Should IPL performances matter while selecting national teams?

There is no doubt that IPL has done a great service to Indian cricket by bringing together world's top cricketers to play alongside our own young and experienced cricketers. That results in a great learning experience for the youngsters and teaches them how to handle pressure in tough situations. However should this razzmatazz version of cricket be the sole criteria for the selectors while selecting the national team?

IPL no doubt continues to unearth many young talents for the country and the youngsters should ne encouraged and given the right platform to show their talent. However bringing them into the National team just based on their performance in one season of IPL would be foolish. Let them grind out in the domestic circuit, let them play a few seasons in Ranji trophy and Duleep trophy and gain experience. Selection should be such that no one takes his place for granted.

Of course usually performances in the IPL is not looked at alone, their past domestic records too is taken in consideration before selecting the team. However there have been times when certain players who made a mark in a particular season of IPL are at once brought into the team if he manages to catch the eye of the captain or the selectors. I feel instead of fast tracking them into the national team due to their IPL performances like Axar Patel or Sanju Samson or Hardik Pandya, these players should be asked to prove their mettle in the domestic circuit. Only if they perform there on a consistent basis, should they be brought into the team.

Some of the new prospects for the future are Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul, Krunal Pandya, Manan Vohra, Dhawal Kulkarni, Rishab Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Surya Kumar Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. These players should be nurtured with care and not be let to go astray like Sreeshanth.

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Andy Murray wins 2016 Wimbledon men's singles

Andy Murray wins Wimbledon men's singles title after beating Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 in under three hours.

Adding to his 2013 title, Great Britain’s Andy Murray defeated Canada’s Milos Raonic in straight sets on Centre Court to win his second Wimbledon title and third Grand Slam overall. This is Murray’s third Grand Slam with another being the US Open.
Murray defeated his towering opponent, playing his first major final, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in two hours and 47 minutes. The Scot was contesting his 11th major final, not facing Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic across the net for the first time.
Murray won the first set 6-4, thanks to a single break of serve.
In the second, neither man could manage a service break. In the ensuing tiebreak, Murray dominated, winning seven points to just three for the Canadian. The third set played out just like the second, with neither player able to gain a service break. Raonic did have to save several break points along the way.
In the tiebreak, Murray jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Raonic saved a match point before a netted forehand sealed Murray’s win.

To think there was a time when it looked as though he might never get there. How he’s pushed himself, how he’s worked, how he’s exploited every last drop of his wonderful talent. Linking up with Ivan Lendl was a canny move as well. His form was already awesome but he’s gone from strength to strength since then. There can be no argument that he’s a worthy champion. No one has played better. And he had to be good today, with Raonic a very tough opponent. Yet Murray got that break in the first set and he played outstanding tennis in the two tie-breaks. What’s next for him? The defence of his Olympic gold is coming up.

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Needless Controversy between Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly

Shastri has created an unnecessay controversy which was needless. A person of the caliber of Ravi Sasthri should not have washed the dirty linen in public. What ever be the reason for not selecting him, he should have reacted in a dignified manner. It seems like he was over confident of getting the post, and when he was not selected, he lost his cool.

Days after he was overlooked for the Indian cricket team's head coach's job , a disappointed Ravi Shastri lashed out at Sourav Ganguly for skipping his interview, and accused the former skipper of being disrespectful.
Ganguly, one of the members of the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) also comprising Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and co-ordinator Sanjay Jagdale, was entrusted with the responsibility of interviewing the 21 shortlisted candidates for the top job, for which Shastri was one of the front-runners.

During Shastri's interview process, Ganguly, who is also the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) President, was out for a meeting which miffed the former Mumbai all-rounder.
Shastri has said that he was disappointed and felt disrespected by Ganguly's behaviour and advised him not to repeat such things in the future.
"Nothing surprises me in Indian cricket anymore. A member of the committee (Ganguly) wasn't present and that was disrespectful to the selection process," Shastri said.
"A person was disrespectful of a candidate who he was going to interview. He was disrespectful to the job he was entrusted with."
"Next time, be present in a meeting, especially when it is as important as this one," the former Indian team director advised the Bengal southpaw.

