Border Gavaskar Trophy 24-25

India lost the series to Australia 1-3 and relinquished its 10 year hold on the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The last 10 years saw some fantastic closely fought matches which enthralled the cricket lovers not just in these 2 countries, but across the world. No quarter was given and none was taken during these matches. Some of the best players to have played for India kept the trophy firmly with India.

However, there was a nagging feeling that the trophy would be snatched during the 24-25 series. Many of the players who won us the matches had either retired or been dropped. Some of the other players are probably coming to the end of the careers. The young replacements were either not experienced or not good enough to fill the shoes of the experienced oldies.

India arrived in Australia after losing a home series for the first time in about 13 years. The series loss against New Zealand was an unprecedented whitewash. It exposed our batting line up like never before. There were continuous doubts on our batting lineup against a seaming and swinging ball. In addition, the batsmen now were showing frailty against spin. No longer can Indian batsmen be called as masters against spin bowling.

With many questions hanging around their performances, the Indian team, for arguably one of the toughest places to play cricket, did not have 2 of the main players who were hugely responsible for the wins in the last 2 visits. While Mohammad Shami was injured, Pujara was dropped. Their replacements were either not there in the team nor the players selected in their place turned out to be good enough.

The Pujara style of play was a key ingredient for the wins in 17-18 and 20-21. He had the ability to wear down the opposition bowlers and put a high price on his wicket. He was strong in defence and willing to take body blows while staying focussed and unfluttered. The selectors for the team of 24-25 have a lot of explaining to do as to why no such player was picked. Or whether they had identified such a player, probably K L Rahul. who had however failed to perform his role. Irony was that Australia adoped the tactic, effectively peformed by Marnus Labuschagne, who was able to wear down Bumrah.

The other player who was sorely missed was Mohammad Shami. His dual act with Bumrah was instrumental in many wins. His control over line and length and strike rate would have been a wonderful support to Bumrah. As the statistics showed, Bumrah had no support from the other end, especially from Siraj.

Another disturbing fact noticed during this tour was the tendency by the players to talk big, especially by the young players. These players had no great body of work to support their mouthing off of the opposition players. It is becoming evident with every passing year, that probably it is their PR agencies who are goading them in their behaviour. The players should know that once their game falls of, these PR agencies would not think twice before hitching their fortunes to another player.

To summarise the reasons which led to the series loss are: a. Senior batsmen Rohit, Virat and Rahul failed totally. I am not adding Rishabh to this list as he is making a comeback after a horrendous accident. Deserves some leeway. b. No support for Bumrah c. Poor captaincy by Rohit.

When the causes are further analysed and delved into, some worrying factors were displayed by the team:

1.    1. Poor technique by every Indian batsman. It is as if, the crease does not exist for them. Whatever be the length of the ball, every batsman takes a huge front step. No Indian player has a proper backfoot game. This is the result of flat IPL pitches. I guess, all the players  have an eye for an IPL contract.

2.     2. KL Rahul needs to be dropped permanently from all forms of cricket. 58 tests for an average of 33 for a top order batsman is pathetic. He has had enough chances. Plus, his defeatist body language. Should have been dropped after his innings in the 2023 ODI final. 

    3.From BGT tour of 20-21 to 24-25, Gill and Siraj are the 2 players who have not improved at all. 

    4. Shubman Gill - Same technical faults - hard hands, no defense, no backfoot play, no patience etc.  

  5. Siraj has shown no improvement in 4 yrs since his debut. He has not shown the ability to bowl yorker/bouncer/slow ball. He always bowls with a  scrambled seam, is inconsistent with his line/length. He has not displayed any thought process in bowling. Hence, he is not even averaging 3 wickets per test in 36 tests. Ricky Ponting had mentioned that one of Bumrah’s success is his ability to dry up the runs. Siraj does not have that control over line and length. In the absence of Bumrah in the 2nd innings at Sydney, he had the opportunity to step and lead the attack. He failed miserably. He should not be even 3rd bowler in the team. 

   6. If Kohli is not able to overcome his offstump weakness, then in addition to himself, every coach including Shastri, Dravid, Gambhir have a part in Kohli’s weakness being so brutally exposed. Kohli does not have a backfoot game. Shows that he too has not worked on his game. Plus his own ego and antics. 

