The Reason Why Indian Team Skipped The ICC Award Ceremony

A misplaced punctuation mark and a small typo has created an international diplomatic controversy of the magnitude not seen since the time of World War II. As reported by multitude of Indian news channels with enthusiastic energy surpassing the limits of human, the Indian cricket team has snubbed the ICC by turning a No-Show in the ICC Awards ceremony. A delayed invitation was reportedly the reason behind this. But as the ICC has come up with irrefutable evidence of having sent the invite well in advance, the Indian management is now revealing the real reason behind this act.

Shocking Revelations - Munaf Is A Rock!!!

A group of extremely nerdy Indian Cricket fans, incensed by India’s latest surrender to the English in the meekest of manners, carried out a very extensive fact finding mission to determine the reason behind their beloved team’s continued misfortune. They were particularly disturbed by the mindblowingly nonchalant bowling, batting and fielding display of Munaf Patel, who according to leading psychologists of the world, needs immediate anger management lessons along with urgent help in such advanced cricketing techniques as holding a bat, throwing a ball and standing behind the stumps after having bowled a delivery. Well, the nerds managed to sneak into the dressing room after the match and got hold of some of Munaf’s saliva sample from the face of an unconscious Parthiv Patel who was severely bitten and lacerated by Munaf for having misfielded on one of his deliveries. While the nerds were collecting the sample, Parthiv mumbled in agony that he had never run faster in his life and that for all the dhoklas in the world couldn’t have dived harder to stop the boundary. Parthiv also moaned that Munaf could be a werewolf which the self styled sleuths immediately rejected as Parthiv’s injury induced delirium. One of them observed that if Munaf had even one strand of werewolf DNA in him, he would be faster than Arjuna Ranatunga. As the nerds made a clandestine exit from the dressing room, Parthiv requested them to tell his story in case he did not survive.

You Must Be Joking, Mr Hussain

Dear Mr. Hussain. As a representative of my species I must register my deep disappointment with the absolutely unfair comparison you have made between the Indian Cricket team and us, the donkeys. I have been further anguished by your continued defiance in the face of strong criticism that you have received from the public of India where me and other members of my species are held in no less esteem than the rulers of the country. You must understand that when you compared the Indian team with us, you also compared them with the politicians of the country. I will leave it to you to decide who should be more aggrieved, the cricketers or the politicos.

Parthiv Patel–The Little Big Short Ball Expert

What a summer it has been for the Indian Cricket team in England. A summer of misery, misfortune and ignominy. Not only has the fall from the top of ICC Test ranking humbled the mighty Indians, it has also left them battered and bruised both physically and mentally. There have been pulled hamstrings, twisted ankles, broken fingers and  bumped skulls. Those will be healed in time, mended back as the Lord made them. But the dents in the mind will be for there to stay. Suresh Raina will have nightmares about the booming bouncers, Sehwag will wonder why his bat kept on fishing outside the off stump, Yuvraj will not know if his any good at the five day stuff and Harbhajan Singh will search in vain for answers to his lost fang. As the tour has progressed the casualty list has grown longer but not longer than the faces of millions of Indian fans. As if the whitewash in the Tests had not been a wound deep enough, England managed to push the dagger further still with a thrilling win in the lone T20. Perhaps given this disaster raised to the power ten performance of the Indian team one cannot blame Sanjay Manjarekar for sounding out the defeatist statement that it is not fair for the Indian team to win the ODIs. In the back drop of this dark and sombre past when Parthiv Patel roars down the pitch to pull a towering Tim Bresnan out of ground imagine how many beats do the heart of the Indian fan skip. More than one for sure.

