The false dawn of Test cricket?

The last two weeks have been very topsy-turvy in Test cricket! We had a promise of a new and maybe improved world order - Bangladesh beat Australia (in Bangladesh) and West Indies beat England in a Test (well, in the case of WI, the match should have been a draw, were it not for Joe Root's sporting declaration). I thought that hey, maybe now WI will go back to becoming world beaters again. And maybe Bangladesh (who already are a good team), will now go on to become great.
Sadly, Australia thrashed Bangladesh in the second test, with David Warner playing an uncharacteristic innings to ensure the Aussies wouldn't lose. Nathan Lyon then took the wickets to get them to win. Actually, nothing sad about Australia winning a test, it's just that I would always like their opponents (even if the opponent is Pakistan) to win :D . But hey, the Aussies showed why they are a very very tough team to beat. And their batsmen and bowlers showed that they possess the skills and the mental strength to play when conditions are not favorable!
And what do we say of West Indies? That they flattered to deceive...again? England is an inconsistent test team anyway; if they win one match , they manage to lose the next (like they did in the most recent Eng vs SA series). So, WI winning test 2 wasn't an aberration entirely. But then, to lose the third test the way they did (I am talking of the second innings, not so much the first innings. Both teams bowled fantastic in their first innings), was to actually question if the 2nd test match was just luck or actual good play?
Sigh! Sometimes things are too good to be true. So then, the test world order (in terms of capability of teams) continues to be India, England, Aus and SA in the top 4. Not in terms of ranking (I have no idea what their test rankings are)! Maybe Bangladesh will be at 5 and Pak at 6. But hey, interesting test series in the near future - India vs SA, the Ashes and then India vs England. It will be interesting to see how Kohli's team fares against the SAffers (or Faffers) in SA and against Root's men in England. Here's hoping for some really intense test cricket :)

Sporting declarations!

Right now, all of us test enthusiasts are celebrating 2 Huuuuge events - WI beating England yesterday (2nd Test) and Bangladesh beating Australia today (1st test). Not that we love England or Australia less (wait...I do not like Australia, despite the fact that they are a much more gentlemanly team now), it's just that we love the underdog more!
But I do not want to write about the underdog - No Sir. For me, while the Bangladesh victory was entirely a Bangladesh contribution (and full marks to them ), the WI victory had a lot to do with Joe Root's 'sporting declaration' on the 4th day of the Test. He sat WI 322 to chase and win on day 5. That seemed reasonable (given usually how bad WI bat , and how well England bowl). But, surprise-surprise, WI actually won! And made Joe Root look foolish. So, I thought of digging up some such declarations that made Test matches interesting!

1. SA versus England tour 1999/2000, 5th Test : The series was won; SA were up 2-0. The 5th test had seen a lot of rain and a result was not looking possible (SA had batted). So, the spectators were in for some disappointment. But hey, Hansie Cronje forfeited one innings, convinced England to do the same and the result was that England were directly in the 4th innings chasing 249 to win. They won! All of us fans thought it was a great gesture - it turned out to be a fixed match. You can read about this here

2. India versus Australia, Chennai 1986 (1st Test) : Also famous as the Chennai Tied test! Not sure if Allan Border had been sporting or downright condescending. Australia batted first and declared in both innings - second innings declared on 170/5 . At that stage, maybe India chasing 348 in the final innings looked impossible! But wonder-of-wonders, India came so close to winning that the test got tied!

3. WI versus England, 1968 (4th Test) : Maybe Joe Root was compensating for this test. Sir Garfield Sobers decided that he would make the match interesting. So, he declared on 92/2 and set England 215 on the last day; thinking that it would be enough! Enough to allow England to win and create a result out of a match that was not expected to have a result!

To read more interesting stuff on declarations in cricket - do check this blog .

Dhoni shepherds Bhuvaneshwar to a 100 run partnership!

