Plenty of Match-Experience Under the Belt Now

Disregard the fact that the stadium would take nearly as much time to reach from Navi Mumbai as from some of the pretty common areas of Pune and that it takes 20+ minutes to walk from the parking to the gates.

Ignore the fact that stands, with a capacity of over 3600 each, had only one toilet with 5 urinals.

Then your experience at the Subrata Roy Sahara stadium will be damn near perfect.

The stadiums first T20 international, was between India and England. I discovered Pune would be hosting this match quite by chance. I was checking out the ESPNCricinfo App and I scrolled down a bit too much on the fixtures screen than I'd intended to. The word 'Pune' caught my eye. More importantly the date, 20th December, exploded little balloons of confetti inside my heart. I'd be returning from my final semester in college to this. Brilliant.

So people were gathered, tickets were booked and anticipation was allowed to be built.

 New Stadium? What? Where?

The stadium, quite a new addition to the city of Pune, lies in the village of Gahunje. You don't need to know this bit of trivia but it makes for a handy opening sentence. The old Nehru Stadium, which was a common name for almost every public place before Rajiv Gandhi took that honour, was no longer good enough for matches. The last match there, in 2006, was one of the 3 1/2 million matches we played with Sri Lanka in the 2000s. The stadium was now, too much inside the city, too close to crowded areas and with far too narrow roads around it. It became a logistical, spectatorial and almost everything-ical nightmare.

So the new one, built with the patronage of Subrata Roy Sahara, the eternal sponsor of the Indian cricket team, and the owner of the Pune franchise of the IPL, was supposed to be built for the 2011 World Cup. And living up to the expectations of all, the stadium was not completed on time. Surprisingly, or not, it was ready for the IPL this year.

With a capacity of over 50000, full bucket seating for all, wide staircases, wide aisles, ample spacing between rows and a completely unhindered view of the ground - the stadium checked out on all the good things.

But as with any event in India, security and traffic posed two huge questions.

1. When do we actually need to leave to get there?

2. Can we carry mobile phones?

The answer to the first question, as suggested by the Pune police, is a healthy 3 hours before the match. I'd say 3 hours is more than safe. If you can get into the parking lot about 1 hour before the match then you will be seated in your seat about 40 minutes later. And it doesn't take more than 30 minutes to get to your parking spot once you come near the expressway. So I'd say 2 hours is about the minimum time before the match you should leave from home (I live on the opposite end of the city, so you get the idea).

The long walk to the stadium takes you past the main gate. Our timing was damn perfect as we saw the Indian team bus pull in to the stadium. We could see the Yuvraj Singh in the front, a pair of huge headphones on. The crowd roared and waved their flags as the bus pulled past us.

The answer to the second question, as suggested by the Pune police in the newspapers, is NO. As you will see below, that is not quite true. We were quite perplexed by this question, actually. A few blogs helped me out. They all said they were allowed to carry one with them during the IPL matches. Camera's were a strict no but phone were OK. And what about phones with cameras?

So we decided to take a shot and carried our phones to the gates anyway. To our relief, the security didn't give a second look at our phones. So the answer to that question is a Yes.

 What You are Not Allowed to Carry

What we were not allowed to carry with us was water bottles, cameras (as per the rules, it makes no sense though, I know) and any bags. Small bags were allowed with women. They pulled the sticks out of our flags. There were two friskings separated by a long walk to our stand. The queues at the entrances to the stands moved quickly enough. In fact, no where was there any blockage or hold-ups of any sorts. There were okay-ishly long queues but they moved with rapidity. This was due to the fact that entry was granted by a bar code read of your tickets.

 What You Get Inside

Once inside, there was a decent amount of food being sold and the rates were not too bad. Water was free. Burgers, Two Samosas, Two Wada-Pavs each sold at Rs. 50. Dominos pizza was available. Coke, chips, Biryanis and plenty other things were also being sold. You have vendors doing the rounds with all these so you don't need to ever leave your seats.