If size mattered in Cricket, Parthiv Patel would be playing a different game. Thankfully, it is the vertically challenged that have set Cricket grounds on fire. When Parthiv first came into the Indian Test team at the tender age of 17, commentators and viewers alike had him confused for a lost schoolboy. Navjot Singh Sidhu cut many jokes at the expense of the little man to great applause. He did not disappoint anyone but neither did he make himself proud. In spite of the trust of the captain he could not quite make a case for himself. Then Dhoni appeared on the scene and the wicketkeeper position of the team was permanently occupied. Since then chances have come in trickles and Parthiv has been ordinary at best. But this is not an article to discuss the Parthiv the wicketkeeper who failed to keep his place, this is a tribute to Parthiv the batsman who sneaked into the team and took everyone’s breath away, Patel style.

Do Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina look alike? Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson certainly thought so, hence the short stuff came thick and fast…and went higher and faster. Anybody watching the Durham rubber when Parthiv was playing might as well have thought Brian Lara has decided to don the Indian colours. For a moment millions back in India wondered whether it was the same English attack that had India running short of tourniquet supply only a week and a half ago! It certainly was the same as Rohit Sharma found to his pain and agony. But before that, when Parthiv occupied the crease, it was as ordinary an attack as any. For once the English bowlers were not sure of their line and length and the ability to bowl 90 mph did not look like such a good thing. In a clear hangover from the Test matches they stuck to the idea of banging it short only to see the tiny Indian swivel like a helicopter rotor on his heels putting snorter after snorter away to the boundary. For all those who had their spirits low because of the absence of Gambhir and Tendulkar, these strokes must have come as unexpected bonus. And as if the disdain with power was not enough, the stylish manoeuvres towards third man showed that Parthiv Patel was not all brawn. When this mincing of the bowlers was going on one felt oddly surprised at the repeated mention of the big nought in the 100s columns in Patel’s record book, in all forms of one day cricket. How could someone who can pummel these first rate English pacers with such consummate ease not have scored a century against the weak Indian provincial bowlers on the batting paradise of Indian pitches is indeed a case to ponder on. Equally peeving was the commentators mistrust on Patel’s ability to clear the boundary. The first complaint could have been taken care of but for a mere five runs. The second one though did not go abegging.

Come Rose Bowl, Southampton and Patel Scope was extended to sixes. Tim Bresnan came steaming in, downed a short, saw Patel come steaming at him back and heave; ball crosses the boundary, all aerial. Tim Bresnan walked back, an unhappy big man. But it would go on to happen to him once more in the same over, four balls later. This time the ball does not rise as much, so Patel gets under it, pulls it up like a master, bisecting deep square leg and deep mid wicket. Brian Lara couldn’t have done it any better. Commentators, the pocket rocket can launch cricket balls out of big grounds, mind it.

It is sweet Karmic justice that Parthiv Patel is finding his touch in the same place where he first entered international arena, England. Getting selected at 17 and dropped at 19, Parthiv was always a story unfinished. He is still 26 and has just got wings under his arms. May this be the second beginning of a dream that had turned comatose.

Flickr Tags: Parthiv Patel

To Hawk Or Not To Hawk…

While the Australians were busy in the business of humbling the Sri Lankans at Galle, there was a bunch of wise men sitting not very far away from the stadium discussing the effectiveness of the wonderful modern technology called HawkEye. Nothing wrong with that except the very fact that the seminar was necessitated fairly puts in question all the vociferous arguments in favour of invasive implementation of the technology in cricket. The report submitted by the wise men, top umpires of the game, did not make a good case for the technology in question either. Going by whatever is available in public domain about the findings of the report, it can be construed that the umpires are not great fans of HawkEye themselves. If the judge’s confidence on the evidence is not without a shred of doubt, the case is usually dismissed in a court of law. Cricket, funny game that it is, has other ways.

