An Ode to the 200

I have always considered Sachin a very good batsman, a very good selfish batsman who ensures that people talk about him 20 years after he has retired, much like his mentor and city-dweller Gavaskar. Famously, fierce foes from both sides of the border, Gavaskar and Javed Miandad, concurred on one thing, that this new kid on the block will re-write all batting records. Well, may not be everything, but definitely he replaced one yesterday. And what a knock that was!

Enough has been said by now in the surprisingly low 893 news articles in google news about the match and the context in which he achieved it, which I read through all morning. Having missed the live version yesterday until my passionate friends rang me up to tease me, I even caught the replay of the entire innings in my own 4*4inch tv, aka mosaic in this part of the world, as I wanted to write a proper account of it. What caught by attention was the quality of the innings, rather than the number of runs scored. Here was a guy timing his innings to perfection, he wanted to achieve the landmark and he knew exactly what he had to do to achieve that. Having gone to 191 in the 43rd over, he strolled to his 200 in the 50th over and left it till the very end, keeping the billions watching to the edge of their seats. No one knew whether he would make it, but for himself. He also was keen to ensure that he batted the whole 50 overs "to test himself", so that injects more sense into it. It was least surprising for me, who has watched almost all of his 46 hundreds, and his agonising and lengthyyyyyyyyy 90s.

That Sachin would be the first to the landmark was a bit surprising to me. I would have expected the dasher version of Sachin in the 90s to have done it, I would have expected the frenzy of Sehwag to have accomplished that, I would have to even think the 6 hitting chaos of Jayasuriya to have gone past it. But the Sachin of today is more focussed, he knows he doesnt have the time left in him and he has to make the most of what comes to him. With 10 hundreds in the last 12 months, and with 93 centuries to his name now, I am sure hes on the right track. Yesterday, he could not have asked for a better combination than a small ground, flat pitch that road contractors would be proud of, a number of able partners who took the pressure off him and a wayward attack that pours full tosses and full length balls. But still, the credit goes to him for making it stick, where a lesser player would have thrown his wicket away.

Although I do crib about the selfish attribute of Sachin's innings, there have been some classy innings by Sachin which I have admired along the way. The Perth genius of 1991, The Cape Town massacre of 1996 with Azhar, Desert Storm at his peak in 1998 and a lesser version of it in Australia 2009, the Chennai heartbreak of 1999 which I happened to watch live at the stadium and the equally poignant Hyderabad version of 2009, the World Cup classic against Pakistan in 2003 are the ones that have stuck to my mind. Being a critic of Sachin is never easy, but given only a handful of gems in 600+ innings doesnt make my feelings any better.

I always rate the quality of an innings by a few factors, the number of edges, the number of threes, the number of fours to name a few. The bowling attack is irrelevant as you are as likely if not more likely to get out to a poor shot than to a good ball. It is in this respect that the innings yesterday stands out for it was of an outstanding quality. Sachin had the discipline yesterday to rival his cover drive-cutting innings of Sydney 241 and Nagpur 100. He hardly had any edges, with every ball striking the middle cleanly. It was phenomenal that in 50 overs and 200 hard runs, there wasnt even one half chance. That the maximum consecutive dot ball count was 4 at the start of the innings is a glorious statistic. He even ran two 3s, and quite a few singles, which has characterised all his innings and shows that he doesnt mind working hard for his runs. He doesnt mind having to run unlike some of the lazy bums around in international cricket content with whacking the balls out of the ground. The 25 fours that he hit yesterday was another record I am proud of, cos it means he found the gaps to the boundary on a small field with 11 fielders on it. This is where the men are sorted out from the boys who whack 6s like in street cricket. His accumulation of runs were brilliant, his 50s taking 37, 53, 28 and 29 balls respectively. This is where most of the dashers like Sehwag, Jayasuriya and Afridi fail. Theirs is more likely to read 19-26-out. The beauty of the innings is the way the acceleration comes after reaching the primary 100. While the others done care if they get out at 0 or 99, Sachin doesnt care whether he gets out at 100 or 139. Definitely, he does care about 99, 149 or 199, where he wouldnt mind offering a perfect defensive stroke or two to the combined agony of a billion souls ;) And the way he takes a single to fine leg or square leg or third man to invariably reach his hundred off a single behind the wicket is testamount to his superior skills of eschewing risks while reaching landmarks.

Sachin is definitely the world's premier run machine whose consistency is outstanding. While there could be one off wonders like Zimbabwe's Coventry who will continue to threaten this record created yesterday, I am sure there will be some like his overall ODI run tally that will stand the test of time, similar to the first ODI 200 which took 39 years in the making. Records are meant to be broken, like he himself said it, but class is permanent. He is a class apart when it comes to run scoring and creating benchmarks for others. Hats off to Sachin on breaking the unbreakable. Like the famous Roger Bannister's mile under four minutes, I expect that many will follow suit now that the seemingly unbreakable has finally been broken. If there is a winner yesterday, its the spirit of sportsmen, which constantly breaks the barriers considered unbreakable.

