Ashes 2010 Infographic

Top Soccer players on Twitter

Brazil:
Goalkeeper, Julio Cesar – http://twitter.com/juliocesargol
Half, Kaka – http://twitter.com/realkaka
Striker Luis Fabiano – http://twitter.com/luis_fabuloso

South Africa
Striker, Katlego Mphela – http://twitter.com/killermphela
Volante, Lance Davids - http://twitter.com/ldavidsofficial
Half, Steven Pienaar – http://twitter.com/therealstevenpi

Germany
Lateral, Philipp Lahm – http://twitter.com/philipp_lahm
Half Lukas Podolski – http://twitter.com/Podolski10

Argentina
Volante, Javier Mascherano – http://twitter.com/javimascherano
Striker Sergio Aguero – http://twitter.com/aguerosergiokun
Striker, Diego Milito – http://twitter.com/signoremilito

Chile
Striker Humberto Suazo – http://twitter.com/chupetesuazo

Spain
Goalkeeper, Iker Casillas – http://twitter.com/icasillasf
Defender / lateral Sergio Ramos – http://twitter.com/Camas1986
Defender Puyol – http://twitter.com/Carles5puyol
Half, Andres Iniesta – http://twitter.com/andresiniesta8

France
Lateral, Gael Clichy – http://twitter.com/gaelclichy22
Lateral Evra – http://twitter.com/pat_evra
Striker Nicolas Anelka – http://twitter.com/anelkaofficiel

Ghana
Half, Kevin-Prince Boateng – http://twitter.com/princeboateng

Netherlands
Half, Sneijder – http://twitter.com/sneijder_wesley
Striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar – http://twitter.com/klaashuntelaar
Striker Ryan Babel – http://twitter.com/ryanbabel

England
Half, Steven Gerrard – http://twitter.com/stevie_gerrard
Half, Frank Lampard – http://twitter.com/franklampard8
Striker Jermain Defoe – http://twitter.com/jermaineDefoe
Striker Peter Crouch - http://twitter.com/OfficialCrouch

Italy
Defender Giorgio Chiellini – http://twitter.com/chiellini
Defender Canavarro – http://twitter.com/fabiocannavaro

Uruguay
Striker Diego Forlan – http://twitter.com/diegoforlan7

Non-cricketing factors that will impact IPL-3

The first two editions of the IPL established 3 factors that affected the success of the teams - player availability, team balance and playing conditions.
Player availability will be less of an issue this year with most short format players free of their international commitments by mid-March. Key players missing March action due to test duty will be KKR (McCullum), Bangalore (Pietersen), Deccan (Ryan Harris), Rajasthan (Watson), Chennai (Hussey). Mumbai are lucky with both Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo free for IPL duty after the last ODI on March 12. Injuries to top players including Zaheer Khan, Jacob Oram, Flintoff may well affect their respective teams.
Team balance is limited by the 4 overseas players rule and the quality of Indian domestic players in the playing XI. Assuming 4 international players each from India and overseas in the XI, this still leaves 3 players that can affect performance. This is where the talent scouts have an important part to play scooping up promising U-19 and domestic players like Gony, Virat Kholi and Manish Pandey. Teams that have got maximum value from their overseas players like Deccan & Delhi have been frontrunners in both editions.
Playing conditions suited the spinners in 2009 due to the IPL being played beyond the scheduled end of the long cricket season. With the short boundaries and smaller stadiums in India, teams with a strong top-order and crafty death bowlers will do well. Expect teams to pack overseas batsmen in their top 4 and rely on their Indian bowlers to do the job. Scoring a minimum of 170 when batting first will be the priority as no target will be safe on the pitches in India.

Unusual Suspects crash the party.

Official ranking systems are pilloried at the best of times in sports. But this week when 3 teams from the Top 4 were knocked out before the Champions Trophy semi-finals the ICC might actually have been thankful. I have said this before - ODI fatigue arises out of unequal contests and poor quality cricket. Pakistan, England, New Zealand each came to South Africa with poor recent records and missing top players but played thrilling cricket, perhaps unburdened by the favourites tag. Pakistan are certainly the most talented and balanced team in ODI cricket and under Younis Khans leadership they should win more regularly in future. England and New Zealand have shown they can spring surprises but need to add more X-factor players besides Kevin Pietersen and Shane Bond if they are to win high-pressure games. India, South Africa and SriLanka werent focused enough and the knock-out format punished them for this. Australia have once again shown their class in ICC tournaments. Instead of lamenting the loss of top players or complaining about their gruelling schedule they've lifted their ODI game since the Ashes loss and scrapped past the group stage.

