricketer from Kunnamkulam. Not even the Ranji variety!
Being Kerala Ranji team captain is not an insignificant honour, when you consider that the state has produced two Test cricketers – Tinu Yohannan and S Sreesanth – in recent times. Who knows Sony could be the next fast bowler in line.
I’m a realist. At 29 years young, Kerala’s newest cricket captain (Sony is making his debut as captain on November 3 against Vidharba, though he has led the side in pre-Ranji season tournaments this year. The odds are stacked heavily against Sony as far as forcing is way into the Indian national team.
Though he has been with Kerala Ranji squad for the last six years, Sony has got only a fair trial only in the last season. Sony played three matches and took 13 wickets including a best performance of 5/42 against Goa last season. As Sony says he has played only eight Ranji Trophy matches.
Kerala Cricket Association, it seems, has given Sony the leader’s role for his cool approach to the game as well as recognition for his all-round skills. Sony’s bold batting had landed him a place in the South Zone side for the Deodhar Trophy one day tournament. Sony had hit a quick fire 82 against Tamil Nadu in the Subbaiah Pillay Trophy to merit the list.
Skipper Sony is confident that Kerala, without the crutches of professionals, should do well in the Plate Division. KCA has abandoned the practice of hiring players, a policy that ran for the last six years, from outside. Last year, Kerala’s opening batsmen were imported from Tamil Nadu – S Suresh and Sadagopan Ramesh.
Kerala’s strength is their pace attack, points out skipper Sony, who himself is a crafty swing bowler. “There is Tinu but definitely we will miss Sreesanth.”
Sreesanth’s assignments with the national side have given other youngsters rare opportunities to show their arsenal. Sony makes an interesting observation when he points out that Kerala’s athletic tradition should be the reason why the state has produced a string of pacers. “Bowling is more similar to athletics. There is no requirement for refinement. Batting requires a lot more fine tuning in that sense. We have very few turf wickets available and this makes it difficult for the state to produce quality batsmen.”
Vellayani, CRL and Palace Oval are Kerala’s major turf wickets. These are not simply enough for a state that has a huge craze for cricket.

The Hindu editorial on Dhoni

editorial in the hindu, september 20
The right choice
The appointment of M.S. Dhoni as captain of the Indian one-day cricket team for the home series against Australia and Pakistan is commendable. While the selectors had few other choices - apparent from chairman Dilip Vengsarkar's statement that the decision took all of five minutes - Dhoni staked his claim on merit. Already, in his three years as an international cricketer, the 26-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman has shown the ability to adapt quickly without divorcing his instincts. Former coach Greg Chappell identified very early Dhoni's cricket intelligence, both intuitive and conscious. That Dhoni has captivated the masses with his mix of rustic unorthodoxy and native shrewdness, and won the confidence of his team-mates with his preternatural calm under pressure, illustrates why he is such an attractive option. He has kept clear of the lapses in discipline that have compromised the captaincy aspirations of other young Indian cricketers. Dhoni of course needs time to grow. Former Indian captains have alluded to how dealing with the game's capricious administrators, handling the intrusive media, and coping with the fickle public can take their toll. For all his success with the bat (a Test average of over 36 and an ODI average of over 44) and his mental strength in keeping effectively despite struggling, Dhoni isn't yet a world-class wicketkeeper. Rather than rush him into Test captaincy, the selectors must give themselves time for assessment. The highly respected Anil Kumble, who deserves more than filling a vacancy, is our editorial choice for leading India in the significant Test series against Pakistan and Australia. In judging Dhoni, the selectors would do well to consider why his elevation from Twenty20 captaincy was necessary. The decision of Rahul Dravid, not one ever to shrink from a challenge, to step down is an indication of both the attendant pressures of the job and his honesty. Dravid said captains had shelf lives; the demands of modern-day cricket, he noted ruefully, were shrinking these shelf lives. Further, the strains of captaincy had just begun to affect his excellence with the bat. Dravid timed his exit well, even if he denied himself a chance to be celebrated as a great captain by leading the side successfully in Australia. The upstanding Bangalorean will be remembered as a sound, intelligent, and intense captain. Contrary to popular perception, he was tactically more aggressive than Sourav Ganguly; however, for a variety of reasons, he wasn't as successful in managing the system. Yet under Dravid the team transitioned from one that won Tests abroad into a side that won series abroad. He remains one of only two Indian captains - Ajit Wadekar is the other - to have won Test series in the West Indies and England.

Times edit on Dhoni, the new captain

Thankless job (the times of india
19 Sep 2007

The selectors have done the right thing by appointing Mahendra Singh Dhoni as India's ODI captain. After Rahul Dravid's sudden resignation from the captaincy last week, there was no obvious choice to fill his shoes. Sachin Tendulkar was the front runner for the job, but he is reported to have said that one-dayers were taking a toll on his body. In such a situation, appointing a younger player as captain of the ODI team is a positive move. Dhoni, who is at present leading India's Twenty20 team, will now have to come to terms with the incredible pressure that accompanies the job. Soon after quitting as skipper, Dravid said that there is a "shelf life" to the Indian captaincy, which he felt could be getting shorter with every passing year. Both Dravid and his predecessor, Sourav Ganguly, suffered a loss of form at some stage of their captaincy. Moreover, the captaincy takes a toll not only on the cricket field but also off it. The expectations of Indian fans are huge, often unreasonably so. In that sense, Dravid probably had taken as much as he could. More importantly, he quit when the going was good -- after a memorable series' win against England -- and not when people were calling for his head. There are a few lessons for both BCCI and Indian cricketers. The cricket board must try and help make the job easier for captains. Separate captains for the shorter and longer versions of the game -- which is now a distinct possibility -- is one way to do that. A fixed tenure for the skipper is another way to ease some of the pressure. This will allow a captain to tide over a temporary loss of form. A full-time coach as well as a carefully selected manager must always accompany the team. Under Dravid, India toured England without a coach; the manager was a former cricketer who last played international cricket in the 1960s. BCCI can definitely do much better in terms of giving back-up support to captains. All this will only go a little way in helping to ease the burden of Team India's skipper. He would himself have to find ways to deal with a job that possibly comes with more stress than that of the prime minister. The trick, as Dravid told reporters of this newspaper, is to be completely focused at the right time and to switch off at other times. The trick is finding the switch.

D for Dhoni!

