Ojha will fancy his chances in Australia

Pragyan Ojha will fancy winning his captain's trust and playing his part in the Test series against Australia at Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Adelaide. The 25-year-old who bowls conventional left-arm spin was in excellent form in the Test series against the West Indies recently.

In the first Test at Kotla and on the last day of the third Test at the Wankhede he turned out to be the star taking six for 72 in 34.2 overs and six for 47 in 27 overs respectively. Off-spinner R. Ashwin was showered with accolades for his 22 wickets at 22.90 and a century, but Ojha's effort — 20 wickets at 22.50 — was equally admirable.

With 62 wickets in 14 Tests he has played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, Ojha has proved that he can be a difficult customer to deal with in favourable conditions that assist turn and offer bounce. He has plied his trade for almost eight years in first class cricket, sufficient enough to understand the significance of line, length, flight and spin and has taken 254 wickets.

Not in the scheme of things since the home series against New Zealand in late 2010, Ojha has grabbed opportunities that came in his way, especially when the national selection committee was seriously looking to deploy someone other than Harbhajan Singh as the leading spinner.

Both Ashwin and Ojha may not have faced searching examination in the short series, but they delivered with equanimity. Incidentally, Ojha has put an end to suggestions to Ravindra Jadeja's induction into Test cricket. Ojha's first litmus test in Australia will determine whether he has the potential to establish permanency in the traditional format of the game. He should consider himself lucky that he has been selected for the Test series in Australia where Indian left-arm spinners, with the notable exception of Bishan Singh Bedi (two tours between 1967-68 and 1978) and to some extent Ravi Shastri, have hardly made an impact.

But in the last two decades (after the 1992 series when Shastri and Venkatapathy Raju together accounted for 14 wickets) it's been a virtual blank for India's left-arm spinners in Australia. Four years ago (2007-08 series) Yuvraj Singh played at Melbourne and Sydney and bowled just two overs for 11 runs in the second innings at Sydney and seven years ago (2003-04) Murali Kartik played at Sydney and ended up with figures of 0 for 122 and one for 89. India did not have a left-arm spinner in 1999-2000.

Dismal picture

Facts and figures present a most discouraging picture for any serious practitioner of orthodox left-arm spin — whose stock delivery is the one that leaves the right-hander and for surprise variation, the arm ball that travels straight on in the direction of the arm — wanting to excel in Australia.

Except for Daniel Vettori (35 wickets in 11 Tests at 39.97) in recent times, no left-arm spinner after England's Derek Underwood (50 wickets in 14 Tests at 31.48 and between 1970 and 1980) has had a profitable outing in Australia.

Ojha has got the big break, a chance to face new challenges and pick up wickets in an environment that would be a far cry from the familiar sub-continent conditions.

Ashwin becomes only third Indian to achieve rare double

Off—spinner Ravichandran Ashwin achieved a rare feat, becoming only the third Indian cricketer to score a century and take five wickets in an innings in a Test match.

The other two were Vinoo Mankad and Polly Umrigar who achieved the commendable feat against England and West Indies respectively.

Ashwin had taken five for 156, his second five—for in Tests, before scoring his maiden century against West Indies on the fourth day of the third and final cricket Test on Friday.

Ashwin achieved the milestone by cutting pacer Ravi Rampaul for a boundary.

In fact, it’s after 49 years that an Indian cricketer has achieved the feat in a Test match.

Umrigar scored 172 and took five for 107 against West Indies at Port of Spain back in April, 1962, while Mankad scored a magnificent 184 and also scalped five for 196 against England at Lord’s way back in 1952. Mankad also scored 72 in the first innings.

No Test championship until 2017

International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive Haroon Lorgat, on Monday, ruled out the possibility of holding an ICC World Test championship until 2017.

The game's governing body considered the Test championship between the top four teams in 2013 instead of the 50-over ICC Champions Trophy, which is scheduled for England, but Lorgat said the event is not possible until 2017.

“I am afraid that's no longer going to happen in 2013,” Lorgat told the media on the sidelines of the second day-night International between Pakistan and Sri Lanka in Dubai.

“At the last board meeting, we decided that the first opportunity that we can play the World Test Championship is 2017. So I am disappointed that it is not going to take place sooner.”

Prior commitments

Lorgat said the delay was due to prior ICC commitments.

“It is a reality of the commitments that we have got already through to 2015,” he explained.

Lorgat said a Test championship would ensure the status of the longer version of the game, widely regarded as under threat from 50-over matches and now from more popular Twenty20 cricket.

“We attempted to form the World Test Championship, which I think would have been a very good context to ensuring the primacy of Test match cricket. But again, we will have to wait for 2017 to see that as a reality,” he added.

Strong in criticism but generous in praise, and always a delight to read

Does he watch the first ball?”

Only if he did would a young cricket scribe have attracted Peter Roebuck's attention. “You have to watch the first ball!” was his unfailing advice to any aspiring cricket writer.

