India Vs South Africa: The pitch isnt a Pitch to Play on Anymore

source: Times of India Blog

Dean Elgar signaled for the physio, injured and battered completely. This wasn’t the first time that he had been hit by a fast bowler today, but he had somehow made it out with his grit. But when Kumar swung in a sharp bouncer that almost broke Elgar’s finger, he was genuinely concerned. Now, if a completely new person came and saw, he would be aghast at the sudden increase in quality of pacers. But there has been a hidden Bramhastra for all of the pacers: the pitch itself. The Wanderers pitch has suddenly become extremely unpredictable, with huge bounce and corky swing that could undo even Don Bradman. The Indians, at the end of the day, told everyone that they were prepared after the rage turner pitches in India to face this. The South Africans were frankly in a state of confusion, a bit bewildered by the pitch. However, the pitch is just not a pitch anymore. It’s a hell-bed filled with varying bounce that can hit you anywhere, and it’s just flat out dangerous. This shouldn’t happen at all.

There’s been enough signs on this pitch that it was a dangerous pitch. It started the first day, when edges came out of nowhere and snorters ripped through the Indian batsmen. There was a bit of resistance, but generally, the quartet of Rabada, Ngidi, Philander, and Morkel terrorized the Indian batsmen. There was nothing suspicious, but the commentators and a keen observer could see the snaking and unpredictability of the pitch. Then the second day, the pitch came out into the open. When prolific batsmen such as du Plessis and De-Villiers lost their wickets to swingers that swung the whole length of the pitch, everyone could judge the effect the cracks had. When a simple seam ball suddenly zipped through and broke the stumps in a flash, everyone could gauge the randomness of the pitch, especially the pace. When a loopy ball bounced up to the helmets, but a speedy ball bounced below the sneakers, one knew the various bounce of the pitch. The pitch played a huge part. Edges flew out of nowhere, and it was here were keepers such as De Kock and Patel were brought under scrutiny. I pity them. It was definitely not easy in any circumstances. The third day, well, no words. Everything possible was there. Like the only thing missing was ponies flying out of the sky with unicorns. Man, I still can’t believe that India is placed that well after that many edges. A considerable amount of this went to South Africa’s inability to catch anything, but still India showed some good skill. Then came SA. It was clear that they were battered and bruised. But Elgar man what grit! He somehow defended the bullets the Indian team was spewing. At the end of the day, he was profusely hurt, the only thing missing was blood. But he’ll push on. The thing that will get worse is the pitch.

Now, the play will resume on the fourth day. But can we allow to risk more and more injuries to the physio on a raging pitch like this for a simple victory?

Was Bailey right to not allow Alex Ross to be saved from obstructing the field?

Source: The Indian Express

                                   

This week, in the Big Bash League, there were multiple matches that caught our attention. Probably the most exhilarating match this week was Hobart Hurricanes vs Brisbane Heat, where a century from D'Arcy Short proved to be just enough, as Hobart won by just 3 runs. But another point of debate in that match was the controversial obstructing the field dismissal, where Alex Ross was given out from obstructing the field with the Heat needing 49 off 14. He was on 27 off of 19 balls, and Bailey was definitely keen on getting him out in any way out. But should Bailey have upheld the value of sportsmanship and pardoned Ross? Or was he right in focusing on his team's victory? 

                                       Firstly, let's look at the incident and analyze each and every detail of the whole incident. It started with Tymal Mills bowling a short outside off ball at 136 kph, his normal speed, and Alex Ross calmly pulled it to deep midwicket. The fielder there threw the ball so outstandingly bad that as Ross was diving, it hit his leg, causing him some pain. Immediately George Bailey appealed for obstructing the field. There was no tangible evidence of him deliberately blocking the throw, as he was trying to get away. But the umpire thought otherwise; he gave him out after thoughtful consideration. After the incident, McCullum showed visible displeasure and criticized George Bailey for not being sportive and rebuking the dismissal. George Bailey responded by saying that he thought he did what was right for the team. So was Bailey right? Or was McCullum right?

                                     Now let's look at Bailey's supporters. If you look at it, cricket is not the game it was millions of years ago. It has huge money at stake and just the sheer volume of the game has increased by folds. If the franchise's owners do not see victory, then they will not even try to invest in a team that is failing. In this huge tussle, victory is a necessity. Bailey knew that this one reprieve of Alex Ross would cost him the game. At that point, he was at a fixing spot. But he chose with not going with the reprieve because victory is the whole aim of the game. Bailey's logic behind this was that: with victory in his hands, Hobart's owner would fume at Bailey for letting it go in the name of sportsmanship, which doesn't earn any money for them. At that point, to do what was best for his team, he rebuked the reprieve. To an extent, I support this as well. It is like when a batsman tries to play a cut and the ball unintentionally takes the edge. The batsmen cannot say, I did not mean for the ball to hit my edge, it just somehow hit it. That is still an out!! So when that can be considered as an out, why would this not be?? To summarize the pro argument, it is: Bailey did what was best for his team and brought in a victory that helped them.

