Shamik Das


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Just how good was England’s win in India?


Alastair-Cook-England-India-2012

CAPTAIN COOK and his crew returned home today from one of England’s greatest series of modern times, the come-from-behind 2-1 Test win in India - their first for 28 years.

The win completes the sweep of away successes against all their leading Test opponents since the turn of the century after decades of defeat.

Though they have yet to add to any of the wins, the successes of the present (and their most recent Hussain/Vaughan, Fletcher-coached predecessor) generation of England cricketers - after droughts of 24, 39, 19, 40 and 36 years, respectively, against Australia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa and West Indies - augurs well for future tours and the health of the Test game globally.

As the chart below shows, it’s quite a turnaround from the repeated failures of England teams from the late eighties to the early 2000s:

England-away-Test-record

So, compared to that Ashes triumph of 2010/11 and other away successes, how does the win in India rank?

The Guardian’s Mike Selvey declares it “among the best of modern times” and “a gargantuan achievement”:

“Placing this win in the pantheon of England successes abroad is not easy. Hyperbole can take over in the understandable euphoria of the moment. But it must surely rank with their best of modern times.

“Maybe two wins at the turn of the millennium, against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, both under Nasser Hussain, the first against a powerful batting side backed by Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed and the second against Muttiah Muralitharan on his own stamping grounds, and having lost the first match, would be right up there. So, of course, would be the Ashes win of 2010-11.

“But it is the back story that makes this such a special victory for them.

“A year ago, England were being trounced by India in a one-day series by five matches to nil, on turning pitches. At the start of the year, against Pakistan in the UAE, they contrived to be whitewashed in a three-match Test series, the batsmen hapless against Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman. Finally in Galle, they lost the first match of a two-match series, with desperate batting once more.

“That Kevin Pietersen’s brilliance helped them claw back a draw in that series could not camouflage the fact that England batsmen, almost as if it was in the genes, could not cope with spin and the hammering they received in the first Test of this series in Ahmedabad did little to dispel that notion.

“So to turn that round, on a variety of different pitches, having lost two tosses out of the three that followed and emerge so emphatically as the better side in every aspect of the game, including the level of fitness in which there is no side better in the world, represents a gargantuan achievement.”

Cricinfo’s George Dobell concurs:

“This series victory represents one of the finest in England’s history. It will not make the impact of an Ashes victory - it does not have the history or capture the British public imagination in the same way - but, in the circumstances, this is as least as impressive an achievement as winning the Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years in 2010-11 and winning the World T20 in the Caribbean in 2010.

“Everything was weighted against them: India’s home record; England’s record in Asia and India in particular; England’s record against spin; the loss of Steven Finn; the loss of three important tosses; the preparation of the pitches; the lack of spin provided to them in the warm-up games; and defeat in the first Test of the series.

“And yet England won. They won a series in India for the first time since 1984-85; they won a series in Asia (excluding those in Bangladesh) for the first time since 2001; they won in a country where they had won just one Test since 1985; their batsmen showed they had learned to play spin; their bowlers proved more adept than the hosts’ on pitches made to suit India; and they showed the spirit to fight back from the loss in Ahmedabad.

“A series that began under the cloud of Pietersen-gate, ended with a unified team dealing calmly and positively with every obstacle placed in their way. In stark contrast to earlier tours, not once did an England player complain about the pitches, the hotels, the heat or the tactics.

“They simply embraced a no-excuse environment and got on with it.”

Geoffrey Boycott, meanwhile, says the win is “particularly special” because of England’s recent “history of failure” in subcontinent conditions.

Writing in the Telegraph, the England legend says it can also be a “platform for Ashes success”:

“I accept that India are not the force they have been in the past. Two great batsmen have retired in VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid while Sachin Tendulkar is no longer the great player he once was. Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan have been fine bowlers but are past their best. You could say touring India is a bit easier now because the hotels are better, English food in the big cities is excellent and travelling is so much easier.

“So if you wanted to undermine the victory you could but, quite frankly, of recent performances this ranks second only to winning in Australia two years ago.

“Nobody should try to belittle what England have achieved. You can only play against the team selected and, in the past, even average Indian sides have been difficult to beat at home. To put it into context, this is only the fifth time England have won a series in India in 14 attempts.

“Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen and Anderson have been outstanding. We have seen a true world-class performance from each of them. Our two spinners, Swann and Panesar, outbowled the two Indian spinners. Even famous former Indian cricketers have accepted our two spinners are much better than theirs. That is a real compliment.”

Looking ahead, Boycs adds:

“There are areas we should improve on the trip coming up to New Zealand, when we will begin to focus on the Ashes in England next year... Like all great winning teams, England should enjoy the spoils of victory but also look on this as a time to improve. Do not court complacency. Prepare for the next challenge.”

As for the reaction of the Indian press, the main focus, understandably, is the shocking home form of the world champions and former world number one’s, with the question of Sachin Tendulkar’s future once more rearing its head (see my blog yesterday) - though there are some, like The Times of India’s Nitin Naik, who’ve forsaken the navel gazing to praise England.

Naik compares this winning team to Gower’s 1984/85 tourists, drawing parallels over the two sides’ left-handed captains; similar victory margins; come-from-behind heroics; spin-twins; problems with personnel; top-class seamers (which India lacked); and rifts in the Indian team.

And of India’s demise, he devotes just the one line, succinctly noting they:

“...have more reason to look into the mirror and face some harsh truths.”

With the resurgent Aussies coming in February, it’s to be hoped reality dawns, and quick, while for England, the ODI series awaits, followed by a tour of New Zealand, and further field, the Ashes; for now, though, they can deservedly enjoy their Christmases back home with their families - just so long as there’s no hangover.

Cricinfo: Full fourth Test scorecard
Cricinfo: India-England series home

Monday, December 17, 2012

Sachin Tendulkar: Is now the time for him to retire?

Sachin-Tendulkar-black-and-white-1988

14*, 34, 12, 16, 56, 1, 40, 23, 91, 7, 76, 38, 94, 3, 73, 32, 41, 80, 15, 8, 25, 13, 19, 17, 27, 13, 8, 8, 76, 5, 2... the score that comes next in this sequence, in a few hours’ time in Nagpur, could determine the future of one of the greatest cricketers ever.

It’s the topic that daren’t rear its head, the subject everyone’s scared to mention for fear of talking into reality, though conversely one that’s been dragged centre stage and got everyone talking about; I speak, of course, of the possible retirement of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, which looms large over the current India-England series, with each failure - and there’ve been far too many over the past two years - bringing that prospect ever closer.

Amarnath, Sourav and Vengsarkar all say the time has come; Geoffrey, and now Sir Viv, think otherwise, the Master Blaster telling the BBC yesterday:

“Nobody is qualified enough to tell him when they think he should go...

“When you’re retired, you’re retired for a very, very long time... It’s like being dead to some degree, so while you’re alive and still up for it and still enjoying what you’re doing, to me that’s what it’s all about.”

While former England quick Mike Selvey believes “the finishing line is approaching” and it may be time for the men in grey tracksuits to have a word, writing in The Guardian:

Sachin-Tendulkar-bowled-by-Jimmy-Adams-Nagpur-Test-14-12-12

“In the split second that he heard the death rattle behind him as the ball careered from his inside edge and into his middle stump, Sachin Tendulkar surely will have known that the game is up.

“He has one more innings in this series in which to find a spark, but India needed him first time round and he was unable to deliver. Too late now. It was genuinely painful to watch, for no one with a heart or a love of the game for its own sake can have taken pleasure from the way he played...

“He was once the most revered man in India but the worm is starting to turn. The noise levels still rise when he takes the field and his dismissals bring a deafening silence. But it is almost ritualistic now, a process that has to be gone through. No longer does his image seem to dominate the billboards across India. His own media are starting to question his value and so are India’s cricket fans.

“The problem is one common to all great champions, though: the refusal to accept that, rather than there being another innings of substance waiting round the corner to kickstart a renaissance, there may actually be no more corners and the road to the finish line is a straight one.”

Selvey concludes:

“There is a common belief that sportsmen of the status of Tendulkar - and they come no higher in that regard - earn the right to choose the time of their departure. Personally I take issue with this in the context of a team sport and a player whose star is fading. What a great player does is earn the right to a dignified departure but they cannot be allowed to outstay their time if it is to the detriment of the side and its development simply because of who they are.

