First to start with, CRICKET

It is a bizarre situation at New Zealand. Before the start of this series, everyone expected the tracks to be bouncy and with a lot of swing. A well-known fact is that our batsmen have been troubled and the team bowled out with two-figure scores, in its previous outings.

But we are awestruck at the transformation that has taken place to the grounds and pitches in New Zealand. The tracks are flat (I doubt even Mitchell Johnson, who injured great South African batsmen in the on-going series in the African nation, or an Akhtar, Bond or Donald would have had any effect in these conditions). The circles' radii have decreased by many folds. Clearing the rope is looking a cake-walk for the sub-continent team, especially. A team’s dominance in a game is unacceptable in grounds like the ones in New Zealand. For example, the six of the bat of Viru which brought his hundred in the last ODI is a sure catch (in-fact a sitter) in any normal ground with proper specifications. The bowlers look like ball-machines bowling at bat-swinging batsmen (this is the case in both sides). I accept that this Indian team is one of the best in the world at present, but winning a series 3-0 is no big deal for a team that won a CB series down under last season. The game looks just like a battle of about 12 batsmen (6 on each side), and their ability to clear the ropes at ease. The innings of Sachin (163 retd hurt) was nowhere in the vicinity to his all-time classic legendary knocks that we all witnessed over a span of two decades. A flick or a just a touch from his bat is enough to clear the ropes. This is mainly due to the prime reason that the ropes are just a long-jump distance away from the bat. Then how on earth does a captain expect his bowlers to retain confidence in them. The basic point I would like to make here is that Cricket, which is moving closer to being a batsman-centric sport, should be a balanced one between the bat and the ball. The short grounds and flat pitches should be done away with, and replaced by bouncy tracks with long boundaries. This will become a real test to both the batsmen and bowlers and provide a stiff competition and I hope will surely retain the suspense that prevailed earlier, in ODIs and the new format Twenty20.

By a true Cricket fanatic,

Ramshankar