The Crimson Tide !!!! రుధిరకెరటం: March 2007

10 Reasons for Team India’s Declination

by Srikrishna Chintalapati

At this hour of deprivation, most of us undoubtedly are not interested in any sort of painstaking introspection. As a sincere lover of the game, I have decided to take some time to think through what went wrong and how can we renovate this? This article gives you an acute overview of ‘what went wrong’ from a 360 degrees perspective. Here are the 10 major reasons why team India had bumbled in the world cup.

1) First and foremost - Captain: Because, leadership often commands more than being NICE!

As I have been calling and cribbing for a long time, the fundamental problem with Team India is this fundamentally inefficient captain. I am one among millions in the world who unanimously agrees that Rahul is "A nice guy (who couldn't finish first), I stand corrected he can never ever finish first.

My dear friend, leading a side does commands more than being NICE, I am Irrefutably confident to throw out a statement- "Good 'people/resource' managers in this world are NEVER nice guys, not at least in CRICKET". Let me recall this sentence from my earlier blogs .. “He was unclear, unstable, uncomfortable and unsecured by virtue of which we were outplayed".

2) Coach: Hard nosed Control Freak!
I am not one among the plenty to irrationally blame the captain and coach after each defeat. But this time, I do. I do it with logic; I am doing it for a right reason. Remember, the photo appeared in all news papers after the first test victory in South Africa. A semi circled posture of Rahul and Greg with their arms crossed and thumbs-up. When one can nemine contradicente to assume the recognition for positive things, negative things are damn no different my dear!

Two years, several millions of money, everyday media appearance, dreadful controversies to raised middle fingers, assaulted journalists to assailable open slaps, leaked e-mails to flaming SMSes, experimentation to blame games, Irfan at no-3 to Dhoni at no-7, nothing, simply NOTHING had worked. Why do we need him here? What else is left to destroy? Reasons are clear, if we still have someone supporting Greg to renew his contact, it just that they are afraid of yet another leaked e-mail.

3) A period of darkness and ignorance: “A Time when everyone flaunted No fear-No failure that’s Team India”

Starting Sri Lankan visit to India mid of 2006, followed by England visit- a period of unimaginable foolishness started in Indian Cricket. Chief architect of this period was Mr. Kiran More with his venomous tactics and lousy tantrums.

Team India had a new captain, babbling and blenching youth crusade, a couple of series wins over effete opponents in the home baked pitches and we have a millions of Indian cricket fans going CRAZY about "No fear, No failure & that’s Team India. Everyday in news we have one or the other cricket pundit thankfully esteeming Team India, its new captain and it's new found treasure chest. Be it a team meeting, a press conference, a one-to-one interview, a news paper article, it never ends without the mention of World Cup. I still remember, even Sehwag with his hard earned (learned) wicked English, mentioning "v r no looockin two win d world cup, Sourav Ganguly is 4gotten istory".

That’s exactly when everything had gone wrong. We are so self obsessed with ourselves that we forgot to improve upon our weaknesses

4) Personal agendas: Just like everyone had a role to play, every one had a goal to reach

Each one in Team India has a personal agenda of his own. Rahul wants to complete 10,000 runs, win overseas and at least get a couple of one day wins more than his predecessor such that his winning percentage looks good and he could be most successful captain. Greg has two fundamental objectives 1) To keep Sourav out of the team 2) Not to forget the 1st objective. Kiran more wants to make money through business nexus, Sharad Pawar wants to gallop Dalmiya. Sehwag wants to work on his in English, Srisanth wants to compose music, Yuvi wants Page-3 coverage, Zaheer wants flying kisses, Dhoni wants more hair and more ads. And so on.

5) Differences: Two power centers within the team

Clearly, there were two power centers in the team. One does what Greg asks them to do and the other does exactly some thing that asked not to do. Sourav who meant for his personal favoritism is never going to stay calm once he finds his way back into the team. Incidentally, he needs no establishment as he has his own crew of boys. And as I stated earlier, (here), differences did perilously fire right back at the right time.