By John Cheeran
So Indian cricket has a new captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Reasons for Rahul Dravid’s resignation are still debatable, but is Dhoni the right choice?
Yes, the more serious business of finding a captain for Tests have been put aside in typical BCCI fashion, but does the 26-year-old from Ranchi command an automatic place in the Indian side?
Dhoni has batted reasonably well in the recent times and his effort to save Indian in the first Test at Lord’s was praiseworthy indeed. He is still not emerged as a dependable bat for India, thereby cementing his place in the side. Well, I do know that he keeps wickets in the side.
But that soon will change, if the last Twenty 20 match was any indication, and the one guy who will benefit from Dhoni’s elevation to the captaincy is Dinesh Karthick, whose dodgy form with bat giving many a heartbreak or two.
As in the case with Sonia Gandhi’s choice with Manmohan Singh, the BCCI and the chairman of selectors Dileep Vengsarkar wanted a malleable fellow to be captain. Dhoni, hitherto carefree in approach, may not be as stubborn as Dravid proved when he believed in something or someone. Comparisons can be made to Mohammad Azharuddin, who at the time of being anointed as captain looked a virgin.
Will selectors go the full distance and give Dhoni the honour of leading India in the Tests too? Vengsrakar can happily hold the remote control and be the oracle of Indian cricket for one more season.
But one thing is sure, captain Dhoni’s sexy mane will soon be a thing of the past. The cares of captaincy will take care of it.
Meanwhile, Dhoni gets a perfect opportunity in today’s Twenty20 World Cup semifinal against Australia to prove his captaincy credentials.
Who knows what tomorrow brings?
Dhoni is just two matches away from matching Kapil Dev’s feat of winning a World Cup. The title triumph in the Twenty20 World Cup will force Vengsarkar to give Dhoni the reins of the Test team, ignoring the original candidate, Sachin Tendulkar.
Chak De Dhoni, Chak De India.

Why did Dravid throw away the cares of captaincy?

By John Cheeran
Why did Rahul Dravid quit the Indian team’s captaincy?
Obviously this was the story of the recent times, and a much speculative Indian media, did not get a whiff of it till Dravid made it clear to the BCCI supremo Sharad Pawar that enough is enough.
I’m not a mind reader, but Dravid must have thought a lot about the leading job. That Dravid has not discussed the subject with individuals such as Chandu Borde, who accompanied the team as a mascot to England, fits in with the Bangalore man’s character. But Dravid would have discussed the matter with his closest pal in Indian cricket, Anil Kumble, the man who should have led India instead of Sourav Ganguly.
Dravid’s critics say that his timing of the decision to step down as the captain is puzzling.
Some of them even have dared to insinuate that Dravid has scared away from the forthcoming series against Australia and Pakistan.
I have only contempt for them. The man who led India to series wins in West Indies and most recently in England should not worry about assignments similar in nature. And if you can recall it was Dravid who captained India’s first Test wins not just in Pakistan but also in South Africa.
It would be silly to point out that Dravid’s batting has suffered during the last Test series against England. How could anyone argue with those who judge form only on the basis of scoreboard?
There was never a shadow of doubt regarding Dravid’s batting during the England series. It is true that he was a victinmg of a series of poor decisions should be taken for what they are instead of linking with the so called pressures of the captaincy.
And one should admit that the intrigue that botched India’s World Cup campaign in the West Indies is still at work in the dressing room. And chief villain is none other than Sourav Ganguly. It is with Ganguly’s tacit support that Indian pacer Zaheer Khan told a television crew that he was not at all tired after the Oval Test.
Zaheer’s statement was out of sync with Dravid’s argument that he knew his bowlers were a tired lot and hence he preferred not to to enforce the follow on against Michael Vaughan’s England. No captain likes a situation such as this.
And I can directly link Dravid’s decision to throw away the cares of captaincy to the fourth day of the third and final Test against England this summer, when Indian skipper had to play an ultra defensive innings of 22 off 92 balls to ensure that India did not lose the match, and forego the opportunity to win the series.
An earnest captain such as Dravid is justified if he nursed doubts regrading the commitment of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who played a cavalier second innings at the Brit Oval. Such sudden outbreaks of loss of batting form among his senior colleagues should have concerned Dravid, who gave his best for India, under the leaderships of Tendulkar and Ganguly.
And to add to the situation the BCCI has not helped the matters either. It is six months after the World Cup, still Indian team does not have a coach. Dravid who believes in a studied approach to the game would not have enjoyed the ad-hocism of the BCCI.
Is there a better time to let it go when you have emerged from the ashheap of the World Cup fiasco with a refulgent Test series win in England and after rallying the side to thrilling finish (3-4) in the one-day series?There are few things left for Dravid to prove as a modern-day batsman. He has, unlike Tendulkars and Gangulys, played his defining innings much, much earlier.
Even if Dravid quits playing for India with in the coming season, there will be another shock for Indian cricket. And I’m sure those days are fast approaching when Dravid will say enough is enough at the end of the series Down Under. It is for Tendulkars and Ganguly’s to go on and on.
It is for men to stop when they see the writing on the wall.

India outsmart Pakistan in Twenty20 shootout

From Durban, South Africa
India outsmarted Pakistan in a bowl-out after the arch-rivals played a heart-stopping tie during the Twenty20 world championships here on Friday.
With Pakistan needing one run to overtake India's 141-9, Misbah-ul Haq was run out off the last ball of the innings to leave his team on 141-7.
In the bowl-out, Pakistan's Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi failed to hit the stumps at the other end.
Indian bowlers Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa hit the wicket each time to give their team a 3-0 win.
Both Pakistan and India qualified for the Super Eights round after ousting Scotland from the race.
A sell-out crowd at the Kingsmead watched a slug fest between the two teams that swung from one corner to the other before the match ended with the scores level.
Pakistan appeared on course to victory when they restricted India to 141-9 after captain Shoaib Malik had won the toss and elected to field in overcast conditions.
But India hit back to reduce Pakistan to 103-6 in the 18th over, leaving the batting side needing a challenging 39 to win off the remaining 14 balls in the low-scoring match.
The seventh-wicket pair of Yasir Arafat and Misbah swung the game Pakistan's way by adding 38 off the next 13 balls, but failed to complete the crucial winning run.
Misbah, who made 53 off 35 balls, patted the last ball from Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and ran but failed to beat the throw from the infield to the bowler, who broke the wickets.
Left-arm seamer Irfan Pathan, returning to the Indian team after nine months, took 2-20 in his four overs.
For Pakistan, seamer Mohammad Asif returned the second-best figures in Twenty20 cricket to restrict India to 141-9 in the first session.
Asif used the overcast conditions to wreck India's top order with 4-18, second behind New Zealander Mark Gillespie's 4-7 against Kenya earlier in the week.
India were reduced to 36-4 before Uthappa retreived the innings with 50 off 39 balls.
Indian skipper Mahendra Dhoni hit 33 and Irfan Pathan made 20 to boost the total amid three frustrating stoppages as light showers swept the ground.
Asif struck with his third delivery when he put out his right hand and grasped a return catch as Gautam Gambhir drove uppishly.
In his next over, Asif bowled Sehwag, who made five on his return to international cricket after being dropped for the recent England tour.
Yuvraj Singh holed out in the deep in Asif's third over and the seamer met another success in his fourth and final over when he forced Dinesh Karthick to edge a rising ball on to his stumps.
Uthappa fell soon after reaching his half-century when he was caught behind to give debutant left-arm seamer Sohail Tanvir his first international wicket.
Afridi clean bowled Pathan and Harbhajan Singh towards the end to restrict India's total.
Scoreboard:
India
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Gambhir), 2-9 (Sehwag), 3-19 (Yuvraj), 4-36 (Karthick), 5-82 (Uthappa), 6-116 (Pathan), 7-123 (Harbhajan), 8-139 (Dhoni), 9-141 (Agarkar).
Overs: 20
Pakistan
Fall of wickets: 1-12 (Nazir), 2-44 (Butt), 3-47 (Akmal), 4-47 (Younis), 5-87 (Malik), 6-103 (Afridi), 7-141 (Misbah)
Overs: 20
Match tied
India won bowl-out 3-0
(India's Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa hit. Pakistan's Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul and Shahid Afridi missed.)
Toss: Pakistan
Umpire: Billy Doctrove (WIS) and Simon Taufel (AUS)
TV umpire: Steve Davis (AUS)
Match referee: Mike Procter (RSA)

