The Saurav affair, as I understand it
Its not just about cricket, is it? I agree that I have been late on the boat (not missed), but from what I have followed about this issue (during my vacation), I can't see the cricketing reason behind it.
And when More said, while dropping SG from the 15, that 'we decided not to include him since he would not figure out in playing 11' (or something to that effect), wasn't he simply implying that there is more to it than just a question of batting or bowling or fielding potential/skill ?
What further strengthens my believe that its not about cricket, and hence no point debating the cricketing logic behind all this is this:
1) Even if we agree that Yuvraj performed better than SG in Delhi (which is debatable, but still lets assume he did) that does not merit dropping SG from the 15
2) It is was done to avoid humiliation of SG, then please someone inform us whether SG was actually asked whether he would like to sit out of playing XI or out of 15 altogether?
3) Why is Kaif playing ahead of him, if it was Yuv who edged him out? And what if Laxman had pulled out on match morning due to a sore back or fever or something? I believe Jaffer would have played in the middle order? When did he surpass SG in the pecking order?
4) Why is Jaffer in the XI if he is not going to play? If its for 'getting the feel' of the dressing room..then he knows all about it, having been there twice. If its about putting pressure on GG, how does that help? If its about trying him as an option, then do that in the match, if its about watching him in the nets...then no need to get him in the 15. And btw, what happened to Jadhav? I know Jaffer did well in domestic matches recently, but then why was Jadhav chosen for Zim tour if he would never be tried? Is it just a matter of runs in the last 2 Ranji/Duleep matches?
And in passing, was SG chosen as an allrounder, as More commented at that time? If so, how come he is replaced by Yuvraj in the XI and Jaffer in the 15? Or, for that matter, if ZK was to feel aggrieved about losing his spot to SG, then should he feel that Jaffer has been perceived as a better bowler than him!!!!?
Questions..questions...lots of them. What I simply know is that...whether rightly or wrongly so, its not about cricket alone.
posted by worma at 12/19/2005 11:26:00 AM
11 Comments:
hey worma...It's not about cricket alone..sure..but cricket is not about SG either and that's how SG tried to play it. Live by the sword..die by it. He tried to play the system...manipulate it to his advantage which led to a really horrible episode in Indian cricket. I liked the way SG led the team, but he screwed up. Would love to see him back in the team and blast the opposition with his sixes and offside shots. Doesn't seem to be happening though.
worma
thank god, u accepted it was not about cricket. now i suggest you try to look for the answer somewhere in between nagpur and bulawayo
btw how come ur blog became suddenly active again ??
tcp: Agreed...that SG lived through non-cricketing issues during his days...and now is another similar situation. Btw, the whole reason for my article was to point out that its ridiculous to try and analyse SG's cricketing merits/demerits vis-a-vis Yuvraj or any other player (or even independently).
GK: Ofcourse there are non-cricketing answers for this non-cricketing situation. And whether I accept it or not, the situation clearly speaks for itself. Who is wrong, who thinks what and stands where....all *that* is something we would never be able to know. Maybe through Prem we do get, from time to time, some insights into what RD, or Kumble etc think....but not much more. And its hardly useful to go by public statements of players, coaches etc. Not even the pro-SG ones like the recent statement from SRT in support of SG the player.
..and about the blog....well I do tend to 'shoot-off' my mind more on this forum than SightScreen....so come back here in such times :-)
Btw...I sincerely would hate to see Yuvraj now sitting on the bench...no matter what the reasons. So, as you very well know, I wanted SG to decide his fate with his bat, I absolutely dont want to mess with Yuvraj's growth now (and in turn, also the development of future of Indian cricket...which he surely is...along with Bhajji, Sehwag, Pathan....and hopefully Kaif)
dark: yep mate...I miss the chat too :-)..lets hope Prem brings us some good news in the new year
worma...:)..how surprising...I read that Amit Varma article too...and doesnt he write rubbish...sighs...its lamentable you know...during the ashes and even during England Pakistan , there were some insightful reports ...like technical analysis..amit verma and the rest in cricinfo...forget about technical analysis ...would just reamle on with language and insinuations...funny thing...you can still write for the Guardian even if you write such bullshit....and tour Pak as a journo too...:)
Say Shoaib's slowerone...noone in Cricinfo would analyze it..how its released..whats the diff between other slower balls and this one.. but would write in some jargon as to how its a deadly weapon etc.
When I was reading the articles, I thought I was the only one reading the errors, and I was surprised when I saw u writting on it on Sight screen.
Congrats. By the way...I read in Ananda Bazar Patrika that Saurav will be not be the Lahore 11..sad news. :(
dark nights: to be fair cricinfo people are more of sports journalists than analysts (and anyway, there's only one Simon Hughes in the world :-)...but yes some of them do carry personal biases. Amit Varma wasn't one of them....but it does seem that the demand of an English centric audience (for Guardian) has got the better of him especially in this article.
There are some other insightful members in Cricinfo...I like Siddhartha, Rahul, Osman etc (again, dont treat them as analysts, those are very few like Hughes, even in Eng media)
Saurav in 11...well as things stand...the only chance that he still has (and he does have this outside chance) is if its a green track...then he would get ahead of Yuv....mainly because team management would want an additional seamer...and still want to play their two spinners. And this is something that only match-morning can tell us....neither Anand Bazar Patrika (even with their insider sources) nor even members of the team (even the management) would be in a position to confirm this any earlier.
I would anyway want us to start as well as possible in the series...even if it means playing Yuv (in case its not a seaming track)....and would hope that SG gets to play some active part in the series, even if its later on.
oh..and thx for appreciating.
Hi worma! Nice one on the Sourav farce. Will keep coming here....Here's my take on the Sourav affair:
http://blogs.cricinfo.com/different_strokes/archives/2005/12/chronicle_thus.php
angshuman: thanks for dropping by, and I do follow your posts at 'Different Strokes' regularly.
btw..I write, with a bit more consistency, at http://prempanix.blogspot.com ..just in case you hadn't checked that one out.
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