Australia's New Warnie?

Australia's dominance over the cricket world for the past decade revolved around tremendous exploits of the greatest Spin bowler world has ever seen - Shane Warne. Incidentally, Aussie decline corresponded with Warnie's retirement. Seeing the team's dismal performances of late, every Aussie Cricket Supporter is asking - Where's next Warnie?

Well, the Aussies seem to have unearthed a new Warnie - not like the wily leg spinner, but a stocky swashbuckling opener in David Warner. Whole of Australia is looking at him with lot of optimism in the wake of string of defeats. His extraordinary display of power hitting at MCG in first T20 match was today followed by an equally astonishing exhibition of strokeplay at SCG against South Africa. Warner's inclusion in national ODI team had raised many eyebrows as he is yet to play a single first class game for NSW. People had strted calling him as One Match Wonder following his failures in first two ODI games. But how well he answered the critics today!

Warner's inclusion in national team - without playing a first class game - must be the first instance in Australia's Cricket history. Such instances are common in Subcontinental Cricketing nations. But Australian selectors had to inject fresh blood to stem the rot. The likes of Shaun Marsh, David Warner, James Hopes seem to the future of Australian Cricket.

Warner's pyrotechnics notwithstanding, Aussies are trailing in the current ODI series against SAF. Will Warner help them win from here? Without the support from a jaded middle order, it seems unlikely.

Older Warnie has a long history of erratic behaviour that includes allegations of fixing, extra marital affairs and banned drugs. This new sensation also is believed to have been thrown out of Cricket Academy because of irresponsible behaviour. One hopes and Dave Gilbert, NSW coach assures, that Warner steers himself away from the conttroversies and concentrates on hitting ball as hard as he can.

A prospect of one Warnie against another awaits Indian fans. While Shane Warne come back to lead Rajasthan Royals, David Warner has been contracted by Delhi Daredevils for the next IPL season. Daredevils aleady boast of world's best opening pair in Sehwag and Gambhir. Warner will add immensely to Delhi's fire power. It will be interesting to see green horn facing upto a wily old fox!

Hockey Or Cricket: What should be India’s National sport?

Overjoyed by India’s excellent showing in International Cricket in 2008, MAK Pataudi, former India Captain, strongly advocated that Cricket be declared as India’s National Sport. Instant sharp reactions by diehard Hockey supporters, including some former Gold medal winning Olympians followed, as expected. Some of them even dared Indian Cricket team to win six world cups in a row before demanding the status!

Ironically, Leslie Claudius, former Indian Hockey legend doesn’t mind Hockey being stripped of the privilege. His words "Hockey doesn’t have future in India" echoes the disgust, frustration and grief shared by millions of Indians who care about Indian Hockey. All the former stalwarts, who take pride in India’s glorious past, literally turned blind as KPS Gill and other administrators killed the sport. None of them dared to stand up and challenge the autocratic IHF officials. State of Hockey seems to have gone down to the point of no return. So yes, why not elevate Cricket, the sport in which Indians are doing well of late to the status symbol?

India made its debut in international Cricket in 1932. By then Indian Hockey had already won its first Gold in Olympics. India could not win a single test for next two decades, while gold medal winning spree continued even after independence. The five gold medals prior to independence must have been one of the factors in proclaiming Hockey as National Sport. Strangely, Indian Hockey’s decline started in sixties as Indian Cricket just started to make its mark.

Pre-independence Cricket was controlled by Maharajas. As the administration came to the Merchants, Wankhedes and Salves, Cricket started to spread. Hockey though, disintegrated, affected particularly by the partition. India’s performance prior to World Cup in 1975 had started to drop. There was chaos in IHF too at that time. The world cup win should have been a booster for Hockey. IHF could not capitalize on the world cup victory and immediately plummeted in 1976 Olympics.

BCCI, on the other hand, perfectly encashed the 1983 world cup win. Cricket following has been rising ever since. Pictures of Kapil Dev lifting the Prudential Cup has inspired world beaters like Sachin and Co. Rising economic clout of Indian society was shrewdly tapped by Dalmiya and same is being done by Lalit Modi. India is the financial capital of World of Cricket today. What is more, Indian team too is good enough to stake claim for being the best in the world today.

Huge following. Good infrastructure. Shrewd marketeers. World class performers. Everything in Cricket's favour. Dwindling public inerest. Hopeless administration. Shameful results. Everything against Hockey. So, should the government go with Pataudi's wish and declare Cricket as India's National sport? Sure, why not? But it should also withdraw Tiger's status as National Animal! After all, Indian forests are fast becoming bereft of tigers too!!

A Left Handed Harbhajan Singh?

Many years ago, I had read an absorbing Marathi sci-fi short story (उजव्या सोंडेचा गणपती) by Dr. Jayant Naralikar, the renowned Indian Astrophysicist and Science fiction writer (the English version of the story had appeared in The Illustrated Weekly). It was about a legendary Off Spinner who is past his prime, but wants to have one last hurrah. His Scientist friend transforms him into his mirror image and converts him into a left arm spinner. (While I do not remember the physics behind the story, it had something to do with the clockwise / anticlockwise spin on the electrons). The story narrates how mesmerizes the opposition by bowling left handed on his farewell test.

I remembered this story when I read this new item about two ambidextrous bowlers, Vikas Chauhan and Mohammad Ebrahim Sanauth being contracted by Kolkatta Knight Riders for the new season of IPL. The KKR coach John Buchanan seems excited about these players with this exceptional ability to bowl equally well with right and left hand. At least I do not know of any bowler or batsman equally adept at using right and left hand, having played at first class level.

While there are numerous examples of players batting left handed but using right hand for bowling (or vice versa), a batsman able to bat right or left handed , or bowler bowiling with either hand are not known. A well chronicled incidence of a Ranji trophy match in which Sunil Gavaskar batting left handed trying to thwart Raghuram Bhatt of Karnataka, who was exploiting the rough outside the right hander’s leg stump comes to mind as lone exception.

More recently, England’s Kevin Peterson’s switch hitting is creating a lot of controversy. In Gavaskar’s case it was there for everybody to see that he had taken left hander’s stance. But Peterson suddenly jumps to left hander’s position even as the ball is delivered. There has been a raging debate about the legality of the switch hitting and the spirit of the game.

Now this prospect of bowlers able to bowl with both hands. At the start of each over, the Umpire announces the mode of delivery by the bowler ( right arm over the wicket). What if the bowler suddenly delivers the ball with the ‘other’ hand un-announced? Just as Peterson jumps un-announced? Will he be allowed to do so?

No harm in allowing I believe. Just as the batsman uses the reverse sweet to surprise and unsettle bowler, the bowler too can throw a surprise. A googly , Doosara, or the slower delivery are the weapons in a bowler’e armoury, which can be strengthened by being ambidextrous. Imagine Harbhajan bowling left arm around the wicket! Cricket will be certainly more exciting. Don’t you think so?