Indian cricketers react to Dravid's resignation

Jolted by Rahul Dravid's out-of-the blue decision to relinquish Team India captaincy, the cricket fraternity today reacted with shock and wondered what made him quit the job.
Former India opener Chetan Chauhan had no doubt in his mind that, for once, Dravid got his timing wrong.
"This would definitely affect the team. He's leaving at a time when the side was gradually settling under him," Chauhan told PTI.
"He was a decent captain who was improving with every game. He did well in the series against England and leading India to a Test series triumph after a 21-year gap is no mean achievement," he pointed out. Chetan, however, still clings on to the faint hope that Dravid may still give it a second thought.
"I would request the selectors first to persuade Dravid to continue and in case he does not relent, only then you should explore other options."
And in case Dravid is adamant, Chetan said, it would leave the selectors with no other options but to fall back on either Sachin Tendulkar or Sourav Ganguly.
"For the time being, I guess may be another two years, you have no other options but go back and appoint either Sachin Tendulkar or Ganguly. Personally I would prefer Tendulkar, he was the vice captain in the Test series in England."
Former captain MAK Pataudi, however, believes the Board should not pressurise Dravid to revert his decision. "If someone doesn't want to continue, he should be allowed to do that. India has done exceptionally well this year in England under his leadership.
But if he does not want to continue as captain and wants to be there only as a player, we should respect that," he said.
Member of India's 1983 World Cup winning team Madan Lal was also shocked by the news. "It must have been a hard decision. It surprised me because he was having a good run as captain. He has won so many matches for the team," Madan said.
The former player felt public pressure and constant criticism could have played some part in influencing Dravid's decision and said, "The trouble is the public pressure is such that it doesn't allow you to settle down. Coaches and captains are always targeted when we lose."
Two other former players, K Srikkanth and Kiran More, who served as chief selector when Dravid was captain, were also baffled by Dravid's decision. "More than surprising, it was shocking," Srikkanth said. More said he too could not foresee it coming and said, "It's his personal decision, maybe he was not liking the weight of captaincy on his shoulder."
Former player and India's manager in the recent UK tour Chandu Borde was equally shocked. "The decision has come as a complete surprise to me, a bolt from the blue. He never discussed this even once when we were on the long tour. I don't know why he has taken this decision," he said. "He must have given it a lot of consideration. We have to respect his decision," the former Test middle order mainstay said in Pune.
Asked if the criticism for not enforcing follow-on in the final Test at the Oval could have anything to do with Dravid's decision, Borde said, "No, I don't think so. It was a collective decision."

Dravid abdicates Indian captain's throne

NEW DELHI
Rahul Dravid has stepped down as India captain just a month after leading his team to a rare Test series victory in England, the country's cricket board said.
Dravid, who took over the captaincy from Sourav Ganguly in 2005, said he would continue playing for India, but wanted to concentrate on his batting.
"Rahul met (Indian cricket chief) Sharad Pawar on Thursday and expressed his desire to step down as captain of the Indian team," board secretary Niranjan Shah said in a statement on Friday.
"He requested that he should not be considered for the job for the ensuing Australia series.
He further assured that he would extend his full co-operation to his successor and contribute as a batsman and a senior player. "Rahul wanted to concentrate on his game."
Australia will arrive in India for seven one-day internationals later this month.
Dravid, 34, is the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to quit captaincy for batting in the last seven years. Tendulkar stepped down after a two-Test home series against South Africa in 2000 and was replaced with Ganguly. India won eight Tests under Dravid, including series victories in the West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh and England.
The success in the Caribbean in 2006 was India's first in 35 years, and last month they won their first Test series in England in two decades. Nicknamed "The Wall" for his solid defence, Dravid has scored 9,492 runs in 112 Tests with 24 centuries and 10,534 runs in 327 one-day internationals with 12 hundreds.
He is only the third Indian after Tendulkar and Ganguly to score more than 10,000 runs in the shorter version of the game.
"He has discussed the issue with me twice. I think we need to respect his decision," said Pawar. "He has recently told me that captaincy was affecting his game. He has said he would like to continue playing and improve upon his performance."
The Board of Control for Cricket in India was expected to discuss Dravid's resignation at a meeting next Tuesday.
"I think the reasons are personal. Every captain has his prerogatives. I think he was feeling the burden (of captaincy)," said Indian board vice-president Rajiv Shukla.
Dravid's most disappointing moment as one-day captain came in the World Cup in the Caribbean early this year when his team were knocked out in the first round after a shock defeat against Bangladesh in the opening match.
He opted out of the ongoing Twenty20 World Championships in South Africa and was replaced with wicketkeeper-batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

