Magnificent England level series

MUMBAI: It was in the sixth over of the chase that Denis Compton’s grandson Nick flat-battedPragyan Ojha – India’s most successful bowler in the series – for a morale-crushing six over mid wicket. England needed 19 runs then to restore parity in the four-Test series and Compton’s shot came as a surprise, for everything he had done prior to the bullying biff reeked of the staid and sedate.

For the most of two Tests, England had batted for time, survival, to stay competitive. Compton’s strike mirrored their growing confidence. Expected to be rolled over at Mumbai after losing the opener at Ahmedabad, Alastair Cook’s men turned another lost toss and doctored wicket to their advantage –gaining a magnificent ten-wicket victory to level the series.

The result went one better on India’s nine-wicket triumph in the first Test and was set up by the very protagonists who had been tipped to play a pivotal role in the sub-continent. Kevin Pietersen harnessed his oversized ego to score one of the most attacking centuries by a visiting batsman in India. Captain Alastair Cook’s hundred was a study in contrast – the perfect foil to his temperamental partner’s rampage – and in Monty Panesar’s recall England discovered what they had missed most at Motera, a genuine spinner to support Graeme Swann. 

Spin reversal
Panesar claimed 11 scalps in the match, bowling extended and teasing spells and destroying India alongside off-spinner Swann – who reached a personal landmark of 200 Test wickets during the match. It was a pitch made to order – orders of the Indian skipper, if you please! - for England’s downfall. But if anybody capitalized on the conditions, it was the visitors. Panesar and Swann dismissed 19 Indian batsmen; while India’s trio of tweakers – Ojha, R. Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh – could manage just nine wickets among them. And that’s where the match was won or lost.

Panesar’s 11/210 were the third-best figures at the Wankhede after all-rounder Ian Botham (13/106) and leg-spinner L. Sivaramakrishnan (12/181). This was also the first time that England had won a Test match that featured both Panesar and Swann. After this happy precedent, the two are likely to get more matches together, if nowhere else then at Kolkata and Nagpur where this intriguing series will seek thrilling closure. 

Apart for the spin reversal, India were undone by casual batting: aside from Cheteshwar Pujara in the first innings, and Gautam Gambhir in the second, the batsmen failed to apply themselves. Perhaps the most worrying aspect was how Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh were made to look like rank novices on a turning wicket. It would be interesting to see if the selectors bring in any changes for the third Test at Eden Gardens, which begins on December 5.

Pure morning
India resumed effectively on 31/7 in the morning, trying their utmost bring the lead close to 100, but were able to add just 25 more to set England a target of 57. Harbhajan was the first to go, trying to cut a fast Swann off-break and edging to the left of Trott at slip. A few fell blows from Zaheer Khan were the need of the hour. But the fast-bowler’s attempted slog against Panesar – who was once again getting telling turn and bounce -  resulted in a top-edge to Matt Prior behind the wicket.

Gambhir had provided the solitary resistance all this while. He needed runs and he got them, but failed to carry his bat when he was the last wicket to fall. It was another poor decision – this time by Tony Hill – as Gambhir appeared to have inside-edged on to his pads. England would have breathed a sigh of relief, for the target was way less that the humiliating 72 they’d been dismissed for at Abu Dhabi chasing 142 against Pakistan earlier in the year.

Easy chase
Cook and Compton raced away in their pursuit, gaining a win inside 10 overs. Although Cook was tested somewhat in Ashwin’s opening over, Compton was quite unlike his earlier watchful avatar. He stroked carefree boundaries, including the symbolic six off Ojha – as India’s three spinners failed to make a dent on the England openers. 

Victory came in keeping with all that had happened in the match. Ashwin bowled a howler down the leg-side that went hurrying for byes to the fence for the winning runs. The batsmen let out a howl of joy, pulling out stumps as souvenirs. Whatever these two do from here, you can rest assured the stumps will remain for posterity one of their most prized  possessions. A Test win in India after losing the toss on a turning wicket: England, you beauty!

Kallis and Amla make Australia grind at Brisbane

Amla and Kallis are both approaching centuries as South Africa went into stumps at 255 for 2 on the first day at the Gabba.

Ponting helps Siddle to his feet after he dropped a caught and bowled chance from Amla. (Getty Images)

Scorecard | Action in Images


Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis are both approaching centuries as South Africa went into stumps at 255 for 2 on the first day at the Gabba in Brisbane today as play ended five minutes before the scheduled close just when Australia captain Michael Clarke took the new ball. But, umpires Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden ended the day's proceedings at the time despite only 82 overs being bowled in the day as the light was fading.

