Open Letter to Virat Kohli: Stop with this arrogance or be prepared to lose your fans!

Dear Virat,

This is not the first time any Indian team has lost an away series and this won't be the first time. Before the series began lot of experts, reporters, fans called this the best team to ever travel to the United Kingdom and I was one of them.

I certainly believed the bowlers we had in the squad were far more confident of their abilities and were capable of winning us matches abroad. They gave us a glimpse of it in South Africa and it was the batsmen who let us down.

This was the case in the Pataudi Trophy too! The bowlers bowled out of their skins and the batsmen let the team down at every opportunity.

Shit happens! Bowlers delivered, batsmen didn't, It's ok. We'll take that, albeit with a pinch of salt.
But what we cannot take is the arrogance with which you have replied to the journalists' questions, time and again.

The team does well, fans, reporters, experts all come and applaud and appreciate the team and when the team doesn't do well, we all deserve the right to critique. What we say, what we speak or what we suggest, you may or may not like or want to implement; that is upto you. But you do not need to get angry and be so defensive about it. Accept the mistakes and move on.

You guys are our idols, heroes and we all look upto you. This is no way to behave. You might think this is fair in 'This is my way of dealing things, I never asked anyone to make me their idol'
No, that won't work. You know how dearly we love our sport and how passionate we are as fans.

If you want us to support you and cheer for you everytime you are down, the way you ask us during Test matches, then you also need to take the criticism and questions with as much aplomb.

This is not the first time you got angry and this might not be the last.

This journalist wasn't intimidated by you and said what a lot of us think. THIS ISN'T THE BEST TEAM IN THE LAST 15 YEARS!

Do not disrespect the Indian teams of the past by giving us such blanket statements. We know who controls the BCCI when it comes to making administrative decisions, when it comes to choosing who the coach should be, who the support staff should be. We let that be. We did not pounce on you for not choosing Anil Kumble and his strict methods. We know you have a certain way of doing things that not many can understand or want. We let you control that. But now you are answerable for the screw ups. You now need to answer us when your techniques did not work. Shying away from it is not the way to deal with it.

It is quite shameful to know that if you type 'Virat Kohli has a disagreement with reporter' there isn't just one video that appears. This has been an on-going problem and as a captain it does not suit you.

Agree, you are not Dhoni. Agree, you are passionate and express yourself on the field.

But there is no dignity in getting angry on reporters when they ask tough questions. It's their job to get you to answer them and get us, the fans, answers to the burning questions.

Enough is enough. Grow up. Be responsible and start taking ownership for your failures or else, be prepared to lose your fans

Thanks,
A cricket-fanatic

Can someone please take a look at the balls please?

Steve Smith, David Warner, Cameron Bancroft have all been penalised for being involved in ball tampering in a Test match in South Africa.

They used sandpaper to alter the condition of the ball and got it to reverse swing very early in the game.

The duo pleaded guilty in a joint press conference after and chaos ensued.

Social media was up in a frenzy and reporters, news channels went in overdrive. Everyone started to form an opinion on what they thought was right.

Steve Smith and David Warner immediately stepped down from captaincy and vice-captaincy posts, respectively and now their future was being discussed.

But not once, not one person has questioned this behaviour. Not one person has asked, why did they need to tamper the ball.

Let me put things in perspective, over the years, a lot of emphasis has been given to the bat, the pitch, the fans, the stadium. But not once did anyone debate about the condition of the ball or the innovation, rather, lack of innovation with the ball.

We have seen mongoose bats, bats with thick edges, stumps with camera, mic, LEDs. Everything in the game has changed but the ball.

The only innovation the ball has seen is the change in colour. From Red leather balls in Tests to white in ODIs and T20s to Pink balls being used for Day and Night matches.

The Captain of Australia, Steve Smith, decided to tamper the ball after speaking to the leadership group since the ball was doing nothing and they were losing the battle.

The new ball swings in helpful conditions for about 15-20 overs. Unless the pitch and outfield is abrasive there will be little or no reverse swing. By the time a new ball is taken in the 80th over, a team is well set and probably looking to attack to counter the swing with the second new ball.

What is one to do?

Not justifying anyone's actions, but all I am trying to say here is, we need to look at what caused them to opt for such a dangerous and risky choice.

