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Book Report #1: Wounded Tiger

03 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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AUSvPAK, Cricket, cwc2015, EngvPak, India, INDvPAK, INDvSL, ODI, Pakistan, PeterOborne, Sri Lanka, Test series, WorldCup2015

I had been looking for a new book for a while before I came across Wounded Tiger. My usual go-to reads are Dan Browns and Phillip Pullman novels. I love delving into an adventure with Robert Langdon and being absorbed by tales of mystery and secrets. For some reason however this time I felt the need for a change and followed my vacant clicks through Amazon in search for my next read.

Somehow I stumbled upon this book without realising it had been selected as Wisden’s Book of the Year 2015. The history of Pakistani cricket had always been of interest to me and somewhere along the way through these endless India v Sri Lanka matches I had dozed off. I had stopped watching games or following scores and it seemed like fate that I should come across this extraordinary tale to reignite my fire.

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I was born to bleed blue. There was no question about it and regardless of ones knowledge of partition or history, being Indian instantly means that you firstly love cricket and secondly support anyone BUT Pakistan. It had been drilled into me until that fabled (because I’m sure I’ve referred to it in over 5 of my previous blog posts) 2015 World Cup quarter-final between Australia and Pakistan where I somehow found myself unwittingly supporting Wahab Riaz and the men in green. I had gotten so emotionally invested that when Rahat Ali dropped Shane Watson on 6, I felt my heart sink. Apart from India, no other sports team had ever made me feel like their loss was my loss and this stuck with me for a while. It stayed with me and on July 17th 2016 I found myself once again in unwavering support of Pakistan on day 4 at Lords at the re-birth of Mohammed Amir. As Pakistan did their push-ups and salutes I once again found myself in awe of this incredibly dogged team.

It seems to me that somehow Pakistani cricket is destined to continue even if the world were to end. From a country younger than my parents, the team have survived a journey through terrorist attacks, match-fixing scandals, the mysterious death of coach Bob Woolmer, becoming nomads and countless accusations of ball-tampering and yet somehow have also produced some of the greatest players to grace the game. I needed to know how and why.

I have managed to ramble on for 400 words without once discussing the mastery of Peter Oborne’s book. I won’t give away the story, in fact this post can hardly be called a book report. My sole purpose for writing this is to try and make you read it. (You’re more than welcome to borrow my copy, but i’ll definitely be wanting it back).

I admit it was a challenging read for me. To digest the horrors of partition, it’s impact on both countries and the game and to try and comprehend the complexities of Pakistani cricket in it’s cultural and political context. I found it difficult to try and wrap my head around the extent to which external factors and deep-rooted prejudice and condescension has continually tried to keep cricket in Pakistan down, from the Rana-Gatting incident to the kidnapping of umpire Idris Baig by the touring MCC team.

However, Peter Oborne allowed me to travel with him on a journey not just through the history of cricket but a history of Pakistan through the lens of cricket. He narrated the stories of AH Kardar and Fazal Mahmood who helped shape not only the cricket team but the nation. He charted Pakistan’s first win in England and how it was orchestrated by a man who refused to let the political and social chaos of partition stop him from playing cricket. A man who could have been killed on a train were it not for the legendary Indian CK Nayudu who protected Fazal Mahmood from Hindu fanatics with his cricket bat.

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AH Kardar and Fazal Mahmood

It tells the story of how young boys were picked out of street games and thrown into an international team, of how Wasim Akram asked his captain how much money he would need to bring on tour not realising international cricketers were paid. It helps us comprehend an almost magical realism where a 12 year old plays first class cricket and a ball can be released at 100+ mph. The book wanders a bit in the middle but Wounded Tiger takes the story far beyond Imran Khan’s ‘cornered tigers’ and the heroics of the 1992 World Cup. It doesn’t just paint over the cracks or chisel out new ones, Wounded Tiger gives a full account of both glory and grievance of the team from their astounding victories to their bewildering defeats.

