After days of speculation, the initial roster of 50 players who will be in the Indian Cricket League was finally revealed today. It is a good mix of players, probably the best given the current circumstances and much better than what was expected from the league.

The seven international players are Inzamam Ul Haq, Mohammed Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq, Imrah Farhat, Brian Lara, and Nicky Boje. Notable Indian players include Dinesh Mongia, JP Yadav, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Deep Dasgupta, Retinder Singh Sodhi and of course Ambati Rayadu.

The big signing:

The big signing definitely has to be Mohammed Yousuf, unlike the rest of the international players, Yousuf is in the best form of his life and is as important to the Pakistani team as Dravid is to the Indian team. Despite the fact that it has announced that the players will not be selected, the PCB cannot afford to drop Yousuf from the national squad, considering that Inzamam seems to be on his way out and there is not much talent coming through. Besides, Yousuf made 1788 runs in 2006, the most test runs in a calendar year ever.

This might just create a ripple effect and convince other international players that the ICL might just offer a good opportunity to make some money and play some competitive cricket. And players in countries such as England, South Africa New Zealand and Australia do share a good relationship with their boards, meaning that they could just convince their boards that playing in the ICL is in their best interests. The New Zealand player chief has already called for further support for the Indian Cricket League saying that the comparatively low incomes of their players could mean that they could be attracted to the league. There are talks of Jacques Kallis, Nathan Astle, Chris Cairns, Stephen Fleming joining the league soon.

Anyway, in my opinion the initial list of players looks much better than expected, and the list can only get better from here. What the BCCI does remains to be seen, whichever way, most people are hoping that the ICL can succeed just to ensure that the BCCI is forced into reforming itself.

The full roster:

Ambati Rayudu, Syed Abbas Ali Khan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abhishek T, Alfred Absolem, Avinash Yadav, Deep Dasgupta, V Devendran, Dheeraj Jadhav, Dinesh Mongia, Hemanth Kumar, Ibrahim Khaleel, Inder Shekar Reddy, Ishan Malhotra, J Hariesh, Jai Prakash Yadav, Kaushik Reddy, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Manish Sharma, Mohnish Mishra, Puskaraj Joshi, R Satish, Rajesh Sharma, Ranjit Khirid, Raviraj Patil, Reetinder Sodhi, Robin Morris, Sachin Dholpure, Sarabjit Singh, Syed Akhlakh Ahmed, Shalabh Srivastava, Shashank Nag, Shibsagar Singh, Shreyas Khanolkar, Subhojit Paul, Subhomoy Das, Sumit Kalia, D Kumaran, T Surendra, Thirunavukarasu Kumaran, G Vignesh, D Vinay Kumar, and Yashpal Singh

It was a 177 as captain of the Indian Under 19s in a one dayer against the English Colts in the aftermath of our Natwest triumph in 2002 that brought Ambati Rayudu to national prominence. He had become so popular that everyone on stage (except the quiz masters) could recognize his picture in a cricket quiz held in Anna University a few months later. After being touted as the next Sachin, Azharuddin, Laxman, etc, and a pretty good first season, suddenly he lost his way and dropped out of the limelight. There was a shift to the Andhra Ranji team a couple of seasons back and then a comeback to the Hyderabad Ranji team last season along the way. But it did seem like he would end up being just another Ranji player, he was going nowhere. All this and he is still just 21 years old.

Now he is back in the news as the first current player to sign for Zee’s Indian Cricket League in defiance of a probable ban that might be imposed on him. And supposedly he is not alone. He is joined by the cream of the Hyderabad team, the elegant left handed number 3 Anirudh Singh, the dependable D Vinay Kumar and the keeper Ibrahim Khaleel. TOI has clearly attributed the reason for this “defection” to the monetary benefits that the new league would offer. Ofcourse money is a major motivation, but I believe that there is another equally important reason as to why it was a group of Hyderabadis who were the first to join the ICL. Something that I (and some friends) term the quota system.

The quota here refers to the selection of sons of ex-cricketers in the teams that matter at the cost of other arguably more talented players. The ex-cricketer and son that I am referring to are Shivlal Yadav and his son Arjun Yadav. In the last season, Arjun Yadav hadn’t done anything of note and yet was rewarded with a place in the India A team. He also finds a place in all the South Zone teams. There cannot be any other reason for such a mediocre achiever to go places other than the power his dad wields with the Hyderabad Cricket Association. And incidentally, Shivlal Yadav’s previous claim to fame was the selection of Noel (who?) David.