The 54-year-old said he was disappointed because he had put in a lot of hard work during his 18-month stint with the national squad and will not be there to take it forward.

Ofcourse all of the selection committee members and the aspirants should have been physically present during the interview. There should have been no exceptions. If the selectors cannot find time to be present during the interviews to pick the coach for which they have been chosen, they have no business to be in the committee. Similarly, the aspirants also should have attended the interview. It is unfortunate that all the selectors were not in the meeting and candidate(s) also did not appear before the committee. This sort of casual approach of conducting and appearing for the interview through video conference was most unfortunate. BCCI was also guilty of allowing such a casual approach.

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Anil Kumble appointed coach of the Indian Cricket Team

Former India captain and the country's most successful bowler, Anil Kumble has been appointed coach of the men's cricket team for one year, the BCCI announced. His first assignment will be India's four-Test tour of the West Indies.

The question of who would take over as India coach has been a talking point since Ravi Shastri's tenure as team director ended after the World T20. Some of the uncertainty was addressed when Anurag Thakur, after his appointment as BCCI president, said the vacancy would be filled before the Tests in the Caribbean.

The BCCI put out an advertisement for a new coach in the first week of June and received 57 applications, including Kumble's. However, it appears he was not among the 21 names shortlisted by the BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke's office. The Cricket Advisory Committee, comprising Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman, assigned to pick India's next coach asked for Kumble's name to be included, at which point he became an instant favourite.

The committee interviewed Kumble and a handful of other candidates in Kolkata on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, they made their recommendations to the BCCI. Thakur, along with Shirke, made the final call.

Although Kohli has been reportedly keen on continuing the association with Shastri, but the BCCI offered Kumble a one-year term to help him acclimatise to the job better and to give themselves the cushion to reassess if needed. Ravi Shastri had guided the team to successive Test series wins, in Sri Lanka and against South Africa at home, besides overseeing India’s World T20 campaign.

Kumble's lack of experience is made up for by his standing as a player and captain in an 18-year-long international career. He finished as India's highest wicket-taker in Tests, and the third-highest overall, with 619 wickets, including a best of 10 for 74 against Pakistan in Delhi in 1999.

After being appointed Test captain in November 2007, he led India in 14 matches, winning three, losing five and drawing six, until his retirement a year later. Among his notable victories as captain was the Perth Test in January 2008, which was played after the controversial Sydney Test where, among other issues, India faced allegations of racism from the Australia side.

Kumble is the first Indian to be appointed full-time India coach since Kapil Dev resigned in September 2000.

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Who should be the Indian Cricket Team's next Coach?

Cricket coaches are literally crawling out of the woodwork. The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s call for applications for the post of Indian team coach has attracted no less than 57 aspirants. Everyone, from former India captains to legends to selectors to mere players has thrown his hat into the ring in the hope of raking in mega bucks and basking in the limelight for the next couple of years.
Some applicants have not coached any team, not even their state or junior sides. But they hope that the Board will overlook this anomaly while identifying the best man for the job.
The intriguing question is: who is the best man?

Nobody doubted Greg Chappell's greatness as a player or even as an astute thinker of the game. But he failed to carry the team and get it to see his point of view.
Great cricketers do not necessarily become good coaches. On the contrary they could be a liability.
For instance, Sachin Tendulkar is on record that he was disappointed with Kapil Dev as coach. “During my second stint as captain, Kapil Dev was the coach and I had high expectations of him in Australia," Tendulkar wrote in his autobiography. "He was one of the finest cricketers to have played for India and one of the best all-rounders of all time,
“I have always maintained that the coach’s job is an important one, for he is in a position to play a key role in formulating team strategy. Who better than Kapil to come up with options for me during a tough tour of Australia?
“However, his method of involvement and his thought process was limited to leaving the running of the team to the captain, and hence he did not involve himself in strategic discussions that would help us on the field.”