Before passing a judgement on the veracity of HawkEye, it would be wise to understand the beast. HawkEye was initially researched at the Roke Manor Research Ltd. funded by The Television Corporation. After its implementation during the 2001 Ashes series by Channel 4, an eponymous company was spun off to market the technology. Since then, the technology has found acceptance in decision making processes of Tennis and Cricket. The way this technology works is not much unlike the GPS system. Only, instead of the satellites we have TV cameras placed at strategic locations around the stadium to track the movement of the ball. The idea being, based on the behaviour of the ball before impact as captured by the cameras from different vantage points, its flight path can be reconstructed from the point of impact till the natural end of the projectile. There are many sources and documents available on the internet that say that at a minimum there must be six such cameras capturing action at 230 FPS or more for HawkEye to successfully predict the trajectory of the ball. As anyone who has studied graphs in a mathematics course would tell, a curve is best drawn when there are maximum plotting co-ordinates available. The six cameras referenced here are the source of those plot points. The FPS rate decides how many assisting co-ordinates are available for the software to predict the trajectory of the ball once its natural motion has come to an end.

Technorati Tags: Hawk Eye,Hot Spot,UDRS

Now the reason why the world is divided over the usage of this technology in the UDRS is because of the cameras used in the live telecast of the matches. Under ideal conditions, the Hawk Eye should not be dependent on the live feed provided by the telecasters at all. There should be special standardized HawkEye cameras located as per guidance provided by the technology provider that capture the action independently and ensure that no matter where the game is played and which broadcaster is involved, Hawk Eye works on its own. Sadly, the extreme competition in cricket broadcasting business mandates that the only cameras used for a given match are the ones that the broadcaster uses. Different broadcasters use different cameras. So, HawkEye has to deal with varying standards of inputs provided to it  to make the all important decisions involving LBWs. The issue here is, different broadcasters use cameras of different standards. The difference in quality is obvious when you find certain channels offering High Definition as well as normal quality telecast while others do not. The difference in quality of cameras used means the FPS specifications are different thereby severely affecting the quality of decision made by Hawk Eye. This perhaps also explains the reason why BCCI has placed itself firmly against the inclusion of this system. Please remember that all matches in India are broadcast by Nimbus whose broadcast quality certainly leaves a lot to be desired. What with long term broadcast contracts running into millions of dollars, who is to say that this business aspect of the game does not play a role in certain cricket boards’ aversion to the technology.

Then again, there are the many cases of erroneous predictions outputted by Hawk Eye even when working with best broadcast conditions. The most recent one was in the first test match between Australia and Sri Lanka where an LBW appeal against opener Philips Hughes was referred to the UDRS. Naked eyes all around vouched for the turn that came after the ball had pitched but not Hawk Eye. Since Ten Sports, the broadcasters here, are not so far behind when it comes to quality of broadcast, this prediction raises further questions on the veracity of the extrapolations that Hawk Eye makes.

Even as this post goes live, there has been another fiasco of sorts in the ODI between England and India. This time though the technology in question was Hot Spot and implemented on one of its more frequent customers, Rahul Dravid. The ever so enthusiastic Stuart Broad appealed for a caught behind to umpire Doctrove who decided against it before being challenged with the UDRS. Hot Spot replays showed naught for a nick as was the slow motion trajectory of the ball, which was sans any deviation as ball crossed the bat. The only dissenting evidence was in audio. The third umpire, without the assistance of the snickometer which has been kept out of the UDRS for it takes a long time to reconstruct the Snicko images, had only the Hot Spot and the slow motion capture to go by and inexplicably declared Dravid out. The quick justification given by some of the English commentators, no less enthusiastic about UDRS than Stuart Broad, was that the audio evidence was conclusive. Here are two questions:

•    In a live cricket match, a sound could come from anywhere. Can such an input be treated as bonafide? Case in point, when Dravid walked in the test match mistaking the sound from his shoelaces for a genuine nick, had the referral been asked and audio input been available, would he have been declared out even though all other evidences pointed otherwise?
  
• If audio evidence is to be the deciding factor, isn’t it best left to the on field umpire to take the call on that as he hears and sees action from the closest proximity?