                                      But now, we also have to look at McCullum's supporters. What Bailey did was not fair, and even supporters of Bailey know that is true. Alex Ross, by no means, purposefully obstructed the ball. The role of fairness is slowly disintegrating in cricket, and this is an example of it. The value of sportsmanship should be always considered, and cricket is also known as a gentleman's game. It is the job of the players to uphold a fair respect at all times an do what is best for the game as a whole. That's where the debate differs. You see, many supporters of McCullum argue that while Bailey did what was best for his team, he didn't do what was best for the league as a whole. Because of this one incident, many critics are slamming the BBL for their lack of ethics when it comes to the field. This is not the only time that the BBL has been accused of straying away from ethics on the field(the infamous Gayle-reporter incident), so some people have come lashing out at the BBL. Not only that, Hobart's reputation has taken somewhat of a hit. So, to summarize the con argument: Bailey, by acting selfishly, strayed away from ethics and dented the BBL's reputation to some extent.

                                     At the end of the day, we can't change time. What Bailey did was in some ways right and in some ways wrong. Obstructing the field is a very weak area to go into, and the outcomes may be shocking. Both sides have their pros and cons, but in my opinion, Bailey shouldn't have done that. However, the BBL still has a lot to offer. Hopefully, in the upcoming BBL games, we can avoid all these controversies, see some good ethics and hard work on the screen, and enjoy thre game as it is. 

The Confidence India Built over an Entire Year, suddenly disintegrated in 45 minutes

  Source of Pic: ESPNCRICINFO

Getting South Africa all out on the first day in South Africa is no ordinary task. No kidding, it was an outstanding effort from the Indian bowlers. But do you remember the Zimbabwe match? South Africa had a huge collapse. The lower order fell like a pack of cards, and Zimbabwe bowlers were lauded and praised for their outstanding bowling. But then what happened? All the confidence Zimbabwe mustered and scrapped just went POP!! And that is exactly what happened to India, ditto. The bowling of the Indians was praised and applauded. But what they didn't know that it was the pitch doing the magic. But what they didn't know was that the South African bowlers love this kind of pitch. The pitch that can crumble a whole teams confidence.
                             A lot was said about this Indian team. They changed completely, they had a huge streak of wins, and their bowling had considerably improved. However, this test proved it completely wrong. A keen cricket observer could see some shades of the old Indian team. They couldn't cope with the strength of the South African team. The starting was up to the standard of the Indian team. But then entered the might of AB. The man who terrorizes India singlehandedly and relies on others for all other teams. And when he pairs with Faf du Plessis, its a show all right!! The bowling confidence that they brought off from every single tour just completely shattered. On that kind of a pitch, every ball that they threw was calmly held off by the two. AB just hit 65. But the flow of boundaries he hit wore them down bit by bit by bit. Faf only hit 62. But the "score" he had to settle with India fuelled his pleasant strokes in the day, leaving India bewildered. After they both got out, courtesy some pretty good balls from Bumrah and Pandya, nobody got that score. But everyone had that flow. Look at the scores after them. Every single person made some double-digit score. It was as if confidence transformed from India to South Africa.  Despite being 12/3, they made 286 on a pitch which if utilized, can get them out below 150. The Indian's team underutilization can be attributed to one thing: lack of confidence. Half of their confidence crumbled already.
                          But no problem. they still had their invincible batting right? Kohli, Vijay, Dhawan, Pujara, my oh my!!! They will make a pickle out of the opponents!! Or so they thought. BOOM! Philander strikes and gets the  Vijay! 1 pillar gone. But no problem. its ok, we have Chiku and Dhawan!! Dhawan completely tucked in, with 3 boundaries. But then, gone!! Steyn was gone?? BOOM!! Pace and speed fooled Dhawan completely and he is gone. Kohli uncomfortably defends and fends off Philander and Steyn. But then, out of nowhere, Morne Morkel comes and first ball, BOOM!! picks up Virat Kohli!! Silence from the Indian fans at the stadium. What?? Where is their confidence now!! See, the main problem with the Indian's team confidence: they weren't tested on outside pitches besides the West Indies, where even there they didn't show their full strength. The confidence built up from Asian pitches just crumbled on a raw South African pitch filled with bowler support. It's been three years, and the sheer pace of the bowlers burst through almost everyone, even Virat Kohli. The rest of the batsmen half-heartedly defended some balls, had some scares, but finally they got through. But even there, you could see that old vigor and confidence slowly and steadily leaking out.
                           So, as Rohit and Pujara walk out with zero expectations, little hopes, and a heavily damaged confidence, they will try to take this mess and stitch it into some kind of miracle. It's not impossible, but it looks very hard. So, from here on out, here is some honest advice to the Indian cricket team: go with zero expectations, zero egos, and zero overconfidence. Just play hard and try to master the pitch. Have confidence, but be wary: this South African team can destroy your confidence just like they did today, and every time there wont be a Rohit, Pujara, and Saha to try and save you.