Don't you think there is something else behind loosing 15 and odd ODI finals in the last 3, 4 years apart from collective failures on the respective day??

6) Planning: Too much is too bad

We started preparing the team for World cup 24 months ago, and by the time it kicks of none of the team probables could make it. Those who managed to crawl are down with injuries. Round the clock cricket & rudimentary domestic circuit. Slow pitches, weak opponents and back to back series crowns. Too much of money, too many strategies, too many expectations, too loud applauds and hence too embarrassing desolation.

7) Media: And it’s ‘guns and roses’

Undoubtedly, media has it’s lion's share in this downfall for portraying the players as 'Achilles and Legends' with domestic wins & as 'Clods and Chokers' after the oversea defeats. The comparisons and equations have been as volatile as our stock markets, as irrational as Bangalore climate as uncanny as saas bahu series'. Media had illogically manipulated the expectations in public with lead to insurmountable pressure, & a complete collapse.

8) Lack of commitment: Grab the right one!!

If ever- any player, any official, any level-headed master of the game in Team India would have taken a good look at our itinerary before the world cup, he would have known that ours is the most competitive group with three test playing nations. One would have easily guessed that any slippage in the first game - a virtual end-of-road.
None of the players seemed to have zeal to start with, we beat Bangadesh in most of the encounters we had, and we beat Sri Lanka 8 out 10 occasions in the last 18 months. Yet, winning in right matches at right times is all what matters.

9) Strong and vindictive opponents: It’s your day make it large!!

As stated in my last column, we have two our old true friends coaching our opponents in the group. Who were comprehensively outweighed by Guru Greg earlier? Apart from that, of late we started beating Sri Lanka as easily as drive through Mumbai- Pune express way, it's celestially clear that given a chance and gifted a day Lanka want to gobble out the whole Team India.

10) Corporates: Hoo .. Haa India !! & Ab har ghar mein Sachin

Last but not the least, a little uncricketing reason, yet has got a lot to do with this wrecking. Take a good look at amount of money spinning around any "Brand X (Team India Player)", the traction that it creates, the visibility it brings. They are simply too many, since we don’t have such a multifaceted laddies yet in Team India, all this boils down to a thorough devastation if not anything else.

:::::::::::::::by Srikrishna Chintalapati

Tale of Three Veterans!!!

By Srikrishna Chintalapati

Some and 20 and something months ago, three veterans of the game, determinedly, ambitiously fought ‘tooth-to-nail’ to get selected for a profession that is - most respected, most challenging, most celebrated and highly lucrative, called “Coaching the Team India” (along with couple of other insignificant competitors), namely- ‘Dave Watmore’, ‘Tom Moody’ and ‘Guru' 'Greg Chappell’. We had a Whiz-kid council to evaluate them, which consists of handful of ‘Indian cricket well-wishers’ who often makes appearances in major commercial sports channels and throws out irrational cerebrations. The council seemingly had a tough job of outweighing one contestant with the other and zeroing on one, who in turn, expected to strategize and drive the Team India to unreasonable heights, for time being, WORLD CUP-2007 .

Firstly, the wise men assembled in a luxurious and expensive Five Star Suit. Systemized a hypothesis and formalized a process of evaluating the contestants, then, called the contestants for an initial ‘face-to-face’ session, followed by a presentation to explain their vision and strategy for ‘Development of Team India’. Media, as always- collected, collated and communicated each moment of this exercise and kept everyone updated from time-to-time.

A set of cricket enthusiasts, Journos, and analysts, opened their laptops and calculators and all major cricket statistics websites. Meticulous forecasting reports and SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis reports, followed by synthesizing & analyzing the pros & cons, assumptions & presumptions, rants & raves, hues & hooplas had come out with simply too many speculations challenging the basic conventions of permutations and combinations, which I was taught earlier in school.