Most of us (myself certainly), thought that Dhoni's playing days were about over! That it was possibly better not to make Dhoni part of ODI/ T20 teams and instead give other players a chance (maybe, make KL Rahul keep wickets if you couldn't find a good wicketkeeper-batsman). Not out of any malice towards Dhoni; it's just that of late Dhoni seemed to be losing his touch, unable to finish matches.
But yesterday showed us Dhoni in a new avatar. A finisher indeed - but who ensured that he stayed around and encouraged others to finish the job, who acted as a player and a coach at the same time, who got a no. 9 batsman to reach his first half century in 69 matches!
The second India vs Sri Lanka ODI (Micromax Cup 2017) began on a very familiar note - SL batting well, then losing the plot and then being saved by some sensible batting by no.6 and 7! 236 as a total never looked enough - India were set 231 in 47 overs (Duckworth Lewis) and reached 109 for no loss in some 15 overs! It looked like India would finish this match too in 30 overs. Then both openers got our quickly - India rejigged the batting order to give other batsmen a chance!
But then - something surprising! A bowler out of nowhere took 6 wickets to leave India at 131/7 - 7 wickets lost for 22 runs!! Akila Dananjaya , coming to play a match the day after his wedding, took 6 wickets! The best part? He got 3 of the batsmen - including Kohli, bowled to googlies. It sort of reminded me of Kumble where he would spin but then trick batsmen with straight balls and get wickets.
So, at 131/7 - India looked like losing the match by a huge margin. After all, there were 100 runs to get in around 25 overs. Not too many runs needed, but hardly any wickets in hand! Dhoni only had the bowlers for company ! And Dhoni wasn't even batting as well as usual. But hey - we got to see Dhoni in a new avatar - he rotated strike, took singles and didn't allow Bhuvaneshwar Kumar to play a rash shot - even when Bhuvi played 17 continuous dot balls! Surprisingly, Dhoni didn't even hit boundaries later (he hit one overall) - instead he let Bhuvi do all the hitting to reach his maiden half century.
SL were unlucky to lose - but a master showed their batsmen how to keep calm when things are not going your way. SL re-discovered a bowler and India realized that their batting line-up runs deeper than they thought! So, all in all, not a bad day for cricket!

Saving cricket's Tests!

Hey! Anyone watching that?

1 week - 2 test matches and 2 disastrous results! India beat SL in 3 days and won the series 3-0; England best WI in their first test - again within 3 days and in fact by getting WI out twice in a day!

The India-SL series saw pretty much no spectators ; the Eng-WI one had a whole lot of people in the stadium (because it was a day-night affair)! However, looking at the way the first test went, it is unlikely that spectators will buy tickets for the rest of the Eng-WI series! But hey - we are all kicked up about the Ashes, the India-Australia series, the SA-Aus series and maybe the India-England ones too!

It appears that there are 2 kinds of test matches - those that interest viewers (and hence they don't mind following the match in some way) and those that are outright futile (India-SL or Eng-WI for example). But if you look at it seriously, there are some basic problems that Test cricket has:

Let's have more competitive games please!

1. Format - A 5 day game! Who seriously has the time to spend 5 days on a game. That too with each day lasting maybe 7 hours! Even ODIs are under pressure from T20, so , it is natural that people have lesser interest in Tests!

2. Lopsided competition - About 20 or 25 years back, it was almost always the case that the home team would win the test series. Otherwise, they would all play out draws! But, each side used to make an attempt to win (except certain recordbreaking matched like these) . Now, it looks like teams give up after the first days play! WI is not even sending its best team anywhere. Infact, if there is a test series between any two of India, Australia, England and maybe South Africa, there is a chance of a competitive game. 

3. Home advantage and the toss - Other than the home advantage (England takes advantage of swing, India of spin), there is also this whole thing of the toss. Win, the toss, bat first and save yourself from having to bat on the 4th or 5th day to win/save the match! Given that the pitch deteriorates towards the last day of the Test and also considering that the home team knows the conditions best, the visiting team is almost always at a disadvantage with the toss!

4. Remuneration - Test quality players sometimes carry that label and hence miss out on all the money in professional T20 leagues. Also, test matches earn less money for the player (and yet need more commitment). More importantly, a player who is great in Tests, but not in the short format (Cheteshwar Pujara for example) doesn't even seem to get sponsorship opportunities! So, can some players really be blamed for not wanting to play Test cricket?

While there have been some discussions around trying to organize Test matches better and having a sort of Test World Cup that will add more meaning to bilateral series, all these plans have not materialized. Some are talking of doing away with tests altogether and only having T20 - there is this interesting article on the same : 

But Test cricket does have its fans (spectators who actually pay for the ticket) and from a players development perspective, it definitely helps batsmen and bowlers improve their game significantly. But we might need changes in forma and mindset to allow Test cricket to survive :

1. Format - I am borrowing someone else's idea here- why not reduce Test cricket to a 4 day, day-night game? Something that will be played only Thursday to Sunday, so that spectators will atleast turn up on the last 2 days? To ensure teams try and win (and not draw), a test championship and a suitable point structure is needed ; more on that later.

2. The home advantage and toss - 2 ways of looking at this; either let the uncertainties continue (home team leans on the curator to make a suitable pitch etc.) , but allow the visitors the right to decide what they want to do first (no toss) or allow random drop-in pitches to be used (used sometimes in ODIs) and take away the home advantage altogether. The pitch will be something both teams discover only on the morning of the match , so any advantage the home team might have had is gone. Infact, maybe we will have interesting scenarios where there is a pitch suited for spinners in Australia or maybe for fast bowlers in India!