   7. Rohit and Rishabh seem to have lost the ability to construct an innings. Both the players go for their shots from the first ball. Shows a lack of patience and lack of confidence in their defensive play.

   8. Before NZ series, Rohit and Kohli had opportunities to play atleast 1 Duleep trophy game. They did not do so. Reflects arrogance and lack of respect for the game. 

    9. Sundar and Jadeja were also big disappointments. Both had just one decent innings and hardly any  impact with their bowling.

   10. Yashasvi Jaiswal has continued with his sensational first year in cricket. He seems to be the real deal. Nitish Reddy had one fantastic century. Hope both Yashaswi and Nitish build on their initial successes. 

   11. AkashDeep, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna. Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel showed promise. Hope, they do not get wrongly influenced like others by IPL.  

   12. There are huge questions on the roles and inputs of the support staff. Many batsmen showed technical faults. Wonder if the batting coach had any suggestings to them. The bowlers were consistently bowling wrong lengths on the Australian pitches. The old weakness of dropped catches by the fielders was on show again.

     Coach Gambhir in his short tenure has shown he is not able to read wickets properly. He has picked a wrong team on multiple occasions. The strategy to select 3 different spinners for the first 3 tests backfired and showed muddled thinking.

   In total, this BGT team of 24-25, reflected the teams of 80s,90s & 2000s,where every dept had shortcomings. Huge disappointment. For the vast amounts of monies that are invested in cricket, the Return on Investment(ROI) in terms of trophies is abysmal.

Shane Warne

While idly browsing through the internet on Friday evening after an exhaustive working week, saw the news that Shane Warne died of a heart attack. He was just 52. The news was shocking, to say the least. He was such an effervescent personality that shone even through the TV screens to ordinary viewers like me.

I immediately knew, that people will start reminiscing about his debut against India - against the likes of Sachin Tendulkar and Ravi Shastri and of course his ball of the century against Mike Gatting.

I have watched almost all the matches that he played in. Whether, it was Australia/New Zealand, getting up at 3.30 in the morning or in the West Indies, where the matches go late into the night for a person watching in India. I made it a point to follow the Australian team's performance whenever Shane Warne played. 

He had a presence about him and when he came into bowl, the match almost always would take an interesting turn. After his brilliant performances in Sri Lanka and in England at the start of his career, I was interested to see how he would play against Indians in India. Unfortunately, he was injured for the one-off test in 1996. The next time he came to India in 1998, he was having some shoulder problems, Yet, he had his moments on the field against the best Indian batsmen. Over the next 2 series in India, he was good in spells but could not conquer the Indian batsmen like he did batsmen of other countries. That said a lot about the skills of the Indian batsmen rather than his abilities. History of cricket over the last 200 years has shown that every player - batsmen or bowler has a bogey team, against whom they struggle. That does not make the player a lesser champion. Shane Warne's bogey team was India which had the best set of Indian batsmen ever in the history of Indian Test cricket.

I watched the magic balls he bowled to superb players like Jacques Kallis and Shiv Narain Chanderpaul. I remember watching the test matches where he took these wickets and how he slowly built up the pressure over a few overs . His theatrics, confidence and the way he set up the players before they were beaten and clean bowled were a treat to watch. They were beaten by his mind tricks as much as his skills on the cricket field.

In ODIs too he was a brilliant bowler. His spells against West Indies in 1996 semi-final at  Mohali and against the South Africans in 1999 semi-final at Old Trafford were brilliant. He literally dragged the Australian team to the finals on the strength of his performances and personality.

What struck me most about him was his desire to excel in a field of his choice. Test Cricket, World Series of Poker too where he competed at a world stage, brought out the best in him. He brought out the same level of insight and excellence when he took on commentary after his retirement. I generally, follow cricket by keeping the TV on mute. After watching cricket for almost 40 years, I feel that there is nothing new a commentator, even an ex-player can offer insight on. Yet, whenever, Shane Warne came on to commentate, I would always increase the volume to listen to him talk. He was brilliant in bringing out the nuances in the game that we were watching and almost predicting the turn the game would take. Listening to him, one knew that he was very fair in his commentary. He was harsh on some of the Australian players, for example Mitchell Starc, who took exception to some of his comments and yet generous in his praise when he played well. He was unstinting in his praise, even for the opposition players. He described the game as he saw it. No half measures. 

