England v Pakistan: Why Pakistan Lost The Old Trafford Test

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England pulled out a victory from the jaws of defeat against Pakistan during the First Test at Old Trafford. Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes played aggressive cricket bringing Pakistan on their knees. They put on a 139 run partnership for the 6th wicket to turn the match on its head. Why did Pakistan lose despite being on the top for most part of the match? Is Azhar Ali 's horrendous and spinless captaincy responsible for the hugely disappointing loss? Here is match analysis by Murtaza Ali Khan, noted Indian journalist and a cricket enthusiast.

- Murtaza Ali Khan

Fire in Babylon (2010): A must-watch documentary about the dramatic rise of the West Indian cricket during the 1970s/80s

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Fire in Babylon is a 2010 British documentary film written and directed by Stevan Riley that chronicles the two-decade-long supremacy of the indomitable West Indies cricket teams of the 1970s and 1980s first under the leadership of Clive Lloyd and then under Vivian Richards. Fire in Babylon features stock footage and interviews of several former West Indian players, sports journalists, officials, and musicians including Gordon Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Deryck Murray, Vivian Richards, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Joel Garner and Colin Croft. Fire in Babylon also throws light on Kerry Packer’s World Series Cricket and how it revolutionized the sport. The film begins by giving a brief account of the West Indian cricket during the 50s and 60s, prior to their ascension as a formidable force on the global platform when the highly talented breed of West Indian cricketers were condescendingly dubbed as ‘Calypso Cricketers’, for they were considered quite capable of entertaining in short bursts but not good enough to capitalize on their flashes of brilliance to eke out victories on a regular basis.

In the 1950s, Sir Frank Worrell became the first black man to captain a West Indies cricket team. The era also saw the emergence of great West Indian cricketers such as Everton Weekes and Sir Garfield Sobers. During the period, despite the individual accolades the West Indian cricket could never really emerge as a colossus because of regressive influence of colonialism that continued to the stymie any rising hopes of progression in the West Indian Islands until the late '60s. By the '70s, the West Indian Islands, having finally attained independence, entered a phase of reconstruction. But, the damage had already been done! It was at this point of time that cricket became the greatest hope of the West Indian people. The gradual success of the newly formed team under the leadership of Clove Lloyd seemed to serve as an elixir for the masses. The team’s unprecedented success not only galvanized the natives of the West Indian Islands but also the African community at large. The West Indian players became a beacon of hope for every black individual who was being made to suffer in the name of racism.

However, the team’s rise to unprecedented glory had been far from easy. On the 1975-76 tour of Australia the West Indies Cricket Team had faced utter annihilation at the hands of Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson losing the six-match test series 5-1. A bruised and battered West Indian side then went face-to-face against a formidable Indian lineup in 1976. The throbbing at the hands of Australians had made Lloyd and his men learn the hard way that cricket was no longer a “gentlemen’s game” and that winning took more than just good sportsmanship. Prior to the Indian series, Lloyd had enough time to formulate a potent pace attack on the lines of the Australian Cricket Team. Lloyd unleashed his newly devised young battery of fast bowlers comprising Andy Roberts, Michael Holding and Colin Croft against the Indians who found the pace trio too hot to handle and ended up losing the four-match test series 2-1. In fact, half of the Indian Team did not bat in their second innings of the fourth and final test match because of the fear of getting hurt at the hands of the West Indian chin music. Thus began a new chapter in the history of cricket that saw the emergence of West Indies as a force to be reckoned with. It’s a great testament to the might, power and heroics of the great West Indian players of the time that from the February of 1980 to the March of 1995 the West Indies Cricket Team did not lose a single Test series—a remarkable feat that's yet to be matched in any professional team sport. 

Fire in Babylon further highlights the discrimination and disparity that the West Indian cricket teams were subjected to following their exaltation as a colossal force in world cricket. While the Press didn’t leave a single stone unturned to malign the West Indian cricketers, the authorities strived to alter the rules and mechanics of the sport in order to curtail the West Indian dominance. Fire of Babylon is a story of self-realization, revival and dominance of a group of men for whom winning became the very purpose of existence and whose struggle and triumph became a symbol of hope for millions of oppressed Africans all across the globe. While Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Colin Croft earned the sobriquets of “Whispering Death”, "Hitman" and "The Bomber," respectively for their hostile pace bowling, Vivian Richards became the embodiment of courage and bravery for his intrepid style of batting. The tricolor wristband that Richards wore on the cricket field served to be a true manifestation of the African spirit: while green symbolized the evergreen African terrain, gold symbolized the plundered riches of the African land, and red symbolized the African blood shed over the centuries. But, as the West Indian dominance over cricket grew stronger the players who were hitherto termed as outcasts and slaves finally began to be treated as international icons and the cricketers from other nations too started to treat them with equality and respect as hostility made way for camaraderie and bonhomie. The synergy created by the West Indian dominance and Bob Marley’s revolutionary music bolstered the anti-apartheid campaigns taking place all across the world. 