Strong in his criticism but generous in his praise, Roebuck's suicide should shock the legions who relished his insightful despatches on the game.

Roebuck was a captain at Somerset, which had among its ranks the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards, Ian Botham and Joel Garner. It is another matter that he fell out with most of them; sad, but then, Roebuck was one of a kind — unpretentious and unsparing.

And, that was how he wrote too. He liked his cricketers brave. He pushed for cricketers who took the initiative — not the ones who played to the gallery, but the ones who battled for the team.

Naturally, he was a much sought-after columnist. And he was also the least demanding.

“How much can they afford?” was all he would ask, when requested for a commissioned piece. “What length? And, by what time, please?” He knew his job well.

Needless to say, he was a delight to read. His analysis was an impeccable commentary on the state of the game. Performance of this duty was a natural act for he believed in conveying what he saw.

“To the best of my abilities,” he would insist. “I am committed to my reader,” he would say.

I once asked him if he had ever missed a deadline.

“Was never late for the toss, mate,” he replied with a smile, crisp and precise, as always.

Traditionalist

Roebuck was a traditionalist and an unwavering loyalist when it came to the longer version of the game. He appreciated the three-slip and two-gully, white-flannel version of the game.

Not for him the slam-bang stuff. Not for him the frivolous ways of modern cricket.

Even the tour games, he maintained, were far more meaningful than some contest decided in the span of 40 overs.

He never deviated from his role as an unambiguous critic. Particularly memorable for his Indian readers would be the way he was uncompromising in his criticism of Australia, his adopted country, during India's eventful tour in 2008.

When talking cricket, Roebuck disliked frivolous discussion.

It is difficult to imagine him applauding a shot, even from a Rahul Dravid or a V.V.S. Laxman — incidentally, his favourite cricketers — if the ball did not travel to the intended destination.

Yet, he would rave about the artist in Laxman and the architect in Dravid. They too cherished his writing.

Learning process

Discussing and understanding the nuances of cricket with Roebuck, the analyst and raconteur, was an essential part of a cricket scribe's learning process.

He was passionate about what he knew and more about what he wanted to learn.

Always keen to gather information on promising talent, Roebuck never hid his obsession for correctness.

If you told him a good youngster had arrived on the cricket circuit, his response would be a cool, “How good is his defence?”

The incisive style that marked his observations put Roebuck in a rare class of writers.

Never one to run his colleagues down, even in what can be a fiercely competitive profession, he stood out for his reading of the game.

Alas, cricket writing will never be the same. Nobody wrote on cricket like Peter Roebuck did.

Present Indian team best ever, says Kapil Dev

Legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev considers the current set of Indian cricketers to be the best to have played for the country.

“Without any doubt, I would say that this is the best Indian team ever,” said the 1983 World Cup winning captain, the striking backdrop of Kwazulu Natal's untamed bush framing his broad shoulders.

Kapil, along with a bunch of India and South Africa greats, is in the Rainbow Nation pushing for a novel enterprise ‘World Cricket Legends in the Wild', a one-match double-wicket event organised by Beyond Boundaries in the middle of the Phinda forest reserve, 200 kilometres from Durban.

Continuing on India's current set of heroes, Kapil said, “When they have so many records, so much experience and have done so well, you can't question their achievements. But it would be unfair to compare because one can never compare players across generations. The next generation has always been and will be better than the previous one. If it is not then the world would not be moving forward.”

Overkill

In times that were largely conducive for the broadening of cricket's base, overkill, Kapil said, was something that could put the viewer off the game. “You cannot have so much cricket that people stop coming for even ODIs. It was sad to see that against a team like England we did not have 20,000 people turning up. This is what happens when you give the crowd too much cricket.”

Kapil did not consider the advent of Twenty20s to be detrimental to the sport, but had his reservations on how the format would stand up in the years to come. “People now are getting a thrill out of T20. But Test cricket is the real cricket. T20 is good but give it 10 years and then you would know where it stands. Eventually you might find a different audience for all the three formats,” he said.

On Sachin Tendulkar's slippery 100th international century, Kapil felt that the weight of expectation might actually spur the little master on rather than drag him down. “When has Tendulkar not been under pressure? Since he was 16, we have been putting pressure on him. He is always under stress to deliver and I think he can only play under pressure.

Good part

“The good part is that he is on 99 not out, that he is still playing,” he said.

There is no pressure anymore, however, on Kapil and his motley crew — Sandeep Patil, Anshuman Gaekwad, Dilip Vengsarkar, Roger Binny and Ajay Jadeja — as they take on the likes of Lance Klusener, Mike Procter and Graeme Pollock on Tuesday on a clearing in the forest.

“This is not a competition. It's more like an exhibition of the sport. It is a great thing to merge sport and culture like this and promote a country. Such events should be organised in India too so we can take our rich and ancient culture to the world,” he concluded.