 The Ground

Now what strikes you first, as you climb the short flight of stairs and the ground first comes into view, is that this ground is very very pretty. The bowl shaped stands, the towering grand-stand on one side, the lush green field drenched in the floodlights, the beautiful Western Ghats in the distance and a glorious red sun setting into it. From our seats in the North-East stand, it was a picture a worth a million.

It's a smallish ground. About 70 meters on all sides. Good for T20 cricket I suppose. Also good for viewing as even from the highest seats you get an excellent view of the action. The pillar-less construction means you don't have any obstructions. The floodlights are built for HD television, so the lighting is bright.

We saw the two squads warm up on the field. The English team certainly looked more athletic and sprightly. They did some sprints, a few sessions on the practice wickets and a bunch of running exercises. The Indians did some exercises lying down, a bit of jogging on the field and some catching practice.

The seats were a mixed-bag. They're comfortable, wide and sturdy. But a little too high from the concrete below them. Most people had their feet hanging and over three hours, that does get a bit difficult. There were some arguments over people being on each other's seats but the atmosphere was friendly and exciting.

 Pee-Pee time, Not a good time

The urinals, as I said before, were woefully inadequate. 5 stalls to service 3000+ people is quite an absurd thought. There was such a rush towards the end that people resorted to peeing on the walls inside the urinals. The women's washrooms were probably cleaner and neater because they were empty. My guess is there were not more than 300 women in that stand.

 The Match

The match was a good one. I guess that was because we won. But also because it was quite entertaining. Alex Hales ran away to a fifty before I could upload a picture on Facebook. Now my GPRS connectivity was weak. But at a strike-rate of 160, which is the highest for an English batsman against India for 50+ scores, it was a great knock. Along with Luke Wright, they were at 81/1 after 9 overs, looking set for a 175+ score. Then came Dhoni's 7th bowling change, the man with the golden arm, the pie-chucker (who also eats a fair share of those pies, judging by his size) Yuvraj Singh. Quite nonchalantly he bowled 4 overs for 19 runs and picked three wickets. Suddenly, the innings went from top gear to hand-brake. England added 68 runs in the last 10 overs. Final score - 157/6.

As I discussed with the turbaned Englishman behind me in the long queue at the urinals, 157 is the kind of score which makes it difficult to call a match. It only takes a spell of 8-10 good balls to change the course of the innings. It happened in the first one, a Yuvraj over was the spell that did it. It could very well happen in the second.

For a brief moment in the Indian innings, it looked as though that might happen. In the 5th over, Bresnan got both Rahane and Gambhir to hole out. The Indian run-rate went from 10+ to about 7.5 in two overs. But once again, Yuvraj was there to set things right. 18 runs of a Danny Briggs over restored the balance towards India. By the time he holed out in the 10th over, the asking rate was just over 6. With Raina, Dhoni and Jadeja still to bat, that wasn't going to be much of a challenge. India cantered home with 13 balls to spare.

The Experience

Brilliant. On a scale from 0-10, I would rate it 8.5. I have been to matches in the Wankhede and I have been to the MCG. The Wankhede barely offers you space to swing an arm. The MCG intimidates you with its sheer size. The Pune stadium does the role of a comfortable stadium for a small city with style.

The tickets for the this match were expensive. Our stands, which happened to lie in the deep mid-wicket/third-man/cover/fine-leg region, depending on the batsman's dominant hand and the end he was on, were priced at Rs. 2000 per ticket. All other expenses included, this trip cost us each about Rs. 2500. I guess there will be more cheaper tickets for the IPL matches which would certainly drive the expenses down significantly.


So when the IPL comes along in a few months time, do go for a match.
It makes for a very good weekend activity.

Missing the 'Super' are the Kings

The victorious Chennai team after IPL-3

After their clinical demolition of the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final of IPL4, Ravichandran Ashwin of the Chennai Super Kings said that they have always strived to be the Manchester United of IPL.