South Africa captain Graeme Smith will be pleased with the performance of his batsmen as three of the top four came good on a pitch that didn't do as much much was expected, but Australia will rue their missed opportunities. Amla unbeaten on 90 and Kallis, who is 84 not out, will look to not only reach their respective centuries, but also to extend their 136-run partnership for the third wicket at a venue where South Africa are playing their first Test match since 1963. The century stand between Amla and Kallis is their 11th in Tests; and only Kallis and AB de Villiers with 12 century stands are ahead on list of South African batting pairs with most century partnerships. 

Australia could have dismissed both Amla and Kallis though in the post-tea session with Peter Siddlebeing the central factor in both situations. While Kallis was caught off a Siddle no-ball when on 43, the bowler failed to hold onto a caught and bowled chance off Amla when the batsman was on 74. Siddle and the rest of the Australian team will hope these missed opportunites don't cost them too dear, especially as South Africa look all set to post a huge total.

The hosts will need to bounce back strongly tomorrow and the onus will be on the pace trio of Siddle,Ben Hilfenhaus and James Pattinson to improve on their first day's performance; with the pressure also increasing on off-spinner Nathan Lyon.


SOUTH AFRICA SHOW
Alviro Petersen missed a good chance to score his fifth century, but Amla reached the 5000 Test runs landmark as South Africa added 96 runs in the second session to go into tea at 186 for 2 after 55 overs. Amla was 69 not out with Kallis unbeaten on 37 as the pair went on a rampage just before the break finding the gaps in the field and hitting boundaries at regular intervals.

Hilfenhaus and Pattinson started the session well and kept things tight immediately after lunch but Kallis counter-attacked while Amla unfurled his signature drives and cuts as the Australian bowlers gradually buckled under the pressure as South Africa regained the momentum after Petersen's dismissal. 

Petersen, who reached his 50 from 99 deliveries, had a controversial let-off when he survived a loud LBW appeal from Hilfenhaus when on 51. The Australians went for their third referral but the TV umpire ruled "umpire's call" despite replays showing the ball first hitting the toe of the boot of Petersen's leading foot and heading for the middle stump as some part of the ball had pitched outside the off stump. The failed referral also meant Australia had no more reviews left for the rest of the South African innings. Petersen (64) then added insult to injury when he cut the very next delivery to the boundary, but his 127-ball innings ended when he mishit a Nathan Lyon delivery to Hussey at mid-on as the 90-run partnership for the second wicket came to an abrupt end against the run of play.

Kallis got off the mark with a boundary off Lyon, but then followed a good spell for Australia as the bowlers kept things tight and the batsmen found fielders more often than not. Amla had a close shave on 42 when he was well beaten by a Siddle length delivery, but soon reached his half-century in the 108th delivery that he faced with a glorious cover drive of Hilfenhaus. Kallis, meanwhile, stamped his authority with a six off Lyon even as he kept the scoreboard ticking over.


STEADY START
Pattinson trapped Smith plumb in front and got the decision in his favour after some drama; but this success apart, the first session of the three-Test series between Australia and South Africa at the Gabba in Brisbane today, belonged to the hosts.

Smith elected to bat on a greenish and lively wicket and his decision was vindicated as South Africa went into lunch at 90 for 1 in their first Test appearance in Brisbane for 49 years. At lunch, Petersen was unbeaten on 45 while Amla was 29 not out.

Hilfenhaus and Pattinson shared the new ball and neither managed to trouble Smith and Pattinson failed to make use of the early movement on offer and instead were too short and too straight allowing the Proteas' openers to play themselves in without encountering too many problems.

Smith, who got off the mark in the first delivery of the series, bowled by Hilfenhaus, survived a caught behind appeal by the same bowler in the third over despite Clarke asking for a referral as replays showed the ball had hit the pad and not the bat. But, Smith's luck ran out in the 11th over of the match - the first of Pattinson's second spell - when the young fast bowler convinced Clarke to use the second review and overturn umpire Billy Bowden's not out decision. Pattinson had pitched the delivery on a good length and the ball hit Smith's back pad and would have crashed into the off stump. Pattinson tested Amla early in his innings with the batsman surviving a loud LBW appeal that wasn't referred after Clarke consulted wicket-keeper Matthew Wade.

Pattinson and Siddle did cause some discomfort to Petersen and Amla soon after Smith's dismissal, but they soon started playing with confidence and rotating strike. The bowling woes were compounded by the fact that Hilfenhaus, who was the in-form bowler last summer, failed to make any breakthroughs even though he was economical. Lyon extracted some spin and bounce from the pitch, but that was negated by the fact that Amla didn't allow him to settle and hit him for a straight six. Petersen, who preferred going 
on the back foot for most deliveries, played the pull shot well and looked composed after the departure of his captain inside the first hour of play. 