BCCI's bouncers to ZEE: IPL and Champions League

Indian cricket board has made its move. In a step that will effectively take the sting out of the Indian Cricket League, the BCCI has launched its own Indian Premier League (IPL) and an international Champions Twenty20 League.
The leagues will start from next year.
Matches are scheduled for 5pm or 8pm, for your convenience.
The board lined up Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, snatched Warne and Glenn McGrath from the ICL's grasp, and paraded ICC honchos and the cricket bosses of seven nations in a show of money and political muscle.
The IPL, which starts next April, will have eight city teams vying over 44 days for a prize money of $3 million (Rs 12.13 crore).
The top two teams join the top two clubs from the Australian, South African and English T20 leagues for an eight-team Champion's League in October. The prize money for the nine-day, 15-match event equals that of the 2007 World Cup - $5 million or Rs 202 crore - which is nearly three times the current T20 World Cup's $1.9-million purse. The cash award announced by the ICL is $1 million.
"I hope this will be successful, if the people on the dais cannot make it work, then it's just not going to work," Dravid said. McGrath and Warne chose the known devil after being terribly tempted by the ICL's alleged offers of $700,000 (Rs 2.88 crore), sources said.
New Zealander Fleming apparently turned down $500,000. Sachin, Sourav, Dravid and Anil Kumble are said to have been made even bigger offers. None has signed up yet, but the BCCI showcased them to reassure potential bidders that they were "available".
Board vice-president Lalit Modi said, "This (the IPL) is towards the end of the season. Cricketers are mostly free at that time."
The league's most revolutionary aspect is a franchise system under which the eight teams will be owned by companies, which can list them on the bourses. The franchisees must pay the BCCI a fee but will get to share revenues. Modi said the model was inspired by the US basketball and baseball leagues. "The franchisees will get marketing rights... will be entitled to local revenues like ticket sales." There will also be a draft allowing the buying and selling of players. "The concept of franchise is mind-blowing," McGrath told the news conference.
Warne said from London: "I am pretty much excited to join." Modi said over 30 companies and individuals had approached the board for IPL sponsorships.
"IMG will be the event manager," senior board official Ratnakar Shetty said. Both Sony and SET said they were confident about bagging the telecast rights. Nimbus was undecided but CMD Harish Thawani said, "As the current domestic telecast rights holder for the BCCI, we have the first right to the board's new domestic property."
The advertising industry was happy. "The player pool will expand and more opportunities will be available to more cricketers. With localised teams playing, it can throw up local stars," McCann Erickson India's Prasoon Joshi said. Each team must have at least four local players and not more than three foreign players.
The rest of the squad of 16 will be non-local Indians. Four players must be under 21. Each IPL team plays seven home games and seven away.
The 56 league games are followed by two semi-finals and the final.
The Champion's League divides teams into two groups of four. The 12 group matches are followed by the semi-finals and the final. Sunil Gavaskar, whose son Rohan has joined the ICL, will be in the IPL's governing council with fellow ex-skippers Ravi Shastri and M.A.K. Pataudi.
ICL head Kapil Dev was reluctant to comment. "I don't want to say much," he said.
Modi, who had a lot to say, slipped up once, requesting board chief Sharad Pawar to unveil the logo of the "Indian Cricket League". He quickly realised the mistake, smiled and sat down.

No Twenty20: Zimbabwe take it all from Australia

An outraged Ricky Ponting blasted his team after Australia were stunned by Zimbabwe in their opening match of the Twenty20 World Cup on Wednesday.
The skipper held nothing back in his summation of the shock five-wicket loss, even heaping plenty of the blame on himself as Australia's top order failed miserably in Cape Town.
After restricting Australia to 9-138 from their 20 overs, Zimbabwe - needing 12 runs from the final over - claimed an amazing victory when they scored four leg byes from the penultimate delivery.
Opener Brendon Taylor was the star for the Africans, picking up the man-of-the-match award after a superb 60 not out. Zimbabwe celebrated as if they had won the World Cup, rushing onto the field in jubilation before doing a lap of honour while Australia licked their wounds in the dressing room.
The humiliating defeat leaves the one-day world champions in danger of crashing out of the tournament at the first hurdle, with their only hope of advancing past the group stage and into the Super Eights lying with a victory over England on Friday.
Asked if he felt embarrassed by the loss, Ponting forthrightly replied: "Yeah of course, and we should. We rightly should. "There might be a lot of Australians back home who feel the same way as well. "It's not been that often that I've walked off the cricket field feeling that way, but I think if you went into our rooms and asked every other player in there they'll say the same thing.'' Ponting admitted his team was outplayed and needed to show more respect for the game.
"It is a mental thing for us, we have to start respecting the game a bit more and thinking what we have to do,'' he said. "We have been outplayed today no doubt about that.''
While they did have two warm-up games at the weekend, the match was Australia's first international fixture since winning the World Cup in April, and the rustiness of that four-month break showed.
Ponting, who told his side after the match "if that's not a wake up call to all of us, then nothing ever will be'', was particularly scathing of the top order. After winning the toss and batting, Australia were 3-19 in just the fourth over after Matthew Hayden (4), Adam Gilchrist (4) and Ponting (8) all fell cheaply. "If we look at the way that we played, our batting at the top just wasn't good enough,'' Ponting said.
"No doubt today, being 3-19, that's probably where the game was lost. "So particularly the top three batters have got to have a bit more respect for their own games and make sure they get some more time in the middle and some more runs.''
Brad Hodge (35 not out off 22) and Andrew Symonds (33 from 25) ensured Australia set a competitive target. But they were well held by a disciplined Zimbabwe bowling attack - led by Elton Chigumbura (3-20) and Gary Brent (2-19) - which in turn was well backed by some at-times brilliant fielding.
That discipline seeped through to the run chase, with Taylor keeping a steady hand despite the disruption of a 30-minute rain delay in the 12th over. Needing 12 from the final over, Taylor hit Bracken for four from the first ball before whittling the equation down to four runs from two balls.
Bracken fired his penultimate delivery at Taylor's legs, with the ball flicking the pad and racing to the fine-leg boundary - just evading the fingertips of a diving Stuart Clark.

When India Dar (Aleem) gaya at Lord’s !

By John Cheeran
India lost the one-day series in England, but no one is perturbed. Rahul Dravid’s men fought hard indeed to make the seventh match at Lord’s meaningful. But Pakistani (yes, I’m not forgetting the fact he should be seen as ICC’s choice) umpire Aleem Dar’s two rotten decisions against Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar (both off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff) made it a no contest.
India lost the one-day series 3-4 and the pulsating run chase that culminated in a thrilling win in the penultimate match at the Brit Oval washed off many of their sins – including patchy bowling and atrocious fielding.
India should thank Sachin Tendulkar for the series of splendid scores he has logged at this age and stage of his career. India should also be proud of youngsters such as Robin Uthappa who converted a crisis situation into an opportunity to establish himself as a pro. It was the first match for Uthappa after the Sri Lanka encounter in the West Indies during the World Cup.
The match at the Brit Oval was one of the most dramatic ones in recent times. India had lost all hopes of winning the match once England tail ender Dimitri Mascarenhas smashed all the six balls off Yuvraj Singh, who bowled the last (50) over of the England innings.
It was another of captain Dravid’s decisions that came under fire. When you are forced to carry a bowler such as Ajit Agarkar as your opening bowler, any captain may get exasperated. And a hitter such as Dimitri will exploit the chances that come his way.
And for Aleem Dar, he is not the first umpire to give rotten decisions. It is time the International Cricket Council got its act together to root out the kind of subjectivity on umpire’s part that ruins the game.
Clearly, the way out is to give more powers to the third umpire and rely on the advantages of television replays. There is no doubt that such a move will make the on field umpires mere scarecrows.
But if it adds to quality of cricket, so be it.