Given that one guy who has performed as well or as badly as the others is preferred shows that it is not meritocracy at work. And as a result the entire middle order except Arjun has decided to quit putting their entire careers at risk. Or probably there was no chance they could have a decent career.

It also seems to me like Arjun Yadav was also responsible for Ambati Rayudu’s sudden and unexpected shift to Andhra. And there is some colourful history also between the two where Arjun Yadav ran behind Ambati Rayudu with a stump in hand at Anantapur two seasons back due to allegations that Yadav was a quota candidate. And it could very well have been pressures such as these that have had a big role to play in Rayudu’s decline.

ICL has hit the Indian cricket administration at the right weak point, the quota system. something that is obvious to even a casual follower of domestic Indian cricket. There must be other such affected and disgruntled cricketers. And there is no reason why someone who is kept out by say an Udit Patel or an Anirudh Srikkanth will not join the ICL. ICL has found quite a fertile ground to target. Good strategy and I seriously hope this will pay off.

See the complete roster of players here- ICL Player list

The Indian team which looked so out of sorts in the first test match and survived only because of the weather, came back to win the series 1-0 giving them their first test series victory in England in 20 years. The series was a great advertisement for test cricket, say what you want about one day cricket but nothing compares to a great test match played between two good sides on a sporting wicket.
We definitely could have won the Oval’s test but good batting displays from Pietersen and bell ensured that England saved the match. I still believe Dravid made the right decision in not enforcing the follow on- he must have felt that Kumble would have a better chance of getting wickets on a crumbling fifth day wicket.
Anyway, we won 1-0 and here are the series ratings:

Wasim Jaffer 6

Jaffer’s biggest contribution of the series undoubtedly came in the second test at Nottingham when he and Karthik put on 147 for the first wicket and squashed any chances of a English victory. He had starts in one inning in all three tests (58, 62 and 35) but never went on to make it count. But he has done enough to ensure he pads up in the first test match against Pakistan in New Delhi on November 22nd.

Dinesh Karthik 8

Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of the series- what were the odds that Karthik would finish the three test matches as India’s highest run getter. 263 runs in 6 innings at an average of 43.8 showed that the faith that Dravid has in him was not unfounded. Had a terrible start in Lords when he dropped the sitter of all sitters off the bat of Strauss, but came strongly in the second innings to post a fighting 60. Scores of 77 and 91 in the second and third tests show that this youngster has both the talent and the drive to thrive at the international level. And I must add, almost all English pundits were singing his praises through the series.

Rahul Dravid 5

A very poor series by Dravid’s high standards- scores of 2 and 9 in Lords, 37 and 11 in Nottingham and 55 and 12 in Oval are a total contrast to his achievements in the 2002 series. And the 12 (of 96 balls!) must rank his worst batting display ever. A good series as a captain, how will he work with the new coach remains to be seen.

Sachin Tendulkar 7

Sachin deserved a century in this series, too bad he fell short on two occasions with one of them thanks to a terrible umpiring decision. His determination to put runs on the board didn’t go unnoticed. If his body holds up, we can definitely hope to see the little master for another two years. But he will definitely have to cut down on some meaningless one day internationals.

Saurav Ganguly 8

Ganguly’s knock of 57 in the second innings of the Oval test must rank as his best knock since the famous 144 at the Gabba. Much like Tendulkar, the sheer will to make runs was all too apparent over the course of the test matches. 249 runs at an average of 50 from three test matches will hold him in good stead in Australia. Now, if only he could something about his running between the wickets.

VVS Laxman 6
To his credit, Laxman made runs in all three test matches. And two of the knocks came in very trying conditions. But unfortunately for him , he couldn’t come up with a big one. Laxman ended up with 205 runs at a very respectable average of 51. However, it seems to me that the man can never cement his position in the final XI!
MS Dhoni 7

If Dhoni was under pressure from Karthk for the slot of the wicket keeper, he certainly didn’t let it show. Two very crucial and contrasting knocks capped off a good series for Dhoni. A very uncharacteristic and fighting 76 at Lords saved the test match for India (with a little help from the weather) but a belligerent 92 off just 83 balls at the Oval just showed why Indian fans are crazy about the man.

