India

Indians who have scored Century on Test Debut

Suresh Raina: 12th Indian to score a Century on Test Debut

When Suresh Raina completed his century in the 2nd Test match against Sri Lanka earlier today at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Sri Lanka, he expanded the list of Indians who have scored a century on Test Debut to exactly a dozen now.

Raina has indeed joined a very illustrious and select club of just 12 Indian Greats. Here is the full list:

1. Lala Amarnath
2. Deepak Shodhan
3. A.G. Kripal Singh
4. Abbas Ali Baig
5. Hanumant Singh
6. Gundappa Vishwanath
7. Surinder Amarnath
8. Mohammad Azharuddin (he of course went on to score a century in each one of his first three tests, a record that still stands)
9. Praveen Amre
10. Saurav Ganguly
11. Virender Sehwag
12. Suresh Raina

Why have Yuvraj Singh and Ishant Sharma been selected?

Some of the selections to the Indian Team announced for the Test series in Sri Lanka have left Suneer Chowdhary aghast. But what is enraging him more than the inxeplicable selections is the stout refusal by chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth to explain the inexplicable…

Kiran More had often been lambasted in the media during his tenure as the selector of the Indian side. Dilip Vengsarkar was expected to do more for Indian cricket, but his tenure was marred by controversies and what can easily be defined as some rash decisions taken in the name of looking at the future of Indian cricket.

When did he learn to be quiet?

Krish Srikkanth and his men have probably not been too different either, and it makes me wonder whether it made any sense to change the selection role from being a honorary position to a paid one.

The World T20 was an apt example of this. Getting in Piyush Chawla, ignoring the likes of Amit Mishra and Virat Kohli, and even Robin Uthappa, were only some of the questionable decisions. Even before that, the Indians had gone into the first Test match against South Africa with one batsman short because the selectors had taken no cognizance of the some of the injuries that the side had, and opted for a back-up wicket-keeper instead.

The selection of the side for the tour of Sri Lanka goes to the other extreme. There is a back-up opener, back-up middle-order batsman and a reserve wicket-keeper in a 16-member squad to play Sri Lanka in three Test matches. On the face of it, the same looks justified. After all, Virender Sehwag has had the worst of the runs in terms of his injuries, while MS Dhoni has had his issues with the back too.

However, sending out a 16-member side effectively means that the selectors are putting the onus of picking the side on the captain and the coach. They seem to be saying that these are the best 16 that we have, now, it is your job to do what you want to do with them. Some questions, though, remain unanswered. And that is because of Srikkanth’s continuing one liner on how he will not take questions on individual selections.

I shall ask nonetheless.

Is there any rationale behind Yuvraj Singh’s axing and subsequent selection?

Some say that the message would have reached an unfit Yuvraj. Is that the point? If he was unfit in the first place, is there any reason for us to believe that he is fit enough to play now? Remember, there were no domestic games that were played by Yuvraj since being dropped from the Indian team for the Asia Cup. And if not, does that mean that a semi-fit Yuvraj is better than some of the other youngsters waiting to be picked in the side? If so, it is a sad commentary of the way things are.

Moving on to the pace department, there are two quickies to assist Zaheer Khan; Ishant Sharma and Sreesanth. Sreesanth was a surprise selection in the home series against Sri Lanka, but a five-wicket haul and the subsequent hamstring injury meant that it would have only needed a doctor’s certificate for his selection to become a foregone selection.

But where does Ishant fit in? He last played in the couple of Tests against South Africa and ended with figures of 3/236 in those couple of Tests. The pace has obviously dropped alarmingly and so has the confidence, and the last thing that Ishant probably needs are the flat tracks of Sri Lanka to disarm him completely.

The selectors may have something good in store for him, but the stake-holders of cricket in this country will never know what, given that the chief of selectors continuously refuses to explain his rationale behind the selection. I am surprised that it is not a big issue yet that Srikkanth does not talk to the media on his individual selections.

Indian bowling looked of international class after nearly six months

The swing was back. So was the swagger and in turn the wickets. The one delivery that was so reminiscent of this change was the one that Zaheer Khan delivered to get rid of Upul Tharanga. The ball was cutting both ways throughout the 48 balls that he was at the crease. And to his momentary surprise, it culminated in Tharanga’s dismissal when he failed to read the line and the length of one that pitched marginally outside and was given a free passage towards his final objective of dislodging the top of the off.

Not since early January this year, when the Indians had bowled their favourite opposition of all time, Sri Lanka out for 213 in a tri-series league game at Dhaka, had the bowling stuck so much gold.