Ganguly's grit tells a story

By John Cheeran
Having heaped scorn Sourav Ganguly, I should recognize and admire his gritty efforts with the Indian cricket team on his comeback trail.
A set of factors paved the way for Ganguly’s comeback. I will not discuss those now. What’s important is that Ganguly, when faced with challenging situations has performed for the team, overcoming his limitations. With huge slice of luck and an equal dose of pluck Ganguly has come up a string of half-centuries and that last one was at Leeds against England in the one-day series.
I must grant that Ganguly has a sense of occasion. Playing in his 300th ODI, Ganguly scored runs (59) and took two wickets that helped India beat England by 38 runs to cut their rivals lead to 3-2.
Let me quote India’s leader Rahul Dravid on Ganguly. “ Playing 300 matches is not as important as performance. He has performed for more than a decade – that is really a big thing.”
Anyway, you have been picked to perform only.
In Ganguly’s case, in the past, many had overlooked that aspect and had treated him as a talisman. Tragedy was that Ganguly himself believed in that fiction.It gladdens me and the rest of the Indian cricket fans that Ganguly has seen the light, or to be more precise, the twilight.
But it also saddens me that Ganguly has not improved an inch from an embarrassing fielder. One cannot overlook that Ganguly dropped Ian Bell in the slips off the first ball the English batsman faced at Leeds.
That’s a measure of the commitment and attitude of an average Indian cricketer.

Zee's Indian Cricket League (ICL): It's all about dollars!

By John Cheeran
What is the Indian Cricket League, floated by the Zee Group, is all about?
Is it about strengthening the Indian cricket? Or is it a long-term business venture to win telecast advertising?
No doubt there is excitement in the air. I become cagey when Kapil Dev talks about values and strengthening the Indian cricket. Kapil is after for a bigger slice of the money cake in the Indian cricket. He could not realize his grand designs with in the BCCI, whether it is Ranbir Singh Mahendra or Sharad Pawar.
Let me tell you, all these worthies including Zee’s Subash Chandra, and our illustrious veterans such as Kapil, Sandeep Patil, Bawinder Singh Sandhu and Kiran More are chasing dollars. And they are free to do that. Just as you and me are chasing dollars.
The only point is that you cannot expect to cry over and win the game. You cannot expect the Board of Cricket in Control for India to make things easier for the ICL. The BCCI will, and they have the right, fight to protect their turf. For them things are easy since the nature of cricket is such that it arouses patriotism in its followers more than the boundaries of scoreboard.
Organised sport is half reality, and half fantasy. That’s why the BCCI when questioned with another moral crisis of sorts told the Indian supreme court a few years ago that they are selecting not the Indian team but only the BCCI team. At that stage, unfortunately, India’s sport editors, hollow men all of them, looked elsewhere.
Do you have any stake in the BCCI? I don’t have. Do you have any stake Indian cricket team? I do have, and therefore I watch Rahul Dravid and company. Not because they are Jagmohan Dalmiya’s boys are Pawar’s henchmen.
Can anyone challenge the rights of the BCCI to run the cricket in India? Can Subash Chandra do it? The ICC will deal with the BCCI only. Malcolm Speed has made that explicit. And in a year’s time Sharad Pawar will be the ICC supreme. I cannot see the ICC offering a helping hand to the ICL. And without the veneer of nationalism, none is going to watch the Indian Cricket League. As it is there is hardly any free day without official cricket. Subash Chandra will have to wait a long time. No doubt, Chandra is a canny tycoon. He has the resources to play a Test match in this battle of Twenty20s. The ICL will be in limbo despite the odd international has beens such as Brian Lara, Damien Martyn and assorted Pakistani cricketers.
For the ICL to take off, Chandra has to shake up the ICC. To conquer the ICC, the easiest route is to conquer the BCCI. Well, all said and done, the BCCI holds annual elections, and Subash Chandra can contest the elections. For that he has to become the candidate of any affiliated unit. May be Dalmiya could help him. But even Dalmiya is searching for a foothold in the Cricket Association of Bengal.
One thing is sure. ICL’s emergence will force the BCCI to shed its flab. One should not fear competition, on the field and off the field. But floating parallel bodies with a heap of currency notes is not the way to boost Indian cricket.
Everyone is busy comparing the Zee’s ICL to Kerry Packer’s World Series. But what those pundits in their hurry are forgetting to point out is that Packer dismantled his circus tent soon he reached an agreement on telecast rights with the Australian Cricket Board.
Tell me how long did Packer series last? Where is the Packer Series now?Much in the same fashion, the ICL too shall pass. Pawars may come and go, but the BCCI and the ICC and so-called official cricket will go on and on. Till India discovers its Maradonas and Peles.

Chak De Dravid: Thicken the One-day plot by winning at Headingley

By John Cheeran
After living through the harrowing experience of a botched World Cup campaign, this Indian team, led by Rahul Dravid, should be able to take abuse and adulation with a touch of indifference. I do not presume they would be an enervated lot as they step on to the field at Headingley for the fifth one-dayer against England.
The point is that Paul Collingwood’s England enjoy a huge lead of 3-1. India must win the remaining three games to clinch the seven-match one-day series.
Again, those who are watching the Indian team are naturally losing patience, especially after Indians let go the Manchester match out of their hands after holding England by the scruff of their neck.
India have been good in parts like the curate’s egg during the one-day series. Sachin Tendulkar and skipper Rahul Dravid have been among the runs; Piyush Chawla has found his rhythm. But India’s fielding has been slack at its best. Where is fielding coach Robin Singh hiding? Indians were not able to convert their dominance into victory in the last two matches. And I must say that Dinesh Karthick’s, whom I consider India’s best batting bet for the future, failure with the bat cost India the last two matches.
Indian bowling tends to be licentious once again, giving away runs when the batsmen should be exposed and sent back to the pavilion.
And look at in wonder the refreshing approach the young Stuart Broad carries on his shoulders. Four wickets and a 40-odd run effort from this youngster upended the match in England’s favour.
Where are India’s Stuart Broads and Ravi Boparas?
Have they all gone to Subash Chandra’s Indian Cricket League?
It’s time the BCCI and Dilip Vengsarkar came up with a nice rehabilitation package for Ajit Agarkar, the veteran of three World Cups, so that India can plug the gaping chinks in their bowling armour and start winning a few more One-dayers. It is important to have patience with the tried ones, but it is also important to test some – guys such as Robin Uthappa and Ranadeb Bose deserve a chance in these one-dayers.
Aren’t they in the one-day squad?

