All work and no play…

ODI captain MS Dhoni being ‘rested’ for the Test series in Sri Lanka has added more weight to the debate on whether the Indian cricket team is being overworked with an eye on money, writes Abhijit Chatterjee

Dhoni had spoken about his unease at the tight playing schedule during the recent Asia Cup — Photo by AFP

In spite of being the better team on paper, once again the Indians were beaten in the final of a limited over tournament, this time in the Asia Cup at Karachi. There will of course be a lot of heartburning and soul searching, but the fact remains that on the day if mattered most Sri Lanka outplayed the strong favourites in a match where the Indian team looked jaded and burnt out.

It was in the course of the tournament that Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni had said the cramped schedule of the players was taking its toll on the performance of the team. It is rather a tragedy that the team had to collectively fail in the most crucial match of the tournament after doing so well right through the Asia Cup. Most of the bowlers were not penetrative enough (barring of course Ojha who was fresh as he was made his international debut during the tournament and had figures of 10-1-38-0 in the final when most of the senior pros had taken a pasting at the hands of Sri Lankan batsmen), the fielding was much below par and sloppy and the batting just crumpled.

The Indians have been playing non-stop cricket since September last with barely 10 days of break between series. And this is not taking into account the huge amount of travelling involved. Three home series and the tour of Australia (together with all the on-ground and off-ground spats) was a tough call for all players. Then came the IPL where each team had a to play a minimum of 14 matches besides jetting around the country with hardly any rest in heat which at best can be described as oppressive.

Immediately after the IPL the teams went to Bangladesh in a tour which defied logic before landing in Pakistan for the Asia Cup. Now, immediately after the team’s return they will go to Sri Lanka after a very brief rest for a two-month tour and then they should return to Pakistan if the Champions Trophy is held as scheduled in September. And this is not all. Then follows two back-to-back home series against two tough teams, Australia and England, with the ICC trying to schedule the Champions Trophy T20 Tournament between the two series. India are then scheduled to go to Pakistan immediately after the England team leaves for home.

Such a schedule is bound to take a very heavy toll on the performance of the players. In fact the team which went to Bangladesh/Pakistan was below strength with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, S.Sreesanth and Zaheer Khan missing from the line-up because of injury they were carrying even before the commencement of the IPL although they did turn out for their respective teams in spite of carrying injuries from the tour of Australia. Also missing from the team was Harbhajan Singh but for him it were reasons other than cricket.

Rotation is probably the only way to keep fatigue and injury at bay. But then it is not sure how it would work with most of players yet to cement their places in the squad. A Sachin Tendulkar or a Zaheer Khan can afford to miss a couple of series and then hope to walk back into the squad without any problems, but the same cannot hold true for players who are struggling to find their feet in international cricket. Just suppose that the replacement of a player does so well that the captain and coach finds it impossible to drop him.Then what happens to the player who has opted to take some rest?

The system has to create an environment where the players don’t feel insecure and the rotation policy should work right across the spectrum with the players asked to take rest even if they have been doing exceeding well. This is particularly true for the bowlers since it is they who have to face the brunt of the work, both in a 50-over game as well as in T20 where the whole game has been devised with an eye on the batsmen. If the bowlers are not rotated properly then a chance of a total breakdown is always lurking around the corner. But before doing that the team coach as also the selectors must tell the players why such a step is being taken so that the players do not suffer from insecurity. Also, the monetary angle has to be worked out since except the contracted players all others are paid on the basis of the number of games played by them.

But even after rotation and rest one question remains unanswered: Why is the BCCI insisting that cricket is played non-stop by the players without any rest? Is it because of the huge earnings from television rights fuelled by the unending demands of the advertisers? In any case most of the players are not complaining since they too are making their moolah both by playing and picking up money from their endorsements. But all this is costing indian cricket very dear since the players are burning out much more quickly.

Most of the current day cricketers are not likely to be around for a decade plus as it was the case of players like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble or Saurav Ganguly to name a few. The international cricketing span of the current players is bound to be much less and the one thing that the BCCI can do, at least to start with, is to introduce a mandatory rest of say 20 days between series if the players are to remain fresh and fit for every battle.

Turning point
Vaibhav Sharma

It has been said time and again that for a spinner the toughest task is to bowl to Indian batsmen. If one goes by that parameter, Ajantha Mendis not only aced his test, but also left the Indians reeling under the embarrassment of failing at their so-called forte. Now one could have laughed at the fact that Sri Lanka decided to rest him for their game against India, before the final, to keep him in store as the ‘surprise package’. But his earlier performance against Pakistan did contain a googly that apparently the Indians had failed to read.

Just eight matches old in ODI cricket, he hails from Moratuwa, a city on the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka, near Dehiwela-Mount Lavinia. Mendis is not a usual off-spin bowler who has a wrong-one to fox the batsman. He bowls some sort of a flicker that is delivered using only two of his fingers. The ball is faster, doesn’t turn much and is pretty difficult to read as Mendis bowls it with a cross-seam.

The term being used to describe the ball is ‘flicker’, yes not a flipper. His coach Trevor Bayliss, when asked about his bowling sensation’s secret, had only this to say: “I could tell you about his variations if I knew what they were.”