Wounded Tiger feels very unburdened given the extent to which Oborne covers an entire country’s past in under 600 pages. It intertwines fact with anecdotes to create a dynamic picture and continues to surprise and entice you to read just one more page. Oborne states that writing on Pakistan cricket “has sometimes fallen into the wrong hands . . . carried out by people who do not like Pakistan” and this book gives us a chance to revise how we see Pakistan through stories including that of the legendary Lala Amarnath who was born into a poor Hindu family in pre-partition Punjab and adopted by the Rana family who sponsored his cricket education in Lahore.

Unable to (with good reason) continue a straight narrative to cover such a vast history, Oborne adapts to a thematic approach to cover topics such as reverse swing, the emergence of women’s cricket, Shoaib Akhtar (aka the ‘rawalpindi express’), Misbah-ul-Haq and lastly Pakistan’s Age of Isolation. The post 9/11 era that has left Pakistan using homes from home.

This book covers it all, it delves into the introduction of the doosra, it covers the history, politics, war and geography of Pakistan, it exposes the opportunity costs of continued social ostracism from India and the terrorist attacks that have forced Pakistani cricket away from their rich and vibrant history and through a cast of heroes and villains allows us to try and better understand this nation under siege.

 

 

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Clinical South Africa end World Cup curse

22 Sunday Mar 2015

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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Cricket, cwc2015, quarterfinal, SLvSA, South Africa, Sri Lanka, WorldCup2015

The knockout stages of the quarter finals kicked off on the 18th of March between two of the most exciting teams. Sri Lanka were playing South Africa at the SCG. A battle between two titans. Neither team had been having a perfect run through the the group stages. South Africa lost to both India and Pakistan but beat both Ireland and the West Indies by 200+ runs. Sri Lanka had been beaten by Australia and New Zealand but beat both England and Bangladesh by nine wickets. However both teams were coming into the game with players in the form of their life. Kumar Sangakkara was coming off a world record of four consecutive centuries and AB de Villiers had been consistently performing with an unbelievable 162 not-out from 66 balls.

South Africa however were not only facing Sri Lanka, they were facing themselves. A side with some of the most destructive batsmen in the world and possibly the singular most hostile bowler in the world. A side that has never won a world cup knock-out game since 1992. They had been labelled World Cup chokers. AB de Villiers had been part of the side that was knocked out on the previous two occasions and this time was leading the pack.

It wasn’t the best start for South Africa as Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat. South Africa’s two losses of the tournament had come from chasing totals. Their loss against New Zealand in the 2011 World Cup had also come from a collapse whilst chasing.

It was however the only thing that went wrong for South Africa for the rest of the game. Dale Steyn and Kyle Abbott bowled with pure unadulterated aggression. They troubled the Sri Lankan openers who could not get away. Kusal Perera swung blindly at everything the South African bowlers threw at them and Tillakaratne Dilshan never looked ready. Both openers were caught out edging the ball and from then on, the Sri Lankans could not pull together a partnership. Kumar Sangakkara looked as though he was in it for the long haul as he played himself in. However he was never given the chance to get going, it was a catch-22 situation. Sangakkara had to steady the innings but he had to make runs as wickets continued to fall at the other end. Imran Tahir and JP Duminy bowled extremely well to contain the Sri Lankans and constantly pick off wickets. Not one of the Sri Lankan batsmen had a strike rate of 90+ with only Lahiru Thirimanne striking at 60+. Once Angelo Mathews was removed at 114, the innings collapsed. The next three batsmen fell for two runs and Sri Lanka were all out for 133.

Had Sri Lanka made 220+, South Africa might have felt uneasy with their chasing history but it was a walk in the park. Quinton de Kock found some form scoring 78 not out and South Africa chased down the total in 18 overs with nine wickets in hand. It was a disappointing end for Sri Lanka. This was Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena’s last ODI game but it was almost as though the team had not even turned up to the SCG.

South Africa had finally broken their jinx, they looked like a fantastic unit and they could go into the semi-finals with a clean slate.

Bangladesh’s wasted potential.

28 Saturday Feb 2015

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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bangladesh, BANvSL, Cricket, cwc2015, Sri Lanka, WorldCup2015

It was a day of missed opportunities for Bangladesh. This was the second game they were playing after their match against Australia was washed out. It was probably their best chance to push ahead in the tables after the points for the Australia game were split. However once again, Bangladesh missed out.