NP Pradeep: From pauper to Prince of Indian football

By P I Rajeev / Indian Express
KOCHI, AUGUST 30: A bit dazed by all the back-thumping and adulation ever since he landed at the airport here this morning from New Delhi, Naduparambil Pappachen Pradeep is still to come to terms with his overnight stardom in this soccer-crazy state.
It’s been a long journey for Indian soccer’s best defender in recent years, whose one blistering long ranger fetched India the Nehru Cup last night: from a frail school kid who learnt to go without food on occasions when his labourer-parents could find no work, to the tearful 16-year-old who nearly abandoned his soccer dreams because he didn’t have the money to buy a pair of football shoes.
Even his passport application fee had to be paid for by his village football club in Thodupuzha before he put on the India Under-19 colours in 2001. And this ex-captain of India’s under-23 team lives in an unfinished little hut that he had begun constructing with the Rs 28,000 that the local Moolamattom panchayat had given him.
“It was tough, very tough. I really had to struggle to remain with football until the State Bank of Travancore team took me in,” said Pradeep, who now plays for Mahindra United.
“Football is what the poor play, the rich have cricket, and the difference shows” says I M Vijayan, former Indian soccer ace who himself had come up from as poor a background.
Pradeep had played with him for Kerala once in the National Football Championship, before Vijayan retired.
“Take my word, this boy is a great player, a total footballer, probably the best among the country’s younger crop. There aren’t many who can shoot as good as him with both the left and the right,” says Vijayan.
Ironically, Pradeep could not make it to even his college football team while he did his pre-degree at the Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, where Vijayan was his senior. “I dithered. I wasn’t sure if I could really afford to get into football then,” says Pradeep. But things changed after someone spotted the youngster at a youth camp that the Kerala Football Association held in Thodupuzha, and his friends pitched in to help.
As he prepares to fly off to Mumbai tomorrow to join his team, Pradeep has only one regret — that his father, who toiled hard in the village farms to let him chase his dream, is not around.
He died a week before Pradeep was asked to join the national squad’s conditioning camp for the Nehru Cup.
Pradeep says he dedicated his goal last night to his father.

For the record: India beat Syria to win Nehru Cup (football)

NEW DELHI, August 29, 2007
Hosts India won the five-nation Nehru Cup football tournament with a 1-0 victory over favourites Syria in the final here on Wednesday.
Pappachan Pradeep scored the winner a minute before half-time with a powerful right-footer from the top of the box that caught a diving Syrian goalkeeper Musab Balhous on the wrong foot.
Some 10,000 home fans at the overflowing Ambedkar stadium cheered loudly when the final whistle blew to signal a rare moment of triumph for Indian football.
It was the first defeat in the tournament for Syria, ranked 122 in the world against India's 151, after they had won all four round-robin matches.
"The boys deserved to win because they worked very hard for the tournament," said India's English coach Bob Houghton.
"The atmosphere in the team is excellent and we just loved the support we got from the crowd. It's a great night for Indian football."
Cambodia, Kyrgyzstan and Bangladesh were the other teams in the tournament.

Salem Division: Kerala MPs tilting at wind mills

By John Cheeran
Last week MPs from Kerala created a ruckus in Parliament peeved at the creation Salem Railway Division. Their protest centered on the fact that large chunks of Palakkad Division were lopped off to create the Salem Division for the neighbouring state Tamil Nadu.
Tamil Nadu, who are demanding the new division, had their arguments based on the geographical reality that the existing Palakkad division largely runs through that state. A fair argument, indeed.
So why were Kerala’s MPs going wild when there was hardly anything to cry about?
In a federal structure what happens if a new Railway Division has been created? Are these MPs are championing the cause of some of the bureaucrats in the existing Palakkad Division? There no job losses, no trouble to passengers, so what’s the big fuss about?
As far as I know not a single Kerala railway passenger will be adversely affected by the creation of the new Salem Division. All trains that come to Kerala will still come, observing the same schedule, carrying the same passengers. There are no changes at the boarding and alighting points.
The quality of the service will be the same. So why Kerala’s MPs, mainly belonging to the CPI (M) fold, were hopping mad at the Parliament Hall?
And mind you Palakkad Division is the route through which millions of Malayalis pass through to earn their bread in such far away places as New Delhi, Dispur and Shillong. And Chennai too.
Did anyone ask these railway commuters what’s their opinion on the Salem Division issue?
No. Not the MPs or the television channels and the newspapers in Kerala.Long live these divisions, long live India.

Dravid inspires Indian revival at Bristol

By John Cheeran
There is never a dull moment in Indian cricket.
On the field, Indian cricketers have regrouped after the World Cup fiasco and won Test series in Bangladesh and England. The team remains more or less the same.
The loss in the first one-dayer against England was a shocker. It rattled at least skipper Rahul Dravid and it was no surprise that the Indian captain played an exquisite innings to help post a winning total at Bristol. For those critics who were carping that Dravid has been struggling to get runs during the Tests should be taking notes.
Yes, Sachin Tendulkar was simply superb.
But he still remains a self-conscious teenager, worried about his centuries. The more you worry about such milestones, the more you will be denied. And I’m aware that many viewers thanked the umpire for packing Tendulkar off at 99, for that ensured an Indian victory!
As always fielding remains India’s weak spot. Certain catches were dropped during the England chase and that stretched an already exasperated Indian bowling to its limits.
There are five more games to be played out in England and excitement will not be in short supply.

Confessions of skipper Dravid after the Southampton drubbing

Handed a comprehensive 104-run defeat in the series opener, India captain Rahul Dravid admitted his side had been thoroughly outplayed in all departments of the game and the players need to make amends if they are to win the ODI series against England.
"No excuses. We were outplayed today," Dravid said after the match in Southamption's Rose Bowl.
"We didn't come to the party at all - we were outbatted, outbowled and outfielded and we've got to play a lot better if we want to stay in the series," he said. It was clearly not the best way to kick off the seven-match ODI series and while shoddy batting, flat bowling and sloppy fielding did hurt, three reckless run-outs might have been the last straw for the side. "We need to go on improving. Fielding isn't our strong area and we're not going to develop strong arms and athletic legs overnight. But we need to constantly work on it and make small improvements.
"What we must to is not make stupid mistakes while running between the wickets. That's something we can definitely avoid," said an upset Dravid. He also defended his decision to bowl first, only to see England batsmen rack up 288 for 2. "In hindsight, I might do something different, but it was overcast, there had been a lot of rain in the air and the wicket looked a bit tacky," said Dravid.
"But it didn't do as much as we expected, we couldn't get wickets early on and Cook and Bell batted beautifully. The way they played the middle overs was really special and took the game away from us. And losing four wickets early always puts you under pressure."

Hockey will not be cricket, despite Chak De India!

By John Cheeran
I enjoyed Chak De India, the Shah Rukh Khan movie.
Rarely do Indian screens have sport movies and this one is an out and out effort and a good one at that.
The only romance in the screen is the romance with hockey, once a sport that enjoyed wide fan following in north India, but now reduced to a federation’s game.
I have watched and reported quite a few hockey matches at the National Stadium in New Delhi and at the Shivaji Stadium, again in New Delhi. Chak De India takes off from the camp SRK (Kabir Khan) organizes and when camera lingered over the Dhyan Chand’s swarthy statue
for a second I wondered how many would have recalled the all-time hockey great.
The 20-year-old Sagaraika Ghatge, who plays the role of center forward Preeti Sabharwal, provides the vital glue of sex appeal that holds the viewers’ attention while SRK thrashes out the values of team effort and tackles the menace of sub-nationalism in the quest for world championship gold.
By this time everyone would have known that the script was based loosely on former Indian men’s team goalkeeper Mir Ranjan Negi, who suffered the most when Pakistan raped India 8-1 at the National Stadium, during the 1982 Asian Games final. When you rummage through the Indian hockey folklore, you will be reminded that just before that stick rape, Pakistani players entered the turf paying a floral tribute to the spectators.
Blaming cricket is an easy way to promote hockey’s cause. Unfortunately Chak De India does it.
Despite Shah Rukh Khan and his bevy of skirt-toting girls, hockey lacks the appeal that would have forced the nation to swoon over the game and its stars.
But yes, definitely, people would be more familiar with hockey stick thanks to Chak De India than in the past.

