Anil Kumble – A romantic’s dream!

Was having a conversation on Twitter with Achettup of ‘Short of a Length‘ fame and the talk turned to Anil Kumble aka Jumbo and his maiden century.

I can still recall those moments when he neared to and got his century. I was rooting for England (actually, to be more precise, against India) for some reason which I can’t remember.

However, when Jumbo’s chance came to get a century, I couldn’t help but praying that he get his century, even if it meant that England couldn’t draw the series.

The lack of availability of cable forced me to turn to Test Match Special commentary from BBC to follow the match. I was praying, praying and, finally, when he got his century via a thin edge through Matt Prior’s legs, I literally jumped from my chair and was punching my fists in the air. It was more like I was getting my maiden century rather than him (who could grudge me this chance, considering how bad I am at even playing out an over).

Researching more about him, I came across an instance of him bowling in Sabina Park, Jamaica, even after he had his jaw strapped due to getting it broken! Now that’s what you call spirit!

Now, I have to make a confession here. I’m such a soppy romantic. Regular readers of this blog will remember my call for Ramprakash to be included in the last Ashes test last year! Regardless of the improbability of it happening, I still wanted to see him there!

Seeing Kumble bowl with a lot of heart and guile and taking Bangalore to the finals of the IPL last year was just plain – heartwarming!

Achettup gave me a link to that magical moment, so check it out here!

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The pools and base prices for tomorrow’s auction

I was following Lalit Modi’s tweets as he announced the 8 pools for the auction tomorrow. I’ve inputted the first name of all the players and corrected some spelling mistakes, so here they are.

1st pool has 4 players – Shahid Afridi, Brad Haddin, Graeme Swan all with $250,000 base price and Kieron Pollard at base price of $200,000.

2nd pool has 4 players – Eoin Morgan, Wayne Parnell with base of $ 200,000 and Shane Bond, Mohammad Kaif and Kemar Roach with base price of $ 100,000 each.

Pool 3 – Doug Bollinger, Sohail Tanveer at base $200,000, Umar/Kamran Akmal, Shakib Al Hasan, Tim Bresnan, Daren Ganga, Justin Kemp, Nuwan Kulasekera at base of $100,000

4th pool – Umar/Kamran Akmal, Ryan Hinds, Philip Hughes, Damien Martyn, Imran Nazir, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Chamara Silva, Lendl Simmons, Upul Tharanga, and Jonathan Trott all at base price of $ 100,000.

5th pool – Suliemann Benn, Grant Elliott,Naved-ul-Hasan at $100,000 & Tyron Henderson, Rory Kleinveldt, Jason Krejza, Nathan McCullum, Thissara Perera, Johan van der Wath at $50,000, Ashley Noffke $20,000

6th pool  – Abdul Razzaq @ 100,000, Rizwan Cheema, Zander De Bruyn, Chintaka Jayasinghe, Graham Manou, Glenn McGrath, Vernon Philander, Morne Van Wyk, Adam Voges all @ 50,000 and Ryan Ten Doeschate at 20,000

7th pool Mohammed Aamer, Saeed Ajmal, Umar Gul @ 100,000 and Nuwan Zoysa, Yusuf Abdulla, Clint McKay, Monty Panesar, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Chanaka Welegedara all @ 50,000 and Ben Laughlin,Kaushalya Weeraratne @ 20,000

8^th post – Mark Ramprakash @ 200,000 and Misbah Ul Haq @100,000 and Dwayne Bravo, Murray Goodwin, Thilina Kandamby, Robert Key, Luke Pomersbach, Vaughn van Jaarsved, Lou Vincent all at 50,000.

AFAIC, the most surprising name is Mark Ramprakash. The former England batsman, who was touted for higher honours but disappointed, has made it into the 8th pool with a base price of $200,000, which is just perfect. Though he’s the oldest player in the auction at 40 years (if he gets picked up, the oldest in the IPL as well), he has plenty of experience. 1388 runs in 52 matches at a strike rate of 127 is not to be scoffed at!

BTW, apparently they’re releasing ‘new and exciting apps’ for mobile phones! :O

To select or not to select Ramps, that is the question!

Ah, the thought of seeing Ramps gracing the stage for one final shot at redemption just fills my heart up with joy!

Yes, I have to make a confession here. I am a true romantic, one of those many people like The Times’ John Woodcock, Wisden Editor Scyld Berry and many more.

Though I was a huge supporter of England during their home series against India in 2007, I kept egging on Anil Kumble to get his maiden Test century in the last test. I didn’t have cable at that time, so the only way that I could really follow the match live was through the BBC Test Match Special commentary. I literally jumped off my chair and was punching the air when the commentator said that Kumble got his century.

I did see Ramprakash dancing in Strictly Come Dancing, where he won, and it was quite amazing. One of the judges, a 50-something woman called Arlene Phillips, was unbashedly praising him to the point of making him blush! :O

That just increased my desire to see Ramps for one last time on the international stage.

However, there is a realist lurking within me who keeps saying “That guy is mentally frail, can’t really rise to the ocassion”. Though the romantic in me tries to diss him, he does realise that it’s true, and there are a number of reasons.

The first is the fact that, for most of his career, he has been playing in the second Division of the County Championship where, as many will know, the standard of bowling is not the very best in the country. A good example is Philip Hughes. He had entered the Ashes with a reputation as big as the Beatles and has now been kicked into a corner by the selectors.

He did make quite a lot of runs (averaging more than 100 in 5 or so matches, if I’m not mistaken) in the County Championship, as well as in the FP trophy matches but was found wanting against international-level bowlers.

Another point that the realist makes is that Ramps did go about 4 – 6 matches without a century when he was on 99 first-class centuries as the spotlight was firmly on him (due to the fact that he could possibly be the last member of this ‘club’). However, after he finally got the 100th hundred, he continued his run-spree, showing that pressure still does get to his head.

As I write this, first BBC and then Cricinfo say that Jonathan Trott is more likely to replace Bopara, while Bell (who’s going to make his Test Debut for the 49th time) will be pushed up to No.3, a position in which he has been an utter failure.

So there goes mine and many other people’s hopes (including that of Alec Stewart and Chris Adams) of Ramps getting a final sojourn, but it was all fun while it lasted!