India needs a healthy dose of belief

December 12, 2012

team

Nagpur, December 12: India needs a healthy dose of beliefThe officials from the Vidarbha Cricket Association (VCA) make you feel at home. Cricket is priority at Jamtha, on the outskirts of this growing city. Stray cows outside the airport might rekindle memories from the past but the stadium is a reminder that life has moved on.

 

Modernisation appears pronounced as you drive to this excellent cricket venue which promises to set up a fierce contest from Thursday. India must win to square the series.

 

The curator, former Vidarbha all-rounder Praveen Hingnikar, has been gagged by the Board. No, he would reveal nothing. He would officially speak on the fifth day. So, we assume it would last that long. So much for modernisation of cricket in India!

 

At many grounds overseas, the curator provides all technical details connected with the pitch preparation, from clay content and bounce to its likely behaviour.

 

Here, however, things are always different. Basic information is sacrosanct; just can’t be divulged, even if it is basic. If only the team realised the importance of culling the basics and making the most of it.

 

Normally a good pitch

 

The pitch here is normally a good one. There is bounce and that ensures good cricket. England off-spinner Graeme Swann, with those sensational dismissals of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar in the last Test, was so realistic when asked about the pitch.

 

“It doesn’t matter what you believe. The pitch is going to be the pitch whatever happens on Thursday morning. I am sure the management and coach will look at it and they will assess it. We play on it whatever comes on,” was his measured response.

 

But the playing surface remains a point of interest for both camps. The surface is dry but reflects cracks beneath. The bounce should give the bowlers an advantage even though it is just the pitch that would thrill stroke-players like Virat Kohli, Sehwag and Tendulkar, who like the ball to come on to the bat.

 

Tendulkar made a quick dash to the middle, practiced his routine shadow play on the pitch, and must have drawn his battle plans. Mahendra Singh Dhoni later took a tour of the pitch along with Hingnikar.

 

Ishant’s practises hard

 

Ishant Sharma spent time with the bowling coach, working on his in-swinger and length ball. The fast bowlers has strayed wildly, and landed short, and was punished for his errors. It is time Ishant delivered, especially after winning the faith of the selectors.

 

Swann spoke of dominating the first session. “Whatever the pitch is, we have to try and win the game. So come Thursday morning it will be about winning the first session, something which we have managed to do in the last two Test matches and it is why we have gone on to win the match.

 

“We have really tried to embrace India and embrace the series. We believe we can win it and I am not sure that has always been the case. It may have been.

 

“I have only been on one Test tour before but there certainly seems to be more belief in this group right from the outset.”

 

The England off-spinner put things in perspective. “What I said at the start of the tour is that if you expect just the spinners to win the game for you, you are doomed. And I stand by it completely because it is a team effort.

Monumental performances

 

“Without the monumental performances of (Alastair) Cook, (Kevin) Pietersen and (Jonathan) Trott (in the last game) we would not have been 2-1 up.” The emphasis clearly is on a collective assault.

 

There was nothing wrong in the home captain demanding a pitch of his choice, according to Swann. “It is not strange for a home team to ask for a wicket to suit their team. We do that in England because we want it to suit our bowlers.

 

“Kolkata was a very good Test pitch and did very little for the spinners or the pacers on the first two days and gradually broke as the game went on. It was turning quite nicely by the end. Kolkata produced an exceptional Test pitch.”

 

India also believes it can win but has not been able to identify the flaws and plug them in time.

 

Belief is what the Indians have lacked immensely, losing the contest in the dressing room itself. The stint that Ishant had on Tuesday was an indication of the desperation that the team is experiencing.

 

Virat concentrated on leaving the deliveries more than play them straight at nets.

 

Inspiring tale

 

The one-armed Gurudas Raut, a 25-year-old seamer, at the India nets attracted the attention of many. Handicapped at birth, he has chased his dream to play cricket. He impressed Kohli, Dhoni and Sehwag when he bowled to them during the World Cup nets here.

 

“I bowled Dhoni with an inswing,” Raut remembered with pride. His spirit is an epic tale of inspiration. The Indian team would do well to borrow some of it for their fight at Jamtha.


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News Network
May 3,2020

New Delhi, May 3: In a startling revelation, India speedster Mohammed Shami has claimed that he thought of committing suicide thrice while battling personal issues a few years ago, forcing his family to keep a watch over him at all times.

He said his family members feared he "might jump" from their 24th floor apartment.