There is certainly basis in his claim. Despite the stellar proportions that arise when you compare the history of the two leagues, both Chennai and the red side of Manchester have been one of the most successful and reliable teams in their respective leagues. In the four editions of the IPL gone by, Chennai have never failed to reach the semi-final/play-off stage. And everyone knows everything about Manchester. And while it is true that some of Chennai’s campaigns have been roller-coaster enough to send Doug Bollinger back into hair treatment, they have always been a tough squad to beat.

And they, like Manchester, are one of the sides which (to put it like Laxman Sivaramakrishnan) always give some of the best “Citi Moments of Success”. From Dhoni’s uppercut to his mandible after a fierce onslaught against Punjab to lead them to the semis, to Ashwin’s “Gayle of the first ball” in the final last year, they have the right to claim IPL as “namma territory”.

But this season, the squad looks far from the side that went undefeated at home last season. Sure Faf du Plessis is in stellar form and is regularly anchoring the innings from the top, but the rest of the batting line-up looks surprisingly shaky. Their bowling attack looks venom-less and friendly. There is almost no one in it who can surely be relied on.

A part of this lack-luster squad is due to unavailability of Mike Hussey and Ben Hilfenhaus, both on duty for Australia in the Caribbean. And the other major blow to them was the loss of their stalwart, Muttiah Muralitharan. Much has been said about Chennai’s success revolving around their retention of their core squad and the loss of Murali reflects that squarely.

The third reason would probably be the loss of the Midas-touch of their captain, M.S. Dhoni.

MSD needs to find his "instincts" again

MSD’s spidey-sense, his inner-eye, his seer like instincts seems to have suddenly vanished after the last IPL. Suddenly he is being subject to criticism from all quarters for his uninspired field placements, his irresponsible batting and for poor management of his players. While the tour to England was an understandable fiasco, the trip Down Under was not supposed to be what it turned out to be. Even the most die-hard Indian fan found no words to explain what he was seeing and much blame was directed squarely on the erstwhile Charmed Captain. And given that the Chennai team is built pretty much around their captain, this does not suit well with the men behind the team.

This season is far more open than the previous editions. Even though we are less than half-way in, there is no clearly strong team (there seems to be one clearly weak team though). Every team has had good displays in all departments but the consistency is lacking – which makes for interesting scenarios but is a poor advertisement for the IPL.

Manchester United is on course for another Premier League crown this season after spending most of it behind their rivals Manchester City. It remains to be seen if Ravichandran Ashwin’s claim will be justified.

The Battle of Tasmania

This one was actually written in February, during the CB Series in Australia. Was published on Sportskeeda first.

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It is not often that Lasith ‘Slinga’ Malinga gets taken for 24 runs in an over. Indeed, he is so adept at strangulating the life out of an innings, especially in the shorter form of the game, that most sides adopt the tactic of playing him out to avoid damage. Even the mighty Chris Gayle, who is so imperious against every other bowler, looks quite meek in front of Slinga. You must respect him, for your toes sake.

But Slinga is human and is prone to lapses in his performances just like any other fast bowler, albeit much less frequently. And such an instance was yesterday. In the scenic cricket ground in Hobart, Tasmania, Slinga stuttered. He was subsequently dismantled, rearranged and made to look absolutely ridiculous in what was the most dramatic of run chases. It was not a cliff-hanger of a chase, nor was it a roller coaster ride towards a nail-biting result. Such was the intensity of India’s chase that the only question being asked as the inevitable result approached was whether the Lankans, especially Slinga would be able to pick themselves up for the remaining match against Australia, which they need to win to qualify for the finals.

Can I dig a hole here and hide in it?