Johnson takes top gong at ICC awards

Mitchell Johnson has taken home the coveted ICC World Player of the Year award at the annual ICC event last night. Indians dominated the winners list with MS Dhoni and Gautham Gambhir winning ODI and Test player of the Year respectively. Dhoni was also named captain of the Test team. Other members of the World Test Team of the Year: Gautam Gambhir (India), Andrew Strauss (England), AB de Villiers (South Africa), Sachin Tendulkar (India), Thilan Samaraweera (Sri Lanka), Michael Clarke (Australia), MS Dhoni (India, capt & wk), Shakib Al Hasan (Bangladesh), Mitchell Johnson (Australia), Stuart Broad (England), Dale Steyn (South Africa), Harbhajan Singh (India, 12th man)

Why One Day Cricket will survive … and Thrive - Part II

In my last post I briefly touched upon the money aspect that was the fuel for the explosion of ODI cricket in the nineties. India is easily the world’s largest cricket sponsorship market with no dearth of sponsors ready to put their name to a tournaments title sponsorship or signing up for on-air deals. For a large corporation planning a brand launch there is no comparable media buy to rival the reach that an India cricket match brings. With the price of television rights increasing with the advent of new channels, media owners who shell out big bucks must maximize to break even. Fifty over a side matches simply offer more scope to slot in commercial inventory than a Twenty20 game.

Eighty percent of the games revenues come from India and as long as the sponsors keep pouring in the money the ODI format won’t go away. Even the risk of an early Indian exit from a major tournament as happened in 2007 when ratings dropped 50% drop in ratings and losses amounted to Rs 150-160 crore after India crashed out of the WC 2007 does not deter advertisers. Unsurprisingly India has played the most ODIs in the post WC 2007 period – 72 vs. 58 for the next team. To their credit the ICC has tried to innovate by introducing the Powerplay changes and modifying the Champions Trophy format to sustain fan interest. Where it has faltered is in the basics like allowing month-long 7 match bilateral series that drag on forever, turning a blind eye to small grounds that deliver meaningless 350+ scores and venues like the Premadasa where results are highly toss or weather dependent.

The 50-over format has not been helped by the quality of cricket on offer either with one-sided results even among top 8 teams becoming commonplace: Eng-SA 4-0, India-Eng 5-0, SA-WI 5-0, Aus-WI 5-0 and now Aus-Eng 6-1. In the last decade while Australia have won 3 successive World Cups the supposed No.2 South Africa have repeatedly disappointed unable to overcome their chokers tag in every major tournament. What ODI cricket needs is more equal contests and for the 2nd tier teams like Pakistan, NZ, West Indies and England to challenge the Top 4 more seriously. The Twenty20 World Cup and IPL have had two great editions because both had surprise winners each year that captured the minds of spectators and viewers well into the final stages. A case in point was this year’s Twenty20 World Cup which despite the early exit of the pre-tournament favourites India and Australia retained pulling power due to the Pakistan teams’ fairytale run to the title.

This week’s Champions Trophy could yet change the minds of those calling time on the format if it produces some quality cricket and a worthy winner on the 5th of October at the Centurion. Quite ironic that a much-maligned tournament that few teams have embraced should now be the last roll of the dice that ODI cricket hedges its future on.

Why One Day Cricket will survive … and Thrive

It has become di riguer of late to lament the decline of ODI cricket and herald Twenty20 as the unstoppable David that will eventually slay the ODI Goliath. This week on the eve of the Champions Trophy the ICC has been struggling to convince all and sundry that ODI cricket is still in good shape. But the crickets governing body must also take the blame for creating the Frankensteinian monster that Twenty20 has become. Thanks to the ICC’s poor scheduling there will be 3 editions of the Twenty20 World Cup between the 2007 and 2011 ODI World Cups. Add to these 3 seasons of the blockbuster IPL and you can see why Twenty20 now has more top of mind recall for most cricket fans.

