ON SATURDAY, ROHIT SHARMA BECAME ONLY THE THIRD MAN TO SCORE A DOUBLE CENTURY IN ONE DAY CRICKET. Granted, this is an astonishing feat and an achievement that should not be taken lightly. However, as is often the case when one enters an elite group, the initial reaction is to compare the new recruit with the current members. It is obvious to any follower of the game, fanatical or part-time, that Rohit does not possess the ability to play glorious shots around the ground all day like Mr Tendulkar, nor does he strike fear into the bowlers hearts as soon as he passes 30 like Sehwag did in his prime. Bowling to either of those must have made even the most skillfull of bowlers think at times, "it's going to be a long day".
And yet, despite his technique and ever growing confidence, I cannot imagine that Rohit has the same effect. When he hits a cover drive for 4 in the 3rd over, the bowlers may think, hey, I've got a chance next ball. Maybe the TV audience at home get up to make a coffee. When Tendulkar, Sehwag or any of the other superstars of the game did it, millions around the world remained glued to their TV sets in anticipation of the probable carnage to follow, wishing they were at the stadium. The bowling side, conversely, probably wished they were at home.
So why has ROHIT got into the 200 club? Or more importantly, how? Granted, the god-like status may be yet to come, but for many years a lot of people have just thought he didn't quite have enough for the top level. He may have improved since then, with experience, practise and calming of nerves, but has he improved THAT much? No doubt he's class, but I suspect the answer may be "no".
In the 11 completed innings this series, 300 has been passed on NINE occasions. One of the other occasions was an Aussie 295, and the 350 mark was chased on two occasions. Even in the t20, both sides passed 200. In every game, records were not just broken. They were smashed. Across the series we've seen 2 of the 3 highest run chases ever, the fastest hundreds by an Indian and an Australian, and the most sixes ever hit in an international game of cricket. This points to one thing: a pretty damn good series for the batsmen.
There are three theories for this, concerning batting, bowling and the playing conditions (both the physical and the written rules). Theory A: Awful bowling. There is no denying that Ishant was poor, and I'm still stumped as to why Vinnay Kumar has ever been picked for the national side (pun intended). Yet Bhuvneshwar bowls with great control, Shami is certainly brisk, and Ashwin is the premier spinner in a country that, on the odd chance it favours the bowlers at all, has turning tracks. Likewise, Australia fielded the likes of Mitchell Johnson and Clint McKay, certainly international quality bowlers, and yet they still got smashed from Mumbai to Kolkata in every game.
Perhaps this is then all due to the batting. But when you look down the teams, there is no Ponting, Gilchrist, Hussey, Langer, Hayden, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Dravid, Ganguly, Laxman...not a single batsman who I think at the moment is world class and deserving of these scores and feats. Maybe this is harsh on Dhoni and Kohli, phenomenal one day players, but they don't quite enter the same bracket as the aforementioned lot just yet.
So that just leaves the conditions. India is known for small boundaries - there's nothing you can do about that, and batter-friendly surfaces, which may be manipulated but I'm not sure how much. Given these facts are known, you'd expect the ICC to have rules assisting the bowlers in a (bats)man's world. WRONG. Instead, to replace the bowling power-play, they've introduced a maximum of 4 fielders on the boundary. Now teams have to have 3rd man and fine leg in the circle so any wayward delivery inevitably goes for 4. Even having 2 new balls - intended to help the swing bowlers - just means that the ball is harder (thus going further) and less likely to reverse swing at the end. And let us not forget the bats that are hitting these balls; huge high-tech pieces of willow (apparently!) use to deposit bowlers over the rope again and again.
These issues create cricket which is not sustainable. Soon (some would argue it's already happened) the extraordinary will become ordinary. 250 used to be a safe score when Sachin started his career. Now, as the megastar prepares to retire, it appears that that is barely defendable. The ICC needs to look at itself and really ensure that cricket becomes a bat AND ball game. 300 needs to be special and the attraction of a low scorer where a batsman does well to win the match with a stunning 50 from 80 balls (yes you read that right!) must remain. People come to see skill and players being tested to their limits. That is what will bring people in in the long run. A specatcle need not be expected but instead unique so that it can be cherished. Rohit Sharma played well but I'm afraid he's not a 200 player. The ICC must sort this or else Dhoni's prophercy may become reality - we may just as well have a bowling machine! I continue to wonder, who the hell would ever want to be a bowler?!
No comments:
Post a Comment