In some ways, this innings by Virat Kohli was quite similar to the Desert Storm match. When Sachin blew away Sharjah and handed Australia a 101 lesson on how to utterly disrespect a bowling attack, India ended up short in that match. They only managed to qualify on Net Run Rate. The circumstances of this match were similar. After a usual lack-lustre display by the Indian bowlers complete with their trademarked “Get back into Form, My Friend” tactic, which Kumar Sangakkara was very grateful for, and which Dilshan doesn’t really need, Sri Lanka posted 320 for India to chase in 50 overs. They had to do it in 40 to stay in the tri-series.

This is where the difference lies, between the current Indian side and the team of the 90s. Sachin scored 143 out of India’s total of 250, while chasing 276 in 46 overs. Yesterday (Tendulkar was still there!) every batsman was involved. The openers put on 50 in 6 overs, setting up the chase. Then Gambhir and Kohli built on that platform while maintaining the required rate with a combination of good shot making and opportunistic running between the wickets. And finally, the IPL side of Kohli and Raina took over as they went from 215 after the 29^th over to the target in the 37^th over. Those were 9 overs of systematic belligerence. The highlight of which was the 35^th over. Kohli got to his hundred with a couple to deep mid-wicket, and then reached 122 by the end of the over – a flick six, square of the wicket on the leg side, three boundaries past the fine leg fielder and a lofted drive on the off side. And when you have to pull Slinga out of the attack, you know you are in deep trouble.

Virat Kohli has mastered the art of The Chase.

Kolhi and Raina remained unbeaten, adding 120 runs in 55 balls for the 4^th wicket. Another point to be observed in this innings was that the Indians never lost two set batsmen very quickly. Even though the Gambhir-Tendulkar partnership lasted only 3 overs, Gambhir had already chugged along to 17.

And this match also in a way reflects the Lankans’ fortunes since the World cup, which also happens to be the post-Murali era. Their batting isn’t a cause for worry but that is only half the match won. They really have no ace bowlers apart from Slinga and if he doesn’t fire, their bowling can be easily domesticated.

As for India, this match does not signify their return to the levels of the Gary Kirsten era. But it could be a turning point. India will never be at ease with its bowling unit overseas, it seems. But Kohli has yet again proven his mettle in the chase. He said in the post-match press conference that they were treating it like two T20 matches, which is a remarkable strategy. All that is missing for him is the same sensibility while batting first and the same intelligence in test cricket. And this applies for them all.

For the time being, Sri Lanka have to gather their wits and put Malinga back together in one piece, as they head to the MCG for their survival in the tournament. India meanwhile, can finally afford some peace. And go shopping!

Forget Sidhuism

If Ravi Shastri was an Engg. student then after every exam he'll say, "That paper went past me like a tracer bullet."

Ravi Shastri on Mech CDCs : "It's not over till the fat laddie sings."

In the end, the real winner is always cricket.

Ravi Shastri on BITSians studying for compre: "This one, I feel, will go down to the wire."

Ravi Shastri on BITSians, "He doesn't study much, but attempts the paper with a lot of heart!"

Ravi Shastri to BITSGians for Matka: "Play your natural game."

BIGG BOSS chahte hain ki Ravi Shastri, "In the end, the real winner was cricket!" bol ke chale jayen.

But best one ever from the ICC World T20, 2007 in South Africa - 

India!

World.... "TT" Champions!

I don't know what title to give to this...this thing...

First there is the weird. [Paul Adams]
Then there is the extraordinary. [South Africa's chase of 434]
Over all this is the bizarre. [Symonds dismissal of Clarke's pad, see here]
And even then, there is the Newlands Test match.

It had all the bearings of a typical test match to begin with. A struggling Australian batting line-up against the highly rated pace bowling duo of Steyn and Morkel. There were the usual start-stops, the "wickets in a bunch" and the sparkling counter-attack from the skipper (Michael Clarke, 151 out of a team total of 280). Clarke's innings was of high merit. It was aggressive and furious, yet it was sensible. When the guarantee of your partner staying put at the other end was pretty much minimal, every run would be vital and getting them quickly was what you need to do, and that was precisely what that knock did. So you end your first innings with a decent total of 280 and gloriously press-box away about how you are still in the match.