Most of them failed but couple of them clicked. The council of whiz-kids had selected Greg Chappell as a new coach to Team India. And here comes the reasons -- Moody lacks PASSION, Watmore lacks PASSION and for Chappell, coaching weighs somewhere above the profession- ‘it is his PASSION’.

Well, as usual, cribbing kicks off- few said Chappell is expensive and speaks only money, few said- Sourav had his mark again, and rest murmured he is arrogant and manipulative. However, the Whiz-kid council and BCCI were in no mood to take a step back as they were sure that they made this choice IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE GAME. Adding to that, they were enamored by some assuasive, technical and angelical terminology such as 'EXPERIMENTATION, SCHEME OF THINGS, GROOMING YOUNGSTERS, FITNESS REGIME, SOLDIER CAMPS, YOGA, MEDITATION, COMMITTMENT TO EXCELLENCE etc ...

As the new coach takes over and so many nasty episodes follow and Sourav ecstasies into darkness for whatsoever inexplicable reasons. And Indian cricket started seeing flowage of lots and lots of PROMISING TALENTED YOUNGSTERS such as Venugopala Rao, JP Yadav, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, RP Singh, VRV Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Wasim Zaffer, Hemang Badani, Jogindar Sharma, Peeyush Chawla(none of them made to the World Cup) ... At this juncture, rather amidst this turnaround, Team India had seen some dramatic changes, as IRFAN turned All-Rounder, Dhoni and Yuvi turned game finishers, Ravi Shastry turned as a third party endorsement in every day media, Sunny Gavaskar turns Strategic Advisor, and RAHUL emerged as a proud owner and savior of this treasure, A CAPTAIN, A LEADER, A GENIUS.

And, above all... The entire CRICKET WORLD in INDIA then started revolving around "THE WORLD CUP".

On Friday, 23rd March, 2007- A sunny, warm evening in Caribbean Islands, all these strategies, vision, planning and propaganda headed to a heavy-hearted abeyance as TEAM INDIA now comprehensively defeated by two unrestrained, energetic teams trained by "Dave Watmore" and "Tom Moody"- our old friends, the same disdained contestants we underweighted against Guru GREG.

Now, let’s take a holistic view- whom should we blame? The whiz-kids who selected him? The crowd that cheered him? The players & officials who supported him? The captain, who worshipped him? The board, that trusted him? The media, which heralded him? The Journalists, who endorsed him? The country, that paid him? The bureaucrats who would help him to renew the contract again??? ………………. Think …Think ……and Think again ….

I leave this question to you!!!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Srikrishna Chintalapati

World Cup-2007, a prognosis analysis

Srikrishna Chintalapati

Less than 10 days to go and the players and officials of contestant nations have pulled up their socks, geared themselves up for yet another exhilarating experience in the Caribbean Islands, as the world getting entrapped and entangled into this Olympian cricket excitement, here is a thoughtful forecast of how things could perhaps, shape-up in the forthcoming tournament.

While, assessing the result in a cricket match is as impractical as foretelling the future, I believe, that one can explicit the prevalences and instances to arrive at what could potentially be the final result. Considering all the test playing nations- my expected teams to reach out to the Semi Final are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies. It could be any man's game thereon. Bisecting all rants and raves take a quick look at the insightful analysis of each of these teams...
Australia: DOWN but not OUT

All said and done... there has been too much of speculation. Whether they make it or they can’t? Brett lee's absence gonna stuck them? Will Symonds come back? Can Clark perform again? Will McGrath shine again? Some body say's yes, while many of us respond ‘probably not’. What I feel is, inevitably, YES...

I am sure Australian batting attack armored by Ricky, Gilly, Hayden and Hussey is going to be as insurmountable as ever and the bowling department lead by McGrath, Stuart Clark, might catch a couple of slaps initially, but going to turnaround at a right time and at right moment. Fielding is going to as immaculate as ever and no doubt in spite of not having few big-wigs, this is the team that we all should watch out for.

