Can Suresh Raina be the left-handed Tendulkar?

(Suresh Raina/Getty Images)


Before he left the Indian shores a riled man, Greg Chappell rued Suresh Raina had to pay the price for a few good words he spoke about the youngsters. Well, finally some good news for the UP youngster as the “Wisden Cricketer” magazine names him as one of the 10 players who would define the game in the next decade.

Raina is in the august company of Australians trio of Michael Clarke, Shaun Tait and Shane Watson, England batsman Kevin Pietersen, Pakistani paceman Mohammad Asif, Sri Lankan freak pacer Lasith Malinga, West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor and Bangladesh vice captain Mohammad Ashraful.

Well-known British cricket writer Lawrence Booth went on to say that Raina had the talent to be a left-handed Sachin Tendulkar with even more intuitive flair” but he needs to be sensitively handled.

Raina himself was rather coy about the compliment and said he was itching to get back to the field after fully recovering from the knee injury. Good luck Sanu.

Gallant losers and timid victors

(Architects of a hard-earned win. AFP Photo)


There ought to be some other means of reckoning quality in this the best and loveliest of games; the scoreboard is an ass -- Neville Cardus.

Since David slew Goliath, and in cricket since India won the 1983 World Cup, we sided with the underdogs. And today’s India-Bangladesh match was another occasion when you felt more for the gallant losers, than their timid victors.

The victory margin of five-wicket win could not have been more misleading. It hid as much, if not more, as it revealed.

Did it say how master strategist Dav Whatmore, before changing camp, outwitted a shrewd Ravi Shastri? Or did it say about Tamim’s youthful arrogance, Saqibul’s nonchalance, Omar’s grit and Ashraful’s blooming personality.

Nor did it say how Mahendra Singh Dhoni braved cramps and limped on and on but stayed there till his side was through. Similarly, Dinesh Kaarthick was worth far more than his 58 runs. There was a time when India had to place Dravid behind the stumps to accommodate an extra bat/bowler. And here you have two wicketkeepers in the side, both capable of walking into the squad purely as a batsman.

But take Dhoni and Karthick away, India cut a sorry figure in the match. After losing the top half of their batting order for 144, it seemed another upset win was on the cards. Dhoni and Kaarthick, however, had other ideas and they carried out the bail-out act with aplomb.

The win notwithstanding, Team India has more questions than answers now. Why is it so that the more it craves for change, the same it remains?

The King has been slain, hail the Minnows!

Top dogs beware, the Bangla tigers are out on prowl. Those who believed Bangladesh's win over India was a mere fluke are now busy disowning their statements.

Suddenly the World Cup has come to life with Bangladesh's 67-run win against South Africa,
currently the numero uno ODI side, and you can't take anything away from Habibul Bashar's boys.

Mohammad Ashraful chose the big stage to fire, while their phalanx of left-arm spinners -- Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Rafique and Saqibul Hasan -- proved they are more than handy for any side. And that chirpy stumper Mushfiqur Hasim who must be having a soar throat after cheering relentlessly throughout the South Africa innings.

Even from this distance, I can see Michael Atherton, Michael Holding and Ricky Ponting
with egg all over their face.

Atherton's stonewalling hardly won him any admirer throughout his career and same with his
predictions that the minnows would produce a lot of "rubbish" cricket.

"Is Ireland's participation in the World Cup really going to grow the game there? Are they
really going to benefit from being hammered in front of a global audience?" Atherton had asked.

Microphone Holding, as he is known these days, went one step further and lambasted
organisers for including minnows which, he felt, would devalue the tournament and throw up
"a whole series of mismatches".

And Ricky Punter Ponting wondered what Scotland, Bermuda and Canada were doing in the
Caribbeans! It must have been for holidaying, he thought.

"There are probably places and times for the minnows to be involved, but this tournament
shouldn't be one of them," Ponting preached.

For Atherton, my suggestion would be instead of peeping at other's bed room, set your own
house in order. Spare a thought fot the poor Poms, who threaten to acquire the minnow's
status in the near future.

In Holding's case, I stick to my view that he put all his common sense on this side of the sill before entering the commentary box.

And Ponting's words are essentially the quintessential larrikin arrogance and you can't expect vision from a person whom success has turned myopic.