When Shane Watson was given the cherry by Clarke to resume proceedings after lunch on day two, not even the wildest of minds or the most eccentric of the fellows could have anticipated what was to come. In the next 30 overs, one of the most bizarre days of test cricket unfolded.

It was at this point that I had decided to go for dinner. By the time I came back, South Africa was batting all right, but in the fourth innings.

Hang on. What? The day started with Australia finishing their first innings and now its the fourth innings all ready?

That's right. The fourth innings came via two fantastic collapses. In the first, the smaller of the two, the hosts went from 40/1 to 96 All Out. Shane Watson, the demolisher-in-chief, grabbed 5-15 in five overs. Ryan Harris grabbed three Proteas too. And it looked like it was going to be a Aussie party. Then came the second collapse.

The unfortunate distinction of posting the lowest ever total in an innings belongs to New Zealand when they managed a paltry 26 against England, back in 1955. Their friends from across the Tasman Sea came very close to snatching the record away from them. Australia went to tea at 13/3. On resumption, five overs later, they were 21/9 (or as you would see in Australia, 9\21). A combination of great bowling by Philander (that's the family name) and poor shot-making (even gully cricket teams will shake their heads) saw Australia perilously close to giving the Kiwis, an early Christmas gift. The last wicket partnership of 26 between No. 9, Peter Siddle and No. 11, Nathan Lyon saw Australia ultimately post 47, their lowest total in 105 years.

So in a space of dinner, almost every thing that can happen on a cricket pitch happened. At the end of the day though, calmness prevailed in Cape Town and the South African dressing room after some nervous prodding and nudging, as they eventually reached 81/1, well on their way to achieving a most extraordinary test victory.

Australia still had one more thing to say though.
Michael Hussey dropped Hashim Amla of the last ball of the day.

[PS- I started writing this with SA requiring some 70 odd runs to win. At this moment they need another 14. Ok Amla, let Smith get his century too.]

While we were away...

It took a whole week to recuperate from the exams but now that its happened, it's time to look at what occurred worldwide meanwhile.

Novak Djokovic (a.k.a Tennis):

To begin with, having a post titled as XYZ - Part 1 means there should be a part two. But I'm not dedicating a whole other post now. Novak Djokovic won the US Open. And he did it by addressing some of the points in Part 1. The positive to take from that match is that Federer had match points against Djokovic again. Infact, Federer is the only person to have had match points against Nole this year (Nole having retired injured against Murray at Cincinnati... Poor Andy never get's the credit for anything). The conversion rate is only 20% but I guess it suggests that he does stand a chance of upsetting the Serbian of the year. If it can be stretched, then it can be said that Djokovic is under pressure against Federer.

Speaking of pressure, Rafael Nadal is under plenty. He said after the Wimbledon final that he thought this Nole level was not permanent. Now it sounds more like he was hoping. And despite him doing his best, he is falling short. He is not only losing bucket loads of ATP ranking points, but also quickly acquiring a steadily evening head-to-head against the Serb. Dominate a guy for three years and it gets undone in 10 months (6-0 this year, all in finals). That must hurt. Imagine then the spirit in him to bounce back in three days to win Davis Cup matches for his beloved Espana.

Now the Davis Cup tie between Australia and Switzerland showcased a lot of drama and excitement. Firstly, as expected, Federer won his singles. Secondly, as not expected, Wawrinka lost to Tomic and the Chris "who's-he?" Guccione - Hewitt pairing defeated the Beijing gold medalists. So when the deciding rubber between Hewitt and Wawrinka took place, it had plenty of eyeballs. The best of five setter went the distance and in the wee hours of Sunday, play stopped at 5-3 in the fifth set in favour of the Swiss. And when it resumed the next day, it ended in surprisingly swift six short points. The argument here is that when it was evident that both players were not letting up, shouldn't play have been suspended when both players were at par. The win puts Switzerland back into the World Group and will be joined by Japan (vs. India) and Canada. The final this year will feature Spain and Argentina.