Rob Quiney earlier became Australia's 429th Test cricketer and received his baggy green from the legendary Allan Border. Australia left out pacer Mitchell Starc and went with the spin of Lyon while the Proteas gave Rory Kleinveldt his Test debut in a four-strong pace attack.
 
South Africa are looking to repeat their historic series win in Australia four years ago against Clarke's third-ranked side. Australia can return to the top of the rankings with victory in the three-Test series, which also includes matches in Adelaide and Perth.

The earthy charm of the Ranji Trophy

For a generation that seems to be immersed in the brevity of the format that predominates India'scricketing narrative off-late, the Twenty20 - the Ranji Trophy might come across as a product not worth consuming - unattractive, stale, ho-hum and perhaps static. It comes across as a theatre sans the absurd cacophony, set at times in an ambience where the very charm lies in the tranquility of proceedings.

There's a genuine sense of modesty as far as the Ranji is concerned, a tournament that comes stripped of the exhibitionist facade that Indian cricket has tended to put in the last five years or so. In a sense, this is an entirely different world - quite lonely, in fact - a world where greed doesn't equal more money or bizarre kamikaze valuations, but equals runs or wickets with that eternal hope of visibility, or that single-minded aspiration of making it to the big-time.

There's so much to love about the Ranji Trophy, despite it's oft stated deficiencies (the standards, the pitches, the points system or even the format). As a matter of fact, Ranji has a pace of its own, which I often describe as unspoiled inertia. It's all slow, no action, no theatrics, nothing. And trust me, no entertainment.

On a typical flat wicket, medium pacer ploughs outside off-stump all day, glued with eternal hope of an edge that may never come, the batsman as stubborn as ever, plays it back, the bowler picks the ball again and drags himself to the bowling mark - all in one go. Even when he gets the wicket he's looking for, celebrations are scant, out comes the next batsman and back to routine. For the romantic, it's akin to agriculture yet competitive - the joy of watching a farmer till his land all day, coming back next morning, same old, same old. In its own way, it's repetition at its perfect best.

I often wonder what that lad at long-on or long-off, or even deep-square leg for that matter must be thinking about, walking in every ball, and slowly walking back to his position after the shot is played, head stooped down in great focus.

There are times when he's embarrassingly caught yawning on the field, or ever so engrossed in an attempt at day-dream that he can't quite get what his team-mates are trying to tell him, his body language, pretty much a give away. I often wonder what this tournament means to the cricketer, barring of course, that underlying desire to represent the country one day. But what about those, who haven't even come close to being as lucky, say a Sony Cheruvathur or a Timir Chanda or well past their use-by date, like Mohammad Kaif or Hrishikesh Kanitkar?

What does it feel like waking up at 7 in the morning, reporting to a ground a few kilometers away, taking the field knowing that you have no chance of representing the country (again)?

The answer, as far as I know it (through interaction with several cricketers) is simple - that unswerving desire to compete and that unquenched thirst for success. The Ranji Trophy, gives them a shot at glory, a redemption of sorts, a sublimation from a world they could never make their own - international cricket. For some, it might well be an escape, for others, a familiar territory, but as easy as I might make the Ranji level sound, survivors are few, some outlive its relevance and others make oblivion look a lot closer than normal.


Growing up in Mumbai, the Ranji Trophy played a seminal role in my cricketing upbringing - the city's cricketing culture - so prosperous and substantial, that it was impossible to bypass our heroes. These legends, often lionised by the city's cricketing intelligentsia and the public at large, were mainly anonymous (in today's context), but their achievements, ever so enormous, were ingrained in our consciousness.

We'd be frequently reminded of the invincible Bombay team (1958-59 to 1972-73) - the superiority that the city's cricketing heroes held over India's cricketing scene, of the decline where they fell apart sometime in the 80s.

Our cricketing vocabulary derived from backyard banters from the the very basic unit of Mumbai cricket i.e. the maidans ranged from khadoos, to the patang udav, popatwadi and komti so on. There were lectures on what it meant to wear the Mumbai cap, with the ever so popular anecdote of "It's tougher to make it to the Mumbai Ranji Team than to the Indian team" thrown somewhere in between.

Then, while Mumbai established themselves as the dadas of cricket, quite naturally, there were bound to be rivalries in place. The ones against Karnataka, Delhi were fiercely contested and the most popular one, against state-rivals Maharashtra - as the late journalist Pradeep Vijaykar called, "the battle of the roses". Such was the institutional influence that the Ranji Trophy had in our heads, that by the time I got to covering and writing cricket, it became a critical part of how I saw myself as a writer.