The MCG was less than half full for the 18th match on Thursday the 26th of February. The game was Sri Lanka vs. Bangladesh. It was not expected to be a high profile game but by no means did that make it a dull one. The true and hardcore Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi fans were out in full force and they made up for their small numbers in heart and soul. Sri Lanka were batting first with Lahiru Thirimanne and Tillakaratne Dilshan opened the batting. Both batsmen had gotten out for ducks against Afghanistan and Bangladesh would have been thinking ‘if they can do it so can we!’.

Bangladesh, the team with the youngest average age in the World Cup genuinely looked competitive in their bowling and batting department. Nowhere near strong enough to win a major tournament just yet, but strong enough to make the top six sweat and work for their place. As always though, it was the fielding that let them down. Considering they’re a fresh young team they should have been all over their fielding. Whether it was the size of the MCG or the pressure of the tournament, Bangladesh broke down. They conceded too many runs through misfields, missed run out chances and they dropped far too many catches.

In the first over, Thirimanne was dropped by Anamul Haque at slip. He was then given another life through a missed stumpings. Had Bangladesh taken either of these chances they could have dug into the lower order much earlier in the innings when they were fresher and full-spirited. Thirimanne went on to score 52 before he chipped one out to third man. At 122 runs this was the only Sri Lankan wicket to fall for the rest of the innings. Kumar Sangakkara (who was playing his 400th ODI) went on to score a masterful century and along with Dilshan put on a 210 run partnership in 25.3 overs. Sangakkara’s century was full of high class shots but he mishit two. Bangladesh could have had him out on both 23 runs and 60 runs had they not dropped another two catches in the field. Bangladesh even had a chance to remove Dilshan as he was left stranded from a mix up but there was no one at the stumps to back up the fielder. An almost rookie mistake that an international side should not be making. As much as it was a poor fielding performance from Bangladesh, their bowlers bowled well. Both the fastest balls of the day came from the Bangladesh team. They were able to create chances and though they did not capitalise on those chances it was a very positive sign.

Credit of course must be given to the Sri Lankan batsmen, in particular to Dilshan who scored his highest ODI score. He played brilliantly and except for the mix-up, he played very safely. It was a hard earned 161, Dilshan faced cramp but stuck around to ensure Sangakkara was able to reach his 22nd ODI century. As the openers had already created a base Sangakkara had some freedom to play, a luxury not often given to him. He hit his fastest ODI century and played some beautifully powerful shots. Sri Lanka ended their innings on 332-1. They finally hit the form they needed to be competitive in the World Cup.

As expected, Bangladesh’s chase was in vain. They were all out for 240 runs. Had they taken their opportunities, they could have been chasing a much smaller total.

Six of the 11 players for Bangladesh made a start with each getting a minimum of 25 runs. However none of them could cash in and go on to make a big score. Soumya Sarkar began a fearless counter-attack smashing 25 from 15 balls giving the fans something to cheer about but his run also ended quickly. Only Sabbir Rahman (Bangladesh’s no.8 batsman) went on to score a half century. Sri Lanka took most of their chances, only dropping only one catch. They were able to break partnerships at vital times unlike Bangladesh. At 100-5 Bangladesh left too much pressure on their main batsmen Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan. Having lost five wickets, neither could play with ease. However with some help from Sabbir and the captain they were able to guide Bangladesh to 240, but no further.

Bangladesh could be a highly competitive team, they have some real potential but to be a top team they must learn to work on their fielding. South Africa have some of the best batsmen and bowlers in the world but they still field as though each opportunity will be their last. Bangladesh need that mindset should they wish to grow as a side.

The warm up warnings

13 Friday Feb 2015

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Australia, Cricket, cwc2015, ICC, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, WorldCup2015

Over the past week the warm-up matches have shown exactly why this world cup is going to be an exciting one. Of the last 14 pre tournament games there have been some expected wins but more importantly there have been some surprising wins and some very close games! The World Cup title is very much still up for grabs.