Shami, one of India's leading bowlers in recent years, opened up on his personal and professional life during an Instagram chat with teammate and limited overs squads' vice-captain Rohit Sharma.

"I think if my family had not supported me back then I would have lost my cricket. I thought of committing suicide three times during that period due to severe stress and personal problems," Shami revealed during the session on Saturday.

Now one of the mainstays of Indian bowling attack across formats, the 29-year-old was struggling to focus on his cricket, then.

"I was not thinking about cricket at all. We were living on the 24th floor. They (family) were scared I might jump from the balcony. My brother supported me a lot.

"My 2-3 friends used to stay with me for 24 hours. My parents asked me to focus on cricket to recover from that phase and not think about anything else. I started training then and sweated it out a lot at an academy in Dehradun," Shami said.

In March 2018, Shami's wife Hasin Jahan had accused him of domestic violence and lodged a complaint with the police, following which the India player and his brother were booked under relevant sections.

The upheaval in his personal life forced his employer BCCI to withheld the player's central contracts for a while.

"Rehab was stressful as the same exercises are repeated every day. Then family problems started and I also suffered an accident. The accident happened 10-12 days ahead of the IPL and my personal problems were running high in the media," Shami told Rohit.

Shami said his family stood like a rock with him and the support helped him get back on his feet.

"Then my family explained that every problem has a solution no matter how big the problem. My brother supported me a lot."

Speaking about another painful period in his life after his injury in the 2015 World Cup, Shami said it took him almost 18 months to get back on the field.

"When I got injured in the 2015 World Cup, after that it took me 18 months to fully recover, that was the most painful moment in my life, it was a very stressful period.

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March 7,2020

Melbourne, Mar 7: He will be supporting Australia for sure but former pacer Brett Lee feels an Indian victory in Sunday's T20 Word Cup final could be a "start of a major breakthrough" for the women's game in the cricket-mad country.

India and Australia will lock horns in what is expected to be a blockbuster title clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"As an Australian, I'd love nothing more than for (Meg) Lanning's team to do the job. But if India were to win the World Cup for the first time, victory would do so much for women's cricket in a country that already adores the sport," Lee wrote in an ICC column.

"This could be the start of a major breakthrough, particularly with the amount of talent that is coming through."

The former speedster said Australia will have to look for ways to counter the in-form 16-year-old Shafali Verma.

"In Shafali Verma, India boast one of the most talented players in the world and you feel that for Australia to win the game, dismissing her will likely be their first job.

"I've been so impressed with the opener - it's staggering to believe she's only 16 with the confidence she has in her own ability and the way she strikes the ball so cleanly.

"She's such good fun to watch and I'm not sure the women's game has seen anyone like her for such a long time."

Shafali has been the star of the tournament, having amassed 161 runs at a strike rate of 161, consistently providing India solid starts, and that was not lost on Lee.

"To be the world's best T20 batter already shows just how far she has progressed in such a short space of time and the experience in this tournament will hold her in good stead for years to come.

"Even with the way she's played in Australia and her fearless brand of cricket, you still get the feeling she has more to come as well."

He reckoned Shafali may have another big score awaiting her.

"She's got a big score in her locker and there's probably no better place to do that than the MCG. Shafali is already a record breaker but if she can steer her side to their first Women's T20 World Cup title at just 16, then the sky really is the limit for her career."

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News Network
January 13,2020

Mumbai, Jan 13: India captain Virat Kohli indicated at dropping himself down the batting order to accommodate both Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul in the playing XI against Australia in the first ODI of the three-match series starting Tuesday.

With vice-captain Rohit Sharma an automatic pick, the team management is left with tough choice of selecting either Dhawan or Rahul in the XI. But the skipper sees no reason why both can't play together.

"Look, a guy in form is always good for the team. ...You obviously want to have the best players available and then chose from what the combination should be for the team. There might be a possibility that all three (Rohit, Shikhar and Rahul) might play. It will be interesting to see what balance we want to take in on the field," Kohli said on the eve of the match.

Asked if he would he be happy to bat lower down the order, Virat said,"Yeah, big possibility. I would be very happy to do so. Look I am not possessive about where I play. I am not insecure about where I bat," said the skipper.

For Kohli, it is more important as to what kind of leadership legacy he leaves behind rather than chase personal glory.

"Being the captain of the team, it is my job to make sure that the next lot is also ready. A lot of the other people might not look at it that way, but your job as a captain is not only to look after the team right now, but also to prepare a team that you leave behind when you eventually pass it onto someone else," he added.

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