Let's focus the energy and rethink on what we need to do to curb such an incident in the future.

Can someone please take a look at the balls please? ;)

Why do we need to replace Dhoni?

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a wicket-keeper par-excellence. A finisher better than the world has ever seen. A captain, the world reveres. Have we ever seen a better combination? Have we found any cricketer across the world who has even two of these qualities and can match MS Dhoni for it?

The answer remains NO, a big NO!

Then, why are we even trying to replace him?

It's simple. MS Dhoni is once-in-a-generation kind of cricketer. Before him and after him the world might never see an MSD. Yes, they might find someone better than him or will find someone in the future who will be compared to him. Just the way it happens with cricketers of each generation.

A Virat Kohli is compared with Sachin Tendulkar, at times, is judged to be better than him in ODIs and in terms of consistency. We await the day some Indian breaks Sachin's record and hope it is Kohli.

Let me explain this in another way, Kumar Sangakkara retired from international cricket in 2015, have Sri Lanka found a replacement?

Adam Gilchrist, who before Dhoni was regarded as the best wicket-keeper-batsman there exists, retired way back in 2008. It's been 9 years now and Australia is still struggling to find a keeper-batsman with half as much as talent as Gilchrist.

Before and after and in-between India has tried many a keeper-batsmen in ODIs and T20s. Ajay Ratra, Vijay Dahiya, Parthiv Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Rishab Pant, Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Dinesh Karthik, KL Rahul, the list is endless.

We have given chances to many of them but not enough faith has been put in their skills.

A player like MS Dhoni who plays so well under pressure, who reads the situation better than most, who relies on self-ability to guide his team to victory, who gets the pulse of the game the moment he enters the stadium.

His I-do-not-need-to-see-the-stumps-to-run-someone-out technique has baffled the best in the world!
His I-will-take-off-a-glove-before-the-last-ball is someone the entire wicket-keeping clan copies.
His I-will-take-it-down-to-the-last-over-and-win-you-the-game is something even the opposition knows and yet somehow they do not have a solve for it!

His non-chalant stumping style has even the batsmen mesmerized. Infact, when Danushka Gunathalika came down the track to Yuzvendra Chahal in the second ODI v Sri Lanka on the 24th of August, 2017, he had given up when he missed the ball. Because once you come down the track and there is a certain MSD behind the stumps, you.will.get.out!

There aren't too many cricketers from the current lot who command a position in the team or who can easily come and replace MSD.

But, isn't that what we thought of Sachin, of Sehwag, of Ganguly as captain or of Kumble as the match-winner in India, or of the countless legends across the world?

Do not try and replace someone, try and find one that fits a role in the team and figure out. Cricket is, afterall, a team game. It never was and never will be about one individual.

A game is never won on the basis of the presence of one genius in a team.

There will never be another Dhoni, but there might be a new Pant, a new Samson, a new Saha.

Do not try and replace Dhoni, find someone new! Open your minds.

The cockiness that is the Bangladesh Cricket Team

1st Test - Bangladesh v England - 20-24th October 2016
Result - England won lost by 22 runs

Just a few days ago, the same Bangladesh team were gung-ho about having beaten a full-fledged England team in an ODI.

The Bangladesh players started getting cocky towards the end of the match with their hooliganism-like celebrations after each wicket.

Jos Buttler was the first one to witness it on the ground.

Mind you, no words were exchanged, it was just the way the players celebrated almost mocking the English batsmen that ticked Buttler off.

The monkey-faces, the teasing, all juvenile behaviour. If one can go back to school times, it's what the bully would try and do to intimidate you.

It stems from the lack of self belief one has that makes one act cocky and irritating. Similar is Bangladesh players' reason. The success they've had recently has in some ways gone to their heads.

It was not often that our neighbours have had success against the big teams in world cricket but the ICC World Cup 2015 was a different story. They not only beat sides like England convincingly they did this on a consistent basis even after the World Cup. Infact, in the past 2 years this is their first defeat in a One Day series at home.

They had remained unbeaten in 6 consecutive series at home. In this time they managed to beat teams like South Africa, India, Zimbabwe.

