Sunil Gavaskar comments

In a recent article in The Hindustan Times Mr. Gavaskar wrote

Virender Sehwag speaks like he bats and that’s why he is so refreshing, for there are no diplomatic niceties for him. He thinks that Bangladesh are an ordinary side incapable of taking 20 India wickets.

Read the complete article at When batsmen leave their teams and fans demoralised

Read more about the 'Ordinary' analysis at An 'Ordinary' Sehwag and An 'Ordinary' Bangladesh

Oh! Not again.

Sri Lanka planning visit by India

An excerpt.

In the past five years, in fact, Sri Lanka and India have been involved in over 50 contests - nine Tests, 39 ODIs and three Twenty20s.

Gimme a break!

An ordinary Bangladesh

India in Bangladesh
1st test, 2009/10 season

It is true that Sehwag called Bangladesh an 'Ordinary' team. Was it a figure of speech? Or Was it an hyperbole? No, it was straight talking. Sehwag does not mince words while talking and he talks straight from the heart. Read my previous post on the same subject.

An 'Ordinary' Sehwag

However, Sehwag shot himself on foot, or so it seemed, when India got out at 243. Media went GaGa over it and Bangla fans went delirious. But did anyone realize that India had one poor session when they lost 6 wickets. In the morning session they were going great guns and last session too was OK. It was only after lunch that they floundered.

To further substantiate my point, I did some research on the past performances of Bangladesh. I checked test match data of last 2 years and compared it with India's. It is considered that in last 2 years Bangladesh has improved tremendously. But the data proves that there was nothing out of ordinary in Sehwag's comments.


Bangladesh scored under 200 in 11 innings out of 21 completed innings - more than 50% times. If we consider under 250 scores the percentage jumps to 80%. If we think scores of 254 and 259 are also under par than the percentage jumps to 90%.



India, on the other hand, just has 4 out 28 under 200 innings - a very low 14%. India also had 11 450+ scores in last 2 years whereas Bangladesh had none. Another interesting inference is Bangladesh lost 20 wickets more often than not - 21 out of possible 24 innings.

It is not a comparison between India and Bangladesh. India is at the top while Bangladesh is at the bottom of ICC test ranking. I collated the stats just to prove the veracity of Sehwag's statement. Bangladesh are truly 'Ordinary'.

An 'Ordinary' Sehwag

India in Bangladesh Test Series - 1st Test
2009/10 season

Sehwag is a misfit in Gentleman's game. He is an 'Ordinary' person with Extra'Ordinary' batting skill. He does not believe in slow nature of test cricket, makes his own rules about the batting and more often than not talks straight.

He makes (Seh)wacky comments which are sometimes misconstrued. Yesterday was an another exhibition of his Ordinary nature. He said Bangladesh is an Ordinary team which evoked surprise, shock and awe. It is true that it would have bruised, nay, shattered Bangla ego but the comment, in itself, was not out of Ordinary. It came out naturally and was a straight response to a straight question. Sehwag does not know how to polish the words. He calls a spade a spade.

Read my recent post on another Sehwag comment and forget about yesterday's press conference.

Trust Sehwag to entertain you - Always

In essence he is (Seh)wack - See the ball hit the ball.

Tendulkar and Pakistan

I wanted to share two very good articles. First one is an anlysis of Tendulkar's batting in Ist test with Bangladesh and another is an essay on current state of Pakistan cricket.

When familiarity breeds respect

Pakistan's fielding caught in a time warp

Temprament vs. Talent

Australia vs. Pakistan 2009-10

The title of this story could also have been Australia vs. Pakistan. Pakistan always had talent in abundance and they are a team of brilliant individuals. Yes they are more like a bunch of talented individuals than a team.

The Australia, as far as memory goes, never had such a weak team. But it is still a team. They might lack talent and experience but they are can more than make it up by grit and determination to succeed. They carry a strong will and temperament to succeed.

Also read my earlier posts

http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyze-this.html

http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/12/life-mein-pyas-honi-chahiye.html

Refer to a news item http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/440513.html where Ponting also conveyed the same message

"As a package, if you look at their team they've got a number of exceptional players," Ponting said. "If they stick together as a group and play well together as a team, they can be very dangerous. Our job is to make sure we don't let them gel too much and combine too well. We've just got to make sure that we've learnt our lessons from this series and we get on with playing some good cricket."

Let's pray for the talent to overcome temperament. You can call be selfish but, for a change, I will support Pakistan since I want India to remain number 1 test team.

Life mein Pyas honi chahiye

Aus vs. WI - 3rd Test
2009/10, Perth

There is an aspect of Australian cricket which is barely written or talked about - Hunger for success. This aspect again came to fore much through the 3rd test. The team might be a shade of what it was about 2 years ago. But the commitment to the game is paramount.

This aspect of Australian cricket is in addition to other aspects which have made them a very strong team. They might not be number 1 team but they still are very strong. Read my earlier posts.

http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/05/why-is-australia-number-1-team.html

http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/06/why-australia-is-best-test-team-in.html

A few would remember the first game of 1987 World Cup - India vs. Australia. Australia was on verge of losing but won by 1 run. That world cup could be the turning point in Australia's fortunes. Australia won the recent one day series against India, when their team was depleted and was missing 6-7 front line players. They also won the one day series handsomely against England after being beaten in Ashes this year.

I was reminded of a old Pepsi commercial which aptly describes Australian team.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvmFiGVoNEc&feature=related

In my opinion they would not be able to dominate world cricket as they had but they still will be very good team to contend.