One of the observations in the Umpire’s Seminar in Sri Lanka was the lack of uniformity in the decision assist systems used in different matches. While at some place Hawk Eye is in, it is Hot Spot elsewhere and Snicko in some other match. This, along with the inconsistent quality of feeds, makes the life of all concerned very difficult. The BCCI, in spite of all its inverted intelligence, might be right in suggesting not to use such technologies until they are deemed fool proof. The premature implementation of technology not only makes the present controversial but also creates an atmosphere of mistrust for technologies of future. In an effort to fix what ain’t exactly broke, technology may become its own slayer. So, when the next time David “Bumble” Lloyd goes on to defend such highly debatable decisions simply because he is a believer he better realize that in his defence he is undoing his case.

UPDATED 10 Nov, 2011
A. FPS rates affect the quality of projection of the HawkEye system quite a bit[6]. This is not a wild conjecture as accused by some fans of this technology in a particular cricket forum.

B. HawkEye cannot correctly predict the ball trajectory if the distance between the ball's pitch and impact is less than 40cm[7]. This has been admitted by HawkEye innovations in the aftermath of the Hughes dismissal fiasco in Sri Lanka earlier this year.

C. HotSpot's fallibility has been brought under focus once again in the first test match Australia and South Africa at NewLands, Cape Town in the appeal for a caught behind against Peter Siddle off a Morkel delivery. Siddle tried to play a cross batted swat shot off the ball and missed it with Boucher pocketing it safely. Morkel's appeal for a caught behind was denied by the umpire before being referred for a UDRS. The slow motion replays did not reveal a conclusive nick but there was a faint noise as ball crossed bat. A HotSpot image would have nailed it but surprisingly there was none. Per TV commentators HotSpot was not "within the range"!!!!! Why on earth nobody specified what "ranges" does HotSpot operate within? Sadly, the commentators will not discuss it for a moment even.

D. HotSpot also happens to be terribly expensive as inconclusive. The most "accurate" 4 camera setup costs the organizers USD 10,000 per day, meaning $50,000 for a Test match. Many broadcasters do find this exorbitant[8].

Sources
1. http://virtualeye.tv/index.php/the-news/75-virtual-eye-response-to-hawkins-open-letter
2. http://www2.geog.ucl.ac.uk/~mdisney/teaching/1006/papers/collins_hawkeye.pdf
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12670063
4. http://www.hawkeyeinnovations.co.uk
5. http://www.howitworksdaily.com/technology/top-five-facts-controversial-hawk-eye-moments/
6. http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/523336.html
7. http://www.espncricinfo.com/sri-lanka-v-australia-2011/content/story/531324.html
8. http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/content/story/470808.html

Will India Find Redemption in ODIs

While the rest of the world seemed to gloat over the inevitable eviction of the Indian Cricket team from the top of the ICC Test ranking list, the English, who felled the goliath went about a silent and dignified way in doing the task. This is one defining aspect of the current English team that makes them a much more likeable bunch than the Invincible Aussies of yore. In victory as in defeat, they maintain a high level of dignity. Test rankings will come and go but the respect for this team will stand the test of time for a very long while.

Much of the credit for the resurgence of England as a Cricket powerhouse goes to the reticent but tenacious Andy Flower. He had the opportunity of being a part of the Zimbabwe team that rose to a record prominence and then waned to deplorable troughs. Having lived through that kind of an experience, Flower is ideally placed to guide a talented but mercurial England team to its true and deserved glory. Although the ODI team is yet to stamp its dominance the way the Test team has, it sure has shown signs of definite greatness. Under the aegis of the wily coach and the new captain we may see some very interesting results in the coming ODI series against India. 