However not all voices speaking on ODI crickets future this week have been sounding the death knell, with outspoken Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh one of those coming out in support of the format. This disparity in opinion between voices within and outside the subcontinent is mostly likely due to the variance in the way cricket sits within sporting calendars in different nations. Cricket is a year-round phenomenon in the sub continental countries while in countries like Australia it has a narrow home season sandwiched between seasons of other popular sports like Rugby League, AFL and Racing. For the rest of the year cricket is a forgotten sport when Australia plays overseas, unless the contest is the Ashes or the Border Gavaskar trophy against India. As a result for the South African or Australian cricket fan it makes little difference if the handful of home ODIs gets replaced by Twenty20 matches with the added incentive of seeing international players like Andrew Flintoff in action.

By contrast for the sub continental fan cricket is a staple he can never switch off from. It is this obsession that sees him following the national team’s fortunes and live scores irrespective of the time of day the game is played. This devotion is absolute and lifelong, regardless if he’s an expatriate living thousands of miles away from the action in his native land. The cricket boards themselves have been overzealous never missing an opportunity to schedule an ODI tournament in narrow breaks between exhausting series. This is largely due to the current BCCI regimes greed in trying to maximize as much as possible from ground and TV rights and the need to strengthen its vote banks by obliging its neighbours and Associate countries with hastily scheduled tours.

In summary, despite the valid questions about the necessity for 2 short versions of the game the volume of ODI cricket is unlikely to reduce in the near future as long as there is fan support and marketing dollars to sustain it. With the Indian team playing so well under Mahendra Singh Dhoni such an occurrence is unlikely anytime soon.

India within reach of ODI Ranking Summit

Two years on from their humiliating exit from the World Cup 2007, India find themselves sniffing at the ODI top spot having had a quick 24 hour stay just days ago. Both administrators and players must be commended for the impressive rebound in the teams performances since the Carribean debacle. India's ascent has been forged on three planks: a refreshing change in leadership (coach/captain), an infusion of youth and to the detriment of opposition teams the renewed vigour of Sachin Tendulkar. Where the current No.1 South Africa is a collection of dour robot-like performers, India are a team with colour, flair and youthful exuberance. Most importantly at a time when long eulogies are being written about the futue of the 50 over game, India alone pack the charisma and following to pull in crowds wherever they travel. Combining the experience of the Tendulkars, Sehwags and Harbhajans with the exuberance of Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina this Indian team is a now a world-beater in all conditions. Previously a side dependent heavily on its batting to win matches, the side now has multiple match winners in its playing 11 as underlined by Harbhajan last night in the Compaq Cup final.

A look at the numbers since the last World Cup has India winning 44 out of 72 for a win/loss ratio of 1.91 while the current No.1 South Africa has won 29 out of 43 for a ratio of 2.41. Since Apr 2007, the 2 teams have met in only one tournament the Futures Cup in May 2007, with India winning 2 of 3 enroute to winning the title. If we compare performances against the dominant team of the decade Australia, South Africa hold a better 7/3 record while India have a more even 5/6 record against Australia. Only 10 of the 44 wins have come at home with a better W/L record overseas 1.92 than at home 1.66, and have also won 3/5 matches in tournament finals to improve upon their woeful record in the last stages.

Flattering as the stats are they do camouflage weaknesses like an inability to win finals without a significant Sachin contribution and deplorable ground fielding despite the abundance of youth. The decline of Australia raises hope that a subcontinental team may finally go one better after 3 being runners-up in the last 3 editions. Based on the evidence of of numbers and talent, India will certainly be the popular and experts pick to win when the World Cup comes home in 2011.

IPL 2009 Super XI

Five weeks and 56 matches later we are finally at the end of an enthralling and exhausting league phase. Three of the semifinalists Delhi, Deccan and Chennai were expected to be here but Bangalore who were last years so called 'test side' have pipped other heavyweights like Mumbai and Rajasthan to take 3rd spot. Putting together a IPL 2009 XI was easier than I imagined, with the players in my list far surpassing the rest of the competition with their performances. I didnt bother putting a Worst XI since KKR have made that title their own weeks ago. You can put my decision to put Brad Hodge on my list and Dilshan as 12th man down to sympathy for the determination of this great Victorian. Look forward to your comments and feedback.

