A Lot Of Conclusions On Kotla

Well after the fifth and final one day match between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned owing to bad weather light pitch, not only have the cricket fans reacted but also the cricket board committee regarding the future of the stadium. The conclusion has that far effect that the ICC is considering about revising the plan whether to host the world cup matches in 2011 or not. I bet the ICC would not have even come to such a conclusion regarding canceling the matches that were to be held in Pakistan in such a hurry. It was only after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team that the ICC finalized its decision on hosting the world cup matches in Pakistan.

Earlier to that, teams namely Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa backed out from traveling to Pakistan owing security reasons that was quite obvious and natural. Even that couldn't shake the ICC from canceling games to be held in Pakistan until the March 1^st incident happened at Lahore. Neither did the ICC cancel matches that were scheduled in Sri Lanka when there were fears of LTTE attacks. But, it has been less than a week since the Kotla one dayer was cancelled and ICC starts doubting the matches that are scheduled in Delhi though the ICC has not yet come to a decision regarding the scheduling.

On the other hand, the BCCI was found to take a quick decision on the chairman of the grounds and pitches committee- Daljith Singh, who also accepted not to have gone in for trials whatsoever. All things coming to light only after the damage has already been done. Moreover, we hear that the ICC has slammed the Kotla pitch in November during inspection related to the world cup 2011. Finally, when it was termed all over last Sunday when the referees came out saying that the pitch lacked bounce and was not suitable for international cricket, everything from the past is highlighted.

One has to really wonder as to how come the match lasted for 23.3 overs, meaning almost half the Sri Lankan innings was done with before the play was called off. I remember the Antigua test between England and West Indies earlier this year that was called off owing to a similar pitch related issue that lasted just 10 balls before sand started erupting from the bowling crease. One had to wait till Tilekeratne Dilshan encountered a blow on his fingers to stop the play and call the pitch dangerous. With such slowness evident, the pace lies where it shouldn't, when decisions started wagging with regards to a tournament that would be held almost after a year and a half from now.

Is This The New Era of Cricket?

Well yesterday's match between India and Sri Lanka, which was forced to be terminated after playing just 23.3 overs with Sri Lanka on 83/5 was the second of its kind in 2009 alone. The first one beaing the one between the West Indies and England early this year, somewhere in February 2009 at Antigua when the second test was forced to be called off after the outfield was termed a risk for bowlers. The match was called after just 10 deliveries were bowled and the England scoreboard reading 7-0 after 1.4 overs. However, this match was compensated by adding another test by making the 4 match series a 5 match series.

And the final one dayer between India and Sri Lanka has not been compensated. Is this because the result of the series was well in front of us after India won the fourth one day match at Kolkata? Whatever, it is not the question of compensation be it to the fans who had come to watch the match by going through all sorts of struggle to get tickets or the series which had to be reduced to a 4 match series that was previously a 5 match one. But, the question in front of us is what next? What if such negligence in preparing pitches continue?

This can just be called an initial start. There was hardly any such thing observed in the past be it anywhere in the world. There have been matches abandoned by rain, bad light, bad weather and at last bad crowd. But, these days bad pitches are also found playing a spoilsport. One just cannot imagine to what extent can this go upto. There was a similar hint in the fourth one day match held at the Eden Gardens-Kolkata when the lights went off with the last three balls of Sri Lankan innings still to go. Luckily, no such unexpected things took place.

Had the fourth one day match at Kolkata also been cancelled owing to bad light, it would have been wonderful. For, it could have been a 3 match series with India still winning 2-1. That can be the perfect result for a bilateral series involving three matches. It is still not known as to who is to be blamed for such a debacle of the pitch! Should the curators be indeed held responsible for this act or was it just a mistake on their part or was this unexpected by them as well is still not known. But, one thing is for sure. This is one way for the curators of the pitch to make news. Or else, who would be interested in knowing who prepared the pitch?