Anil Kumble 7

Anil Kumble may have ended up with 14 wickets in the series but it certainly wasn’t one of his better performances. But then with Zaheer and RP Singh in fine form , he certainly didn’t need to be at his best. He will always remember this series for that fine 110( a knock which helped him go one up on Warne). But the good thing is that Kumble is bowling a lot slower than before, and certainly one hopes that he can produce the goods down under.

Zaheer Khan 8

18 wickets. Man of the series. Comparisons with Wasim Akram. Life cannot get better for Zaheer Khan. And a lot of his success has to do with his stint in the county circuit. Now, if only we can find out who threw the jelly beans in the second test. Indian cricket will always thankful to that cricketer for firing Zaheer up! Zaheer’s second inning performance at Nottingham must rank as one of the best performances by an Indian fast bowler.

RP Singh 7
12 wickets at an average of 28 meant that RP Singh had a reasonable series. Plus, his name will go up on the Lords honours board for his 5 wickets. Something that Sachin has never been able to do. His dismissals of Pietersen and Prior in the second test were something to remember.

Sreesanth 6

A lot of talent but at times during the series, I felt Sreesanth had absolutely lost it. I don’t see why he has to abuse the batsman after each delivery. Aggression is fine but this is carrying it a bit too far. Will need his head sorted before he plays Pakistan and men like Prasad and Srinath will certainly help him. Did bowl extremely well in the second innings of the Oval test though.

P.S: Just realized that both the teams only used 11 players in the series. This must be a new record!

Dinesh Karthik- 91

Rahul Dravid- 55 -

Sachin Tendulkar- 82 -

VVS Laxman- 51

MS Dhoni- 92

Anil Kumble- 110

Mr. Extras- 54.

Total - 664.

Too bad Karthik, Tendulkar and Dhoni missed their centuries. And Dravid and Laxman looked set for hundreds too. But there
will be other chances for them. The man of the hour is undoubtedly Anil ‘Jumbo’ Kumble. A 100 against England in England is extremely special and full credit to him for taking this chance. And the innings was rather entertaining.
One of the sweetest days ever! I am just numb. I just hope we can go on and force a win over the next three days. This is turning out to be a super special Oval Test match.

What do vultures do? They keep circling their prey and wait for it to get injured or tire and then they attack. Now, the victim might actually have it in it to push the vultures away and move ahead with a surge of energy. The vultures back off but still keep circling - waiting to see if the surge of energy was a temporary loss of reason or a continued display of energy. The moment the victim slacks off - they are there again to attack and claim their undeserved pound of flesh.

So why am I writing about vultures? Why this sudden fancy for vultures? Fine. Let me rephrase that paragraph a bit

What do Indian Cricket fans do? They wait for every opportunity to see one of the cricketers fail and then gleefully jump in on the criticism bandwagon. They demand for the heads of players at will. Only till the player actually proves the fans wrong and performs solidly. Even then the fans and critics back off just for a bit - grudingly - waiting for that window where they can be proven right again. They wait for the player to fail again and then jump right in with retirement calls.

Not much difference, eh? So, essentially I could claim that I wasn’t writing about vultures but about Indian cricket fans again!

Let’s just have a look at the current Indian team and see if my theory is right

1. Dinesh Karthick - People have taken exception to his not being a specialist opener and hence have ridiculed his being in the team.

2. Wasim Jaffer - The bugger apparently plays a big knock only when he is close to being dropped. He too doesn’t really deserve to be in the team according to experts

3. Rahul Dravid - So what if he has been India’s most consistent and brilliant player over the last few years? He failed in the Lords test and even the Trent bridge test. More importantly by siding with Chappel he alienated himself from the team. I have heard calls for Dravid’s head too. He too should be dropped really.

4. Sachin Tendulkar - He doesn’t measure up to himself anymore. We dont care if he is still good enough to play international cricket. He couldn’t even score the 9 runs needed to get his own century and we call him great and talented? Drop the bugger!

