The news is finally out. After the IPL Committee had banned Singh for 11 IPL games, the BCCI has banned him for a total of 5 One Day International matches for India. He has escaped a fine. Considering he has already spent USD 721,777.59 in lieu of the fine. This surely was the most expensive slap ever. To know more, you could check out the news broadcasts or even ask me.

The BCCI’s disciplinary committee, comprising president Sharad Pawar, president-elect Shashank Manohar, and vice-president Chirayu Amin, handed out the punishment in Mumbai.

The committee invoked Rule 3.2.1 of the BCCI regulations and handed out the maximum punishment. “Under this provision, the maximum punishment that can be meted out to a player is ‘a ban up to a maximum of 5 ODIs and / or 3 Test matches’,” a release from the board said.

Rule 3.2.1 says that:

Incident: Threat of assault on another Player, Team Official or spectator

Penalty: a ban up to a maximum of 5 ODIs and / or 3 Test matches

Incidentally, the IPL had imposed a much serious charge, a Level 4 charge, where a life ban could be possible. Talking of which, Harbhajan could still get one:

“The committee accordingly decided to ban Harbhajan Singh for five one-day internationals, starting today (14th May 2008), and further observed that any further instance of misconduct will invoke a life-ban.”

BCCI Release, 14th May 2008

The chances of Harbhajan repeating such a thing are very bleak. But he has a habit of surprising all of us. Or maybe all of this ain’t that surprising, knowing him. More on this later.

Post from: EveryJoe

Its Official : Harbhajan Singh Banned for 5 ODIs

Having guest blogged here before, the look and the feel of this blog was not new to me. It always inspired me. It was popular! I used to say to myself: “See, This is where you have to end up. Something similar at least!.” Now that I am here, its time to redefine the goals. By the way, the heading for this post is not about me. Its about the Indian Premier League (IPL).

I always wanted to start with something I feel very strongly about. Being an Indian, knowing a bit about Premier level cricket and loving the concept of a new League, it wasn’t too tough to get involved. The concept of Inter-City Cricket which has basic minimum level of rivalry or intensity could only be dreamt about here till recently. No one gave a fig to any sort of cricket unless it was International.

Suddenly, a cricket board realised that it was getting richer. That it could still get richer. Hence, they came up with the IPL idea. Have billionaires buy teams for millions and then let them run it. And still get a cut of the revenues. Nice idea indeed. The Inaugural IPL begins from the 18th of April. That’s about 2 days from now. I can feel the hype surrounding it. Hope the matches don’t let me down. Sometimes I feel me in b5 and IPL in Cricket are similar. Firm Beginnings, High Hopes. Laters.

Photo Courtesy: iplinfo

Post from: EveryJoe

Firm Beginnings, High Hopes

Australia v India, CB Series, 7th ODI, Adelaide ; February 17, 2008

Australia 9 for 203 (Clarke 79, Pathan 4-41) beat India 153 (Johnson 3-42) by 50 runs

Australia beats India in the 7th CB Series ODI by 50 runs

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Australia losing the confidence and luster they were once known for. It might be true, but the thing is, they’re still a cut above the rest, whatever level they are at.

Their most in-form bowler didn’t play, they struggled to put up a decent total, and yet they managed to win. You could argue it wasn’t their bowling but India’s batting inadequacies that steered the match in their direction, but who cares. A win is a win. Australia won. End of story.

This Indian team isn’t bad per se, despite the absence of regulars like Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid; they just failed to perform. Dhoni said at the post-match presentation that the youngsters are learning. It’s true these guys are rookies, and it takes time to handle the kind of pressure that comes with facing Australia, but inexperience should not be used as an excuse. If they are not good enough to play against Australia, they shouldn’t be playing in these matches. You don’t go to Australia to give practice to your players. And let’s not forget that even with the bigger players on board, India has never truly threatened Australia. Yes, they have challenged Australia’s domination to some extent, but then again, the Aussies never lost sleep over it. Sometimes the batsmen don’t click; sometimes the bowlers disappoint. It doesn’t work that way. You’ve got to put your act together.

Anyway, Gautam Gambhir looked good, but like always, lacked the patience and fell into the trap the Aussie have been using to snare him throughout the Commonwealth Bank Series. Yuvraj Singh was a bit of himself in the match, but you can’t expect a miracle from an out-of-form batsman, and that too at such a critical stage. Dhoni did bring some stability after a disastrous start and could have saved the game, but no go again.

James Hopes’ two quick wickets could be justified as the turning point of the match. They sealed the match for Australia. Pretty much.

Looking at the big picture, there needs to be some serious work done on the players. If the BCCI can take some time off their important matters like IPL, it would do the players some good. The physio and another staffer on the team have left. That might bring their focus back to the team.