Overall, Fire in Babylon is a great means to make acquaintance with the arguably the most formidable lineup of players in any major team sport. Fire in Babylon is an unforgettable tale of human grit, struggle, hardship and triumph that's a must watch for any sports enthusiast. Highly recommended!

(A version of this article was first published in A Potpourri of Vestiges.)

- Murtaza Ali Khan

Apex Court shows Anurag Thakur the door

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Toe crushing yorker... beaten for pace... hitting in line... missing off, missing leg but hitting middle... Yes, that's OUT!

In a historical judgment, the honorable Supreme Court of India has removed Anurag Thakur from the post of the BCCI President. Son of the former Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh Prem Kumar Dhumal and a Member of Parliament, Anurag Thakur has got elected as the president of BCCI on 22 May 2016.

Along with Thakur, the Apex Court has also sacked secretary Ajay Shirke. This decision has come after the BCCI authorities failed to implement the Lodha Committee's reforms.

Thakur also faces a criminal charge for perjury charge as well as contempt of court proceedings against him. 

The landmark judgment, made by Justice Chandrachud, fully backed the recommendations of the Justice Lodha panel regarding the ouster of BCCI office-bearers as well as administrators of affiliated State associations above 70 years old.

According to the judgment, a committee of administrators would be appointed by the court to run the BCCI. Senior advocates Fali Nariman and Gopal Subramanium have been asked by the court to nominate qualified persons for the committee.

The committee of administrators would report to the Lodha Committee. The next hearing will take place on 19th January, 2017.

- Murtaza Ali Khan

The Men Who Changed the Face of Cricket: Part I

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Cricket, today, features amongst the top sports of the world and its shimmering luster is getting shinier with each passing day. While not yet in the same league as Soccer, Golf, or Formula One, the sport has managed to carve a niche for itself. Call it globalization or commercialization, but the sport continues to attain new zeniths despite all odds. Even in sports rich countries like Australia, England and South Africa, where plethora of different sports—both indoor as well as outdoor—are available at disposal, Cricket still holds a special place. The English and Aussies still look upon Ashes as the greatest challenge of grit and determination and take a lot of pride in the outcome of the series. Similarly, the people of the sub-continent, most notably India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh, adhere to cricket as their religion. Cricket is also followed with almost the same vigor and intensity by the people of Caribbean, who have many great memories of ancestral heroics attached to the decorated sport. With the ICC’s initiative to take Cricket to all the nook and corners of the world, the associate nations have been emerging well as potential hot spots for Cricket in the days to follow. But, as it is with all the great things, they don’t become great overnight, for they need to be fed with years of sweat and blood. Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day! Cricket, too, has run its course from its nigh obscure beginnings as an aristocratic sport in early 16th-century England to becoming the raison d’être for sports maniacs all across the globe. At almost every point of time in its history, the game of Cricket has seen itself undergo a tremendous transformation thanks to the peremptory intervention of the prime movers of the game. Whether for the better or the worse, the impact that these colossal figures have left on the sport has been staggering.

The Dying Art Of Fast Bowling

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It seems eons ago when the cricket teams used to have a battery of fast bowlers on whose shoulders the fate of a match rested upon. Gone are the days when there used to be an even competition between the bat and the ball, when the pitches had enough moisture to encourage the pacers to bowl their hearts out, when the edges and the miss timed strokes didn't clear the boundaries, when the pacers didn't hesitate to bend their backs and when the rules were not partial towards the batsmen.

Those were the good old days when a Jeff Thomson bouncer hit the top of the sight screen, when West Indian wicket keepers stood right next to ropes for the pacers, when Jeff Thomson's deliveries defied the speed limits and when batsmen courageously hooked and pulled without helmets. Many regard that period as the golden era of cricket.