The warm-up games began with Australia beating the 2011 World Cup champions. As expected, India’s bowling attack were not up to scratch. They conceded too many runs and did not seem to challenge the Australian batsmen at all. Both David Warner and Glen Maxwell (who performed incredibly with the bat in the 2014 IPL) scored centuries and led Australia to a score of 371 runs. In response India were only able to muster 265 all out. However it was a great start for Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and especially for Shikhar Dhawan (who had been out of form) as they all scored half centuries. Luckily for India the only really troublesome pace attack they will face through the group stages is South Africa’s and so they have a chance to improve before facing the hosts.

The next match went down as expected with South Africa beating Sri Lanka, however they only won through D/L and were five wickets down for 188 chasing 279, it could have gone either way. Match four however was where the interesting things really began. England bowled out the West Indies team for 122 runs, and then went on to beat them with nine wickets and 163 balls to spare. Despite this crushing win, England then went on to lose their second warm-up game to Pakistan.

The biggest surprise of the warm-up though, came from Scotland. Not only did they crush Ireland by a margin of 179 runs, but they went on to score 310 runs chasing West Indies’ score of 313 in their second game, an incredible start from an associate nation. Though they have done extremely well in the warm up games, Scotland will find it extremely difficult to qualify. Being in pool A they will face both host nations who are in great nick along with England and Sri Lanka. Expectations of Ireland were not diminished fully even after their crushing loss to Scotland though. They went on to bowl Bangladesh out for less than 200 and chased down the runs in 47 overs. With the pools in favour of Ireland, we could still see them in the quarter finals.

Unfortunately once again South Africa’s World Cup antics continue as they lost their warm up game against New Zealand, they very much missed the pace and aggression of Dale Steyn and the stability of Hashim Amla. New Zealand who seem to have peaked at the perfect time piled on the runs scoring a total of 331 runs. South Africa then went on to score a total of 197 all out with only JP Duminy making a significant contribution to the batting. Regardless of two key players being rested, considering the quality of the rest of the team and their recent form it was extremely surprising they ended up 62-6 from 14 overs. If South Africa rely so heavily on these two players they will have a serious problem if one of them gets injured during the tournament.

Once again, Australia appear to be on top and ready to take the title but it could well end up being an epic clash of the hosts in the finals.

A literal one-man show… Rohit Sharma beats Sri Lanka by 13 runs.

15 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by niralihathi in Uncategorized

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#Rohit200, 264, Cricket, Double Century, India, INDvSL, ODI, Rohit Sharma, Sri Lanka

Rohit Sharma smashed through two incredible records yesterday. He scored a record-breaking 264 runs in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka (45 more than the previous record holder Virender Sehwag) and became the first cricketer to score two double centuries in ODIs.

It was an incredible day for India but more specifically, for Rohit Sharma. India had already won the series against Sri Lanka with two games to play and so decided to give all their players a chance. Sharma who was coming back from Injury had only played in the warm-up game but had scored 142 and was looking as great as ever. Sharma along with Robin Uthappa, Stuart Binny and Karn Sharma all played to allow some of the other players to rest and recover, including the in form Shikhar Dhawan who had scored a fantastic 283 runs in his three innings.

India won the toss and elected to bat first, Sharma looked uncomfortable to begin with, he only scored 11 runs of the first 40 with Ajinkya Rahane in full flow hitting boundaries every over. Sharma faced a maiden over from Angelo Matthews, was dropped by Thisara Perera (the most costly drop in ODI cricket) on four runs, and scored his 50 at less than a run a ball.

However from then on, it was as though he was a new man, there was no stopping him. He didn’t give the Sri Lankans another chance until he went past 200, his second, third and fourth 50 came from 28, 25 and 26 balls respectively and his final 50 came off just a mere 15. Sharma hit 33 fours (another record) in his innings, he placed the ball so beautifully that the Sri Lankan fielders didn’t have a chance. Sharma played 39 dot balls to reach his first 50 but only 19 in the rest of his entire innings. There was little to say about the other batsmen when one man amasses a score that is higher than the average ODI innings these past 10 years. However, Virat Kohli was run out again just as he was when Sharma scored his first double century against Australia. (Are we going to start hoping Kohli gets run out more often when he’s batting with Sharma?)