Who Can Stop Sri Lanka from losing?

The fact that a team that could contain top rated batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and VirenderSehwag could not continue the same when it comes to a 28 year old Gautam Gambhir and ViratKohli who a couple of years ago was seen lifting the under-19 world cup can make people laugh and nothing else. A couple of days ago, I happened to read in cricinfo regarding the chances that Sri Lanka can draw out of the injuries haunting Indian players-Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in particular. And the result of all is that Sri Lanka have had their worst defeat so far in this tournament.

It is just disgusting to see someone like Ravindra Jadeja & Virat Kohli tearing apart the SriLankan bowling that included the likes of Lasith Malinga and co in the initial stages of their cricketing career. Added to that is Dinesh Karthik whose presence is felt only in the absence of the regular wicket keeper in Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Still, even he is able to make a mark against Sri Lanka. The lone six in the Indian innings came from the bats off Virat Kohli though it was Gautam Gambhir's 150 that sealed Sri Lanka's chances of being alive in the series.

Added to this was the 16 wides the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled as compared to 10 by the Indians. I just couldn't resist closing my eyes when the replays of Sri Lankan batsmen TissaraPerera hitting the ball straight in the air and nowhere when it came to the distance were shown repeatedly. That was the time when Perera was in full form and a responsible decision would have seen Sri Lanka piling up a more 20 runs. Neither did Sri Lanka lose wickets at regular intervals nor did they end their innings with a partly total like they have been doing in their previous matches.

It is not an unknown fact that in the last 5 years or so, a total of 300+ is not considered safe for any team. But, until yesterday, this was opposed atleast by the Eden Gardens where stats suggest that the highest run chase so far has been 293 by Pakistan once again against India in 2004. For the second time and fortunately in this year and against the very same Sri Lanka, Gautam Gambhir has scored exactly 150, the only difference being that this time he was unbeaten. The previous time Gambhir was found doing this was in February 2009 at Colombo that saw India taking the lead to 4-0 in the 5 match series. Next time, India can play their under-17 team to both beat Sri Lanka as well as get some match practice.

The Only Way Benn Can Make News

The headlines today has its say that the West Indian batsman bowler player if not anything else has been handed over a 2 match ODI ban for reasons none other than being involved with an ugly spat with the Australian players Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin during the third test match between Australia and West Indies at Perth on Thursday. On the other side, Australia's Mitchell Johnson and Brad Haddin have been let off just with a petty fine I suppose. Reasons for this sort of biased treatment regarding the Aussies is not something new for the world of cricket.

However, coming to Sulieman Benn's case, one can just say that this is an act of publicity by the West Indian player. Or else, why should anyone target a West Indian player who despite being 28 years of age has played just 11 test matches and an equal number of one day internationals that is followed by 10 T20 games? The incident just reminds me of Vinod kambli who after being almost absent for almost a decade one fine day comes in front of the world just to say that it was his old team mate Sachin Tendulkar who was responsible for the debacle of his cricketing career.

The man under discussion is just a year and a half old when his international cricket career is taken into consideration. The man is yet to hit a six in international T20 cricket and has already made news for getting banned for 2 ODIs against Australia for sledging. All that his career can highlight is the 5 wicket haul he has been able to achieve against Australia in the second test in the ongoing series between the same two countries. This coming almost a year and a half after making his international test debut against Sri Lanka in March 2008 at Providence.

Not only Sulieman Benn but the entire West Indies team needs to maintain a lot of discipline taking into consideration their caliber and the position in test cricket they are placed not only in today's rating but also considering their test rating since the last decade or so. Of course, no one is expected to display such a sort of behaviour on the field in front of a million spectators on TV as well as in the stadium. However, someone like Steve Waugh, Glenn McGrath or Adam Gilchrist can be given a pass for such an act but not someone who is just a learner of cricket still in the initial stages of his career. May be this is the reason that the ICC has been taking more strict measures regarding sledging day by day.