I watched the first round matches of
IPL's T20 show. At the start I was
amazed at the tall scores of over 200
that a few teams posted. But thankfully
things have settled down a bit. Captains
and bowlers have rallied around with
clever field placements and accurate
bowling. Big hitters like Shahid Afridi,
Dhoni, Gilchrist etc have had average
outings while Gambhir, Rohit Sharma,
Vidyut Sivaramakrshnan, Abhishek Nayar
etc are playing beautifully. T20 is not
about power. It’s more about being
present every moment which is far more
taxing as most are figuring out.
Some of the impressions I am left
with are as follows:
1) Teams must be young. Old teams like
Royal Challengers have no hope.
2) Teams need good, solid leadership.
Captains with a tactical mind and the
ability to rally the team together fare
well. This is a team game more than
anything else. Warne, Dhoni, Sehwag,
Yuvraj are doing well. Laxman, Dravid,
Saurav, Harbhajan/Pollock are
struggling.
3) The difference between your
international 'stars' and the younger
lot in the country is not much – in fact
some youngsters look better than the
'stars'. Several ‘stars’ are getting
exposed and some wisely are pulling up
their socks and performing to their
abilities. For example, Irfan Pathan’s
sharp swing has returned.
4) The best names do not make successful
teams. Deccan Chargers, Kolkata Night
Riders and Royal Challengers are cases
in point. It is about getting the best
playing XI and making them play as a
team. I would dearly love to hear in on
some team meetings.
5) Not many bowlers seem to be able to
bowl yorkers consistently, or for that
matter even a consistent line and
length. Far too many full tosses, length
balls, slower ones, short balls –
there’s not enough variation, not enough
skill. What are the coaches doing? The
ones with skill and adaptability are
doing well like Ishant Sharma, Steyn,
McGrath, Piyush Chawla, Murali, Warne,
Gony, Pollock to name a few. Some
younger ones are a revelation – Dinda,
Amarnath, Dhawal Kulkarni, Salunkhe,
Siddharth Trivedi, Vijay Kumar, Ojha to
name a few.
6) I have no personal stake with any
team, not even my local Hyderabad team.
I root for the underdogs because they
provide drama and they are doing well -
Rajasthan Royals.
7) The filmi and corporate franchise
owners are probably wondering how
anything gets done with cricketers,
whether there is any logic in anything
at all. And that in sport, you don't
jump up and down after one match-you can
afford to do that after the tournament -
else you look rather silly. Maybe the
franchise owners could start shaking
hands at the end of the match as well.
And come on, boys (and girls), it’s a
game after all.
8) Harbhajan’s suspension and
Sreesanth's crying act left me shaking
my head. Grow up fellows. Gawd! Counsel
them please someone-they are such
terrible examples to young cricketers.
Why can’t someone put them in a room and
tell them that as full grown men - they
need to behave with more maturity.
9) After a while, the matches are
getting to be a bit like the WWE
matches; watch it because there is
nothing else to do.
10) Having CEOs, Chief and Assistant
Coaches, team songs, logos and team ads,
designer wear, brand ambassadors, models
and actors - do not make the team. You
are better off planning a better team.
The Rajasthan Royals got it right there.
More on these issues later.
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