IPL's South African Safari - 3 burning questions

While South Africa has provided the answer to the BCCI's vexed problem of how to salvage this years IPL, three serious questions still need answering. Is it safe to host large sporting events in the subcontinent? Apart from the annual IPL event India is to host the Commonwealth Games next year and the ICC World Cup in 2011. If the IPL had gone ahead successfully this April it would have been a perfect dress rehearsal for the bigger international events. While the IPL may be crickets golden jewel its logistics and security arrangements pale in comparison with those needed for an international event like the Commonwealth Games. The Melbourne Games had 4500 athletes from 71 nations participating in 45 events over 12 days, the next World Cup will have only 12 nations and less than 200 cricketers. Can India and Pakistan co-host the 2011 WC? Salvos have been launched from either side of the border ever since India pulled out of the January series this year. The IPL management were quick to terminate contracts of all Pakistani players after the PCB prevented them for traveling to India for the IPL. Even if the World Cup continues in 2011 it is questionable if the Indian and Pakistan board can work together with the Indian board quite happy to host Pakistans share of matches given the revenue upside. Serious security concerns would also arise if the schedule requires one nations team to travel to the other at some stage of the tournament. The bigger question is given the deteriorating political relations in the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks and the subsequent probe will these teams ever play each other in the near future. Each of the encounters between these rivals at past ICC World Cups including the most recent matchup in the 20:20 World Cup final has been a treat and if politics were to come in the way of a rematch cricket would end up on the losing side. Is this a blow to India's pride? Yes because for the last 12 months the IPL (and by default the BCCI) has been bullying other boards and rebel leagues to tow its line. The IPL was always an Indian tournament, run by Indian professionals, financed by India's biggest corporations (and celebs) with its longevity and popularity always dependent on the support of the Indian fanbase. To see the IPL now played in a foreign land is akin to watching your sons baraat (reception party) leave from the neighbours home.

Dear BCCI, "Shut Up and Shape Up"

Does anyone else think its time someone put a gag order on our loose tongued BCCI officials. It seems not a day goes by that one doesn't hear of an outlandish quote from either Niranjan Shah, Rajeev Shukla or Lalit Modi. In contrast the Indian team has gone about its cricket with a great sense of purpose and unity that has earned it the respect and admiration of both the opposition fans and cricketers. I find it poor taste and highly un-Indian the manner in which BCCI officials have issued ultimatums to other boards and tried to tutor them on their internal decisions. The Indian board is currently behaving like an arrogant 'lala' (Indian moneylender) dictating terms to those desperate for a share of its riches. While the current board has been impressive in monetizing its brand its report card on basic matters like tour scheduling, setting up a working website, hiring of a new national coach and managing its own employees such as Dilip Vengsarkar, has been woeful. There still remain much more important development issues to be resolved in Indian cricket than engaging in vulgar rhetoric that only portrays the country as a bully, when we'd rather be respected as a nation for our on-field exploits.

Hail India! 20/20 Champions

It's 1.30am in Melbourne, India have just edged out arch-rivals Pakistan to win the inaugral 20/20 World Cup. What a see-saw battle, ending only when Pakistan's lone saviour Misbah Ul Haq attempted a fatal chip shot with victory in sight. In 1983, I was all of 5 years and too young to comprehend the famous victory at the 83 World Cup. Including that game India have played 9 finals in tournaments involving 5+ teams, winning only 3 the last time being in 1993 in the famous Hero Cup win in Kolkata. What I've just witnessed is one of the best ODI finals in recent history, given the damp squibs the last few World Cup finals have been. India triumphed relying mainly on self-belief and casting off doubts about their inexperience in this format. A new captain, the return of a few old stalwarts and some fresh blood undoubtedly helped to a large extent. Truly after ages we've seen a superstar Indian team rather than an Indian team of superstars. That the two teams played this encounter in the true spirit and hugged and complimented each other after the game only gladdened the heart at the end. September 24th will go down as the day India rediscovered its fighting spirit and started to write a new script that will define its cricketing future for years to come. Who would have thought an event in another continent would give me my happiest day yet in Australia. Good night.

The Passover - the day Federer beat Sampras at Wimbledon

A few days after Roger Federer beat Pete Sampras in the 4th round of Wimbledon 2001 he received a suprise call from Bjorn Borg. The Swedish legend thanked Federer for stopping Sampras and thus preserving Borgs record of 5 consecutive titles. The final scorecard that afternoon read 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, astonishing given that it came on the 19- year-old Swiss player's debut on Centre Court. Sampras on the other hand was a 7-time winner, looking for his 100th straight win on grass and 5th consecutive title and was already on a 31 match winning streak at Wimbledon since July 96. Comparisions between Borg, Sampras and Federer are inevitable especially as grass court champions, but I'd opt for Sampras simply because he had to ward off tougher grass court opposition for his titles. From 1993 to 2000, his glory years he played Courier,Ivanisivec(twice),Becker,Agassi,Pioline,Rafter - all worthy grass court opponents in the finals. Six years since July, 2001 Federer himself threatens Borgs record. The great Swede himself has said, "I think and hope that Roger will equal my record this year - it could not happen to a better person". This year his toughest opponent appears to be Roddick in the semis, someone he's already routed twice in the finals and destroyed at the Aus Open in Jan. The question then is not when but how many Wimbledons will Federer win from here.