This disappointment with great cricketers in not confined to India alone. West Indies’ gifted all rounder Franklyn Stephenson acknowledged Curtly Ambrose as one of the greatest fast bowlers of all time. But he also reckoned he was “the worst cricket coach ever.”
One theory as to why great cricketers don’t make great coaches is that they come to the job with giant egos and this does not go down well with current players. For the latter, self-esteem and self confidence are paramount to success and they need a coach who will pump them up. However ex-greats struggle to get down to doing this and hence fail the individual and the team.
India had similar issues with Greg Chappell as coach. Nobody doubted his greatness as a player or even as an astute thinker of the game. But he failed to carry the team and get it to see his point of view.
Later, much later, his contention of having a huge pool of reserve players was appreciated. But by then it was too late. He had burnt his bridges with key players and that cost the team plenty.
On the other hand, some of the best international coaches have been average cricketers or very low-key personnel.
The best examples are Zimbabwe’s Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower, Bob Woolmer, Australian John Buchanan and South African Gary Kirsten.
Buchanan, a non-Test cricketer, had played just seven first class matches for a poor batting average of 12.3 and as coach had his share of praise and criticism.
Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting who were at the helm when Australia won 15 and a record 16 Tests on the trot respectively, showered him with praise and said that he was an integral cause for the outstanding success of the great Australian teams of the late 1990s and 2000s. But Shane Warne rubbished his coaching, saying that he had a knack “to complicate simple things”.
Warne believed that Buchanan’s tenure coincided with Australia having a great set of cricketers and his coaching had nothing to do with the success.
Zimbabwean ex-cricketers Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower met with astounding success as England coaches. Fletcher inherited a terrible English team and was subject to excessive criticism from the media who could not digest a Zimbabwean coaching the England national team.
Fletcher, who coached England and later India, stayed away from the media, hardly gave any interviews and quietly went about plotting victories for his team.
In 2005 he became the first England coach in 18 years to win the Ashes and a grateful country was so thrilled that they bestowed the OBE and British citizenship on him!
Later, as low key coach of the Indian team he strategized brilliantly and won eight series in a row. In fact he had been recommended by outgoing coach Kirsten who himself had stayed in the background even as he worked hard to help the team achieve success.
Fletcher’s countryman Flower too did a fantastic job with England, piloting them to two Ashes wins (at home and in Australia) and the 2010 ICC T20 World championship victory. Flower, of course, had been an outstanding batsman at the international level, but stayed low key while coaching England.
One average Test cricketer who put technology to good use while strategizing for South Africa was Bob Woolmer. He brought in a number of innovations to coaching which are now standard fare.
Thus even as the BCCI wades through the 57 applications one crucial fact becomes apparent: Greatness in one field is no guarantee for success in another. There could be exceptions to the rule. But that remains to be seen.

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Anil Kumble too applies for the post of Indian Cricket Coach

Former India captain Anil Kumble has applied for the India head-coach position advertised by the BCCI recently. The deadlines for the applications closed on June 10, and on Sunday the BCCI announced that a total of 57 applications from both Indian and overseas candidates had been received.

After Ravi Shastri and India's current chairman of selectors Sandeep Patil, Kumble is the third high-profile applicant for the job, which became vacant after the previous coaching staff's tenures expired at the end of the 2016 World T20. Although Kumble, 45, has no coaching experience at any level, he has been a mentor in the IPL, initially with Royal Challengers Bangalore - where he was the captain in 2009, when the franchise finished as runners-up - and later with Mumbai Indians.

Kumble applying for the job has come as a total surprise to many in the BCCI, considering his lack of coaching experience. Incidentally, among the various criteria published for the applicants, the BCCI had said that candidates should have coached at the international or first-class level. It was also mentioned that the "preferred candidate should be qualified through a certification/assessment program conducted by any of the Full Member countries, and currently possess such a valid certification."

Kumble does not tick either of those criteria, but his pedigree as a player is peerless. India's highest Test wicket-taker with 619 scalps, including a best of 10 for 74, he led India in 14 Test matches with three victories, five defeats and six draws.