Inspite of all this, somehow they have not been able to instil the confidence in themselves to believe that they can do this more often and have what it takes to play at this level.

The problem with Bangladesh cricket had always been that they were not improving as a side and since the past 1 year or so they have. They started beating good one day sides, started playing competitive cricket, which is what would get them the respect that they are so clearly desperate for.

At the same time, incidents like these will not only hamper their reputation further but make fans the world over believe that this is a one-off phase and that Bangladesh is not capable of reproducing such amazing wins on a consistent basis.

The 1st Test vs England was another super chance for the team to stamp their mark in Test cricket.
A chance for them to transform their ODI success to the Test level. But, alas, they could not.

This loss can easily be attributed to their 'lack of experience at the Test level' but it is not that.
It was selfish cricket on the part of a few batsmen that led to their downfall from a fairly commanding position.

Sabbir Rahman, who most are hailing to be the next hero from the land of the left-arm spinners, was the chief culprit. He would often get off strike in the beginning of the over, letting the lesser batsmen face the music on the other end. The ploy obviously did not work as very soon the game was all over when Ben Stokes got Taijul Islam and Shafiul Islam lbw in a matter of 3 deliveries.

Hope Sabbir and Bangladesh have learnt their lesson and instead of seeing the annoying side of the players and the fans, we get to see a team with more self-belief and confidence.

Last man standing

In the on-going Australia-India series, it seems like India Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is fighting a lone battle.

His batsmen might be scoring all the runs, but his bowlers and fielders just do not seem to be with him.

To be fair, the batsmen too, are only scoring for themselves and bettering their own record. Take Rohit Sharma for instance. He has been in good form and is trying to make the most of it. Australian pitches are not known for their seam or swing and hence it's difficult to get him out initially. We all know that Rohit is a nervous starter, and this lack of swing, seam or pace from the Australian unit is only playing into his hands. Agreed that it still takes some doing to score two back-to-back hundreds and kudos to him for that.

Virat Kohli, scored two back-to-back fifties and he seemed in great form too. He had pledged that he will score atleast two hundreds in the series and so far till the 3rd ODI he has hit one. His average before this series in Australia was 15.83, which has now gone upto 40.22. So, he did himself and the country a favour.

Shikhar Dhawan, as much as it was debated if he did play a selfish innings or was it his way of getting back into the groove of things and may be push on from there, after getting a start. One wouldn't know the result as he got out scoring 68 off 91 deliveries in the 3rd ODI at Melbourne.

Ajinkya Rahane, scored two fifties and is trying to secure his place in a team where Dhoni is captain. Kohli, believes in him as a Test batsman. Although, it isn't clear yet if Rahane will remain at no.4.

Anyway, back to the Dhoni and the lone battle.

If one was to view the matches from a non-biased point of view, it could be clearly seen that the bowlers and fielders just do not seem to be under Dhoni's control. He asks them to bowl to a certain field and they fail to deliver. And these are no inexperienced bowlers as the commentators and experts have been crying out loud. It is Ishant's 4th tour, Umesh's 3rd tour, Ashwin's 2nd tour. Bhuvneshwar too has travelled to Australia before.

The fact that after the 2nd ODI Dhoni mentioned in the press conference that Rishi Dhawan might bowl well but will not be successful at this level and the next match he gets his ODI cap. Clearly shows a rift between the selectors and the captain. The fact that what the captain says and believes in just does not matter doesn't augur well.

If he is the chosen captain then give him all the support.

As of now it is pretty clear that the Kohli-Shastri nexus is working overtime to make sure the Dhoni-led Team India doesn't get success and paves way for Kohli to takeover the ODI as well T20 captaincy from India's most successful captain ever!

Sad as it may be, Indian cricket has never really learnt to give a fitting farewell to its heroes. The World T20 in all possibility might be Dhoni's last series as captain and player.

The way the format is scheduled for the World T20, India is bound to reach the semis and from there it is anybody's game. If Dhoni wants to be selfless he might not retire if India wins, just the way Tendulkar did not, as he thought it would take away the focus from India's victory.

But Dhoni is now a changed man. He blames his bowlers, he complains about his batsmen not being able to rotate the strike, he gets frustrated on the field, he ha started to show his emotions after India picks up a wicket or when his fielders fail. This Dhoni is not the Dhoni that won us the World T20 with the calm and the cool.

