#SandpaperGate !

2 days - great matches were played (SA vs Aus, Eng vs NZ, Af vs WI and Eng(W) vs Ind (W) ) and yet, one event has taken the attention of the world away from events on the pitch, to events off it!
The 3rd Test in the Australia tour of SA was shaping up to be a great encounter - Dean Elgar refused to bow to the Aussie pressure on his way to 141 not out, the Aussie tail fought hard to move Australia close to the SA total and in the third innings, Markram, ABD and Vernon Philander were doing their best to ensure that the SA lead stretched. In the middle of all that - Cameron Bancroft was caught using some tape or sandpaper to rough up the ball, with the intention of getting swing!
The juniormost team member was caught tampering the ball! The cameras recorded everything, so there was no escape. The team came clean on what happened - Steven Smith saying that the 'leadership group' knew what was happening (the coach was above blame). The fact that this was premeditated and well planned, is the reason why there is so much furor since.
So, what's happened after #SandpaperGate on March 24?
1. Australia lost the test by a huge margin - they are in danger of losing their unbeaten record against SA in SA (post readmission).
2. Steven Smith and David Warner (the 'leadership group' ) was asked to step down for the rest of the Newlands test. They played under Tim Paine.
3. Steven Smith has received a 1 match suspension. He has also effectively been relieved of captaincy on a 'permanent' ish basis.
4. Steven Smith will no longer lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL; David Warner's captaincy at SRH is in doubt too!
5. The Aussies are ashamed of their cricket team, they have been labeled cheats .
6. There is talk of a lifetime ban! That sounds and seems harsh.

It is some ways tragic, that had this not been caught by the cameras, the Aussies would have gotten away with this stunt. But, in the era of constant camera surveillance (and stump mic recordings), what used to pass off as acceptable behavior earlier, is no longer so! Ball tampering in any form, was always cheating, and will continue to be. With the increased scrutiny overall, I guess players need to be trained on how to be at their best at all times , especially on the field.

See-saw battle - The Hero Nidahas T20 final

I didn't really think I would write about a T20 match (ok - writing about a T20 match is better than writing about an ODI), but yesterday's T20 match between India and Bangladesh was quite nail-biting in the way that only T20 matches can be.
Bangladesh reached 166 in 20 overs - thanks to a flourish in the last over (I guess 18 runs came off that over) and India began chasing 167 explosively. 24 in 2 overs, then India started losing wickets, the pitch slowed down, yet India were in the hunt. The required run rate was always in the vicinity of 8 and Ro 'HIT MAN' Sharma was batting. Suddenly Rohit got out, the other batsmen were struggling and India needed 34 of 18 balls. Still looked achievable as Manish Pandey was batting. I was flipping through channels and suddenly when I got back to the match, the scenario was 34 needed in 12!
This is how my ball-by-ball reactions were for these last 12 deliveries:

1. 34 needed off 12, Karthik comes in " Damn, how did India get to this. OK, wait, the Fizz bowled a wicket maiden!! In the 18th over! How could India let him do that? Ok, what will Karthik do now? No chance he can do that - Robel Hassan's bowling" Wham! DK hit a 6!
2. 28 off 11 - " Hmmm. That 6 might have been a fluke. DK is gonna get out now! India will lose" Wham! That's a boundary!! " Ok, looks like we are gonna go down with a fight"
3. 24 off 10 -"Maybe another 6? Maybe not!" Wham! "DK has really outdone himself!"
4. 18 off 9 -" better that DK hits 3 sixes and finished this off. No way we can repeat this in the 20th over! Damn! Dot ball?? Now?? ok. Let's see the next one"
5. 18 off 8 - "Let is be a six ...or a four...whatever, no single please. Ok, that's better, 2 runs. 16 to win then"
6. 16 off 7 - "Six! Six! Six.....Four! Ok, I thought Karthik believed in that Kotak line - why take 4 when 6 is more....anyway, 12 off the last over. Doable?"
7. 12 off 6 -" Oh damn! Shankar on strike!! Man, get the hell out of there. Just take a single and give strike.....no no, don't get run-out you idiot! Ok, keeper missed and all looks well. We got a free run , thanks to the wide"
8. 11 off 6 - " One more free delivery, maybe a no ball from Soumya Sarkar won't hurt! Anyway, that bugger Shankar had better take a single instead of acting like a hero...and Oh! WTF! dot ball?"
9. 11 off 5 -" Come on Shankar, single..single...Yesss! DK on strike"
10. 10 of 4 - " One six now ....then maybe they can take two 2's and keep some interest till last ball.....six..six....six...ONE! Why did DK take that single? He should have refused to run!"
11. 9 off 3 -"Shankar, for heaven's sake take a single. DK is in form. He will score 8 off 2...just give him strike." Bam! "Wow! Shankar hit a 4!"
12. 5 off 2 - " Lets finish this boys, lets finish this. One six and it should be done. Well played Bangladesh and all that - that Shakib is a real strategist...ok, Shankar, lets finish this" Wham! Up she goes." Oh! This won't carry - wait , wait - 2 fielders underneath it. They will drop it for sure! Ha!This has jumped from the fielders hands...what..wait, relay catch? Shankar is out! They should ban relay catches. Has DK crossed over?
13. 5 off 1 - " Has DK crossed over? even the Hindi commentators don't know! Wait is that him at the non-strikers end? Washington Sundar facing the last ball? We are goners...wait, DK is on strike. Ok, maybe we can have a tie...maybe something else....." Wham! A really flat shot" Six! Six! India has won! Whew - how the hell did DK pull it off! I wonder!

Really - which one's the No.1 Test team?

India came bask from a reasonably triumphant SA tour - we lost the Test series 1-2 (we won the last one), but won the ODI series 5-1 and the T20 series 2-1. Yes, The coach and captain have declared their intention very clearly , of winning the next Overseas Test series and have begun some level of planning and preparation. That's India, the No. 1 Test team. SA are No. 2 and Aus No. 3 in these rankings.
But are these rankings a reflection of reality? One look at the first Aus versus SA test (in SA right now) says otherwise. At the end of Day 3, Aus have a 400+ lead in the third innings of the match (having secured a 189 run lead in their first innings). SA's batting is looking worse than it did against India, so, chances of them winning are slim. This is the same SA team that made life difficult for India in SA, but looks worse off against Australia. The Aussies, mind you, were the only visiting team that gave India a scare in the Test series in India last year.
So, based on this, Aus is better than India (the recent Ashes performances have bolstered that) and India might just be better than SA. Hopefully, we will see a change in Test rankings soon.


P.S: I completely missed writing about the SL vs Bangladesh Test series. SL beat Bangladesh in Bangladesh - Rangana Herath , as usual , played a key role.