The next match is going to give us some idea where this series is headed.

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It must have been quite crazy to see the last few wickets falling. Not for me though, because I switched off the television after Dhoni’s dismissal. And it wasn’t a complete waste of time for me either; I gulped half a dozen oranges while watching, and that’s given me enough Vitamin C for the rest of the week.

Post from: EveryJoe

No Hopes for India

The other day someone was asking around, “Where’s the Gary Kirsten?” I recalled we had done one post on Gary Kirsten some time back, and then forgot all about him.

He deserves one more.

Everyone’s been so wrapped up in the racial abuse scandal that they’ve possibly not noticed that Gary has been active force behind the scenes.

When India was departing for Oz, he wished them luck and was confident they’ll put a good fight against the opponents.

When hell broke loose after the second Test, he advocated India’s position. Even called Dravid India’s most suitable No. 3.

You can call that a PR approach or whatever, but we’ve got to applaud him for warming up before actually taking on the real job.

What’s more, BCCI is sending him to Perth for a taster of the job.

Good luck, Gary!

Post from: EveryJoe

Gary Kirsten Gears Up

I have no idea what Vengasarkar has been writing. What do you make of BCCI’s move to curb selectors from writing columns? As for SRK, no one would mind his cricket-watching if he stops carrying dolls with him. Does his son play with dolls or what?

Flame away.

Post from: EveryJoe

The BCCI cracks down on Six and Out. Net

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BCCI, in a hasty attempt to resolve the captaincy crisis following Tendulkar’s refusal, have passed on the hat to Kumble. They had several options beside Kumble: Dhoni, Laxman, and Ganguly. Not going for Ganguly and Laxman is understandable, but they must have had a hard time choosing between Dhoni and Kumble. I think their pseudo-logic behind leaving out Dhoni was that they didn’t want to burden the ODI captain with additional responsibility at this point. But there was also a trace of indecision — Kumble’s captaincy lasts for the Pakistan series only. They aren’t confident he is capable of being the main man (phrase borrowed from Uncle J, without permission) for next year’s Oz tour.

I have gone all around the blogosphere making mockery of BCCI’s decision, since you know, it isn’t the wisest of decisions, but out of respect for Kumble (and it’s just occurred to me that it’s quite early to be making judgements), I am not getting into it here. Paradigm shift might be the word. After all, he’s always been underrated and never got enough of the camera focus, not even as much as he deserved. So how much do we really know about his leading capabilities? Yes, yes, players with leadership potential begin to demonstrate the skill quite early on, but there are always exceptions. Kumble has the experience. He knows his cricket. He’s a good chap. I think our IMHO’s can wait.

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The team at Googly have shelled out ten reasons why Kumble deserves to be India captain. Fun read.

Post from: EveryJoe

The Day of the Underdog

Let’s dig up some stats.

How has Tendulkar fared as India Test captain in comparison to Dravid and Ganguly, the other two recent skippers?

So there. Point taken.

However, unlike Ganguly and Dravid, his batting never suffered during captaincy.

As you can see, his batting average suffered a decline of about 4 points. Not negligible, but not bothersome either.

Stats aside, you may like to note that Tendulkar has quit captaincy in the past. It was silly on BCCI’s part to expect him to lead again. I was unsure if he would agree to the offer. And it comes as no surprise to me that he has turned it down.

Captaining India is no child’s play. It definitely sucks up a lot of one’s time and energy fielding media inquiries, attending conferences, etc. Add to that, one has to put up with the politics that is always doing the rounds of BCCI’s headquarters.

So that leaves BCCI with the following options:
Dhoni, Ganguly, Kumble, Laxman

Kumble and Laxman don’t fit the bill. Not only are they too low-profile, timid, but they haven’t really been with the team much lately. And to be honest, they are not going to be around for a long time either.

Now that leaves us with Ganguly and Dhoni. Ganguly, of course, is India’s most successful captain. But after the Chappell scandal, BCCI would be reluctant to appoint him. And with the current state of affairs in the team, that might not be a very wise thing to do indeed.

Dhoni, as some are opining, is way too young for that spot. Ugh. He’s older than Nawab Pataudi (who took over as captain at age 21), at least, gentlemen. Dhoni’s already handled seniors in the Future Cup, and he did fine. Besides, it’s clear that sooner or later he would have to take up Test captaincy too. So why not give him a chance now? And given that Pakistan’s current team comprises mainly of rookies and not much of a threat, this is the best time to test waters. IMHO, of course.

Kumble has been reported as saying that he’s ready for any “duty” that the board assigns him. Wow, that’s going to make the BCCI jump with joy. They can do anything in this state of desperation!

What’s your take?

Post from: EveryJoe

Tendulkar says “nah”; the captaincy drama continues