This is a new Dhoni. One who is fighting a lone battle, sadly, there is no one supporting him.

Dhoni is the last man standing of his own era!

The genius that is AB or is it?

Abrahama Benjamin De Villiers, the 31-year-old South African is all set to play his 100th Test at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bengaluru on the 14th of November 2015 vs India.

The man has been in phenomenal form in the last one year, scoring the fastest hundred off 31 balls vs the West Indies, scoring runs by the dozen during the ICC World Cup 2015.

Even in the recently concluded ODI and T20I series vs India, de Villiers has been in amazing form. HE scored 3 hundreds in 5 ODIs vs India.

He is the only batsman in ODIs to average over 50 with a strike-rate of 100+.

Am sure most of you'll have read about his multiple sports achievements, having played Rugby, Badminton, Tennis, Swimming and what not.

In short, this guy is a genius.

In cricket, as in any other sport, there always comes a time when an athlete goes through a purple patch. A time when he doesn't seem to do any thing wrong and reaches heights never thought achievable.

In cricket, they say you reach that time around your 30s. You tend to reach your maturity in every sense of the word and have a better understanding of your own game. That to me, seems like the case with a certain Mr. ABD.

There is no denying that the way he has been playing it looks impossible to stop him. But if you've been a die-had cricket fan you'd remember the same happening with Mathew Hayden when he had come to India in 1999, same happened with Graeme Smith, Alastair Cook, Saeed Anwar, Kumar Sangakkara, Sanath Jayasuriya...and the list is endless.

But we dare not mix these mortals with the genius that is a ABD or even a Sachin Tendulkar,

As much as I agree that the man is special and has a lot of time to play his shots and infact can play more than the shots in the book, I feel that he isn't all no-chinks-in-my-armour!

If you saw the first innings of the first Test at Mohali and saw de Villiers' batting, you will know what am talking about.

For the first few runs ABD was like fish out of water. Saying he was clueless would be an understatement. He had no clue how to play spin on a turning track. His go-to method has been to attack when not sure. Which works for someone as talented as him, but that too didn't seem to be working.

Put him in a spot against quality and you never know...ABD the genius or....

India lacks a crisis man. And it scares me.

India might be a power house of batting, we might have the Kohlis and the double-hundred Sharmas and the new-found-off-stump-line Ashwin. But what we don't have is a player who will fight it out in hard times.

I mean, every team has a crisis man. There used to be a time when you could name each player in a team who would be known for something like this...Eg. Virender Sehwag for India, Mahela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka, Moin Khan for Pakistan, Ian Healy for Australia, Jacques Kallis for South Africa. But that era seems to be gone.

Now when times are tough, teams tend to crack. Experts blame it on the T20 era. I think that's bullshit.

You need to be mentally tough and an amazing self-belief, which is not based on how the pitch is behaving or who is bowling at what speed!

Now, it looks like all teams are going through that phase when they just don't have an answer for it.

Ashwin at times has done for India with both bat and ball, Rahane too, but yet somehow they don't inspire the kind of confidence needed at such times.

Take the second T20 for instance, 67 for 5 quickly became 69 for 7. Three wickets in the space of  a  few deliveries.

Most teams of the early 2000s or even late 90s would have some player who would be ready to fight. Even Bhajji (Harbhajan Singh) would have done something. Not today, he just isn't in the right frame of mind. He knows it's over and he's just going through the motion, much similar to how Indian fielders would be when Australia would be 300/2 in a Test. You know the wickets won't come...they will have to hand it to you!

Anyway, coming back, what India lacks is a crisis man!

Unless we have a 200+ total in a T20 or a 350+ in an ODI, we are never sure if we will win.

Try to remember the last time we won a low-scoring game?? I can't think of any!!

That scares me...this generation is just not ready to fight it out, they want it all easy. There isn't one player who will lift the spirit of this entire team.

Even the commentators believed that a Ravi Shastri can motivate them!! And I was like...WTF!! Why do you need a 50-year old trying to ignite passion and tell you to get up and do something.

I would expect someone like a Kohli/Dhoni doing something like this. Saying stuff like, 'come on guys, let's get'em!!