Dravid and Co Conquer England: A 60th Independence Day Gift for the Nation

By John Cheeran
Finally the Test series win. After the disappointments in Cape Town and in the World Cup held in the West Indies, skipper Rahul Dravid and Indian cricket can celebrate with pride.
At this juncture you cannot but point out the lack of a fulltime professional coach. May be Indian cricket board would do well now not to look for a coach at all.
The most notable aspect of India’s Test triumph over England is the collective effort – both in bowling and in batting. India’s Fab Four – Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and VVS Laxman made some runs but more than that significant knocks came from guys such as Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dinesh Kaarthik and Wasim Jaffer.
If not for Dhoni’s gutsy batting in the second innings at Lord’s Test where would India be?
Zaheer Khan’s bowling delivered the Trent Bridge Test into Indian hands and an outstanding batting performance from Anil Kumble and Dhoni put India on an unbeatable perch.
For Indian cricket team the series win in England is a bold statement that given the right context, they could fulfill their potential.
Take note, Greg Chappell.

Twelve runs, Dravid and leading from the front

By John Cheeran
How sensible was Indian skipper Rahul Dravid’s decision to not to enforce the follow on England?
If I were the Indian captain I would have weighed the team’s options and still would have asked England to follow on.
That would have forced Michael Vaughan to sort out the pace of the last two days of the Test. That would have been quite a nervy task even for a cool head such as Vaughan.
To make sense out of the last two days England had to score quick runs first to overcome the 300-plus deficit and set India at least 175 runs as a second innings target in the last three sessions of the Test.
But Dravid has taken the onus on himself to dictate the pace of the Test and given an opportunity for England to win.
And Dravid already has paid the price for the decision to not to enforce the follow on. His struggle at the crease in the second innings after the loss three quick wickets was not for himself but for the Indian cause.
Having said that, I’m sure a well-defined assignment should convert England batsmen to suicide bombers, and make no mistake, they will hurl their bats at Indians with all their might.

Oval Test: Some Stray Thoughts

By John Cheeran
First comes Anil Kumble.
India are on the brink of a famous series win at the Brit Oval today, with England requiring 444 more runs in 90 overs, for a series-levelling win.
Things can go wrong sometimes terribly. Skipper Rahul Dravid knows that much and his classic 12 in the second innings when he shut out all risk and there by all scoring shots (scoreboard says Dravid did not score for 96 balls at a stretch) is evidence enough of a new determination not to mess up things.
India’s second innings travails at the Oval are not new. What worries us today is that will Indian bowlers suffer a panic attack if Michael Vaughan and Kevin Pietersen up the ante?
In this context, Kumble’s first Test century attains greater importance. India’s dominance in the Oval Test stems from the fact that lower order batted much more doggedly, and with élan, than their illustrious predecessors.
Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman did not do justice to the pitch at the Oval and they had left the task of consolidating the gains to the likes of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. None had expected Kumble to score more than 20s and 30s. But suddenly Kumble found how easy was scoring runs. He just threw his bat round and ball just rolled to the boundary.
As India are determined to stop England from logging 444 from 90 overs focus will be firmly on Kumble, this time to do wonders with the ball.
Skipper Dravid will find none more trustworthy and committed than this veteran leg spinner to apply breaks to England second innings and if possible, ambush their ambitious run chase.

M A Baby, majority and minority in Kerala

By John Cheeran
A few weeks ago Kerala’s current cultural czar and education minister M A Baby had made a brilliant statement on the minorities. Let me state that I belong to a minority community (Orthodox Christian) at first.
M A Baby said that minorities should not demand any benefits that are not enjoyed by the majority.
All right, Mr Baby. I agree.
But will you let the minorities in Kerala enjoy the benefits that are enjoyed by the majority in Kerala? I challenge Baby and his ignorant army of SFI, DYFI and CITUs to prove me wrong.
Does Mr Baby know that the Majority in Kerala are Hindus?
Does he know that the majority among the majority are OBCs and SCs and STs?
And the Ezhava community, the backbone of CPI (M) and the CPI in Kerala , belong to the Other Backward Commmunity and enjoy the fruits of reservation in educational institutions and public sector jobs? Are Ezhavas are worse off than Christians and Muslims in Kerala?
In India and Kerala, it’s the majority community (read aloud Hindus) who enjoy the state patronage.
And everyone knows that the OBCs and SCs and STs in the majority community are given the state patronage to ensure that they remain in the Hindu fold and do not embrace other religions.
It has been written that those who convert are not to be given the state reservation patronage.What benefits are Christians in Kerala, and in India, enjoying?
No jobs are reserved for them in government sector in India.
Kerala’s Muslims, as far as I know, come under the OBC category. So what’s comrade Baby talking about?
I’m surprised that Kerala’s media and even the Catholic Bishops did not take up the point with the Education Minister instead of raising the bogey of liberation struggle.
God save us from these Marxist babies.

Sreesanth: Crime and Punishment

By John Cheeran
Shantakumaran Sreesanth is out of the Indian squad for the seven one-day international against England in England. What it means is that he can come back home early, once the Test series ends.
Is this omission a punishment? Possible.
Especially after Sreesanth’s frustration getting the better of him during the second Test at Trent Bridge where he shoulder charged Michael Vaughan and felled Kevin Pietersen at the crease.
But all the same keep this point in mind. More than his antics, it was Sreesanth’s his inability to take wickets that let him down. As long as a bowler takes wickets he will have his place in the side.
It is when you struggle for wickets other factors such as good behaviour creeps in.
Sreesanth has been found guilty of not living up to the standards of gentlemanly conduct, by match referee and opinion makers.
Yes, Sreesanth would do well for himself by controlling his aggression. Also Sreesanth should remember that a bowler should restrict his anger between the wickets.
Sreesanth should not be disheartened by the fact he is out of one-day action. He might still get a chance to bowl in the third and final Test at the Oval.
Who knows what can Sree come up with there?