His spin bowling master class with an English news channel was brilliant where he guided young kids on how to bowl wrist spin. He really communicated with the kids and youngsters by being their age in talking to them. This could also have been the reason, that he was able to, as a Captain of Rajasthan Royals, take a bunch of youngsters and win the IPL trophy in the very first season. He was also a very good slip fielder, which was an under rated part of his skills.

Sunil Gavaskar considers him as a lesser bowler than Muttiah Muralitharan and the quartet of Indian spin bowlers of the 1960s and 1970s. Comparison between different generation of players does not give a true picture as there are many variables like standard of players, pitch conditions, playing rules etc. which cannot be compared. Hence, I have just compared the bowling statistics of Warne with Muralitharan as they were contemporaries. One factor to be kept in mind is that the hard Australian pitches do not generally support spin bowling while the Sri Lankan pitches keeping their bowling strengths in mind, generally spin from day one. The statistics in their home countries and against each other make interesting reading. I think Shane Warne clearly stands out.

It is good to stand up for Asian players, but it does not do the players nor Sunil Gavaskar any credit by romanticising their achievements. 

He is gone at 52. Too young for any one. But, I guess, he lived a full life. If one were to imbibe something from his life, it is the desire to excel and compete at the highest level and even stand out among peers. He did that in Cricket, Poker and Commentary. Go well legend.

Russia Ukraine Crisis

There is a war currently on between Russia and Ukraine. Viewing this afar from India, with no skin in the game, the difficult question one has to ask oneself is, who has the moral high ground in this war? If at all, there is a moral high ground.

On one side there is the President of Ukraine, educated in USA, a career as a stand-up comedian with his own TV show. Based on the popularity of the TV show, he runs for President and surprisingly/shockingly gets elected. He talks a lot about democracy and democratic values. Yet in the first 2 years of his Presidency, he arrests and jails his main political opponent. He shuts down 2 TV stations critical of his functioning. So, one can see, that his posturing on democracy is just that - Posturing. He does not seem to believe in the free exchange of views that are so fundamental to a democracy.

Yet, because of his Western education and his opposition to the Russian President - Vladimir Putin, he is supported by the Western Europe leaders and USA. 

On the other side, is the President of Russia - Vladimir Putin. His career is well known - a former KGB spy who has seen the hypocrisy of the West from close quarters for more than 40 years and deeply distrusts them. His seemingly only interest is to protect Russian interests. Putin has also said that he does not want to take over the country, if Ukraine agrees to not be a part of NATO.

Almost one week of war has exposed the double standards of the West and USA. They are openly supporting a President who gives only lip service to democracy. Reports have come out that he is arming mercenaries to fight for Ukraine. Videos have come out exposing the racist mentality of the Ukrainian people and their army. Their UN Ambassador was seen giving sly threats to countries whose people are stuck in Ukraine to support their side, otherwise he could not guarantee safety to the stranded people of those countries. He is alleged to even using the stranded foreigners as human shields. Yet, they support the Ukrainian President.

The West has started imposing sanctions on Russia. They have even targeted the Russian private citizens and their wealth by seizing their assets. They have given themselves the right to moralise and act as Judge, Jury and Executioner.

The Western Media has once again displayed their bias towards people other than Whites. Numerous journalists have said on record that Ukraine is a civilised nation and hence needs support. In that one statement, they have whitewashed the crimes of USA and the other Western countries in their attacks and interference in Asia and Africa and established their contempt for other races.

As a common citizen in India, it is hard not to get affected by what is going on in Ukraine. I have read about the various invasions of India, including the wars between 1947- 71. I witnessed the war in 1999 and have been witnessing the frequent attacks on India via Kashmir/Mumbai etc. There is only suffering for the people. Lives are lost, economy gets impacted, in these acts of Politicians.

Ukraine wants to get free of big brother Russia and have a life of its own. Yet, who are they choosing? The hypocritical NATO and the West.

One can understand Russia’s position. They have supported India against these Western nations whenever India faced difficult times. Now, they do not want NATO at their borders and their interference. In all this, the UN has acted as per its nature – toothless and biased.