In a more significant way, as a cricket journalist in India, there's no better way to learn about the finer, more nuanced aspects of the game than at a Ranji match. At the very least, it's unchanging atmosphere lends itself quite seamlessly for enriching conversations about the game in itself. For those intrigued by the grapevine that dominates the BCCI and it's politics, you get plenty of those in these games.

Journalists, who quite senior in the the hierarchy, at times even worshipped as in institution somehow assume the role of a story-teller or even the lecturer, with the younger folks, paying due attention to the tales that get spun. For the attentive, it's quite a source for anecdotes, for the bored, it's just another telling off from a journalist. Either way, rest assured, it's fun. But I reckon, if ever there was a finishing school of sorts, for cricket journalists, especially with tactical knowledge as a module - it is domestic cricket.

There's no better place to learn your tactics, which I believe is one of the more ignored aspects of cricket-writing today, lost perhaps for the results and the numbers that seem eye-catching. They can be utterly confounding and cryptic at times, but therein lies the challenge of sorting out - the puzzle i.e. the very reasoning behind the captain employing those tactics and also, the context in which they're introduced. If I could resort to a little reference to role-playing, as a journalist, you become the captain and try figure things out, scribble a few points on your notepad and learn. 

That's how important the tournament is for an upcoming cricket journalist and his development, as much as it enables a cricketer's progress. As a writer, the scope of the Ranji narrative is not just challenging, but a compelling motif waiting to be explored.

The disappointment today has been the way the fan has somehow tended to dispense the very concept of the Ranji Trophy - either he's too occupied with his own business or just apathetic about the tournament itself. Or, at the risk of speculating, his affiliations have grown out of these state teams to the IPL franchises, due to lack of interest or worse, lack of a connect.

The logic for a Ranji fan today isn't so much based on what he gets to watch i.e. cricket, but who he gets to watch i.e. international cricketers vis-a-vis, say, not so known players. Trust me, there's nothing better than spending your weekend at a cricket ground, watching a narrative unfold, however painstaking or breathtaking it might sound, given that this tournament has a space for both, the former more than the latter, though. The diehards will always find some time to invest in following his/her team, but it's still not adequate enough.

The idea of the Ranji Trophy, to an extent was to bring about strong affiliations between the fan and his state/city side. The national narrative took over after the 1983 World Cup, but somehow, his involvement has only mellowed down. Of course, to an extent, the BCCI is to blame - as far as marketing the Ranji is concerned. Commercially speaking, it's nowhere close to everything the IPL represents, no corporates involved, yet, it deserves a better deal as far as the board is concerned.

The scheduling, as demanding as it might sound for the players, has improved as far as the fan is concerned - with most of the matches having Day 2 and Day 3 slotted for the weekend, which is what should draw a lot of people.

Having said that, there is slight hope of a greater involvement from fans, given that the internet in general and social media in particular has taken to the Ranji Trophy quite seriously. There's a refreshing sense of curiousity amongst otherwise apathetic, the often India-centric cricket fans about their respective teams, prompted by the concept of crowdsourcing of these scores.

A few dedicated fans of the tournament, with time on their side, visit these grounds and end up tweeting scores, or posting Facebook updates about the games being played. It started out as a noble experiment, and today, there's a great deal of following I observe - at least on the internet, if not at the grounds. In a faint little way, this tournament deserves a certain sense of initiative from the fan, for it is more important than we're told by our media and the BCCI. It deserves a greater patronage from those who claim to love everything about Indian cricket.

Make no mistake, the Ranji Trophy isn't quite dying the tiger's death we're sometimes prone to casually speculating about. Indian cricket, unfortunately or otherwise is at a stage where the tournament has underscored its importance over that slam-whack-bang-theatrics we've come to love these days, and the future of the cricketing discourse, however bleak or great it might appear, rests on the relevance of the Ranji Trophy.

As I quietly sit on a wintery Delhi morning, kicking myself for missing out on a Delhi vs UP tie at Ghaziabad, I wonder if the pride in wearing the Mumbai Ranji cap will be the "in thing" again. I wonder if the very charm of the tournament that underlines the birth of a cricketer, his journey from boyhood to manhood, will prove seductive enough for him to immerse himself. I end this piece with that a sense of optimism, that playing the tournament is as much about scoring runs and taking wickets, as it is about enriching the tradition that has come to underline Indian cricket through several decades - that awesome sense of pride in representing one's state and importantly, the lure of the ultimate glory in Indian cricket i.e. winning the Ranji Trophy itself.