Arm Ball

Ok, I drew lot of flak for being critical of Rohit Sharma. Not cos I wrote he is a under delivering performer, but bcos he is from Mumbai. Mumbaikars shouldn’t be criticized. A harsh learning. I was thumped loud cos I referenced Mumbai for his origins. So is it that Mumbaikars fail and then they get away with it ? One greater man than this young kid continues to have to prove to his critics that he is worth the adulations and the records, yet he never cares about them. One great man who is an icon for the country who hails from the same city, same terrain, same geography as this Rohit Sharma, but then those detractors keep quiet on different grounds. Youth rules in the country. Being young is in, despite you perform or not. Oldies, move aside.

Alright, then here is dissection of this man’s performance in the ODIs. He is yet to perform in Tests and T20s doesn’t really hold that significance as its too short, so I wont count his contributions for now. Not that he has got a great record there. He has got few hundreds in Ranji games but those 100s failed to give him the confidence and attitude to take the scoring opportunities in SL. I feel this is the worst time in Indian cricket not to perform. Cos if you fail to perform, probability might be that you might never get a chance more to play. Yeah the money would keep coming in from IPL and other sources, but if you don’t make runs, then no endorsements and then no invitations to the parties as well.

Alright again, I shut myself up and let figures speak :

He has played 35 games for 637 runs with the highest score of 70* against SL in SL (2008) with an average of 25.48 runs per game. Great.

Here is his record in India in last 2 years:

6 games, 103 runs, highest of 52 vs Pakistan in 2007. 4 games against England 50 runs in 2008 (when India won 5-0) and then he was dropped. And 1 run against Australia in 2007. Sumps up to 103 in 6 games. An average of 25.75, 0.27 more than his career average. So slight home advantage for him.

Now lets see for his overseas figures in last 2 years for giving him a bit of benefit of doubt:

29 games, 534 runs and highest of 70* with an avg of 25.42 runs. Diseccting more he has got 138 runs in 6 games vs Aussies (take out 66 and then he has 72 in 5 games). Aussies were the world champs (officially still) when he played them last.

Now for minnows Bangladesh : 2 games and 48 runs. Highest of 26. No distinct advantage here too. More trouble. Against HongKong its 11 runs in 1 game.

A bit weaker teams but stronger than Zim and BD (based on ICC rankings).

Vs Pakistan he has played 4 games 91 runs at 30.33 (best average against a country). Vs SL he has played max 14 games and made 238 runs at 26.44. Further breakdown gives him 8 runs against SA (long back in 2007).

He has never hit off. Not scored runs anywhere. Prodigies never average for under 26s for long. They get one defining moment and then the career turns around. 2 years for this man and that moment is still to come. The so called my critics now have the figures to compare and peek through. Judge them for yourself. And if you say still he should be given chances, then go ahead with the opinion. Its pretty clear that he has been given chances in 35 games just cos he is young and for most part of his 2 yr career, Mr DBV was at the helm of national selection committee. It would be interesting to see how Kris Srikanth deals with him.

This days if you happen to be young lad in Indian cricket and on top of that if you hail from Ranji Champion team Mumbai, then trust me you are going to be in the team for infinite time. Doesn’t matter, if you perform or if you don’t. To add to the toppings on the icing on the pizza cake, if your captain trusts you and ex-chief of selector publicly banks you as next Tendulkar shamelessly and if you once play a 55 in a must win T20 game in world championship and then you make 70 in the company of the BAAP of cricketing knowledge and batting down under (till then down under was big thing winning, this days anybody can do it), then you are in for the team for good.

Doesn’t matter if you average paltry 15 in the ODIs and just 4 in the T20s, you are still high hopes and billed as the next big thing in the Indian cricket. You happen to live in a chawl in Mumbai in not so good conditions and then suddenly you win the T20, be a part of world cup winning team something the greats Sachin, Rahul, Saurav, VVS and Anil couldn’t do, your life changes , you go and live in swanky Bandra apartment and you become a poster boy of media and cricket glitz. Despite all this runs never flow out of your bat and you never take the game to the next level.

Only way then left for the skipper is to drop you out of the playing XI and then for the selectors is to throw you back to the grind of domestic cricket. Yes, that’s what fate lies for you. Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai cricketer, the failure Indian batsman of SL series who neither had any bad decision going against him or neither he was suffering from any distraction. Time is ripe for him to be dropped from the NZ touring party and get another new face mostly Pujara and ask Sharma to get the temperament, attitude and moreover the self-belief right. Till then no place for him in the Indian cricket.

1. Dravid’s failures. Once a wall ran out of runs and we ran short of brickbats for him. Now the latest buzz is that he would be batting down the order. Laxman for # 3 ?




2. South Africa would be perennial and eternal chokers. They would always speak high about their preparations, their plans, talk absurd of somebody being informer n spy to them, their pace attack, their ambition to go # 1…When it comes to deliver the talk on the field when it matters the most, they choke. 234/3 to 243/8.




3. English media. Anything English is too good for them. Chauvinistic even in modern age. Living in feudal times. Anything scored against England would be huge for them. Be it Smith’s 154 in Edgbaston or 103 by Tendulkar in Chennai (Athers calls Madaras)…India vs Australia wont matter much to them. A win and they feel they are ready to take on the Aussies only to end up 0-5.




4. Sri lanka ‘s eternal love for minnows. If ODIs with Zim when they were embarrased in last 3 ODIs were not enuf, then now what follows a Test series with BD and a tri series with Zim as 3rd team . They scrapped England tour, agreed for BD tour…meaning more cheap runs and more wkts for M&M. hell, Mahela even bothers to speak to motivate his team against BD…..Wonder has SL confidence came down to this level ? I hate M & M. They pushed Saurav and Anil to retirements.
5. Dilip Vengsarkar’s tounge. Continues to remain loose and suffer verbal diaorrhea. Now he questions awarding Mohali the 2nd Test. And he also put a ? on exclusion of some Rahane and Dhawal Kulkarni from Mumbai for central contracts. Ok dude, you love Mumbai cricket but then there should be a criteria to judge the players on quality. Just cos a player hails from your state, he should be given a contract ? Will you accept me in your academy ? I am from MH and have worked in Mumbai for 2 years….Ok if not Mumbai then in Pune, i hv been here for 4 years now……..Deal ?

Michael Johnson is the new BOWLER who has now come of age for Australia. Can he step into the mould of McGrath ? Time will tell. But then the signs are omnious….

WI is playing NZ and nobody is bothering.

If there is one team which has been the team of year in every form of game in 2008, then it is INDIA. Wonderful results all the way except SL loss. Victories, home and away. What more you need ?