He was originally being described as a right arm slow medium bowler, but he actually is a bowler hard to be confined in normal cricketing terminology. He can bowl off-breaks, leg-breaks, googlies and the obvious ‘flicker’. His weapon is not the spin but rather the flat trajectory of the ball and the way it darts and moves slightly, enough to make the batsmen hit in the wrong line, after pitching. What better proof can be there of his ability than the fact that Jayawardene bowled him more than the legendary Muralitharan. He is too inexperienced at the highest level to be hailed as the next big spinner, but he has done enough to be called the new sensation. In case of any doubts please ask the ‘famed’ Indian batsmen.

IN THE NEWS
Little ‘grand’ master
Ivninderpal Singh

Teen Grandmaster Parimarjan Negi has proved his extraordinary chess skills yet again. But this time he was not as lucky as he was on the previous two occasions — at Kaupthing Open and Philadelphia Open. After finishing joint first at the World Open Chess in Philadelphia, Negi, who came to international limelight when he won the Asian Under-10 title at Tehran in 2002, missed the World Open Chess title by a whisker to formidable Russian GM Evgeny Najer in a tie-break.

But this does not take sheen out of his creditable show in the tournament. There was a four-way tie for the top position with Negi, Najer, Slovakian GM Lubomir Ftacnik and GM Alexander Moiseenko of Ukraine, finishing with seven points apiece after the final round.

Of the four, 30-year-old Najer and 15-year-old Negi, two players with the best progressive scores, fought a playoff for the title and the Indian chess prodigy fell at the last hurdle. However, the prize money was split among the quartet.

Earlier in May this year, Negi, the youngest Indian GM, proved his class when he shared the Kaupthing Open title with Romanian Andrei Istratescu in Luxemburg. And about a fortnight ago, Negi, the second youngest Grandmaster in chess history, proved his extraordinary skills yet again by winning the Philadelphia International Open tournament, beating illustrious names including GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly.

Negi, who is also at a critical juncture in his academics being a Class X student and almost on the threshold of achieving ELO 2600 mark, is focusing more on the game than academics.

Let’s see if he can maintain his winning ways at World Juniors, a 13-round competition, to be held next month in Turkey followed by two other tournaments in September as he steps closer to his dream ELO mark

Rallying cry
Nidhi Arora/Deeksha Kadian

The rally starts from Shimla and runs through the hostile terrain of the high altitude desert in Lahaul and Ladakh

Have you ever tried your hand at an exciting, tough and a gruelling journey? If no, fasten your seat belts for the India’s longest, coldest, highest and most arduous motorsport rally, ‘Raid-de-Himalaya’.

The event will be organised by the Himalayan Motorsport Association, newly formed club with membership to the Federation of Motorsport Clubs of India (FMSCI). President of the association Vijay Parmar, vice-president Manjeev Bhalla and Atul Handa, the general-secretary form the core of the organisation and have been associated with this rally since 1999.

The rally starts from Shimla and runs through the hostile terrains of the high altitude desert in Lahaul and Ladakh. The route is difficult and the pressures on the participants are extreme. Interestingly, this allows the enthusiasts to enjoy the real Himalayas and take this taxing journey in their stride.

The Raid-de-Himalayas is the only event that runs in the states of J&K and Himachal Pradesh. Spread over eight days and crossing six high mountain passes approximately over 18,000 feet, it passes through somewhere temperature dips below –40° C. “ It’s all about adventure, exploring the world around and punishing oneself, in totality, a sports to look up to. More importantly, the unexpected lies around the next bend and it need not always be pleasant”, an avid rallyist, Kisshie Singh said.

Having two categories concurrently, as last year, X-treme is for the professionals and Adventure Trial (AT) for amateurs. Though the route for AT has been confirmed through Kinnaur, due to heavy rain, landslides and broken bridges, the route for X-treme has not been decided yet. While X-treme is purely a den of danger, AT is a family affair as it provides the participants with a chance to take their families along and enjoy the thrill with their loved ones.

Motorsport has grown through a very interesting phase. It is evident from the increasing number of participants coming in every year. The entries went up from 19 in 1999 to 120 in 2008. Though the Raid is more about the breathtaking view and the risk involved in enjoying them, there are also obvious facilities like life saving ambulances accompanying the vehicles, paramedics and fast intervention vehicles (FIV) to locate a missing vehicle.

Besides having a regular driving licence, the participants need to obtain the competition driving licence from the FMSCI. The rally is a day-event as the participants halt overnight to refresh at various government rest houses and the Army barracks.

The Raid has introduced certain changes this year like “ Flexi-time Rally” i.e. whenever weather turns unfriendly, the participants halt for 48 hours and if it remains unfavourable, then the event is cancelled.

Finally the rally’s image as a male bastion has been done away with and more and more women are coming ahead to set the pace. With the field thrown open and no holds barred, why are you still reading? Pack your bags and get set for the ‘Raid’.

SPORTS MAIL

Come on Dhoni

This refers to Dhoni lambasting the Asian Cricket Council for the gruelling schedule of back-to-back matches at the Asia Cup simply because his team “ … had spent 36 hours playing cricket out of the 84 hours in Karachi”.

It suggests two things. One, it could be seen as a sheer manifestation of embryo-icing of physically weaker generation in India. Yes there is an apparent over-all decline in the faculties of human beings, be it a mental moral of physical.

Second, it speaks for an extra cricketing interests of players. Otherwise, a motivated and well sport-oriented player would always crave for more and more time on field.

Let me remind Mr Dhoni, that it’s his adventurism in the field that has opened up an era of bounty for him. May be, by now his commercial interests have taken precedence over his cricketing ones.

Dr Ravi K Mahajan, Panjab University Chandigarh