Looking at Indian cricket in wonder

By John Cheeran
Have you seen Woody Allen’s Matchpoint? If not, you should. It tells us how great a role luck plays in one’s fortunes. The movie begins with a shot of tennis ball caught in flight at the net chord, and it could go into rival’s court or bounce into yours. It all depends on which way the wind blows then.
May be you would tell me that it does not require a Woody Allen to tell this. Your own life might illustrate the point of luck much more harrowingly.
Or in case you need more proof, look at Rahul Dravid’s India. If only light and rain held out a little more, England could have hammered the final nail in India’s Test coffin by removing S Sreesanth from the crease. At nine for whatever, India stood no chance of saving the Test but for the rain intervention.
As Rahul Dravid made his famous statement “We broke out of the jail” everyone understood the meaning of cricket and may be to some sense that of life too.
Then came Trent Bridge.
India scored a creditable win over England at Trent Bridge. The victory in the second Test was no surprise, especially after India dominated the action throughout the five days.
What was surprising was the reaction to India’s Test win. It has been now taken that this bunch of players is capable of producing surprises such as this quite often. The celebrations were tempered by the terrible performance in World Cup and as what happened in South Africa, after India’s famous Sreesanth-inspired triumph in Durban Test.
India deserved to win at Trent Bridge. No wonder then it was a collective performance and a bit of luck. Winning the toss was important but the fact that for once Indians exploited the conditions to put Michael Vaughan’s England on the back foot. India put up an imposing first innings score though none scored a century. Many excelled with the bat starting from openers Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer. It was nothing but poetic justice that the record-hungry Sachin Tendulkar was denied another century and in the process India won. Take a look at the scoreboard. Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Dravid made some runs. Only MS Dhoni lost out. He might have been bloody tired after his gallant effort in the second innings to keep India alive on the ventilator.
What matters now is that India cannot lose the Test series from this position with only one Test remaining. And it shall matter if India just could play out a draw and win the series at the Oval in a week’s time.
And what does it all mean? Who is our coach? Where is he? And where is Greg Chappell.
The BCCI has showed that it anyone can be a coach, yes including Chandu Borde, and results – victories-- would still come home. It’s all about karma, mate.

Clippings: India beat England in Trent Bridge Test

NOTTINGHAM
India eased to a seven-wicket win over England in the second test at Trent Bridge on Tuesday to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
The tourists, resuming on 10 without loss, reached their victory target of 73 for the loss of Dinesh Karthik, Wasim Jaffer and Sachin Tendulkar in the morning session on the fifth and final day.
England paceman Chris Tremlett took all three wickets to fall but Michael Vaughan's side slipped to their first home defeat in 13 months.
Jaffer top-edged a pull shot and was caught by Kevin Pietersen at gully, Karthik edged a short ball to wicketkeeper Matt Prior and Tendulkar was caught at backward short leg as Tremlett finished with three for 12 from 7.1 overs.
Skipper Rahul Dravid (11 not out) and Saurav Ganguly (two) steered India to victory as the winning runs came with four byes.
It was India's second test win in England since 1986. The final test starts at The Oval on August 9.
The first test at Lord's was drawn when England were prevented from taking a match-winning 20th wicket on the final day because of rain.

Kapil on Tendulkar

Sachin has not performed under pressure: Kapil New Delhi, July 24 (PTI): Former captain Kapil Dev today trained his gun on Sachin Tendulkar after his failure in the first cricket Test against England, saying he has not delivered in crunch situations which will remain a "blot" in his career. "Every time people hope big things from Sachin Tendulkar but often it is only disappointment that we are left with. He is thought to be the backbone of the Indian team but many times he has not stood up to the ocassion," he said. "Figures say that Sachin has not been able to perform under pressure. This will remain a blot in his career," Kapil Dev told 'Aaj Tak'. "There are many players who play well but they face difficulties against good bowling attack, like Sourav Ganguly faces. These kind of questions will be raised in case of Sachin as well and it will continue to remain a blot in his career till he wins matches for India under difficult circumstances," he said. When asked whether Tendulkar deserved a place in the side, Kapil said, "Whether it is Sachin or anyone, one who does not perform does not have any place in the team." Tendulkar was out for 16 in the second innings while India were chasing a stiff total of 380 to win the Test match.

Clippings: Escape from the Lord's jail

LONDON (Agencies)
England were agonisingly denied a win over India on the fifth and final day of the first test at Lord's on Monday after bad light and then rain prevented any play after tea and the match was drawn. India, set 380 to win, were teetering on 282 for nine and still 98 away from victory when the weather that had been forecast eventually arrived to save them. Top scorer Mahendra Singh Dhoni defied his natural attacking urges to play a resilient innings of 76 from 159 balls. Last man Shanthakumaran Sreesanth was four not out after surviving an lbw scare against Monty Panesar. "We got out of jail, I think, truly, we got saved by the weather today," India captain Rahul Dravid told reporters, before adding that he had hoped the umpires would have stepped in to offer the light sooner. "As a batting team in those conditions we would have wanted them to have stepped in a little earlier as we could have lost a wicket but if I was the fielding side I would have been doing the same so I have no problems with how it was handled." England, who scored 298 in their first innings and then bowled India out for 201, compiled a big lead with a second innings 282 largely thanks to Kevin Pietersen's 134, which he described as the best of his nine test centuries. The teams meet again at Trent Bridge on Friday, with India buoyed by their close escape which denied England a fourth successive test win. "That's just the English weather for you," England captain Michael Vaughan said, before praising his inexperienced bowling attack after a spate of injuries kept out Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Matthew Hoggard. "We batted well to set the game up, especially Kevin Pietersen and I thought our young bowlers put the ball in the right areas and put an experienced Indian batting line-up under pressure. It's probably the best we've bowled since 2005. "But in 2005 (when England beat Australia) we put that kind of performance in game after game so we will have to do the same at Nottingham..." HARD FIGHT India resumed on 137 for three and lost overnight batsmen Saurav Ganguly (40) and Dinesh Karthik (60) within the first half hour before VVS Laxman and Dhoni fought hard with a stand of 86. Ganguly, who scored 136 on test debut at Lord's 11 years ago, departed first when he played down the wrong line and was lbw to left-arm seamer Ryan Sidebottom. Opener Karthik was soon tempted into edging James Anderson to Paul Collingwood at second slip for 60. His three and a half hour innings did not receive any applause from his team mates on the balcony. Dhoni lived dangerously early on, edging spinner Panesar in between slip and wicketkeeper when on 14. Collingwood was unable to react quickly enough to take a difficult chance diving to his left. Dhoni was also fortunate on 21 when umpire Steve Bucknor rejected Panesar's lbw appeal, with the batsman on the back foot. Television replays suggested he was out. He also survived a convincing caught behind appeal off James Anderson on 28. Laxman perished after the lunch break when he went back to a delivery from Chris Tremlett only to be bowled for 39 after the ball kept low. That was 231 for six. Anil Kumble was the 14th lbw victim of the match (the record is 17), beaten by a Sidebottom in-swinger and Zaheer Khan was caught down the leg side off debutant Tremlett for a duck. Rudra Pratap Singh played an ill-judged attacking shot and was bowled by Panesar for two. That was 263 for nine. Anderson, playing his first home test for three years, took seven wickets in the match and claimed a career best five for 42 in the first innings. India's Sachin Tendulkar became the third-most prolific batsman in test history in the match by overtaking Steve Waugh's tally of 10,927 runs.