The ‘Opener’s Dilemma’ in Indian Cricket

If we look back at the history of the game of cricket, any team which has dominated a particular era have had one thing in common - they boasted of a very formidable opening pair. Be it Greenidge and Haynes for the West Indies in the 70s or Hayden and Langer for the Aussies in the first half of the last decade, these redoubtable opening pairs played a major role in the success of their team.

The same is true to a certain extent for the Indian opening pair of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, whose contribution was significant in the team attaining the numero uno spot in Tests last year.

After being pummelled in two away series by England and Australia, the Indian team now finds itself at number five in Test rankings. A major reason for their decline is the dismal form of the openers. Gambhir and Sehwag’s failure to perform individually and to provide decent starts to the team is best highlighted by the fact that the last time they shared a century partnership was way back in December 2010.

Indian cricket likes to live in a state of blissful oblivion where discomforting issues are camouflaged by claims of inconsequential success. The BCCI will never address the issue of a series of poor performances on foreign soil but will boast about the success of the IPL and the opportunity it provides to emerging players to compete with the best in the business. Amidst the hullabaloo over the team’s limited success in the shortest and the shorter format of the game, a few very significant issues are escaping the attention of the cricket administrators.

One issue which demands immediate thinking, planning and action is the future of Gambhir and Sehwag as openers in all three formats of the game. The Sehwag-Gambhir opening pair has failed to provide decent starts to the team in recent times. They will in all probability be retained for the home series against England. They may even manage a few decent knocks against the English attack in Indian pitches, but that will not do Indian cricket any good in the long run. Gambhir, although a very good player of spin bowling, looks vulnerable against the quality pace bowlers, especially on foreign soil.


Dhoni did take a step in the right direction by dropping Sehwag in a couple of matches in recent times but public opinion and media scrutiny compelled him to play it safe by including him in the following matches. India will need to win Tests in away series to regain the number one spot in Test cricket, something which they lost to the English team last year. Also since the next World Cup is slated to be played in Australia, it would be wiser to use the upcoming home series against England and Australia to build a team that would have the technical skills to put up a fight in foreign conditions.

The selection committee, the coach and the captain should sit together and discuss the options available and probably try somebody like Ajinkya Rahane in the home series before the tough test waiting in South Africa. Short term solutions like asking Yuvraj Singh to open will not be beneficial for Indian cricket.

Opening is a specialist position and specialists should be deployed to guard the fortress and lead the attack against the opposition. A perfect example would be Aakash Chopra who was brought in to the side to counter the then mighty Aussie attack in 2003-2004. Although he did not manage to score big runs he did the job of seeing off the new ball to perfection. Technical prowess is a must for an opener to survive and succeed especially in foreign conditions. Our very own Sunil Gavaskar would be a perfect example of this characteristic.

Indian batsmen have always been susceptible to short balls in the pacey and bouncy wickets of Australia, South Africa, England and New Zealand. However the irritating part is that they have not improved on this aspect of their game and this weakness is exploited by every team even to this day. A champion team needs to compete and triumph in all parts of the world and not just in their own backyard. The Indian team was thrashed 4-0 in their last two series in England and Australia and it is high time that remedial measures be taken to avoid such embarrassments in the future.

There are no shortcuts to success in the Test arena and India would do best to bring about some drastic changes in the way the game is managed in the country. Preparing some fast and bouncy wickets at home would be a better option than primitive methods like practising with a tennis ball. The board could also encourage promising players to participate in foreign domestic leagues rather than asking them to play the IPL which destroys all the characteristics required for success in Tests.

ICC announces minor changes; approves day and night Tests with coloured balls

The ICC on Monday gave its seal of approval to the day and night Test matches while leaving the member Boards to decide on the type and colour of the ball to be used, as it announced new playing conditions for Tests, ODIs and T20 Internationals ahead of Sri Lanka-New Zealand series beginning on Tuesday.

Some countries, including Australia and England, have been experimenting day/night Test matches for some time and with the ICC's decision today, the longest format of the game may be held under lights very soon.

"Participating countries may agree to play day/night Test matches. The home and visiting boards will decide on the hours of play which will be six hours of scheduled play per day while the two boards will also decide on the precise brand, type and colour of ball to be used for the match," the ICC said in a statement.

The world body announced a slew of changes in the playing conditions, including powerplays, fielding restrictions and short-pitched deliveries in the ODIs, Decision Review System (in Tests and ODIs), no-ball, dead ball, over-rates, applicable in all the formats and changes in One Over Per Side Eliminator in T20Is.

Microsoft Windows 8 launched

windows 8

Microsoft said on Thursday its 'reimagined' Windows 8 will launch on Friday in 37 languages and 140 worldwide markets, as the tech giant unveiled the new version of its computer operating system. "We have reimagined Windows and the result is a stunning lineup of new PCs," said Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer in announcing the new system of Windows designed to help the transition to growing mobile Internet use. At an event, Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows division announced the ability of Windows users to upgrade to Windows 8 online and in the store. The updates start at $39.99 for consumers.

