Cricket Blog

Judge Hansen, from New Zealand, gave the verdict of Not Guilty to the racism charge against Harbhajan Singh in a hearing that lasted almost 6 hours. After hearing evidence from the stump microphones, Judge Hansen said that he was convinced that on all evidence submitted before him the charge of a level 3.3 offence was not proven, but that Harbhajan should be charged with a level 2.8 offence.

Harbhajan admitted that he was guilty of using foul language and so has been fined 50 percent of his match fee. A lot of supporters back in India and overseas will find this justice, and it may be, but the way it has been achieved leaves a sour taste.

The initial ban on Habhajan should have been handled more professionally. When you are charging a high profile player from the biggest money-making machine for the ICC, one has to be careful and thoughtful about the possible ramifications. Mike Proctor was guilty of failing on both counts. He made the mistake of believing Andrew Symonds’ and Matty Hayden’s word against Harbhajan Singh and Sachin Tendulkar’s. When there are witnesses from both sides testifying to different things, even a common person knows that a judge needs more conclusive evidence. Proctor ignored this basic rule to brand Bhajji racist. He lost his reputation. Australia lost the battle then and there.

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Well, its time to give out my opinion on the squad that has been chosen for the ODI series involving India, Sri Lanka and Australia. A lot is being said about the exclusion of some “Big” names from the squad and that the players selected are not right for this series. The selectors have flat-out cleared their criteria - Fielding. In a country where people are completely crazy about their stars, this is not a good enough reason. In my opinion, hats off to the selectors for finally putting a greater emphasis on the fielding capabilities of ODI players.

For years we have seen our team to be the worst in fielding, on paper and on Live TV. The bungling old players have had over a decade of playing experience, yet there has been absolutely no improvement in their fielding. Yes they are good in catching, and catches win matches. But catches don’t come every other ball. Every single run counts in ODI cricket, and every time the ball is placed to Ganguly and Dravid, the batsmen always take an extra run.

Well what about running between the wickets. It would be an understatement to say that both Ganguly and Dravid are the worst runners in the Indian squad. Saurav Ganguly has played 311 matches. He has been part of 145 losses. He has been runout 13 times averaging 34.92 every time. Almost once every 11 matches that India have lost. Almost always after getting a good start. Overall he has been runout 23 times. Dravid, on the other hand, has played 333 ODI matches. He has been involved in 160 defeats and got himself runout 20 times. That is once in every 8 defeats. He averages 30.65 and just like Ganguly gets himself runout after getting a good start.

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Sachin Tendulkar has decided not to take the Test captaincy in recent news. He cited personal reasons, just like Dravid, for his decision. Its a done deal now on Dhoni being named the Supreme Commander of Team India for all forms of the game. Sachin was previously considered the front-runner for the job in Tests and this situation now is a blessing in disguise for India.

Look, I am not against Sachin, but for India to step forward, the sooner we get used to the Big 3 out of the team the better. Come 2011, none of these three are going to be in the team, and if we are to challenge the best teams in the world then we need the youngsters who have enough experience and talent to take them on. We have already seen some bright sparks in the last couple of months.

Robin Uthappa is turning out to be a reliable bat anywhere in the order. Gautam Gambhir has been a completely different batsman after the Twenty20 World Cup. Yuvraj and Dhoni have handled the leadership responsibility quite well and they are looking a perfect combination for the future. Both are aggressive and passionate about the game. Both are proven match winners and the younger breed look up to the two.

Sachin may have done yet another service to the team and the country by declining the Test captaincy and for that I salute the Little Genius. Yes, there may be some personal reasons - which can only be speculated. However, as has been his career so far, I am pretty sure that this is another selfless decision that he must have made.

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