The Indian government has been very clear and nuanced in its stance, via its views and abstentions in the UN Security Council Meetings. The Indian govt has repeatedly asked for ceasefire and resumption of dialogue. Historically, Ukraine had taken a stance against India - supporting the sanctions against India in 1999 post our nuclear testing and asking for Article 370 to be reimposed. Yet, Indian leadership has shown maturity. It has not taken sides openly. India is lucky to have an experienced External Affairs Minister and well-liked and respected Prime Minister. This is reflected in the statements from the Western nations on our stance. India has never attacked another country. Our recent actions of taking tough decisions shown by our air strikes in Balakot etc. have given us respect in the eyes of the World. India needs to play a leading role in diffusing the war in Ukraine.

History has time and again shown that the ones who pay a heavy price in any war are the common people who have to suffer at the hands of scheming and ambitious politicians. The only winners in this war are the Armaments manufacturers and their lobbyists and agents. We can only wish for a swift ending to this crisis, with as little loss of lives and destruction of property. But then, it is not in our hands. We have to wait and watch.

 

 

Book Review - "Simply Fly" by Captain G R Gopinath

This book is about the journey of a village boy born in a young India, recently free from foreign rule. It is about his hard work, his mind constantly buzzing with ideas and his dreams. The same can be said of any boy growing up but what sets apart the author is his never say die spirit, his hunger for success, his passion for his work, to be the best and his ability to live his dreams. The autobiography is a celebration of his free minded and entrepreneurial spirit. 

The author begins the narration about his carefree childhood days spent in a village by a river which he adored. His family lived frugally and his school teacher father instilled in him a love for books specially the classics. His parents gave him the freedom to explore life without the pressures of academic performance and instilled in him a love for literature, virtues of generosity and sharing and caring for others.

He shows his spirit of adventure in the manner by which he joined a Sainik school and later the Army. His determination to be the best comes out in his performance in NDA and IMA and the lessons on honour and leadership that he learnt there has guided him in every activity he took up later in life.

He has clearly articulated his reasons for leaving the army where after some time his restless nature and the need to do different things rebelled against the regimented life in the army. His childhood spent in a village was one of the reasons why his first endeavor after leaving the army was to become a farmer. Here too he showed the qualities that sets him apart. He worked hard, was not afraid to try new farming methods, learnt from experience and experienced persons and most importantly he relied on the traditional methods and tried the more modern and scientific techniques only where necessary. His mantras like "Less farming is good farming" and "If something is not ecologically sound, it is not economically viable" can be applied to any business or walk of life.  These were his secrets to his success as a farmer.

His buzzing mind also enabled him to try his hand in other varied businesses like motor cycle dealership, stock broking etc. What is common amongst all his business ventures is his ability for hard work and resultant success.

One could say that his single failure was his stint in politics. Here too he worked hard and tried innovative ways to canvass for votes and help the citizens on civic issues. The anecdotes in this phase of his life, his views on the politics of the day and politicians make for interesting reading. He has been very frank in his views on personalities and the incidents of the day - be they in politics or earlier in the Army during the Bangladesh Liberation war.

The major portion of the book is devoted to his venture into aviation and appropriately so. While his success in farming would have given him personal joy, his pioneering success in making low cost aviation viable to the common man would have given him immense personal and professional satisfaction. His contribution has put India as one of the hot destinations for the business community in this field. The heartwarming stories like getting the first customer and the 2 young Indians who wanted to fulfill their parents dream of flying give life to his narration. Detailed accounts of his trials, tribulations and efforts in setting up the helicopter charter business, making it a success and setting up the low cost airline should act as a guide to every new entrepreneur worldwide. The most crucial aspect in these ventures was how he set deadlines and then worked backwards. Many a time the agility and innovation shown to tackle unexpected obstacles are examples of thinking on one's feet. Instances of the government and the bureaucracy's ability to help as well as create obstacles only prove the tough environment in which the author made his ventures successful.

While the author had grown his airline business using innovative ideas, his stubbornness, trusting the wrong persons, ineffective dealing of operational issues, and biting more than he could chew led to a quick and dramatic fall. He had no option to sell out and the circumstances leading to the sale make for interesting reading and a lesson to all entrepreneurs on the pitfalls to avoid.