“Would Tendulkar be allowed such a departure, though, or would there be an insistence, a public clamour, on a valedictory series, a grand tour of the country, something that would inevitably dominate proceedings? Who indeed if necessary would be the person to try to nudge him in the direction of retirement instead? Would anyone dare?

“Perhaps the great Rahul Dravid, as dignified as any cricketer has been, should have a word. Perhaps he already has.”

The numbers, the cold, cruel stats, damned stats and averages illustrate the problem: four single-figure dismissals in his last five innings, just one half-century in his last 13...

Sachin-Tendulkar-record-since-last-Test-100

... no centuries in his past 31 innings, the longest he’s gone without one (smashing his previous highest ton-drought of 17 from December 2005 to May 2007):

Sachin-Tendulkar-frequency-of-Test-centuries

It’s most rare for a sportsman to choose the exact manner of his departure, going out on a high high very much the exception - think Zidane in the 2006 World Cup Final; Schumacher’s pitiful second retirement; Ponting’s hastened demise...

As Andy Zaltzman put it, it’s not logical:

“He deserves some kind of glorious ending, but the mysterious sporting scriptwriters about whom commentators are so fond of inquiring have an irritating habit of writing a dull, anti-climactic, inappropriate or rubbish final chapter. Bradman scored a duck in his last Test innings. Nasser Hussain blasted a match-clinching hundred and hit the winning runs. Jason Gillespie scored a double-century.

“Cricketing retirements are like Stalinist Russia - devoid of logic and justice.”

In July he said he had no plans to retire from ODIs, though more recently he has said he knows he can’t “go on and on” and would “have to look at it series by series”, with the BCCI last night confirming he “will certainly discuss his retirement with top BCCI officials” and “everyone will know when that will happen”.

Sachin deserves to be remembered for the magic, those unforgettable moments, not for his recent poor form (if this is to be the end), so let me leave you with my favourite memory - and it really is a tough call - an innings which, even though I could have selected one of the many times I’ve had the privilege to witness him live, I didn’t see in person - an occasion of such great significance above and beyond just cricket, a Test to unite the nation at a time of one its greatest crises, a match that mightn’t even taken place...

Chennai, Monday, December 15th, 2008, India v England, 5th day, 1st Test:

“This was an innings once and for all to silence all the doubters, those "ignoramuses" as Sunny Gavaskar had described them, all those who believed Sachin lacked bottle, lacked the character for a fight, to lead from the front and finish off a match, working for each run on a tricky last day pitch.

“Praise also must go to Virender Sehwag, without whose thunderous assault on England's bowling the previous evening none of this would have been possible, and Yuvraj Singh, who came to the crease with 163 runs still needed and only MS Dhoni and the tail to follow.

“His was an innings of great maturity, discarding the one-day form which had brought him two centuries earlier in the tour and playing a real Test innings, showing great patience and a cool head, ignoring the barbs and picking off the runs with ease.

“Then, as the winning post came within sight, he even eschewed the chance of another century and forsook the glory of the winning hit, blocking balls to the crowd's delight - never in all my years of watching cricket have I ever heard such deafening applause for a straight bat - and leaving the Little Master to hit the winning runs.

“And hit them he did, paddle-sweeping Swann round the corner to bring up his 41st Test century, win the match and complete, by some distance, the highest successful fourth innings chase in Asia and the fourth highest anywhere, punching the air in delight as he was lifted up by Yuvraj with the cheers of the crowd ringing in his ears.

“Seldom can the mood of a whole nation have been transformed so quickly by so few, illustrating most vividly the tremendous power of sport, to heal wounds, raise morale and showcase the very best of the human spirit, and in so doing fully justifying the decision to play.

“It may have finished India 1-0 England but the real score was Cricketers 1-0 Terrorists.”

December 2010: Tendulkar dedicates Centurion century to his father and says “it’s the hunger which keeps me going”
December 2009: 20 years of Tendulkar: the stats
December 2008: Helps India to dramatic win
October 2008: Helps India thrash Australia
October 2008: Breaks Test run-scoring record
July 2007: Little Master looks ahead to Lord’s Test