All-time great sports movies

Presenting here my own selection of great sports movies, that I have seen myself but presented in no particular order. If you have a movie title that I've missed please leave a comment. I have intentionally left out full-on comedies like Happy Gilmore or great films like Million Dollar Baby where sports is a relatively side theme.
1. Raging Bull - Robert De Niro stars as middleweight boxing champ Jake LaMotta
2. Bull Durham - 1988 American movie about love and baseball stars Kevin Costner
3. Chariots of Fire - The true story of two British athletes preparing for and competing in the 1924 Summer Olympics, one Jew and one devout Catholic.
4. Remember the Titans - Denzil Washington as Hernan Boone a black football coach of an integrated college team.
5. Seabiscuit - Story of a champion racehorse in Depression Era USA in the 1930's
6. The Color of Money - Tom Cruise, Paul Newman in a classic about pool & hustling
7. Ali - Will Smith is at his best in a movie that recreates Ali's best fights and his life
8. Escape to Victory - Film about Allied POWs, coached by Michael Caine who agree to play an exhibition match against the Nazis. Also stars Stallone and soccer star Pele.
9. When we were Kings - The the best documentary ever made about Ali focuses on the Rumble in the Jungle bout with Foreman in Zaire.
10. Rocky - Stallone stars as amateur boxer Rocky Balboa who becomes Champion. Spawned 5 sequels and the classic track 'Eye of the Tiger'
Other notable films are, A League of Their Own, White Men Can't Jump, The Hurricane
Cinderella Man and The Champ

Video of the Week #2 - Man U Glory down the years

This weeks video is a tribute to Manchester United who this week picked up the Premiership title for the first time in the post Beckham era. They have now won the Premier League/Football League 16 times, the FA Cup a record 11 times, the League Cup twice, the European Cup / UEFA Champions League twice, the UEFA Cup Winners Cup once, the Intercontinental Cup once, and the European Super Cup once. Past greats include Sir Bobby Charlton, George Best, Denis Law and Eric Cantona, the first three all European Footballer of the Year winners (Ballon d'Or)

Sport video of the week #1 - Lionel Messi - the next Maradona

Starting this week planning to feature my favourite sport video of the week (thanks YouTube!) My first selection is a split screen video showing the remarkable similarity in football skills of the great Maradona and his long hailed successor Lionel Messi. the clip below compares Maradona's Mexico 86 World Cup goal for Argentina and Messi's recent supergoal for Barcelona. Check out the mirror image body feints, side stepping and clinical finish. Hope you enjoy this first selection and if you guys have videos you think are worth sharing, do send me the url link.

Why women need to know (more) about Cricket

..So the wretched cricket world Cup has ended but if all you women think the worst is over, you are mistaken. For though India crashed out early, the coach of the neighbouring country got murdered and we got beaten by two minuscle neighbours, I can guarantee your partners, fathers and boyfriends will be infront of the idiot box again come the next series. The unfortunate incident of Mandira Bedi defaming the Indian flag once again lowered the already dim perception of the average Indian woman's cricketing acumen. So how do you beat them at their own game. Well for starters educate yourself on the finer nuances of the game. Learn the fielding positions, arm yourself with stats and most importantly pick a team other than India to infuriate your partners. I'm not suggesting you switch allegiances forever but if you had picked a team like SriLanka before the World Cup that would have shamed your male counterpart's armchair predictions. Most men regurgitate borrowed knowledge they pick up from cricinfo and rediff cricket channel. But being primitive, they lack the brain power to sift through data the way women are more equipped to do. While India has a few quality journalists like Sonali Chander (NDTV), Sharda Ugra (India Today) and Kadambari Murali (Hindustan Times), this list needs to be substantially longer. Surely if Indian television can accommodate the likes of Chetan Sharma, Madan Lal and Kris Srikkanth, a few beautiful and intelligent women with a fresh perspective couldn't fare much worse. So good luck with your endeavours ...in the meanwhile I will go back to my favourite issue of Maxim and study Mandira Bedi's views on cricket.