Not that one swallow ever made a summer. And so, the Indian bowling will need to consistently bowl in this fashion in order to get closer to the dream combination for the World Cup that picks those early wickets. India’s campaign in the 2007 edition had ended even before it could start, but in 2003, when the team had done well had been thanks to the troika of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra hitting their straps well till before the final.

Come to think of it, there is a good chance that India will go into the next edition of the tournament with two of those three still leading the attack. Not only does this fact speak volumes about how the life has come a full circle for the Indian bowling through editions of the World Cup, but is also a tell-tale sign on the lack of serious bowling options that the side has had.

Coming back to yesterday’s win, it was set up well by the Indian batsmen. For those few fleeting moments when Ravindra Jadeja had all but wasted those Powerplay overs, one felt that the Indians had fallen about 20-30 runs short of what they would have liked. But, the earlier work done by Dinesh Karthik and the middle-order, who all got starts – but failed to convert – was enough a total for a pressure final under the now-famous Dambulla lights.

Still, if one were to play a devil’s advocate here, one thought that MS Dhoni could have been more imaginative with his selection. Saurabh Tiwary was surprisingly not afforded a chance in the previous game, but the sense that I got was that Dhoni may be just doing to Sri Lanka what they had done to India in the previous Asia Cup. Ajantha Mendis was an unknown quantity and he had not been played in the league game against India and in the final, against the same side, he ran through them like a hot knife through butter. Probably, Dhoni wanted to unleash Tiwary onto the Lankans in the final.

It was not to be, and the Indians almost suffered from the lack of a viable batsman in the slog overs, who could muscle his way through. Yuvraj Singh did this job earlier, Dhoni can do it as well, but one player out, and the other promoting himself up the other, it was left to the likes of Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja.

Still, can’t argue with a tournament-winning captain’s logic, or can you?

Why Yuvraj’s exclusion was only good for him and the side

After Krish Shrikkant & Co. decided to leave out the supremely talented but out-of-form Yuvraj Singh out of the Indian team for the Asia Cup 2010, Suneer Chowdhary argues why the decision was good both for the struggling batsman as well as the team.

The Indian seniors are back. After a reasonably ‘long’ hiatus from international cricket, they will be back to doing what they do best. Well, almost all of them, that is. There will be no Sachin Tendulkar. And no Yuvraj Singh.

Tendulkar’s exclusion is understandable. The more candles that he is blowing, the more difficult it would be getting for him to blow the candles on his next birthday. And the Indians not only need him for the World Cup, but also for the transition period after that, as was recognizable in the recently concluded tri-series.

What goes in Tendulkar’s favour is that his absence only allows Gautam Gambhir to bat his favourite position along with Virender Sehwag, and on paper, does not make a huge difference to the side’s balance.

And if Tendulkar’s absence in the team announced for the Asia Cup is understandable , Yuvraj’s was almost desirable. For his sake. For his team’s sake. For his team’s future’s sake.

For the last couple of years, Yuvraj’s trysts with injuries have been of the scandalous proportions. There has barely been a series or two when he has been fully fit or has not got injured, and each time he has made a comeback to the side, it has looked like he could have allowed himself some more time off the field.

Now, no cricketer wants to remain away from the action for a long time, but it does not help the team if the player plays with a niggle or is half-fit enough to affect his other departments of the game. With Yuvraj, the latter was true in almost every series that he has played in the last few months.

The struggle has been even more palpable, and had it been for a more independent set of commentators in the games covering India, by now, all hell would have broken loose with regards to Yuvraj’s movements in the outfield. One probably needs to be as blind as a bat, to overlook Yuvraj’s lack of being Yuvraj of the old!

What has pronounced the death knell is that in the last half a year, he averages ten runs per innings lesser than his career average, while the IPL and World T20 scores have been next to negligible. A player can survive amidst rumours about anything if he is scoring the runs, or he could look fit, and athletic on the field of play and probably get a long rope if he is a proven customer but not getting the runs. For one to not score the runs and look as ugly on the field as a duck trying to play football, something had to give.

And that is only the on-field story. One is not yet privy about his off-field shenanigans, but if some of the stories are to be believed, then, it only reduces the awe associated with his exclusion. If there was any in the first place.

The rest of the side is on predictable lines, with most of the senior batsmen making a comeback. What has not happened is for the selectors to go back to any one of the likes of RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma or a Munaf Patel; which is an excellent move, given that none of them deserved a look-in.

Irfan Pathan could have been afforded an opportunity as a medium-pace, slow off-cutter, bowler who can bat at the number seven position, but with the World Cup to be played in India, a thoroughbred spinner in Ravindra Jadeja was probably thought of as a better option. No regrets there.

The question that remains is whether this team can win the Asia Cup. The bowling, to me, will be the key, and in the Powerplay overs. That, to me, will be the distinguishing factor.