I am writing on this day; the day India won the 3rd and Final test against South Africa to draw the series. As an ardent Indian Cricket team’s fan I loved watching most of the 3rd and decisive day of this test match. It was a well fought match considering that the 2nd test at Ahmedabad was a meek surrender.

It was disappointing that the momentum of a David-Goliath-esque fight in Australia wasn’t carried on to win this series. Amongst visiting teams, South Africa have been the best; winning more tests and series than others. Yet this time everyone thought the series would be India’s. From there, it is surely disappointing that it was a mere 1-1 draw now. On the brighter side, at least Indians fought back to avoid yet another series loss at home. Well done, Team India!

Till late 90s winning even a test against India in India was unimaginable, just the way winning overseas was for Indian team (Tigers at home but Lambs abroad). However, in the past few years the lambs metamorphosed into hounds, bordering around tigers abroad. At least Indian teams are fighting, and hard. The thrill to an Indian fan which this metamorphosis brings is dampened by the performance at home. At home, I wouldn’t say the tigers are metamorphosing into lambs, but somehow there seems lesser sting in their bites. When you sit down and recollect some visuals of matches played abroad (Play them in your mind’s screen) and at home, apart from the way the grounds and crowds look there are differences.

Say in the visuals from England you’d see a bowler - Indian or English - running and bowling and the ball swinging like kite sways in strong breeze or a feather drifts in the air. In visuals from Australia or New Zealand you’ d see a bowler running and bowling and the batsmen (typically, Indian) getting out caught behind (Keeper or slips). What about the Indian visuals? Earlier you’d see a crowd (typically, Indian again) around the batsmen lurking like vultures to grab the ball coming from their bats or gloves or even just the body, and the wicket keeper chanting praises for the bowler and the vultures. The ball would often turn viciously and the batsmen’s eyes would spin in their sockets as much as the ball did off the pitch as an after effect.

Forward the tape to more recent matches played in India and you’d find the batsmen sweeping, clobbering the bowlers, even spinners all over the ground. Our ace spinners would take ages to dismiss even tail-enders. In a game in which picking 20 wickets is a key to winning matches, how could such vicissitudes of spinners help India win matches, and thus series, at home?

What are the chances that the next time India visits New Zealand or South Africa, the team finds a dry and dusty pitch with scary cracks appearing on the first day itself? What are the chances that India could play 3 spinners on their pitches? Also, what are the chances of going to Sri Lanka and finding a green top? Imagine the delight of South Africans when they went to Ahmedabad this time. It was like finding a dust-bowl in Perth with low bounce from the first day!

To all those who say the quality of pitches in India should improve I’d say “Aye aye!” but to all those who say India should prepare seaming tracks I’d show them the door. Why should we give up on our characteristic pitches just to be able to perform better abroad? Dust-bowls are OUR part of the diversity in the cricket world. We could have pitches which don’t behave like 5th day pitches on the 1st day itself (which was how the Kanpur pitch was, this time). We could develop better pitches in that regard. Doing away with Spin-friendly tracks with high or low bounce is not the way to go.

As for doing better abroad is concerned, it is more about the preparation that goes into tours. Better coaches who focus on game strategies, hiring sports psychologists, having key training and simulating centres at more than 1 place in the country would be the way to go. At the International level, players need fine tuning and not basic training. By training and simulating centres I mean grounds or centres developed with pitches close to the ones abroad. For example, in Bangalore, we could have training pitches outside the stadium, covered with green grass and certain moisture level in the pitch. Prior to going to England, players can arrive at Bangalore and train hard. In Delhi we could have pitches which are hard (possibly soil mixed with cement) so that the team could train there before going to Australia and South Africa. That way, the training centres could be indoors too, allowing for weather simulation too.

The cricket board is very rich. The competition from the rebel league - Thank God for it - has made the board sit up and take notice. It is high time the board spends more on the infrastructure. It is good for the board in the long run. With India winning more matches by virtue of better training facilities, the board gains more gold too. And whatever the board does, it is best if they leave the dust-bowls as they are. They are the USP of Indian Cricket!

-Varun Turlapati.

A cricket blog is a waste without a blog on little master blaster SACHIN TENDULKAR.  Here is my little effort to appreciate the maestro of world cricket.

At the start of his career he wanted to become a Fast Bowler and joined the MRF Pace Academy in Chennai under Dennis Lillee where he was turned away by Lillee saying he didn’t have the height to become a fast bowler. After this set back early in his career Sachin came back and did what it took to become a best batsmen ever.

He started his career at the tender age of 16 with the tour of pakistan in 1989 where he played his first test in Karachi and made only 15 in his first innings but really made the impression of the champions arrival when he was hit on face by a devastating Waqar Younis bouncer but still continued to bat in the blood-soaked shirt.

His first test century came when he was 17 and it was the match saving innings for India at Old Trafford in England. In the next 8 years he went on to score 16 more hundreds and by 2000, he became the one and the only player to score over 50 international hundreds . Currently he has 81 International hundreds. What makes this even special is that he did not score any hundred till his 79th Odi.

One of his best performances had come on his first tour to Australlia as a 19 year old when he scored an swash-buckling century on the fastest bowling pitch at Perth. Since then he has scored many hundreds against Australia. A Special one that comes to mind straight is his knock in Sharjah where he single handedly took Aussie bowlers apart in the final and won India the tournament in 1998.

The best achievement in his life came when he was awarded the WISDEN CRICKETER OF THE YEAR in 1997 and more so when he received the ultimate compliment from Sir Donald Bradman who told his wife that Tendulkar reminded him of himself.

This is just a very small blog on the little master who has so many achievements & still has not finished playing. So expect more to come on Playing Legend Sachin Tendulkar.