Most of the columnists have discussed at length how India lost the series in England. The actual story however is how England won the battle. India, with all their excuses, cannot seriously disbelieve that they were up against an England team that they would have found difficult to beat even with all their resources at optimal efficiency. Last time when India toured England, arguably they had the best XI at their disposal. The middle order was the strongest with all four apostles in form, bowling had a bite to it with the likes of Zaheer Khan and Kumble snapping wickets. But that was four years back. Since then, India has found no successor for Sourav Ganguly in the 5/6 position, no spinner to match the prowess of Kumble and no fast bowler who can provide cover for the indifferent fitness of Zaheer Khan. Having said that, it is hard to imagine how a single fully fit Zaheer Khan or a more confident Raina could have altered the end result in any considerable way. Long story short, England had far better resources and the distinct home advantage to win the series with ease. India, on the other hand, have a long list of questions to answer.

The usual sabre rattling has commenced as the ODI series is about to begin. Indians, though victor in all three practice games, do not seem to have solved the bowling equation yet. R.P. Singh has shown rare promise after the disastrous outing at the Oval and new import Varun Aaron has been sent on a leatherhunt on the only occasion that he had to make a solid case for himself. Except for Praveen Kumar and Ashwin, no other bowler has shown any constancy in form. This is a case of worry for India as they will have to bet on 7+4 combination and anyone bowler not performing at an accepted level will seriously unbalance their strategy. England on the other hand have a whole bunch of in-form players who are more than capable of delivering the killer punch. Having won the series against Sri Lanka with some commendable performances, their confidence has every reason to be soaring high. It will be an interesting series as India will have mighty lot to defend and England a bounty to gain. It is also a litmus test for India’s bench and will determine whether the team was running on fumes when it won the World Cup or does it have able players to stand up in the absence of the stalwarts. All in all, a very exciting couple of weeks of Cricket action ahead.

An Honest Requiem

Watching the Indian team go down in a whimper against an England side that seems to have an endless supply of tenacious bowlers and resolute batsmen reminds one of the sorry tour of Australia that India undertook almost a decade back when schoolboys from down under offered to teach Indian batsmen how to know where their off stump lay. It was a disaster of a tour that necessitated a lot of changes. It was also a tour that broughtforth a complete reversal of the way the team played its game. But remember this, the side prevailed. India reorganized. A new captain came in, so did a new attitude. When this new team travelled down under the next time, the schoolboys who were comfortably in their mid to late teens stood in awe as their side was given a fight of their own kind. Perhaps it was the success of that tour downunder which galvanized the Indian team to the top of the table in test rankings. The batting might of the team was in full display with all guns blazing and the bowling bolstered by Anil Kumble’s then new found ability to run through line ups even in foreign lands. Kumble is gone. The batting engine is still the same but it is ageing. Top four from the vaunted list are on the wrong side of 30, 3 of them further south close to forty. Maybe, this is one of those moments where changes will be in demand. Heads that have not been adorned with olive twigs shall be called to be felled. Maybe, rightly so.

But let’s hold our horses for a while. Is it the batting failure that is to be blamed entirely for this debacle? When India shipped to England, they knew that the conditions in Her Majesty’s land are going to favour fast bowling in a big way. That coupled with the quality and quantity of such speedsters that England has in its stables should have raised enough flags within the Indian thinktank that no matter how vaunted the history of the batting stars be, they would always be circumspect against a quality trial by fire from the English bowlers under banana swinging conditions. That  along with almost three quarter of a year playing in the sub continental and the vastly different South African conditions was a sure shot concoction to forget the location of your off stump while facing late swinging ninety milers from the tall English chaps. Play the English in the sub continent for a series each in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and then subject them to a South African bowling attack in Edgbaston under a skyfull of clouds, you can bet your life the likes of Bell, Cook, Strauss and surely Pietersen would be no better than a Sehwag trying to hoink Jimmy Anderson over covers the first ball he faces. That is what habit makes of you.