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No frills cricket

Having unsuccessfully waded off my passion towards all things cricket, I subscribed to the IPL for the second year running. It comes with its own sort of entertainment that viewers back home sorely miss. So, I wanted to write a note on this. I have listed down the top three reasons why I am so glad to have subscribed outside India..

1. No advertisements
For the ordinary Indian in me, cant exphasise how pleased I am with this aspect! This is purely no-frills cricket. We get live feed all the time, without any advertisement (well, almost). This means that the overs still has 6 balls, and we can see which batsmen talk a lot, and which batsmen are content with just having a glove-smack.. And how the fielding captain arranges the field for the next over.

2. Camaraderie
We can get to see surprising camaraderie between players who are made out to be enemies by the media. Hayden-Flintoff focussing on the match at hand, Hayden-Harbajan having a laugh together.. Guys from various countries practicing and joking with each other.. It was encouraging that there is a sportsman at the heart of the increasingly commercial venture called cricket.

3. Inside stuff
We do get the inside story of the commentators and their thoughts and preparations. We get live audio feed too, which means a Richie Benaud pre-pitch report preparation, a Ravi Shastri banter, a Geoffery Boycott sigh, everything is spied on by the unsuspected mic left on. The other funny thing is that we can see every move of the umpires as they leisurely stroll the pitch and outfield in any rain delayed games, like the one today. Usually there is one Indian and one international umpire. The funny thing is that the Indian umpire behaves like a small kid who wouldnt go more than a foot away from the mother. This is in total contrast to the way they behave in local cricket leagues, as if they are God's representative, and everyone should comply to their whim and fancy.

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Sehwag - The Phenomenon !

A cricketer who is better described as a known unknown...

10 random things about this random guy...
1. Has an average of 30+ in ODIs, but has a maturity beyond what might come to mind with comparisons against Jayasuriya and Afridi
2. Has a strike rate of 100+ in over 200 ODI innings, and he did have 100+ strike rate in the recent test series..
3. Has crossed 150 the last 11 times he has crossed 100. He crosses 100 once in 7 innings, with an average of 50, comparable to his idol, Sachin Tendulkar.
4. Gets voted Wisden Leading Cricketer - 2009 and part of World XI
5. Gets voted #1 in The Confectionary Stall's unpredictable XI
6. Hits a 100 in his maiden test innings in South Africa on a bouncy track.
7. Hits a 201* out of team 302, playing the unplayable Ajantha Mendis in his maiden test series, which duly gets voted best innings of 2008.
8. Nobody knows what he will do next ball, including himself.
9. Has a simple philosophy - Hit every ball out of the ground.
10. The only guy to have brought up a 100 with a six, 200 with a six, and 300 with a six.
11. Looks like Inzi but he runs singles like a mad bull..
12. Amazing temperment for a guy whose instinct is to make every ball disappear
13. Has the audacity to feel pity for the bowlers bowling against him in a press conference..
14. Never plays without a helmet, just like his idol..
15. Has an amazing hand-eye coordination - while batting or slip-fielding. He has the best hands in slips after Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
16. The only guy I have seen hit the first 3 balls he has faced into the stands.. never mind it was the first ball of the first match of a series.

Yeah, I said 10, but hes Sehwag, and the numbers shud be a bit unpredictable at the least...

This guy has just been everywhere where cricket has been mentioned this year.. Go viru go - for a six, what else! IPL is worth subscribing, just for this guy...

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The Class of 2009

Here is a round up of the class of 2009..

Massa - Fiery latino deserves it, but will he get the support?
Kimi - Iceman has done it, has the speed, but wouldn't care less if its F1 or bullock cart racing. Will he have the fire?
Hamilton - Arrogant guy who everyone wants to beat just for the sake of beating. But hes in a McLaren and hes got the luck!
Kovalainen - Talkative Finn who's got nothing working for him.
Kubica - Great driver who would win some silverware for sure. Championship - lets see. I like him.
Heidfeld - Vexed ever since Merdeces ditched him.
Alonso - The champ who will try hard in a not-so-good car.
Nelson Piquet Jr - Father's money hasnt got him too far.
Trulli - Good but not great. Counting down his time in F1.
Timo Glock - Action packed. A bit like Massa in a Sauber.
Bourdais - Torro Rosso seems to hire only if your first name is Sebastian, so hes in luck.
Buemi - Impressed by his debut. Lets see...
Mark Webber - Steady, perennial under-achiever (from teams' perspective). Personally he just makes up the numbers.
Vettel - The champ in the making.. Comparison with Schumi are not too far-fetched.
Nico Rosberg - Good driver in under-achieving car. Needs his team to buck up if he should not be in a McLaren next year.
Kazuki Nakajima - Vying with his father to be the guy who crashed the most...
Adrian Sutil - Does well in circuits that suit him, I guess he has a lot of spare cash.
Fisichella - My fav gentle Italian whos better suited to fashion shows. Drives well in the wet. Farewell year I guess.
Jenson Button - The spark when he stepped into a Williams is back.. The question is will he achieve when the going gets tough?
Rubens Barrichello - Plays the foil the best, hes seen it all, done it all.. A good rear-guard. But I still remember Germany 2000.. Boy-o-boy, what a drive in the wet...

