GREAT PERFORMANCES IN THE WORLD CUP:ARAVINDA DE SILVA-1996

Aravinda De Silva had made a name for himself much before the Wills Cricket World Cup of 1996.As an Indian and a fan of Kapil Dev, it pained me a lot when De Silva hit the great bowler for a six in a test match.

Aravinda made the headlines for his ability to take on the best of the bowlers-both pace and spin. He was not afraid to play the horizontal shots when the ball bounced. He was all power and at times, the ball just sped to the boundary seemingly at the slight wave of the bat. Aravinda seemed to infuse the finesse of some his predecessors like Roy Dias with power. As was the case with most of his teammates, Aravinda too did not mind having a paunch.

The 1996 World Cup saw Sri Lanka in its full glory where everything seemed to work for the men from the small island nation. The batsmen could score runs; the bowlers took the wickets while fielding was top class. Every member of the team contributed to the ultimate triumph while the class of Aravinda came into its won during the semi-finals and the finals.

Sanath Jayasuriya and Romesh Kaluwitharana gave their team flying starts and most opponents were too shell shocked to trouble the rest of the Sri Lankan team. But in the semi-finals versus India at the Eden Gardens, things went from bad to worse for the islanders. Srinath sent the opening pair back to the pavilion with very few runs. Asanka Gurusinghe was given a rough time before he too fell to Srinath. Things started looking really rosy for India and a spot in the finals at Karachi seemed very real.

I can still remember the day of the match. It was the day when examinations were going on and every now and then I went away from the examination hall to get the latest scores. The first three wickets were followed by three crackers and after a while there was an eerie silence. The reason was Aravinda was taking on the Indian bowlers. There was a cover drive that looked ominous and in the company of Roshan Mahanama, De Silva took Sri Lanka to a good total. As it turned out, this total was beyond the reach of India and Sri Lanka was in the finals.

The finals featured Sri Lanka and Australia in the city of Karachi in Pakistan. The Aussies did not go to Sri Lanka for the preliminary round of matches citing security reasons. There were the usual mind games before the big match. The Aussies appeared confident while Arjuna Ranatunga did not blink. History had favoured the Aussies to win the World Cup for a second time. I had not fully recovered from the trashing India received from Sri Lanka but I did not want the Aussies to win.

The Aussies could not post a good total. The famed batting line-up boasting the likes of the Waugh twins, Stuart Law, Michael Bevan, Ponting and Healy failed to make a big score. The spinners of Sri Lanka made it difficult to score freely and Aravinda had a big role taking 3 key wickets-Mark Taylor, Ponting and Healy.

The target was not stiff but Shane Warne was expected to make the ball talk but the genius of Aravinda put an end to all such speculation. Like in the semi-finals, Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana failed.Aravinda scored a century and along with Gurusinghe put the match beyond the reach of the Aussies. There were all kinds of shots-the powerful and also the subtle ones.

Truly a great World Cup for a great player. Like Mohinder Amarnath in 1983, Aravinda contributed immensely with both the bat and the ball.

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IS WORLD CUP EVERYTHING?

 

Zico of Brazil was an extraordinarily gifted footballer from Brazil. He won many trophies but could not ever become a World Cup winner.

Socrates a teammate of Zico for many years also failed to win at the biggest stage of world football like many other super talented footballers of his generation from Brazil.

Michel Platini of France was renowned for his skills as a midfield maestro who could not take his team to glory at the World Cup.

Ivan Lendl won many tennis matches and was ranked the best player in the world for a long while but he could not win the trophy that matters- at Wimbledon.

John McEnroe could not win the French Open even after taking a two set lead in the finals once.

All these players are considered great even when they have not won perhaps the ultimate prize in their respective areas.

The achievements of Sachin Tendulkar are well documented and there is only one word to describe him- ‘great’. But Dean Jones argues that Sachin is not the greatest since the Mumbai batsman has never been part of a World Cup winning team.

Jones like many Australians is not able to live with the fact that an Indian is being talked as being equal or even being better than Donald Bradman. Even while he acknowledges the achievements of Sachin, Jones does not hesitate to drop the World Cup or the lack of it to downplay the greatness of the Mumbai maestro.

Cricket is a team game and it takes all the players in the team to perform in order to win a tournament that is spread out over a period of time. Jones was part of one Cup winning team in 1987.Most of the same team took to the field in 1992 and it was booted out of the event even in home conditions.

Brian Lara another great cricketer of his generation is also someone who could never be a part of any World Cup winning squad but this never diminishes the achievements of the left-hander from the Caribbean.

Sachin has scored the maximum runs in the World Cup and he even was the ‘player of the tournament’ in 2003 even when Australia won beating India in the final.

What more Sachin has to prove?

It is more of a case of sour grapes for Mr. Dean Jones.

It is time our media stopped giving the space to such ‘professors’.

There is more to cricket in general and Sachin Tendulkar in particular than the World Cup medal. The CV of Sachin does not require one such medal.

