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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Dear Boycott, better ask your Mom on what happened at Caribbean in 1981 !


London is burning and there are reports that a landmark stores in Croydon called ‘the House of Reeves’ went up on flames by rioters who looted and burned.  Yet Englishmen would underplay everything – for they are habituated to denounce everything that is not English while sing paeans even where there is none due ! The recent comments of Geoff Boycott that ‘My mom plays the rising ball better than Raina’ is unlikely to cause any furore as Boycott often quotes his Mom, In Law, Grand Ma and who not in drawing odious comparisons.  In his syndicated column, Boycott satirically wrote “ Its difficult to see how India are going to recover from here, really, as everyone has been saying,Zaheer Khan was their best hope given the playing conditions but with his exit from the series, I dont see how this bowling attack,now including the untested RP Singh,will bowl England out twice.

Of course,some Indian supporters will be hoping that the London riots that have now spread to Birmingham will render the Edgbaston Test a non-starter.However,I see no chance of that happening,sorry,so its a do-or-die situation all right,on a delightfully green track,too. Speaking of which,how many of you find it significant that Indias best bets on bouncy tracks are still Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid,and VVS Laxman How is it that none of the youngsters are any good at all against the rising ball That Suresh Raina  whew! My mum could do more with a rising ball than he does.And everyone knows it,now.The English bowlers most certainly do and theyll be looking out for him.

Yes, Indian pitches are slow and low,and the ball only rises to the waist or thereabouts,but Sachin and Rahul and VVS have grown up playing on those,too,just as today's youngsters have. The answer,of course,is that those three, and their contemporaries,were growing up at a time when One-Day cricket was not as big a deal as it is now,when Test cricket was the coolest thing to play.

Boycott conveniently forgets that his own Englishmen ran away from India when 26/11 occurred – the terrorism then was isolated to a single city and that too parts of Mumbai – yet the British panicked and ran away, conveniently away from the impending white wash.  They had done that earlier in WC 1996 refusing to play in England.  Indians can  and will certainly deliver the answer on the cricket field – even when many parts of England, especially Birmingham where the Test is to be played is burning.  Without getting into political arena, where Boycott is totally out of place to think of English supremacy when none exists, cricket game is far different that what Boycott tends to portray – it is not be spoken or written in a single breath with the back ground of only a couple of matches….  What was England’s performance in World Cup 2011 or for that matter in all World Cup – don’t you remember that England has never won any of the 10 editions of the Cup……

Boycott may himself well remember that one dreaded over at the land of Caribbean in 1981 when Whispering Death mowed him down.  All along Boycott had prided himself to be the occupier of the crease and an impediment – in a single over which should have struck his ego and shaken him no ends – Michael Holding demolished him – the first 5 balls, Boycott had no clue at all and purists doubted  whether he was wielding a bat or a mere stick.  The sixth sent his off stump cart-wheeling a good 20 yards behind the crease and Boycott trudged back without troubling the scorers.  Would  by that yardstick it would be fair to say that Boycott was weak against genuine fast bowling.. !-  in his career spanning for 24 years from 1962, he was one of the  most successful opening batsmen for England, noted for his ability to occupy the crease.  He was also known for friction with his team mates and once it was commented that ‘Boycott – walks alone’ ; he was also known for his poor running in between the wickets.

Suresh Kumar Raina is only 24 and has a long way to go.  His recent innings in England have no doubt shown him in poor light but he is a modern generation youngster known for his flamboyance and agility on field.  He is an excellent fielder and can hit big shots with flourish.  In 13 tests he has made 696 runs at an average of 34.80  with a century and 6 fifties.  In ODI, where he is better off, he has made 2795 runs in 120 matches with 3 centuries with a healthy strike rate of 89.52.  He has a century to his credit in T20 as well.

We wait for the day when Raina and the Indian Team responds with their performance on the field !!!!!

Regards – S. Sampathkumar.

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