Cricket – 3 different formats, or 3 different games? Will ‘ODI’ format survive?

Seriously amazing batting by Virat Kohli today at Nagpur…. However, this ODI format is getting way too batsmen friendly. We already have T20 format which is heavily loaded against bowlers… ODI shouldn’t go that way..should at least maintain some balance. If ODIs continue this way with routine 350+ scores, we are heading to another different format of cricket (like T20).

May be we are heading to 3 different games: Cricket-1 (Tests, Traditional 1st Class), Cricket-2 (ODI), Cricket-3 (T20).

I enjoy all three formats, but would prefer some changes in ‘Cricket-2’.

The ‘Cricket-2’ format, to survive and be viable needs to be different from ‘Cricket-1’ and ‘Cricket-3’. It is already quite different from ‘Cricket-1’, but that is not the problem. The issue is that it is increasingly moving nearer towards ‘Cricket-3’. ‘Cricket-2’ cannot be two back-to-back T20 games! It needs to go back to the way it was a few years back.

May be we are headed to a scenario where ‘Cricket-2’ will just disappear amidst competition from ‘Cricket-1’ and ‘Cricket-3’. What do you think?

Pune Warriors India

The Pune Warriors India are off to a great start, leading the points table after the first week. It’s early days in the IPL-4 season yet, but the Pune team has looked quite dominant. Geoff Marsh and co have put together a good balanced team.

Here is a list of the players:

Yuvraj Singh (Captain), Graeme Smith, Jesse Ryder, Robin Uthappa, Ashish Nehra, Angelo Mathews, Wayne Parnell, Alfonso Thomas, Jerome Taylor, Nathan McCullum, Murali Kartik, Monish Mishra, Mithun Manhas, Shrikant Wagh, Rahul Sharma, Callum Ferguson, Tim Paine, Mitchell Marsh, Harshad Khadiwale, Manish Pande, Shrikant Mundhe, Bhuvaneshwar Kumar, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Kamran Khan, Ganesh Gaikwad, Harpreet Singh, Eklavya Dvivedi, Imtiaz Ahmed, Dheeraj Jadhav, Sachin Rana.

Coach: Geoff Marsh, Assistant Coaches: Dermot Reeve, Pravin Amre

Official website of the Pune Warriors: http://punewarriorsindia.com

Official twitter account: http://twitter.com/punewarriorsipl

Twitter list tracking various Pune Warriors Players, Blogs, Fan Clubs, etc.  https://twitter.com/home#/list/aparanjape/pune-warriors-ipl

Ticketing partner – Kyazoonga.Com: http://www.kyazoonga.com/Cricket/Pune_Warriors_India/56/2

Home stadium: IPL-4 season will be played at D.Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Starting next year, the Warriors will move to their new Pune home (Gahunje, near Talegaon): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pune_International_Cricket_Centre … Here’s a link I found that shows a simulated view of the proposed design: http://www.hopkins.co.uk/projects/_3,135/

My old blog post about the Sahara Pune Warriors: https://aparanjape.wordpress.com/2010/04/25/welcoming-punes-ipl-team-sahara-pune-warriors/

Harsha Bhogle’s Talk at IIM Ahmedabad

One of the best talks I have heard recently – Harsha Bhogle’s presentation at his alma mater Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (delivered in 2005). I came across a video link of this talk on this blog.

Harsha discusses why attitude matters more than talent. He narrates many interesting examples from his personal life as well as from other famous personalities. Do watch this 40 minute video (divided in two parts). The talk is simple, clear, practical and devoid of any management buzz words.

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

Very Very Special Laxman Delivers An Incredible Indian Win Against Australia

Statistics don’t tell the whole story. Vangipurappu Venkata Sai (VVS) Laxman scored less runs in this match, compared to Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. But I don’t think there is an iota of doubt in anyone’s mind today about the real match winner. And that’s a back to back match winning performance (after his crucial role in the victory against Sri Lanka in August).

