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Mohali would be
chill in north Indian winter – and it is the festival time of Deepavali. There were days when the whole Nation stopped
work, when Sachin played – South Africa are tough and whether the pitch would
assist Ashwin, Mishra and Jadeja is to be seen.
Out of 11 Tests played at Mohali, India have so far won five, including
the last one they played against Australia in March 2013, drawn equal number of
games while losing one match to West Indies way back in December 1994.
Turning away from
home, Shoaib Malik, the Pakistan allrounder and former captain, has announced
that the current Test match against England at Sharjah will be his last.In a
shock announcement at the close of the third day's play, an emotional Malik,
33, said that the "time was right" to move on, only three matches
after his five-year exile from the Test team had come to an end.His decision
came out of blue as he arrived at the end-of-day press conference with a piece
of paper in his hand. The team's assistant manager informed the media that,
before taking questions, "Shoaib want to say something".
His team-mates were
also caught unawares. Mohammad Hafeez, talking to the host broadcaster outside
the team dressing-room, was shocked when asked to give his reaction and Mushtaq
Ahmed, Pakistan's spin bowling coach, was also taken by surprise.
Malik made a
dramatic return to the fray in the first Test at Abu Dhabi last month. Called
in to the team as a late replacement for the injured Azhar Ali, he made a
career-best 245 in his first appearance since the Edgbaston Test against
England in 2010.However, his scores have fallen away since then, with scores of
0, 2, 7, 38 and 0 in his next five innings, the latest duck coming on
Tuesday trapped lbw first-ball by a big
inswinger from James Anderson.Malik has played his part with the ball in this
match in particular. He returned his best Test figures of 4 for 33 in 9.5 overs
as England were bowled out for 306 in their first innings.
At the age of 33,
and having earned his recall to the Test team on the strength of his recent
one-day performances, Malik's one remaining ambition is to earn selection for
the 2019 World Cup in England. Malik has played in 34 Tests scored 1860 runs
with 3 tons; 5990 runs in 227 ODIs with 8 centuries; he has 25 Test wickets and
147 ODI wickets. Some Pakistanis have
made their comeback few years after quitting.
This Series too
would be played without DRS. The 'umpire's call' is RaviAshwin's big objection
against DRS. ESPNcricinfo states that
some players have spoken out that they are not entirely averse to the idea of DRS but
pointed to the possibility of manipulation of technology by host broadcasters,
who pay for the DRS as the system stands now. However, they said they didn't
know why the team leadership didn't accept DRS.
The rest of the World continues to use technology to correct or
vindicate umpires' decisions. Due to limited nos. reference, Ashwin has point
in asking – whether DRS is umpire protective or player protective?"
There have been
innovations and changes in the way the game is played – in Test Cricket itself
- NZ and Aussies were having 8 ball
overs till mid 1970s; bouncer rule has been tampered many a times; Limited
Overs cricket and T20 have come into being.
When Kerry Packer challenged the establishment – many called it "pyjama
cricket", due to coloured clothing, sightscreen color and night
cricket. Over the years there have been
usage of technology like hotspot, snickometer, - the lightmeter has been in
vogue for long. Perhaps it is time, the
Indian Board adopted DRS without repeating the cliché, that DRS is not 100%
good.
Even as we don’t
even debate – later this month Australia and New Zealand will contest a five-day
match in Adelaide, under lights, using a pink ball. It may or may not work but it need not be
traditional all the time. As rightly
stated, an experiment with pink balls
and day-night matches is not much of a risk. Doing nothing is the real risk
facing Test cricket.
The flood lights at Mohali Cricket stadium are
unconventional compared to other cricket stadiums – the light pilllars are very
low in height. When most other stadiums have 4 towers, Mohali has 16
smaller flood light towers. This is because it is close to airport –
should we really have a stadium if that poses a security hazard ??
With regards – S.
Sampathkumar
4th Nov. 2015