Maybe, it is possible, that if Argentina win this time, then one of their players Juan Martin Del Potro goes on a similar rampaging run as one of the winners of last years Davis Cup.

The Men in black-and-blue:

The multicolored banner competes directly  with the now defunct Kochi franchise.

Indian players concluded a hapless, winless, injury-ridden and inspiration deprived tour of England as they prepared for the Champions League T20. The likes of Harbhajan Singh even opted out of the ODI series in England to mentally and physically recollect themselves for the World Cup of T20 leagues. However, debutantes Kolkata and veterans Mumbai will have to do without their batting mainstays, Gambir and Sachin respectively. On the other hand, Rahul Dravid, who performed so brilliantly in England, finds himself free again due to his team not having qualified for this event. This event promises heavy viewership as every player from each team was made to sign a contract stating they will not run away from the grounds. Ravi Shastri is even being paid to shoot "tracer-bullets" every over, irrespective of there being a boundary or not. The Indian public has even started a game where they try to guess which team is from which country.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi,
One of the finest.

Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, one of the finest batsman and captains of his era and highly respected figure in Indian cricket passed away recently. MAK was not only a great cricketer and a gentleman, but also one of the mentors of Indian cricket. They say he taught the team to play to win, and not just play to draw. May his soul rest in peace.

Greetings from Papplay:

Papplay is the eight-legged, bubblegum pink mascot of Waves, the cultural festival of BITS-Pilani, Goa Campus. Well, technically its Papple. But Papplay is more in sync with the tagline and so...

Check out the Website here: http://www.bits-waves.org/

[PS- Do go to: Events(the surfboard) -> Quiz and check it out]

Papplay, the Wada-Pav eating, dhoti-suit wearing, Satchmo listening mollusc

His Middle Name is Sharad

I haven’t spoken about this incident much, with good reason too.

Firstly, no one would believe me.

Secondly…no there is only one reason.

I have had a phone conversation with Rahul Dravid.

Back when he was the brand ambassador of Bank of Baroda (thats for the "how" and "when") and I was a geeky student with braces (now with spectacles…sigh). Even though I wasn’t making much of a conversation, I was struck by the genuine friendliness of the man. Nothing pleases a cricket loving (all right, absolutely adoring) school kid more than being asked by the captain of the Indian Cricket team, “How are you and your friends doing?” and “Do you watch a lot of cricket?”. Quite appreciative when you consider that the best the other end could come up with was, “So, How’s the party?”

I was absolutely ecstatic that day. And absolutely devastated the day we crashed out of the World Cup. The matches were coming in late at night and I had a Board Exam on the morning after. I was supposed to be in bed, but I’d sneaked past my parents room to check on the scores. It was painful. And the faces of the balcony at Port-of-Spain, even more so. And the back lash that followed, absolutely horrific. The man who had led the same unit to a win in England in both tests and ODI formats just a few months back resigned. And was subsequently dropped. And surprisingly, apart from test cricket, almost forgotten.

So today, after almost four years of virtually no One Day cricket [sadly, Dravid will have never won a World Cup] after doing all the odd jobs in the recently concluded test matches, after being the only batsman to make any sort of runs, it surprised no one when he was called back to the One Day squad. What with Yuvraj and Zaheer injured and Sachin not in form and Gambhir (oh I dunno) also not at his best, the selectors looked about for someone with anything to give and to their least surprise they found him.

Dravid is set to officially withdraw from One-Day cricket after this series, but not after agreeing to lend a hand in a crisis situation, yet again. It seems that the Wall is finally done.

[PS- After several "Why don't you try Wordpress"s, I finally did try it. Check out my blog on wordpress HERE ]