What an amazing innings this was! Talent, Temperament, Class, Concentration. Playing with a bad back, he still delivered his range of signature wristy shots. They were a treat to watch. He was well supported by Ishant Sharma. Indeed, the two injured players carried the day for India. Laxman seems to particularly bring out his best against Australia. Ever since that epic 281 against Steve Waugh’s side in Kolkata in 2001, he has been quite possibly the toughest opposing player for the Aussies. Peter Roebuck summarizes that well in his column title today: “Very Very Special Laxman again thorn in Australia’s side”.

This Test had five days of intense competition between two well-balanced slides. Fortunes changed every session. There were great individual performances by Watson, Zaheer Khan and Tendulkar in the first innings. In the second innings, Indian bowling attack restricted Australia and had a very realistic chance to win. However early wickets on day 4 and day 5 made it very difficult. And with over 90 runs to score with only 2 wickets remaining – Aussies look all set for a comfortable win. And how things changed in the next hour!

The drama and excitement went up one notch when Ishant got out with 11 runs still remaining. Aussies could have won the game on the penultimate ball when a close lbw decision went against them and they also missed a run out chance, that resulted in 4 over-throws.

Overall this game was a fine victory for Test Cricket. With the shorter versions of the games increasing in popularity everyday, it was extremely pleasing to see the classic version deliver such great excitement. Bodes well for the future of the longer version on the game in the years to come.  Going forward, I do hope though that BCCI organizes Test Matches in Tier 1 Cities. The Mohali ground is great, but the crowd attendance for such a great match could have been a lot better.

 

Welcoming Pune’s IPL Team – Sahara Pune Warriors

Sahara Pune Warriors

The ongoing controversy in IPL not withstanding, Pune cricket lovers enthusiastically welcomed the new team in town: Sahara Pune Warriors. Tens of thousands gathered at the S.P. College Grounds yesterday evening for the name and logo unveiling ceremony. The most valuable IPL Team (new franchise bought by the Sahara Group for $370 Million) got a great reception.

A quick poll across friends/colleagues and a look at twitter stream confirms that the name is “ok” – could have been better; but could have been a lot worse! [ E.g. Dare Devils?? Knight Riders?? , etc.] The same goes with the logo. I personally would have preferred something more modern. Though the city’s connection with the ‘Maratha Warrior’ in the logo, is well represented.

What does the team mean for Pune? For starters, it brings world class cricket to Pune. Local talent will get a big opportunity. Pune has never had its share of good cricket – for various reasons. Hopefully, that will be a thing of the past. And yes, IPL will also bring in some great entertainment with it. Cricket purists dislike the excessive focus on entertainment – I too would prefer more focus on cricket, than the peripheral action. But then it is this entertainment that brings the sport to the masses. Just look at how American Sports Leagues(NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) mix the two. The entertainment doesn’t take the focus away from the main sport. The real stars in the American Leagues continue to be the players: Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, or Alex Rodriguez. And the quality of the skill and athleticism are absolutely terrific.

Looking beyond cricket – the fact that Pune got this team, and with such a huge valuation means something else. Finally, Pune as a city is stepping out of the shadows of Mumbai. Pune has always been the cultural capital of Maharashtra – but the economic size and might of Mumbai have always overshadowed Pune. A look at all the original 8 IPL Teams will tell you that all of them are from capital cities. In India, capital cities have always received some ‘special treatment’ when it comes to infrastructure and other development programs – politics (at all levels) contributes to this. In a sense, Pune winning such an expensive franchise is a victory of ‘Economics’. The rapid growth and rising young affluent work force (driven by IT, Automotive and other Business Sectors) was a clear attraction for the various parties bidding for the Pune Team.

The new 55,000 capacity Pune Cricket Stadium (MCA Pune International Cricket Center)  being constructed at Gahunje (off Mumbai-Pune Expressway, near Talegaon) will be one of the best in the world. Take a look at the impressive proposed design: http://www.hopkins.co.uk/projects/_3,135/ 

I can’t wait for next year’s IPL. The new auction will decide which players become part of this team. Especially the Mumbai-Pune games will be really interesting. Over the coming years, I am sure these games will develop into intense rivalries. With Mumbai likely playing some games at the D.Y. Patil Stadium and Pune playing near Talegaon, this will be one classic ‘Expressway’ Contest!