Sinofsky claims that Windows 8 has a better battery life, , faster boot time, smaller memory footprint, strong work with partners, and compatibility with Windows 7 hardware and software.

"Windows 8 is designed to work with mouse and keyboard, as well as touch. That's the big selling point of the new OS," he said. "The potential market for Windows is the largest of any platform," he added. "You will see fully capable PCs for Windows 8 for under $300," Sinofsky said.

The software giant has gambled by changing long familiar user interface features to make Windows 8 compatible with trends toward keeping programs and data in the Internet "cloud" and relying on mobile gadgets at work and at home.

Indian GP: Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel on pole in Red Bull lockout

 Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel completed a third successive Red Bull front row lockout on Saturday when he took pole position for Sunday's Indian Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber.

The 25-year-old German, who is seeking to become the youngest triple champion in F1 history, made an error on his first flying lap in the top-ten shootout but responded with a second effort in one minute 25.283 seconds to grab pole.

It was his fifth pole of the season and the 35th of his remarkable career, but achieved without quite the luxurious advantage that he had appeared to enjoy through his domination of all three free practice sessions beforehand.

He said: "It was a tight session, especially having made a mistake on my first run on Turn Four. All in all it has been a great weekend so far. The boys have been pushing very hard.

"We have to keep pushing - there are a lot of races to go. The best chance to do well is to focus on every single step. We're look forward to the race. I'm happy to be on pole but there's a hard race coming up tomorrow."

Sebastian Vettel on pole for Indian Grand Prix

Defending world champion Sebastian Vettel completed a third successive Red Bull front row lockout on Saturday when he took pole position for Sunday's Indian Grand Prix ahead of his team-mate Mark Webber.
Racecentre

The 25-year-old German, who is seeking to become the youngest triple champion in F1 history, made an error on his first flying lap in the top-ten shootout but responded with a second effort in one minute 25.283 seconds to grab pole.

It was his fifth pole of the season and the 35th of his remarkable career, but achieved without quite the luxurious advantage that he had appeared to enjoy through his domination of all three free practice sessions beforehand.

He said: "It was a tight session, especially having made a mistake on my first run on Turn Four. All in all it has been a great weekend so far. The boys have been pushing very hard.

"We have to keep pushing - there are a lot of races to go. The best chance to do well is to focus on every single step. We're look forward to the race. I'm happy to be on pole but there's a hard race coming up tomorrow."

His Australian partner Webber did his utmost to match him, but could only deliver 1:25.327 and took second as Red Bull proved they have the overall pace to start as clear favourites.

"It wasn't the smoothest (flying lap) for (Sebastian) and also for me," said Webber.

"On the last corner I got a little on the Astroturf on the exit and didn't have the cleanest run to line, but I'm driving the car.

"It was a pretty tight run thing between Seb and I. The McLarens were doing a very slow out-laps, and I had no grip in the first sector. I was surprised to end up in second."

He added: "So far so good, today it's job done and tomorrow we'll wake up and it'll be a new day."

Rivals McLaren did their best to break the Red Bull monopoly - Vettel has also won the last three races to move six points clear at the top of the drivers' title race - but they ended up third and fourth.

Briton Lewis Hamilton took third late in the session to jump ahead of his team-mate and compatriot Jenson Button on the grid with the two Ferraris of Spaniard Fernando Alonso and Brazilian Felipe Massa taking fifth and sixth places on the third row.

Hamilton said: "I'm happy with third. The team have done a great job this weekend, although we weren't quick enough to be ahead of these guys (Red Bull) today. But our race pace is just as quick as these guys."

Alonso, leader for a long period of the season, is now six points behind Vettel and with four races remaining needs to deliver a strong result in Sunday's race at the Buddh International Circuit, if not a victory, to stay in serious contention.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus qualified seventh ahead of Sergio Perez of Sauber, Pastor Maldonado of Williams and Nico Rosberg who was 10th for Mercedes.

On another near-perfect day at the Buddh International Circuit, where the air temperature hovered around 30 degrees Celsius, Q1 saw the usual suspects struggling at the back of the field.

The non-qualifiers were led by Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso who was 18th ahead of Vitaly Petrov and his Caterham team-mate Heikki Kovalainen, and Timo Glock of Marussia.

Behind them and also out were the two Hispania drivers Pedro de la Rosa and local hero Indian Narain Karthikeyan, whose great effort in front of his home crowd, could not produce any greater pace from his car.

Eliminated in Q2 were Romain Grosjean of Lotus, Nico Hulkenberg of Force, Bruno Senna of Williams, Michael Schumacher in the second Mercedes and Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso, Paul Di Resta and Kamui Kobayashi in the second Sauber.