This obvious gap in the armour necessitated the strengthening of the bowling attack. That brings us to the sadder part of the case. India’s bowling attack is an euphemism in itself considering the fact that said attack often looks to hide behind tall scores and aims at most to defend them successfully. Since the departure of the ever spirited Anil Kumble, no bowler of India has looked menacing enough to tear apart a batting side, home or away. Harbhajan has come close but waxed and waned too frequently. Zaheer Khan is by far the most talismanic bowler that India has found but with a body more fragile than a glass house, his services have been costly to say the least. But then, that is the case with most teams. Lead spinners do get out of rhythm, fast bowlers do tear their hamstrings. It is in these situations that the underlings need to stand up to the occasion. Sadly for India, that has not happened. None from the second rung of Sreesanth, Munaf, R.P. Singh or Ishant Sharma have matured to make good of the countless opportunities bestowed on them. It is a sad irony that a bowler with a pace of a military medium to say the max has to lead this Indian “attack”.

With all due respect, and that is well earned, Praveen Kumar cannot threaten a quality batting side with his fastness or the lack of it even if he manages to execute boomerang swing over, under and sideways. He is a good find for Indian cricket and will be most successful in the shorter games where batsmen will look to attack him at every instance and fall to the swings and the close in field settings. However in the longer format, he must play the strategic role of a stock bowler who chokes one end up while the other end is opened for flat out offensive fast bowling. But with the likes of Sreesanth with his attention span of a toddler and Ishant Sharma without the guidance of a saintly Zaheer Khan, this other end is more likely going to turn into the team’s Waterloo with free flowing runs and zero returns. Add to that the absence of a reliable spinner, a scoreline of 3-0 does not look all that blameable on the batsmen. India’s woes with fast bowling was, is and will be a constant nemesis. It will force the team to start as underdogs each time they venture out of the sub-continent. The only way to counter this is by augmenting the inadequacies with string batting and offensive spin bowling.

The issue of spin bowling is a far more worrisome prospect. It is shocking to find India not being able to identify a worthy successor to Kumble. Not a single bowler has emerged who can rightfully walk into the side irrespective of the location or condition of the match. Harbhajan has been more out of form than in, Piyush Chawla has his own demons and Amit Mishra seems to be unmindful of the virtues of line and length far too often. This leaves us with Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha. Neither are miracle workers. But Ashwin has the attitude and guile to bowl up front to destructive openers in shorter formats of the game with little protection outside the thirty yards. If nothing it is brave of a slow bowler to engage in such suicidal duels with marauding opening bats. This boy very obviously deserves a berth in the team even in the presence of Harbhajan. Pragyan Ojha is again the first left arm bowler of any reckoning to emerge in a long while. He brings in variety to an otherwise uniform fare. Now that the experiments with Singh, Mishra and Chawla have returned naught, it is time to bring the rearguard up. It cannot get any worse from here.

Rest assured that Indian batsmen are having a bad slump. This is not a bunch of players who nick every good length bowl thrown at them. It is just the effect of lack of orientation. An army, however well trained, cannot win battles in hostile terrains unless the acclimatization is adequate. Same goes with batters. A tour to Sri Lanka might not require five tour games but a visit to England certainly makes a case for the same. That said, it cannot be an excuse for anyone to come and gift their wickets away.

Indian batting line up is due for a major shakeup in very near future. Almost the entire middle order has gone past its use by date with no definite replacements in sight. Replacements will not be found until replacements are injected in while time has not run out. The Kohlis, Rohit Sharmas, Pujaras need to be brought into the playing eleven while the big boys are still operational. A phase wise retirement is better than a sudden and complete overhaul. Surely, after this series has ended, with disappointment levels running steep there would be calls to get rid of the old guard. It is typical of India that each success and failure is religiously blown out of proportion. But such surge of emotions needs to be checked. No doubt they have lost but that does not make them any less deserving a winner that they were. The team has a good captain and a bunch of talents that need to be backed. That done and a caustic analysis of pre-tour warm up schedule guaranteed, there is no reason why this team cannot  make Australia their launchpad for a second coming to glory.