The era saw sparkling batsmen whose skills bettered the quality of their bats, ferocious bowlers whose deliveries had more venom than their sledging, phenomenal all-rounders who were equally skilled with bat and ball, zealous wicket keepers whose agility overshadowed their chattering. Those were the days of the 'Gavaskars', the 'Greenidges', the 'Richards', the 'Boycotts', the 'Lloyds', the 'Sobers', the 'Holdings', the 'Garners', the 'Roberts', the 'Hadlees', the 'Marshalls', the 'Devs', the 'Khans', the 'Bothams', the 'Marshes', the 'Murrays', and the 'Dujons'.

Since then, the game has come a long way, growing further as a commercial sport and hasn't failed to produce great batsmen like Tendulkar, Lara, Ponting, Hayden, Dravid and others. It has even managed to produce world class spinners like Warne, Murali, Kumble and legendary medium pacers like Mcgrath, Akram, Pullock and others. But the breed of express bowlers that has been the game's greatest legacy is facing extinction.

Nowadays, one hardly sees a match (especially a test match) won by a genuine speedster, most of whom are forced to reduce their pace owing to the averse cricketing laws and career shortening injuries (due to lack of rest). Even the pitches are laid and maneuvered in such a manner that they offer no assistance to a pacer, even in the initial overs, deflating the very spirit and zeal which drives an express bowler, forcing him to run for cover.

The game's ruling body, the ICC is mostly responsible for the current disheartening scenario and the plight of the fast bowlers. It injected the game with commercially favorable rules which are extremely hostile to Fast Bowling like the restriction on short pitched bowling, stringent wide bowl and no bowl rules, powerplays, free hits, the over rate criteria, etc. Youngsters no longer dream of being a fast bowler, as they don't want to suffer the fate of an express bowler.

The Cricketing Boards are also least supportive of the rare breed of pacers, not taking the necessary measures to nurture the talent of those gifted with raw pace and instead inveigling them to cut down on their pace in order to prolong their careers (so that over rate and extras can be taken care of) thereby catering to the desires of ICC. It's time that shackles be broken and necessary steps be taken to revive the dying art of fast bowling, giving special attention to the existing breed (instead of cashiering them away), so that the game is not robbed of its greatest legacy.

- Murtaza Ali Khan

Brian Lara's 153 n.o in the 3rd Test vs Australia at Barbados in 1999

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Brian Lara during his match-winning knock of 153 n.o

Brian Lara's 153 n.o in the 3rd Test vs Australia in 1999 in my opinion is the greatest Test innings ever played.Chasing a target of 308 on a weary wicket, West Indies were in all sorts of bother at 78-3 (off 40.4 overs). In came the WI captain Brian Lara and within a span of 15 overs and 25 runs saw opener Griffith and Hooper fall to Gillespie. West Indies were now reeling at 105-5 (off 55.3 overs). 

West Indies are two-time World T20 Champions

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West Indies team celebrate after Carlos Brathwaite hit the winning shot

2016 can now be described as the year of West Indies cricket. Their Under 19, Women's and Men's teams are all world champions now. Darren Sammy's team showed the world that they are not a one-man team and every player is a potential match winner.

‪Marlon Samuels‬ was also the hero in 2012 and he did it again today with some great hitting in the end from ‪Carlos Brathwaite‬. I have always felt that Samuels is a highly underrated batsman who never gets his due. I hope it will change after today. Today, I am sure he would have silenced his 'good friend' Shane Warne. West Indies have a new star in Brathwaite. Few people know that he is a very good lower middle order Test batsman as well.

Sammy himself didn't do much with the ball or bat throughout this tournament but showed that a player be in a team merely as a specialist captain. No one but Sammy could have kept this bunch together. In 2014 when the Windies were eliminated because of rain, Sammy had said that God wanted Sanga and Mahela to win the world cup and his prophecy turned out to be true. At the onset of this tournament, no one gave this team a chance. Experts like Mark Nicholas ridiculed them, their own board didn't support them. But today these 15 Caribbean players have certainly proved everyone wrong, perhaps even fading the line between man and myth.

West Indies needed 19 runs needed to win of the final over. Carlos Brathwaite‬ was up to the task and struck 4 humongous 6s of the first 4 deliveries of the 20th over bowled by Ben Stokes to seal the match.

PS. Virat Kohli deservedly won‬ is the man of the tournament.

- Murtaza Ali Khan