5. Saurav Ganguly - The man had been dropped already. He played selfishly in the WC. He is playing slowly only to hang on to his place in the team. Plus he antagonises the team. Drop him too please.

6. VVS Laxman - So what if he has class and still is consistent? We don’t like him and demand he be dropped. He too scored a 50 only to retain his place in the side - didn’t he?

7. MS Dhoni - The man is a goalkeeper and a clueless batsman in England. It was the rains who saved us and not his fighting knock. Our team and players really cant do anything on their own - its only luck which saves us. So there lets get rid of him.

Whew. Thats the entire Indian batting order dropped! Bring on the new guys - the vultures are still hungry!

The openers:

The performance of Jaffer and Karthik in the tour has been very heartening. There is no doubt that the two played and missed a few times, but that it is just expected in England. It looks the two have virtually cemented their positions for the tour of Australia in December. I believe the two have both the technique and the application to thrive in most conditions (barring Australia of course). Their 147 run opening stand definitely showed the English a thing or two about batting in such conditions!

Zaheer Khan:

For a long suffering Indian cricket fan, it was absolutely brilliant to watch an Indian paceman run in hard and torment the opposition. One just hopes that he will have the same control in the third test match as well. The manner in which Zaheer has come back after being the wilderness should provide some encouragement to his statement Irfan Pathan.

Tendulkar and Ganguly:

For all the flak they have been taking and there have been many, both Sachin and Saurav have maintained a very dignified silence. Sure, Sachin failed in the Lords test but he showed that he still has the mental strength to come back and score big. Real pity he missed out on his 38th century. Saurav’s determination to keep his place in the team was obvious to see and for once he didn’t get bogged down by the conditions and chose to play his natural game. And what the hell was Simon Taufel thinking when he gave both these men out!

The Sledging War:

A big thank you to the English player who came up with the Jellybeans idea! Watching Zaheer dish it out to Kevin Pietersen, I couldn’t help thinking that this definitely is the best legacy of the Ganguly era. Indian cricketers have never been known to stand up against rough opposition but over the last 5 years things have changed. It was good to see the Indian team giving it as good as they got. And the whole jellybeans drama is just ridiculous.

A powercut prevented me from writing a morose review of the first day’s play of the Lords test match. All the familiar ingredients of Indian cricket team’s travails abroad were there- a clueless captain, nervous fast bowlers, dropped catches and the opposition batsman raking up the runs. England ended the first day at 280 odd for 4, with the last two wickets falling near the end of the day’s play.

The second day has been nothing short of remarkable, reminding us what test match cricket is all about. After a thundershower and some excellent mopping up display by the groundsmen, the Indian pacemen went about dismantling the English batting lineup. Sidebottom’s stumps were shattered right away by Singh, then Pietersen played a very lose shot to give Dhoni a regulation catch off Khan.

Ten minutes later, Sreesanth joined in the party with wickets of Matt Prior, Chris Tremlett and Monty Panesar in quick succession. Good swing bowling and all three dismissals being LBWs, the young lad obviously having learned some valuable lessons from the first day’s play. Khan’s dismissal of Bell, soon after meant that India had taken 6 wickets in just 11 overs. England dismissed for 298, six of the last seven batsmen scoring just 2 runs between them. An astonishing afternoon by Indian standards, really.

Indian First Innings:

After the quick dismissals of Karthik and Dravid; Jaffer and Tendulkar set about ressurecting the innings with a lot of patience. Tendulkar played really well for his 37 before getting out to Anderson. Jaffer’s wicket late in the day means that the test match is evenly poised. India ending the day on 145/4, 153 adrift of England’s first innings score.

I am hoping for a good knock from Laxman- it seems to me that he is always (and sometimes unfairly) one bad knock away from being dropped. A good innings here will set him up well for the next two test matches. Also, its going to be very interesting to see how Dhoni performs, with all the talk of dropping him for Yuvraj Singh. And how will the Indian team play Panesar? And what of the weather! Hopefully, we will see atleast 75 overs play tomorrow with India taking the first innings lead and with Laxman scoring a fine century.

No, no the cricketers are quite safe. In quite a daring move, the Indian selectors have chosen to leave out the three big names from the list of probables for the 20-20 world cup. In the absence of further information at this point, let us feel free to speculate on why:

1. The Indian selectors are far thinking and want to groom the next generation of cricketers. In a move in that direction, they have decided to test out some new blood at the world cup.

