Cricket - My Musings

I wasn't completely glued to the Indo-Pak final y'day night. Despite the loss, our boys did put up a good fight after tottering at 105/4 in the 17th over. But my musings have their roots in some of the performances by the opposition left handers against India in the last decade.Some of the terms that I can quickly associate with India's scourge

'Left' is right
Matthew Hayden - Resurrection
Sanath Jayasuriya - Annihilation
Saeed Anwar - Demolition
Shivnarine Chanderpaul - Apparition
Andy Flower - Crucifiction
Adam Gilchrist - Asphyxiation
Brian Charles Lara - Exception

Also, when selected to make their debut, many of our players are touted as good with both bat and ball. Were they really?

Bowling Allrounder
Ajit Agarkar was a fast bowler who could also double up as a useful lower order batsman. But after 10 years, fastest ODI fifty by an Indian,a test century at Lords, and 7 consecutive ducks in Australia, Mr. Reliable continues to remain an enigma.
(I heard in a commentary sometime ago, that Agarkar, in his under-15 days was a top order batsman who could bowl part time medium pace. Ironic, indeed)

Compare this with Shaun Pollock. 'Polly' came in as an opening bowler who later went on to become a dangerous lower middle order batsman.

Batting Allrounder
Saurav Ganguly, Virendra Sehwag, Suresh Raina, Hrishikesh Kanitkar. This is one long list indeed. Anyone heard of the fifth bowler problem perennially plaguing India? What does the captain do?Throw the ball to the part timers like Sehwag, Yuvraj, Sachin, etc. From batting allrounder to full time batsman and part time bowler?Is this what they call as 'specializing as you progress in your career'?

Compare this with Jacques Kallis. He started bowling against Holland as part timer in WC '96 but by 1999 had developed into a world class allrounder.

Opening -a problem without closure
Sanath Jayasuriya, Mark Richardson - left arm spinners converted into opening batsmen. But India's conundrum of opening batsman has been continuing for decades.

There are so many more I wish to write. The only problem that there is no way to even come close to understanding why these occurred. So I'll reserve my stock for a later day...