Overall the book makes for compelling narrative. However, there a few jarring notes. The book is all about the author, his dreams, ideas, trials etc., with no detailed mention of the other people in his journey and their contribution. Passing mentions are made but it is difficult to expect that his family/friends/business associates had no major roles. He mentioned that he doesn't believe in caste. But there are many instances when he introduces people in the book bringing in their caste etc. He considers himself an agnostic, but there are at least 3 instances wherein he mentions how he circumambulated temples while flying. This creates a dissonance.

A reader of the book will understand the authors' love for literature, his passions, dreams, extreme hard work, his ability to rise from his failures and the varied and exciting adventure that he has had in his life. The reader is able to go with the flow of the author due to the easy narrative style of the book. A good read.

BJP's way forward post Bihar election debacle

The Bihar elections have come and gone and results declared. Two main coalition groups, NDA and Mahagathbandhan fought the elections.  NDA had taken the big decision to have the PM as the main face of the party. Hence, for NDA, the elections were a reaffirmation of their policies carried out by the PM at the Centre and a stamp that they were on the right track while also highlighting the failure of Nitish Kumar, the incumbent CM.  Different leaders of the Mahagathbandan had their own reasons  – for Nitish Kumar- the elections was a fight for survival and an alternate Opposition face, for Lalu - the elections was a fight for relevance and for a third set of leaders – Lalu’s sons-the elections was a platform to launch their political careers.

The results are a big setback to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah. The reason to mention only these 2 is due to their style of centralized functioning. The last 18 months have shown the PM make a strong push for growth and development. However, this election should be a dampener for him and BJP for a variety of reasons and Narendra Modi along with the BJP party need to work on the points mentioned below:

1. As promised during 2014 elections, take strong, tangible and immediate action on the corrupt of UPA regime – NH,2G,Coal scams etc. 18 months is a long time and no tangible action has been seen by the public. Be firm on the action taken against NGO's.
2. Get back to Development mantra and agenda. In 2014, people across religions and caste voted for BJP only due to the promise of Development. Even now, across all parties, BJP is the only party that can deliver Development.
3. Every election shows that while other religions vote as per their religious beliefs, the  Hindu vote gets divided. The only way to go forward is to accept this fact. This also happens due to improper behaviour and loose talk of BJP leaders. Take strong and immediate action against MP’s, leaders and karyakartas who deviate from the Development agenda and indulge in loose talk. Hence, penalties should be swift and tangible including expulsion from party. This along with strong development agenda should keep the Hindu vote united.
4. Develop a strong, magnetic, communicative 2^nd rung of leaders at the centre. Many Ministers who are young and successful in their ministries can be developed by giving them additional responsibilities. There is an over reliance on a small team of central leaders.
5. Seniors in the party such as Arun Shourie, should be approached by keeping egos aside. Their wisdom and experience in ministries and media is invaluable and should be effectively utilized for better performance.
6. Develop strong leaders in each state. Narendra Modi himself was a state leader who rose to national prominence. State elections have to be fought on state issues with strong group of local leaders who have risen from the grass roots.
7. Develop effective spokespersons in each language. Train them appropriately.
8. Continuous interactions with BJP karyakartas, workers at grass roots level. They are loyal and hardworking and need to be engaged with even when there are no elections.
9. Drop non-performing Ministers even if they are senior. Many key ministries are not delivering the required results.
10. Firmer hold on the economy. While long term measures are necessary, short term initiatives need to be immediately taken. One instance is appointing heads of various public sector banks.
11. Engage with smaller Opposition parties on a continuous basis. They are required to legislate and pass key bills in RS. Be assertive in LS.
12. Continuous discussions with allies. Currently, allies are keen to attack BJP. A positive environment with them needs to be created where NDA is seen as a cohesive group. The onus for this is on BJP as the largest party.
13. Firm and assertive PR and media management. Accept that Main stream media is hostile to BJP. People are aware that certain media houses are playing mischief. No point in going soft on them.

Fortunately, BJP and Narendra Modi have three and half years to learn the lessons from the Delhi and Bihar debacles and indulge in course correction. If the above points are addressed and communicated effectively to the Indian public, 2019 can still see the return of BJP.