3. Remuneration - This part is tricky! There are more ticket proceeds, there's more sponsorship money and more money for Telecast rights in case of T20s (and also ODIs)! So, how can a test player be paid more money that a T20 player? So, maybe the boards will need to use T20s to cross-subsidize Tests better. More importantly, the cricket boards should take away the temptation of T20 leagues competing with Tests by locking a calendar for T20 contests like IPL, BBL etc. etc. When the leagues are in progress (and 2 or 3 leagues can be operational in parallel), no Tests will be played and vice-versa. Then, it will also make it possible for the cricket boards to make Test participation a pre-condition for T20 league participation by players! So, in short - pay the players better in Tests and allow them T20 opportunities like IPL/BBL etc.

4. Lopsided competition - If point 3 above is taken care of, each country will be more likely to field its best team. In which case the competition is not so lopsided! However, to ensure this is indeed so, a better way might be to have a 2 tiered test structure with relegation/ promotion. This will make each Test match interesting (hopefully).

5. Kill ODIs -  Though there might not be a very strong link here, it is my hypothesis that 3 formats are way too much in cricket. T20 is better that ODIs as a shorter format (more games in the same time, more unpredictability and hence more fun) and Tests score over ODIs as a longer version! So, why have the added complication of one more format? Eliminating ODIs will save up time for more (interesting) T20 matches and Tests. It will also reduce injuries and fatigue among players to some extent!

6. The Test Championship - Finally, having a Test championship might actually keep everyone interested. It will help if there is an actual 'final match/series'between the number 1 and 2 ranked teams. But even without it, it should be fun to see teams having a clear target towards being crowned the Test Champion. It would be even better if teams are penalized for drawing matches (a drawn match makes both teams lose 1 point; an outright win on the other hand will give the winner 3 points and the loser 0). Thus, Test matches will be saved from draws (not there there are too many drawn matches these days). 

My few thoughts as a Test cricket fan. More ideas/ thoughts are welcome.

And test cricket gets into a rut....

Realized I haven't written in more than a month - guess I got carried away with the excitement of watching the Women's World Cup (and of the Indian cricket team coming really really close to lifting the World Cup!).
In many ways, the Women's World Cup was an eye opener. It showed how closely contested matches can make the game interesting - yet it faced the familiar problem of lopsided contests. It also made me wonder why women do not play test cricket often!
But lets forget about women's cricket now and come back to the men's game. SA were playing England in England. After losing the first test badly, SA thrashed Eng in the second test and rekindled some hopes of a contest! But the 3rd and 4th tests proved that 1) SA no longer bat as well as they used to! 2) SA also are unable to bowl as well as they used to! 3) The all-rounders in the England team are really all rounders - they bat and bowl well. Unlike in India when they batted AND bowled badly!
It also proved that a good leader can only do so much - Faf coming back to captain SA in the 2nd test, did lift their spirits and won them the game. But hey, same team failed comprehensively in the next 2 games! The same Joe Root who was praised after the first test, then castigated after the second is now being hailed as a great captain!
Another great captain , of course is Virat Kohli. India versus SL - India won the first 2 tests by huuuuuge margins! SL has (still) not been able to recover from the loss of Malinga, Vaas, Sangakkara and Jayawardene! And so, India has a chance of white-washing SL 3-0 in this series! It will be interesting to see how Kohli and team fare on away Test tours - versus SA, England or Australia. That's where the true test of India as a test team, will be. Until then, more one-sided test series in store! 

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.....

Trust India to breathe life into any series (we really are sporting in our mindset) - the India vs West Indies cricket series seemed all but settled (oh - you are not aware that it is being played? I don't blame you- there are other games afoot in men's cricket. Read those here and here) when we Indian's decided to breathe some life into this series. After 3 matches, where we won 2, one was washed out on account of rain, we entered the 4th match and chased (something most teams today think they are good at). There was only 190 to get...in 50 overs! Teams have done that in 20! And yet, India lost by 11 runs! The interesting part is that it took us 49.4 overs to get all out.
Anyway, my post today is not about how bad the Indian team played, or how well Holder bowled (in my limited opinion, he is the best thing to happen to WI cricket in a long long time. He may not be a superstar, but he is 100% committed to the cause). Rather, I thought of compiling some such near misses - memorable 'snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in cricket :

1. South Africa versus Australia, 1999 WC semi-final : For a generation of fans, the South Africa versus Australia semi-final in 1999 is possibly the most heart-aching of matches. Rather than read the score-card, read the report here . A match that Lance Klusner all but won for SA, was lost due to it being tied! Australia went through because they had beaten SA in the Super Six stage.