After retiring, in addition to overseeing his company Tenvic, which mentors athletes, Kumble remained connected with cricket. He is currently the chairman of the ICC cricket committee, which recently met in London. He had also served in various roles in Indian cricket: he was the chairman of the National Cricket Academy when Patil was its director, and also headed the BCCI's technical committee. Outside the cricket field, one of his biggest achievements was winning the president's post at the Karnataka State Cricket Association. Not many players in contemporary cricket had gone so swiftly into administration over the past two decades, but Kumble, along with his former Karnataka and India team-mates Rahul Dravid, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad proved that players could also be role models as administrators.

The list of 57 applicants for the India coach job will be pruned by Ajay Shirke, the BCCI secretary. The shortlisted names are likely to be passed to an advisory panel, comprising former players, which will trim it further. The final decision on who is the next India coach will be taken by the BCCI top brass, and it is likely the new coach will be announced at the BCCI working committee meeting in Dharamsala on June 25.

Last month Anurag Thakur, after taking over as BCCI president, had indicated that a new coach will be appointed by the time India leave for the Caribbean for a fourth-Test tour in July-August.

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Saina Nehwal wins Australian Open Super Series Badminton title

Saina Nehwal wins Australian Open Super Series Badminton title by defeating Sun Yu 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 in the final. Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal has won the 2016 Australian Open Super Series Badminton tournament title in women’s singles category. In the final match played at Sydney, Saina defeated Chinese Sun Yu by 11-21, 21-14, 21-19 score. It was Saina’s first title of year 2016 season and overall second Australian Open title of her career. She won her first Australian Open title in 2014.

Indian ace Saina Nehwal received a huge boost ahead of the Rio Olympics as she clinched her second Australian Open title after defeating China’s Sun Yu in a thrilling three-game final of the Super Series badminton tournament in Sydney on Sunday.
The 26-year-old from Hyderabad eked out a 11-21 21-14 21-19 over the World No. 12 Sun in a fighting summit clash that lasted an hour and 11 minutes in Sydney.
London Olympics bronze medallist, Saina, who had beaten two world champions — Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon (2013) and China’s Yihan Wang (2011) in the quarterfinals and semifinals –, thus clinched her maiden title of the season and pocketed a cheque of USD 56,250.
It is Saina’s second Australian Open victory, having clinched the title in 2014 as well.
It ended a rather long title drought for the celebrated Indian, whose previous title before Sunday was at the India Super Series in New Delhi in
last year.
Saina had defeated Sun five times in the last five outings but she faced a tough challenge against the 22-year-old Chinese, who took just 18 minutes to wrap up the opening game at the Sydney Olympic Park.
Sun dished out a fast-paced game, which Saina failed to break initially.
The Indian struggled with the length of the shuttle and committed a few unforced errors early on as the duo moved together till 4-4.
Saina missed a couple of points at the net and also hit wide to allow Sun a lead of 7-4.
The Indian failed to connect and reach for a few returns which allowed Sun to extend the lead at 10-5.
At the break, Sun lead 11-6 when Saina’s backhand return failed to cross the net.
Two wide returns by Sun helped Saina narrow the gap but the Chinese kept engaging her in fast rallies, not allowing her to play her own game.
The Indian also faltered in judging the shuttle at the backline three times to see Sun lead 17-10.
With Sun covering the court well, the margin of error was nil for Saina and she eventually conceded the opening game after losing a video referral following a wide shot.
After changing sides, the second game started on an even-keel as the duo were locked 4-4 again. Sun used her deceptive shots to wriggle out of tricky situations and also covered the front court well to lead 6-4.
Saina grabbed a couple of points to draw level and with Sun sending the shuttle outside twice, the Indian led 10-8.
She entered the interval with a three-point lead when Sun hit the net.
The Chinese grabbed two quick points after the break but Saina continued to break the pace by playing few attacking shots and drawing the Chinese close to the net with deceptive strokes.
The result was Saina leading 17-12.
With Sun hitting the net, Saina grabbed six game points and converted the first after the Chinese found the net again.

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