Sri Lanka’s batsmen faced an incredible total of 404. Their bowlers had given them very little chance of winning the game and bar the wonderful efforts of Mahela Jayawardena and the admirable grit of Angelo Matthews, their batting was in no shape to be chasing such a total. Sri Lanka fell 153 runs short of India’s total, 13 runs short of Rohit Sharma’s total.

#Rohit200

India take full advantage of unprepared Sri Lanka

07 Friday Nov 2014

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Centurions, Cricket, India, INDvSL, ODI, Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli

India were clear favourites when the impromptu ODI series against Sri Lanka was announced after West Indies left India early. Sri Lanka’s last international game was against Pakistan in August and they were given no time to prepare for the series. In the lead up, both Angelo Matthews and Kumar Sangakkara were clear about their distaste for the spontaneous series and lack of practice. They, alongside the new head coach tried to dial down the importance of the tour but the margins by which India have won the first few games could have an effect on the Sri Lankans in the lead-up to the World Cup.

Even though Sri Lanka were missing both Lasith Malinga and Rangana Herath, the warm-up game against India A was expected to be a little more competitive than it turned out to be. Neither of India’s openers played including the in-form Ajinkya Rahane and both Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli did not play. This would have been the perfect chance for Sri Lanka to get a feel for the Indians and build up some confidence before facing a team that had just beaten England and West Indies.

The Indian batsmen pummeled the Sri Lankan bowlers with the first wicket falling for 96 and the second falling for a colossal 310. Rohit Sharma scored 142, Manish Pandey scored an unbeaten 135 and along with the help of Unmukt Chand who scored a half century, India posted 382. The batsmen appeared unfazed by the SL bowlers and both Sharma and Pandey made their case for being included in the 2015 WC XI.

Apart from Upul Tharanga who scored 76, none of the other Sri Lankan batsmen made a significant contribution to their total. Considering their lack of practice, they did very well to reach 294, a score that would more often than not result in a win during a chase but their bowling left them too huge a target and so Matthews’ men fell short by 88 runs.

The first ODI was going to be even more of a task for the SL bowlers with Rahane on form and Virat Kohli coming off a century against West Indies. India’s openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rahane both scored centuries and put on an incredible opening stand of 231 runs. This was the second highest Indian opening partnership against Sri Lanka and third overall. Their innings was incredible but could have been stopped early in it’s tracks. Kumar Sangakkara dropped two regulation catches off the openers before they had reached half centuries. The poor performance by such a high achieving man showed the true rustiness of the Sri Lankan team.

Virat Kohli was appointed captain for the series and made a great call in putting Suresh Raina in at no.3 to keep the momentum of the game going after Dhawan fell for 113. Raina went on to score 52 and India ended on another mammoth total of 363.

Sri Lanka’s batting appeared even worse during this game, only Mahela Jayawardene looked in touch playing some great shots. Ishant Sharma picked up four wickets for 34 runs, his best ODI figures to date and Sri Lanka were bowled out for 194. The Indians were missing Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and so would have been very happy with the performance from the pace bowlers.

The second ODI appeared to be dragging the series down the same road that six out of the seven previous head-to-head ODI series’ between the two have gone. Only once have Sri Lanka drawn an ODI series against India in the past 10 years and never have they won one.

The ODI began badly for the visitors as wickets fell frequently until a great fourth-wicket partnership between Angelo Matthews and Kumar Sangakkara helped them get back on track. No one else in the team made a significant contribution to the total but Sri Lanka were still able to muster a decent total of 274. However it appeared nothing could stop the hosts, if it wasn’t Rahane scoring the century it was someone else. Ambati Rayudu appeared to want in on the action as he scored an unbeaten maiden century. He, with the help of Dhawan and Kohli helped India ease to their second win of the series so far.

I hope the series improves over the next few games and that Sri Lanka are better prepared for the World Cup. It would be phenomenal to watch another India v. Sri Lanka final after the results of the 2011 ODI and 2014 T20 World Cup.

I feel I must mention Pakistan and their incredible dominance over Australia in the two tests after having lost all three ODIs. Not just by small margins either, a first test win of 221 runs followed by an even more comprehensive 356 run win. An in form Pakistan and India will mean an incredibly exciting group stage match in Adelaide in Feb 2015. One which I eagerly await!

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