2. The older players’ styles are not suited to the requirements of the wham-bam cricket that is 20-20. You need aggressive and extremely agile cricketers which the older guys are not. So, they have been dropped from the team.

3. This is actually a suggestion by one of the leading players of the team. They are interested in grooming the next generation or have ad shoots during that period. Hence this move.

4. They haven’t actually been dropped. This is a warning to the senior players that the selectors wield power too. After massive public outcry and criticism from other older players, these players will be included in the team.

Readers, please feel free speculate on the issue.

Yet another absolutely meaningless series has come to an end. But with one small difference, the Indian team came out on top. Congratulations to Rahul Dravid and his men- they have managed to win something after a long time! Plus, the series was won in alien conditions, against a tough squad and after losing the first game.

There were some real positives from the series, most notably-

1) That great man Sachin Tendulkar finally remembering that he was once a decent batsman who could make ordinary bowlers like Andrew Nell look well, ordinary.

2) Yuvraj Singh finding the form that made him one of the best finishers of 2005

3) Piyush Chawla showing us that he has the potential to lead our spin attack

However, the question remains, was this a missed opportunity to test some new blood? Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly are all 34 and will retire in another couple of years or possibly (considering the grip they have on Indian cricket) will play on till 2011. That is the top three in one-day internationals and the entire middle order in the test matches (Laxman is not too much younger either) Yuvraj has made one position his own but there is hardly any competition so much so that Gautham Gambhir seems to always find himself in the team.

We pick a player like Rohit Sharma and don’t give him the opportunity to show his potential. What has been learnt about his batting skills? Nothing. The poor lad came to bat in the 47th over of the only game he got to play. He managed to score 8 runs in 8 balls before being bowled. Chances are that if the Indian team fares badly in the test matches in England, Virendar Sehwag or Mohammed Kaif will be brought back for the seven match one day internationals. And who will take the fall? Rohit Sharma.

It begs to be asked, do men like Dravid and Tendulkar have the cricketing brains that we always seem to give them credit for? I am not questioning their commitment, just the fact that they couldn’t recognize that this was a brilliant opportunity to blood some some new faces. Or considering the amount of clout they have, can’t they impress on the board, the need for a very comprehensive A team policy?

Imagine a kid who has just failed in his examinations and has his report card reviewed by his parents. The parents - naturally angry at his poor performance - decide to clamp down on the kid in order to straighten him up. The easiest way they believe, is to deprive the kid of all his privileges and they think that the longing for them will make him do better next time around. So, off goes his allowance and his free time - he gets grounded. But they ignore that maybe a systemic change might have been better off.

So similarly what does our cricket board do when it reviews the performance of our players? It decides to show them who their daddy is and clamps down on the players. While I can see the intention behind the moves, I have issues with the way the board has tried to implement it.

For example if the logic is that due to endorsements, the players don’t get enough time to focus on the game - there was no need to undemocratically limit the number of endorsements for the players. Simply increase the number of mandatory camps the players must attend. Increase the number of domestic matches the players have to play compulsorily to be selected to the team. Create blackout periods where only training and cricket is focussed on but allow the players a specified time where they can go earn money from endorsements to the highest of their capabilites. Market forces will anyway ensure that money earned is proportional to performance on field.

The fact is that we have no bench strength and it can only be built through ensuring competetive domestic matches - which means that international players have to be routinely involved in these matches. How else will we know just how good a player really is? India A and U19 tours abroad hopefully will also help the cause. Finally I do hope the BCCI actually implements fast green pitches in as many locations as possible for domestic cricket - so that we have players who can actually play. Having said that as long as Kumble still plays test cricket, please have spinning beauties for Home test matches. No one wants to see a Nagpur green pitch while playing against the Aussies - the word i think is suicide.

The board might do well to realise that they support cricket which includes the players. Having anti-player diktats just smells of appeasement politics - hardly a surprise given that politicians run BCCI anyway. Maybe we can have control handed over to the players yeah?

They say that to spare the rod is to spoil the child. But to use the rod excessively is to have a child who will kick the parents out when its his turn.