Australia could certainly be one of the final contenders of this world cup, but getting it there again highly depends on how Ricky, Mathew Hayden and rest all bowlers do on D day.
New Zealand: Vibrant, Confident and raring to Go!

Here is a team that never in the history of cricket had a Sachin Tendulkar, a Sourav Ganguly or any other equi-hyped celebrity and neither an expensive and EXPERIMENTAL coach nor a lucrative and alluring yearly contract system. On any given day, those 11 best fit players, who represent this country, perhaps all they know is to play with the team spirit, live up to their best on field, give their last ounce of energy to bring home the victory.

Black caps are well equipped with batting resources handy all-rounders and a knowingly dreadful bowling attack. Stephen Fleming with the bat and Shane Bond with the ball plays a major role if the team need to cruise through the finals. The team's major strength is again going to be their evidently impeccable lower middle order.

Had I wrote this article a month ago, I would never have picked this team to reach the semis. Owing to their current form, I wouldn't be surprised if this team runs away with the trophy.
South Africa: Thwarted by "THE REAL THING"

A bunch of fearsome fighters but cheeky chokers would get yet another opportunity to earn more sympathy than they ever did in all previous world cup tournaments. Again ‘Proteas’ will play an implacable game right through the tournament until they collapse due to a factor that is out of their locus of control (THE REAL THING) on the judgment day.

Mark Boucher, Ashwell prince, AB Devillers and Justin kemp might hold the credits for bating departments, while Pollack would again going to be the kingpin of Proteas with the ball. While rest of the teams busy making strategies to negotiate Ntini and his swingers, it would be interesting to see if Gream Smith survives those good length over pitch deliveries being shot at him or still prefer to make more noise with his fizzy comments. Kallis and Gibbs would bring forth a lot of experience and variety to the batting but at many of the vitals times they prove themselves to be liabilities to the team than of any value.
West Indies: "Unpredictable Underdogs"

I might sound weird, but am sure this is going to be the team that one would like to bet as much price as they do with any other best team.

Lara & co heroics & demonstrated virtual obliteration of Team India, which was, at that time, flying 2 miles above cloud-9 with all their cricket kits full of jubilance resulted out of the eradication of a couple of debased teams, is still not blanked out. The way a set of promising youngsters navigated their team to the finals of ICC Champions Trophy is still hulking at the backburner, the team west Indies is getting ready for yet another encounter at their home at conditions which are more familiar to self than any one else.

Although, the recent match-fixing hullabaloo did create a couple of hiccoughs, it is expected to create no harm to Windies cricket and show no derogatory effect on the overall moral of the team as 1) BCCI won’t probe too much into it, as there is a potential hazard of losing support from Windies board which is essential for them to grab the power at ICC 2) Marlon Samuels is any way a proven heavy duty liability for team west-Indies at time when team needs him to perform.

Their chances of winning are extremely dependant on how Sarwan, Chanderpaul, Lara and Bravo reacts to the challenges thrown at them, how many times will Gayle gets the blessings of almighty on a particular day and how many times does Runako Morton, Samuels and Ramdin justifies their daily share of bread and breakfast. However, it's quite inspiring to watch promising fast bowlers like Jerome Taylor, Powell and Bradshaw, trying hard to re-instate the West Indies glory of generating horrific pace battery overtime.
Sri Lanka: "Leading the way to LET-GO"

This side has everything, except the zeal to win. One thing that separates this team from 1996 Sri Lankan team has been their instincts and their fighting spirits. Ranatunga lead (by example) Sri Lankan team had put down extreme spirit of fighting and sweat down enormous energy levels to clinch the title. While Jayawardene lead Lankan side reeks of killer instincts and seemingly not interested in winning as it was made clear from the recent matches.

