(In)coherent Ramblings

On Test Cricket's greatest enigma -- I love analyzing sport. It's probably my favourite thing about watching the game. Having spent hours on Statsguru to know a player inside out, watching too many Jarrod Kimber videos, and reading countless articles every week, I think I have a pretty solid grip on the game.  Then I watch Rishabh Pant bat, and start to question everything. – Test batters can be loosely classified into 2 broad strategies. “He who laughs last, laughs longest”. These are the patient builders. The traditionalists, taking time to suss out the conditions, the bowlers and the field, slowly but surely keeping the scoreboard ticking. Their games are built on rock solid defensive technique, and the ruthless ability to put the bad ball away. This, coupled with their never ending patience, means they can afford to see out the good spells, and hope to cash in when the bowlers are tired.  These are your Pujaras, your Dravids. Guys who will deadbat the whole 90 overs if the...

On cricket, cooking, and focusing on the inconsequential. -- "Catches win matches." India dropped what felt like a dozen catches against England at Leeds. They then proceeded to lose from an unlikely position. Cue the cliche. "Can't win matches if you don't take catches". On the surface, it makes complete sense. If you take your catches, you get more wickets. Simple, no?  Sounds great, except, there is no evidence for this. On reasonably large sample sizes, higher catching efficiency barely makes a dent on the winning outcomes of the team.   So why do people keep harping on about this? Because it's a "basic" skill everyone is expected to be able to execute. Or at least it seems that way. It is essential to understand that catching is, at least somewhat, inherently random. Players must react to a ball that deviated sharply and instantly, in milliseconds, and ensure their hands are soft enough to palm the ball. Myriad things can happen on the way...

The other day I saw that my favourite football team was playing a "postseason match". These guys, who just played 60 gruelling games this season, were now flown out to another part of the world to play in random, meaningless games. Do these players ever get a rest? The response one usually gets when trying to highlight the players' ordeal is, "Oh, it's a dream job for anyone" or "They are paid millions for running around a field". Sure, you get to live your childhood dream, playing a sport you've always loved as a profession, having a lavish lifestyle and a lot of fame, but a high-paying job can still be associated with fatigue and burnout. Never mind the fact that it's something you never stop working on. When you have a desk job and come back home, you can (usually) completely switch off and unwind, but you don't have that luxury when you are an elite athlete. You have to watch what you eat, be in shape, and take care of your mental h...

You know when he is on the field. Whether it be at 2nd slip "ooh"ing even when the ball missed the bat comfortably, or riling up the crowd before every ball is delivered. Watching a test match with him on the field is proper box office: every ball is an event, and you cannot take your eyes off the screen. --- No one saw it coming. In the middle of a test series down under, the incumbent stepped down and retired. Thrust into captaincy, the new captain only had one thing in mind: win. Trying to chase 360 against Australia? Even the most optimistic fan wouldn't have seen that coming. But his logic was simple: "only if we try, we can know na?".  --- Test cricket is, at its heart, a bowler's game. It doesn't matter that your batting lineup is star-studded, if you cannot take 20 wickets a match, you simply cannot win. No one understood this more than him. From the ill-advised Karn Sharma selection, to playing four tailenders in the team, no matter the conditio...

A letter to my favourite footballer. -- 2016. Elimination game in the Europa League. All senior strikers injured. Manager calls up a baby-faced 18 year old from the academy. Starts the game and scores a brace on debut. Following weekend, starts against Arsenal. Bang bang. Another brace. 4 goals in 2 for the teenage wonderkid. Since that day, I was hooked. My WhatsApp profile picture was Rashford. My phone wallpaper was Rashford. In a drab, dull team, watching him kept you on the edge of the seat. -- 2019. PSG in the round of 16. 2-0 down coming into the second leg away from home. United claw their way back to go 2-1 up on the night. 90th minute penalty and up steps Marcus Rashford. Smashes it in and gives me one of the best moments in football. When I close my eyes, I can still hear the commentator going "Oh he's smashed it in!". -- 2020. Pandemic has brought football to a halt. The UK government stops providing free school meals as schools are shut. Rashford teams up wit...

Or, how Ted Lasso motivates you to be a good person. -- I recently watched the show 'Ted Lasso' starring Jason Sudeikis. If you've not watched it yet (in which case, go watch it right now!), it's a funny and heartwarming story of an American football coach who takes charge of a (real) football team in England. Though the premise seems jovial, the show deals with numerous heavy topics in a nuanced but light manner, getting a positive message across without being too in-your-face. In this post, I want to focus on a subtle but important theme that carried on throughout the length of the show. (Spoilers ahead!) To recap, Season 1 starts with Ted Lasso being hired by AFC Richmond's new owner, Rebecca Walton. The team is in dire straits, and is on the brink of relegation from the first divison of English football. Ted, being an absolute newbie to the sport, predictably makes a clown of himself and his team initially. To add to their woes, their best (but hugely arrogant a...

Rohit Sharma is very talented. You already know this. You have read it countless times. You have read numerous articles describing him using this specific word. But the word I associate most with him is change . – – – – When Rohit Sharma first broke through, he caught everyone’s attention as a languid, easy-on-the-eye batter, who always seemed to have an extra second while batting. Yet, from the time he made his debut to 2013, he was an inconsistent cricketer, one who always looked good before suddenly throwing it away. All that talent was going to waste. Rohit Sharma’s career since has been defined by change. Changing his position. Changing his technique. Changing his method. Changing himself. – – – – In 2013, he found himself opening an ODI innings in an ICC world event. Surely the last throw of the dice to salvage his career, and make use of his talent. Not many expected much of him, but this move unlocked something in him, and ever since, he has not looked back. He has not only bee...

Jasprit Bumrah. What is there left to say? One-of-one. A bowler from the Gods. An era-defining cricketer. A class act. Writers more talented than me have attempted to describe his genius and fell short. He is so good, he defies description. That said, I am still going to give a shot at explaining the genius of  Jasprit Bumrah. India has traditionally been a blessed batting country. Sachin Tendulkar. Rohit Sharma. Virat Kohli. We have had more batting talents in the past 30 years than some countries have in their entire lifetimes. As Indians, I feel we always find it harder to appreciate a bowler in such a batting-crazy country. It is seldom that bowlers are termed “match-winners” in this country. It is always the batter who steals the limelight. Amidst this context, it is even more remarkable that a bowler has emerged as India’s greatest matchwinner in recent history. A prodigious talent with an unorthodox action, he has always shown promise. But, since he came back from the injury...