Bottomline is that the class of 2009 is 80% class, 15% lousy and 5% wicked. My guess is its definitely gonna be a class of its own!

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The New Age is in!!!

When was the last time we saw a conviction and guts of a team owner to take it from a verge of closure to a resounding win? Never.
When was the last time we saw a 1-2 from a debutant team? Fangio in 1954 at French GP.
When was the last time we saw a guy race from last to 4th position based on pure luck? Cant remember.
When was the last time we saw the second and third take themselves out with 2 laps to go? Never, although it did happen with Senna-Prost for 1-2 in Japan 1988.
When was the last time the race finished under a safety car? Schumi in Britain 1998.
When was the last time a rookie in a end-of-the-line car scored points? Mark Webber in Australia 2002.

Definitely, the new age for F1 has begun! Australia was always a very dramatic season opener with things happening, so it cant be the benchmark, but it seems like F1 has got a fresh breath of air. I haven't got so excited by a race, and blogged about it minutes after the race ever since Schumi retired.

People like Sebastian Buemi and Timo Glock provided more overtakings then seasoned ppl like Alonso, Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica provided steady runs on different strategies to the podium till their spectacular run-in with 2 laps to go. And to think both of them thought they had got away with it until a couple of corners later.. haha.. Giancarlo Fisichella, my favorite under-achiever, provided steady block using his extensive experience and kept Force India in contention until their pit-stop screw up. Jarno Trulli found just the right time to overtake Lewis Hamilton to get onto the podium (reminds me of Brazil 2003 when Fisi boy overtook Kimi to take the 1st place on what happened to be the final lap).

I am really glad about this season as it trully represents the new age, with plenty of young guys worth their weight in gold put themselves in the driving seat for million dollar salaries. And to think of it that no one wants to settle for second place - I wonder what would have happened if FIA hasnt reversed their decision on the "gold-winner" strategy.

Well, I am all smiles.. As Ross said at the end, "Go get it boy!"

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Disgusting!

Is the word that first came to my mind when I saw cricinfo today. Being from a country where billion is a common number to calibrate fans, where fans break across barriers of sex, religion and race, the ads in this popular website makes me wonder whether I am searching for cricket news or software cracks.

Cultural context is very important in some stuff, and advertising is one of them.. There are much better ways to make money guys..

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The Schumacher Saga

Why o why on earth does statistics play catch up? Maybe cos nothing is perfect, maybe cos it gives a human more inspiration to do one better...Whatever it is, it was really dampening to see the misery that was wielded upon Schumi today in the Chinese GP. He was by far the fastest in Pre-Qualifying and the race, and thereupon lies the sadness. For the F1 geeks, specially the schumi and ferrari fans, things werent really perfect today. You can love him, you can hate him but you can never avoid him - Thats schumi. I remember in suzuka 1998 when he was within the grasp of the championship fair and square - Last race, trailing by 1 point, Pole position, stall from grid, started last, running third with 26 laps to go and a blown tire right on the first turn! And today, Fastest in Pre-Qualifying, Spun in Qualifying due to mechanical glitch, Started last, running 5th on an even field, spun again, caught up again, blown tire halfway around the lap, fastest lap of the race...and finished 12th...aint a justification for a valiant effort where he wud have easily overtaken more than 20 cars!

The only consolation today is that Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) won the race, both their cars were the fastest, Rubens sealed the 2nd place in the Drivers championship, and thank god Schumi has already clinched the championship!

Some curious points I pondered about:

1. Whenever McLaren blew their tyres, it was always on the last turn leading into the pit lane, while Ferrari blow their tyres in the beginning of the lap!
2. Ralf Schumacher always ends up on worse during any collision, whether hes at fault or not
3. Coulthard always takes the bits and pieces remaining, by virtue of an entity called LUCK.
4. Montoya always has the attitude of being arrogant in victory (well, for a guy whoz won 3 races in his career till now, thts a bit too much i wud say), and starts blaming everyone for his poor performances.
5. When will Raikkonnen stop mumbling to himself and talk corrigibly?
6. Toyota, for their huge budget, isnt even getting TV exposure time nowadays!
7. Why Ferrari test driving hasnt "refined" Massa's driving style? Hes still the boy-ish go fast, try for every overtaking move, wear out the tyres and the breaks and finish in the low points.
8. Why Fisichella wasnt taken up as the replacement for Renault when Fisichella is contracted to Renault next year and Jacques Villenueve is contracted to Sauber next year? Plus Sauber has no one in sight in front or behind to worry, Renault is struggling to catch up on BAR!
9. Does Minardi blow something off just to get some TV time? That was the only time they were visible (that too, not quite cos of TV commercial).

Can anyone gimme any clues?