Sangakkara, Jayasurya, Jayawardene, need to, and ONLY need to do a lot, if they want their team to win. Handy and enthusiastic alrounders Dilshan and Arnold are sure going to do their bit as they did always, which is again not enough to get them there. It's due to watch how players negotiate Murali and Vaas, however for sure that Fernando, Maharoof, Bandara and others going receive a 'rub-a-dub' drum beat.
India: Thank you, Greg! Thank you, Rahul!

While, the team is unduly divided by groupism, favoritism and selfish motives, the differences going to perilously fire right back at the right time.

Let me write down the perceptible reaction of a media bewitched common cricket lover of India, post world cup. ..

Pakistan: Scandals, Beatings and a Bit of Cricket!

If ever, there requires a live example of digging their own grave, one should look at what has happened with Pakistan cricket for the past 3, 4 months and what's going to happen for next couple of months with in Caribbean islands.

Inzy had faded out, Yousaf has been charted out, Younis can not win matches and Kamran can not take catches. One smacks the coach and other wants to bang the spectator. The bowling department had an embezzlement to sustain and fielding had a serious embroilment to refrain. Certainly, this is not the team of Bob Woolmer standards, can't represent a nation that hosts the likes of legend Imran Khan, Wasim Akram either.

They have to do a lot to survive in the tournament, although, if the big guns fire and young folks supports it's not that difficult as it appears either.

England: For a Change! Call it Bad Fate!

A bunch of proven, branded and esthetically embossed underdogs of the tournament. While, no one including English team captain expects them to win the trophy, it's more than uncertain that whether one get to watch them win few games.

The side has few talented players to count on. Collingwood is being one among them, extremely energetic and vibrant young cricketer, unfortunately, made a very wrong choice to host his career here. Flintoff had banged the team standards to extreme abysms, being ably supported by Strauss, overly hyped Kevin Pieterson, Cook and rest...Vaughn had little or nothing to influence or do; bowling department had a series of serious fumbles and nothing great to say in fielding apart from Collingwood again.

It's interesting to see what England does post world cup. It's evident that if they can’t recuperate and re-instate the redolence of cricket in the nation, chances are that they never get there again. They need a severe turnaround and at a very short time. Finding the replacements for players like Tresocothik, Darren Gough is not easy, On the contrary, while you have dozens of county teams playing round the clock cricket, it's doesn’t seems to be that difficult.
Bangladesh: Make more out what you receive!

I am sure they want to and going to give a strong fight before loosing out in the tournament, one should watch out for a couple of match winning performances from the players like Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique and Mashrafe Mortaza.

I am not surprised, even if they start their worldcup campaign with a win against their enamoring neighbor.
Zimbabwe: Comprehensive Chaos!

Little said is better said about this side, as they themselves need to figure out where collectively the cricket in the country is heading, and how to come-up with an executable strategy to keep the game alive in the country and the team itself, in the beholds of world cricket watch dogs.

“This is Sachn's 5th world-cup; if time permits we could see him bat in the next world cup also. He stood next to making another history, but, pzzz, not really there. Dhoni should have been given much heavier bat, I think Dravid getting too much into his own shell. It's too early to expect Greg Chappell to produce results, we should give him another 4 years and allow him to do more experiments, show all his rest 9 fingers to crowd, command hefty remunerations, get the media coverage everyday and finally get off from everything saying " I can't be true in India" .. I think the serious problem is with Sourav Ganguly, Viru Sehwag, Yuvi and Bhajji, they didn't do well, they come late to field, they faked injuries. they had Devil-May-Care attitude and we have lost. ...”

Rahul Dravid going to come up with a couple of positive take aways as always and Greg Chappell throws out of a couple of statements, sulking over either experience or youth which is purely solicited and subjected to the situation that particular day. And rest. left to Ravi Shastry and Sunny Gavaskar to fill-in the blanks... The Indian cricket wiz kids...

Nevertheless, Mandira bedi's cleavage & Siddhu paji's rampage are all set to create yet another mockery.