Rahul Dravid's prolific run continues

Rahul Dravid kept his date with great venues yet again this year. The allure of hundreds at Sabina Park and Lord's are still intact and Dravid added one more to that list with his 119 at the Eden Gardens here on Monday.

In a prolific year during which he currently tops the run-getters' list at 952, Dravid's 36th ton, his fifth in the last six months, helped India finish with 346 for five on the opening day of the second Test against the West Indies.

It was a knock (207b, 9x4, 2x6) that had all the primary Dravid ingredients of assurance and stability and he spiced it up with a touch of flourish through two sixes during his 295-minute vigil.

This was his maiden instance of clouting two high into the skies during a single innings in a Test.

Off to a flier

Dravid walked in after India got off to a flier thanks to Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, who shared 66 runs off 73 deliveries.

Being the master at stitching alliances, Dravid combined with Gambhir in an 83-run second-wicket partnership and then he and V.V.S. Laxman (73 batting), his alter-ego at Eden Gardens, added 140 for the fourth wicket.

There was also the interlude of Sachin Tendulkar's 38, a knock that spelt ease despite two close calls on 25 and 36, but was undone by a pull off Devendra Bishoo.

Tendulkar essayed the shot, not factoring in the slow pace off the pitch and the ball did not bounce as much as he expected. The resultant catch was taken at mid-wicket.

Different response

A similar short, sluggish delivery a few minutes earlier elicited a different response from Dravid and it showed his form.

The wrists were flexed at the last sub-second and the bat-swing was sliced in an arc that slammed the ball into the turf.

In the beginning, Dravid found easy appetisers in the deliveries that homed in to his legs.

Darren Sammy tried to pin Dravid down with the angled-in delivery and strayed.

The West Indies skipper then kept four men under Dravid's gaze on the off-side but the veteran punctured the cordon.

Bishoo's tendency to drop it short was also capitalised upon with the rasping cut and Dravid was up and away.

Steady trot

In the afternoon session that witnessed the downfall of both Gambhir and Tendulkar, Dravid got his runs at a steady trot, though during a phase of 101 deliveries he did not clip anything past the ropes.

And when he exhaled with aggression, the result was a six over long-off off Bishoo. Later he pummelled Marlon Samuels over long-on.

At the other end, Laxman etched fours that seemed like gentle whispers to flummoxed fielders before the ball, bolstered by sheer timing, sped to the boundary.

It may not have been March 2001 and the rivals were not Australians but Laxman and Dravid ensured that India enjoyed its most dominating batting display this year.

Lone sour note

Later, Dravid fumed with his lone sour note when he chopped Kraigg Brathwaite onto the stumps and became the part-timer's maiden Test wicket. Ishant Sharma fell to the new-ball and once bad light forced the draw of stumps, Laxman offered hope.

In the morning, M.S. Dhoni opted to bat and found approval from Sehwag and Gambhir (65). Sammy, who spoke about playing Shane Shillingford, sprung a surprise and pencilled in Kemar Roach.

No impact

The change had no impact as Gambhir pierced twice past point once Roach came on as first-change, but it was Sehwag who inflicted maximum damage with his cameo.

Both Sehwag and Gambhir were dismissed against the run of play and Adrian Barath, who replaced Kieran Powell, snapped up two catches.

That and Tendulkar's dismissal were the only pleasures for Sammy's men.

Scoreboard

India: G. Gambhir c Barath b Edwards 65 (103b, 8x4), V. Sehwag c Barath b Sammy 38 (33b, 8x4), R. Dravid b Brathwaite 119 (207b, 9x4, 2x6), S. Tendulkar c Samuels b Bishoo 38 (71b, 5x4), V.V.S. Laxman (batting) 73 (116b, 5x4), Ishant c Baugh b Roach 0 (1b); Extras (lb-5, w-2, nb-6): 13; Total (for five wkts., in 87.3 overs): 346.

Fall of wickets: 1-66 (Sehwag), 2-149 (Gambhir), 3-205 (Tendulkar), 4-345 (Dravid), 5-346 (Ishant).

West Indies bowling: Edwards 13-0-45-1, Sammy 14-0-78-1, Roach 15.3-1-57-1, Samuels 16-0-65-0, Bishoo 27-1-87-1, Brathwaite 2-0-9-1.

India off to a brisk start against West Indies

Opener Gautam Gambhir hit an unbeaten half-century to guide India to 132-1 at lunch on Monday’s first day of the second Test against the West Indies.

Gambhir was batting on 57 and Rahul Dravid on 33 at the break, with the only dismissal being that of big-hitting opener Virender Sehwag for a brisk 38 after India elected to bat at Eden Gardens.

Sehwag, who clobbered West Indies captain Darren Sammy for six of his eight fours during a 33-ball knock, fell to the same bowler when he was caught by Adrian Barath at short mid-wicket.

India is looking for a series-clinching victory after winning the opening Test in New Delhi by five wickets.