Australia win the World Cup (again) ...yawwwwwwwwwwnnn

Its 8.14am in Melbourne and Australia have triumphed for the third time in the World Cup. Aleem Dar and Steve Bucknor are insisting the game's not over since 3 overs remain. Another pig-headed decision by the ICC means that SriLanka will bat out the remaining overs in light that is best suited for an evening tea-party not a cricket final. Before this Australia decimated the SriLankan bowlers in the morning and then polished off their middle-order with some tight bowling. Most of the cricketing world would have been supporting a SriLankan but that man Adam Gilchrist again played like he had God batting for him. On one hand we marvel at how bloody good this Australian team but we also wonder where cricket heads from here. A dominant unbeatable team now holds all the major titles, has won in every cricket playing country and has an abundance of talent for another decade. I propose we do away with this farce of Australia playing in tournaments and beating everyone silly. Lets have a World Test and ODI Series over 4 years where all teams bar Australia play each other and the winner then plays Australia at the end of it. Atleast we'll see more even matches and we'll have to bear Australia crush opposition only once in 4 years. If there's any consolation McGrath and Warne are gone forever ...maybe India can win something when they go down to Australia later this year.

Why SriLanka Must Win The World Cup

Two years ago I was lucky enough to spend a fortnight in Colombo and Dambulla during a triangular in the Emerald Island closely observing the start of SriLankan crickets revival under their new coach Tom Moody. That tournament victory sparked an enthralling run by the SriLankans that has taken them back to the cricket World Cup final, one game away from usurping the old enemy Australia again. So just why is it more important for SriLanka to win than for Australia to complete crickets first World Cup treble. Some may accuse me of a sub continental and personal bias having long since adopted SriLanka as my honorary second nation. But biases aside ... Cricket desperately needs a new champion team, one that can rule for the next four years, winning on the field but also bringing in new audiences to the game. One suspects that Australia with their all conquering stint and tasteless sledging seemed to turn off both purists and casual spectators - many tired of their one sided conquests and boorish on-field behaviour. In any case Australia have won the World Cup prize twice and a loss in their third final will not diminish but only add to their legend just as Bjorn Borg's loss did in his last Wimbledon final. While South Asian teams have reached the final in the last 4 editions they have suffered embarassing losses to Australia the last two times. If Srilanka goes on to win on Saturday, slaying the Australian dragon it will go a long way in restoring some subcontinental pride. Finally SriLanka must win because that beautiful nation and its ever smiling inhabitants deserve a bit of providence and success on the cricketing field where they come to forget the strife that frequently engulfs their tiny nation. Not only will Jayawardene's Army be perfect ambassadors for the game, rest assured they will be far more well behaved than their predecessors as a certain Mr.Sharad Pawar will testify. Come April 28, I hope Percy that undoubted talismanic figure and enigmatic #1 fan of SriLankan cricket will be all celebratory smiles and holding aloft his SriLankan flag with pride.

Chappell Vision - Lost in Transalation?

In his ground-breaking book 'The Making of Champions' Greg Chappell puts forth a thorough thesis on his viewpoint of what he believes are essential requirements to be a successful cricketer. He does this by dissecting the characteristics of a select group of 20 cricketers from the modern era. In doing so he breaks down cricket into more of an intelligent science than a skillful art relying heavily on terms such as kinetics to explain his viewpoint. It is not surprising then to imagine that such lofty principles and process driven terminology would be above the comprehension of the average Indian cricketer. Many of today’s crop hail from middle class non-English speaking backgrounds, having learnt their skills in the many maidans and gullies that dot the country. A large proportion of India's national players today come from the smaller centers like Baroda and UP and one wonders if Chappell’s theories would make any sense to them. Unlike the Australian cricketer, an Indian cricketer has other pressing matters on his mind, like handling fame, regional politics, a fanatic fan base and zealous journalists. Also Indians are essentially bad learners once they have reached a comfort zone and/or tasted success. When Chappell took over the team, it consisted of senior players who had just tasted success reaching the World Cup Finals, and scoring creditable test victories in Australia and Pakistan. It is not surprising that these senior players resented being denigrated in the national media by their new coach for weaknesses that the previous placid coach had overlooked for much of his tenure. Perhaps Chappell’s only fault then was serving up an unpalatable menu that offended his wards tastes. Ten years from now Chappell may regret that while he got the message right, he might have considered toning down the delivery to suit his audience.