New face of Indian Cricket - 4

The Indian cricket team is on the verge of playing England in the middle of a grueling home season. To go back to the famous Ashis Nandy line, "Cricket is an Indian game accidentally discovered by the English." England has won their last three Test series against India, but this time they are branding themselves as “massive underdogs”. Despite of many pundits writing England off, one must look for Captain Cook leading from the front for a tough duel. Grit, Aggression, and looking for results will be the highlights of the series.

The coaching job went into the hands of Anil Kumble mid of this year. It's unreasonable to expect extraordinary work from someone who isn't trusted to create it. Indian camp has the highest regard for Ravi Shastri as a professional cricketer and wanted to be the transition to be smooth as possible.  It is argued that the game comes easier to the greats, making the coach's job of solving problems of average or even good players much more difficult. There is a counterargument in the case of bowlers because they have more understanding of cricket to survive in the batsman-friendly era. Indians hope that the Kumble Kohli partnership can go for establishing India in good records in abroad too. Both of them has forged relationship, mentored the team sensibly, and taken decisions under pressure in the right manner in all the tours.

There is an ongoing state of conflict between the philosophy of aggressive dominant style and playing the match scenario. The parameter for the judgment was fixated on the strike rate of batsmen. With Kumble in the coach position, the debate of batsmen around grafter and entertainer in test matches is quite settled and limited to a positive approach only. Any team in the subcontinent did not need to score at a rate deemed attractive to the public, but in their understated way can decide the outcome of the series. Batting seems counterintuitive in nature on days 4-5 in India. With the turning tracks in the picture, the batting unit needs to use their feet and maneuver the ball and get more singles and twos before going for boundaries.

Test cricket is not a finishing school for the players but a first-time series in the subcontinent for English cricketers will be baptism by spin and reverse swing. As a debutant, every player wants to feel belonged on their first days at work. Ben Duckett, Haseeb Hameed, Hardik Pandya & Karun Nair will catch the eyes of the public with their intent and performance in this series. The selection woes continue with the search for and fast-bowling all-rounder. We waited for the system to produce, rather than for us to actively promote. Sometimes, selectors pick players depending on what future tours are in mind.  Amid great negative reaction to the selection of Hardik Pandya, let us recall a quote by John Wright - “The key is to identify the right players to back. They must have reasonable ability and technique, but you must understand that certain players might not be as talented as others, but boy, they have big hearts and a huge desire to succeed. Those guys, and teams with that attitude, will always surprise you.” In the dynamic of the selection, selectors must explain why certain players have been taken based on potential and why few else have been subjected to limited chance. All players possess basic levels of natural talent to reach the highest level and then it becomes a question of temperament and self-belief. The self-belief to turn it on when it really mattered was the trademark of Kevin Pietersen.

Let us applaud Indians for using the Decision Review System (DRS) in the test series. Stars are born in tough situations & qualities like character, holding up under pressure, and putting your hand up to do the tough task will be scrutinized in this tour.  For too long, however, India has been a story mostly of potential. Turning possibility into reality will demand a greater focus on winning test matches ruthlessly. India should be ready enough in international cricket to start dominating Test matches and win those crucial situations and sessions. That’s how India can become a better team.

Books Read in 2015

Annus mirabilis is a Latin phrase that means wonderful year or "year of miracles". This year was wonderful in more nihilistic sense. I was able to complete only three books despite of ample time. I remain connected to Facebook and whats-app. That is clear symptom of distraction by technology. I need to create tech free zone around me in the era of techno-utopianism. Personal reform is always an active choice. It involves to do something that isn't default and must be applied with rigor in disciplined way.

I might have been victim of the slow kind of destruction due to many days & nights of loneliness. It just erodes enthusiasm and put reading habit in demise. The anxiety due to monotonous life became irrepressible leading to mental frailness. Even if I was doing everything right to read books but not able to progress beyond few pages. When I don’t read books or watch movies– always having stock of them – and then I “surf” them.

I have wasted a lot of time in surfing news articles on the internet. This addictive habit is going out of control for me. In this random news readings, I enjoyed words of Sanjay Manjrekar and Akash Chopra. There is strong element of lethargy in this reader's block. The lack of concentration, anxiety and work related exhaustion are minor elements of the whole story. Even the longest rope will fall short if I don't take a more strict and passionate approach towards reading. Excessive self-pity has its own psychological quirks. Hence, I would buck up for the challenge of reading 26 books in the new year. As Mark Twain wrote on New Year’s Day in 1863, “Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.”

Books Read in 2015:

1. Inferno - Dan Brown -English - 8/10 - An interesting and stylish read but lacking content level of previous novels.

2. Hind Swaraj - Mahatma Gandhi - Hindi - 7/10 - Honest opinion to be read for understanding conditions of India through personal lens.

3. Poor Economics - Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo - English - 9/10 - Refreshing book with clear evidences to work at micro level to alleviate global poverty.

4. Wisdom of Ants - Shankar Jaganathan -English - 7/10-  A good book for the beginners on the history of economics