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THE STAND-OFF CONTINUES

The stand-off between the hockey players and Hockey India continues over the demands from the players relating to incentives and graded pay system.

 

Predictably, the people in charge of running the sport in the country have put forward some ‘ad-hoc’ proposals that the players have rejected. Hockey India is offering only Rs.25,000 per player while the players have asked for Rs.4.5 lakh each.Hockey India does not have the funds.The players at least want a written assurance from Hockey India which is also rejected.

 

The players have boycotted the conditioning camp for the forthcoming World Cup. Hockey India has given a 48 hour deadline for the players to take part in the camp.The players have also been warned that a team of ‘reserve’ players would be fielded in the World Cup.

 

Hockey India has criticised the money mindedness of the players and also has questioned the timing of the ‘revolt’. Hockey India has tried to use the card of playing for the nation.But as things are at the moment, the players are firm in their decision and are sticking to their demands.

 

I watched a press conference of the players where they pointed out that during the Azlan Shah tournament each player was provided $14 per day. On their tour to Argentina, the remuneration was $20 per day.These payments are pittances even when considers the pride of playing for the country.The men of Hockey India are least bothered about the image of the sport that has taken a lot of beating in the past few decades. People like Mattoo do not realise the pain and the sacrifices that the players make.

 

K P S Gill, the former top boss of Indian hockey claims that he could solve the problem in 10 minutes. This is utterly ludicrous since it is people like him who have taken the sport to such depths in the first place. In a way, Gill can do it. All he has to do is to hold the players at gun point and make them fall in line. Mr.Gill, these are players and not some criminals.

 

The Union Minister for Sports, M.S.Gill a self proclaimed saviour of Indian hockey wishes that the problem is solved immediately for the larger interest of the country.

 

The Governments of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab have offered help.Tomorrow, we may more such offers from Congress ruled states. This kind of attitude is something that is sickening to say the least.

Shah Rukh Khan has tweeted about this situation and a former actress /singer who now lives across the border in Pakistan has offered to hold concerts to raise funds.So much for the players and the sport!

 

The players have put forward the proposal that they can shell out money from their pockets to meet the expenses.

 

Ad hocism has plagued this country in all fields and sports is no exception.

 

It is only the players who have to think about national pride while people like Kalmadi, Gill etc. do not hesitate to hog all the limelight when the players bring laurels to the country.

 

What a coincidence that as I am typing this post, B B King is saying “The Thrill is Gone”.

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FROM VIRTUAL TO REALITY

Till last night, the Indian team was ‘virtually out’ of the World Cup. But with Bangladesh triumphing over Bermuda, India is truly out. That is what the television experts want us to believe.

Bermuda was never going to upset Bangladesh. The most optimistic of the fans of Indian cricket was confident of Bangladesh going through to the round of ‘Super8’.

The match itself was interrupted several times by rain and in the end it was a 21 over a side game. Each time the covers were removed and the match restarted, Bermuda lost wickets. It was only in the last 5 overs that some big shots were played and the score was pushed up to 94.

Bangladesh lost 3 wickets in the process. But they had the nerves to stay calm and finish the game with a lot of balls to spare. Ashraful who had been overshadowed so far by younger players stayed till the end.

I expected to see Dwayne Leverock come up with a catch similar to the one taken against India. But there was no such luck.

TOO MUCH DEFENSIVE

Watching Sri Lanka give a trashing to Bangladesh, only one thing crossed my mind. The Indian team as a whole, barring Yuvraj Singh appeared too much defensive in the match against Bangladesh. Even Ganguly, who top scored for India played too many dot balls.

Jayasuriya and company took the Bangladesh bowlers to the cleaners and the left arm spinners who were treated with utmost caution by even Sachin were taken apart in a clinical display. Suddenly the team that supposedly came of age with the win over India was shown its true stature in the world cricketing hierarchy.

The Indian bowlers appeared clueless when the Bangladesh bowlers played their shots. The same batsmen could not handle the bowling firepower of the Lankans. Zaheer Khan was put over the fence by a batsman who used his feet.

The decision of Dravid to bat first after winning the toss has been considered the reason behind the defeat in the first match. That was the only decision that was not defensive. Dravid followed the footsteps of the Aussie captains who don’t mind batting first even on the pitches that offer help to bowlers. But the rest of the action on the day was defensive to say the least.

It is now going to be very tough for the Indians to beat the islanders and advance to the second stage of the tournament. The Lankan display last night is sure to add to the pressure faced by the Indian team.

A LONG WAY TO GO

The loss to Bangladesh sparked off a lot of anger on the streets and the television channels. The win over lowly ranked Bermuda seems to have erased all the bad feelings. That is the extreme reaction of the typical Indian fan.

Now the real battle is to be won with the match against Sri Lanka. The islanders have been beaten on Indian soil in recent times but this high-pressure encounter may mar the chances of India. Even if the Indians manage a win, there is no certainty of a place in the Super 8 with a lot of calculations to find the net run rate.

Things may get more complicated if the encounter is washed out. Then Bangladesh and Sri Lanka advance to the next round.