2. South Africa versus India, 1993 Hero Cup semi final : Wonder what it is about SA losing semi-finals (they started the trend in the 1992 World Cup when fate and the rains denied them a possible Semi final victory). With 196 to win and 4 to score off the last over, there was no way SA could lose (it shouldn't have come down to that in the first place). Then Tendulkar bowled....and India won by 2 runs!!

3. NewZeland versus India , 1990 Rothmans Cup : Not much available about this match. Except that NewZeland were 148/3 chasing 222 and were playing at home. It was perfectly gettable, except that Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar prevailed!

4. SL versus India, 2009 : I guess this is around the time that ODIs started getting ridiculous! India hit 414 which seemed a more than enough total. SL reached 316/1 in 36 overs - 100 to get in 14 overs was surely ridiculously simple from there. Nopes. They lost by 3 runs!

5. West Indies versus SA, 2005 : At last, a game where SA managed not to lose! Chasing 283, WI were in the game - Gayle hit a century and got out when 27 were needed in 24 balls, with Bravo still playing. It came down to 2 needed in 4 balls with 3 wickets left! WI lost all three and lost by 1 run with 1 ball to spare!

More such games you can think of, where a side that looked like winning suddenly lost (and preferably those that do not involve SA losing)? Would be great to know. 

Coming soon - the Mother of all disruptions

Ok, I am not using disruption in a positive way here. Rather in a 'Beware, things might get so bad, the previous months will feel like good times. Hell, even the demonetization days will start looking good' kind of way!
Yes, I am talking about GST, which will hit the road starting the day after tomorrow (and any resemblance to any apocalypse themed movie title is purely coincidental and unintentional). Several countries have implemented a unified Goods and Services Tax; in most of them there is one single rate (to make life easy). India has taken a step in that direction with a 5 slab structure - 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%. There is also a 40% slab which is yet to be introduced.
There have been quite some articles in the media about how GST will be good (by the government and by the business community - the government's reasons are obvious. The businesses do not want to rub the government the wrong way). There have also been a lot of articles criticizing it - I came across this one today. While a lot of them focus on the multiplicity of rates, there are some other reasons for us to be critical of GST. And in my limited opinion, slabs are not a valid reason:

1. Slabs - Multiple slabs are a nuisance. Yes! They will make it difficult to classify things, they will give people reasons to get creative and pass off their businesses under lower rates and they will definitely give rise to protests/ threats/ representations and maybe legislation to get certain businesses/sectors/ items under lower tax slabs. But, these are necessary to limit abrupt price rises (which is why most food items are at lower slabs). Ultimately, the government will move towards one or maybe two GST rates (alcohol, tobacco and some other 'luxuries' will more likely move from 28% to 40%; everything else will finally settle down at a 12/15% rate. Yes, there will always be a 0% for some items, but that is the closest we will ever get to a single rate!). This multiplicity of rates is a necessary compromise between politics and business!
2. Increased cost of compliance - This is definitely a very valid complaint about GST. Returns need to be filed thrice each month and (apparently) in every state in which the business the operational. My reason for using 'apparently' will become apparent (for want of a better word) in the next point. But yes, the increased work in terms of filing returns will make people spend more effort on ensuring compliance and less on actual business.
3.Supreme lack of clarity - This is possibly the biggest problem. The Government had been very transparent in issuing the entire rate structure, the items covered and not covered under GST. However, because of the fact that it is very detailed, there is way too much information for people to parse (and also because by nature, we are time-starved, low on attention etc etc , most people have either not read it fully or selectively interpreted it - myself included). Also, the government has decided that it will roll (rather steamroll) GST on July 1, come what may. Indians are so accustomed to deadline extensions (we engineers perfected this in our engineering colleges), that most people thought July 1 would be missed. Now that is not going to happen!
4. Limited dialogue with businesses and media - Assuming the government is the only party that understands the true impact of GST (and I hope this assumption is not wrong), it would have helped tremendously, if the government were to give a detailed tutorial/ FAQ through Youtube/ FB/ T etc. explaining the sectorwise impact and most importantly , the impact on prices. Today, since such information is not available, everyone has a different point of view. Marketeers are making hay by announcing 'pre-GST' sales (the assumption being prices will be high post GST), builders are trying to get people to finish purchases prior to July 1 (though the govt. says that prices in real estate should come down) and dealers are refusing to stock up (due to lack of clarity on input taxes). To my mind, this bit is what is affecting people most. This is also something that has the potential of causing chaos for the next quarter!

Here's hoping I am wrong....